Wishful Thinking

Almost done…

mrsvassallo — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:34:37 +0000

Well, I’m nearly official! I have ‘graduated’ and am now waiting for the board to review my application for licensure. One more test and I’ll be able to call myself Abby Vassallo, LSSP, NCSP. Incredibly long, and technically I’m not allowed to use the NCSP in Texas (damn state….) but I’m going to get it anyway just because vie waited so long to have such a title. A Nationally Certified School Psychologist is what I’ve worked so hard to become.

Anyway, the relief of never having to pay TWU another cent makes me happier than I can express. So now, Mike is going back to school so we can not forget the life of a student. Looking forward to where this next road is going to take us.

Turkey Day!

mrsvassallo — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:56:57 +0000

So Mike and I decided to have a couple of friends over for an Easter lunch. Then we decided to make a turkey. Holy cow….. I’ve never made a turkey before, and I’ve only seen it done once, at which point I promptly told my mother that she must never die because I refuse to be in charge of this. Ever. So here we are. I brined the turkey in a tasty solution of apple juice, water, salt, and ice. Then, I brought him out of his icy cooler of coldness and gave him a massage with lots of butter, salt, and pepper. (Don’t worry. I don’t plan to have any arteries left when this is all said and done.) Anyway, after stuffing his tiny tummy with some bread crumbs, he went in the oven.

He then came out of the oven to have the thermometer stuck in and stock poured in the bottom. And put the foil tent over. Apparently it takes me a couple of tries to get it all together. So, it’s in the oven. and we may or may not have turkey for lunch.

Here’s hoping we will….

Grateful. Not Dead.

mrsvassallo — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:30:59 +0000

Lately I have taken it upon myself to forcibly change my outlook. I found myself feeling very sorry for my own plight and wallowing in self-pity because I thought that things just weren’t going my way.

This, I have decided, is a dumb way to live life.

Therefore, I am now requiring myself to publicly announce in list form the things that are worth giving thanks for each day on Facebook. Not only am I focusing on finding at least one thing that is good each day, but I’m hoping that I can inspire those around me to take a look around them and realize that they are blessed as well. When we allow selfishness to take hold of our thoughts, it’s so easy to act like others are worthless if they are not contributing to my success or happiness in some way. Well you know what?? That’s dumb. Other people are not responsible for my happiness. I should be able to find something, anything, in my day that is worthwhile, enriching, or just plain nice. Because I am blessed. And I won’t forget it.

Spring Break, and assorted thoughts.

mrsvassallo — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:33:14 +0000

So today is the first official day of Spring Break, and I couldn’t be happier. Most people like to be lazy and not do much on Spring Break. I agree, mostly. I have already had time this morning to clean the kitchen from a weekend of sloth, vaccuum the entire house because it’s turning into spring and my dog is molting, and create my mom’s mother’s day gift. And yes, she’s going to love it.

Next on the list is PetSmart (dog’s gotta eat….), grocery store (Abby’s gotta eat…..), and hoping against all hope that they’ll be able to get me in at the hair place today. Short hair means getting it trimmed more often than once every two years or so. Since the two year time frame is what I’m used to, this is very difficult to get used to. So, overall, I’m really hoping this week will allow me to get all those things done that I don’t have energy to do during the work week, as well as offering me ample time to sit on my ass and enjoy the fact that I don’t have to go find a kid to test TODAY OR ELSE! Timelines have become the bane of my existence, if you couldn’t tell.

Well, I’m off to the shower to prepare myself for a day of gettin’ shit done. Cause that’s how I roll. Say a little prayer for the haircut…..

Ch ch ch CHANGES!

mrsvassallo — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:37:57 +0000

Wow. A new year has begun. A new semester has begun. A new marriage has begun. A new budget, retirement fund, student loan payment has begun. Needless to say, a lot is going on in the land of Loe Vassallo. I’m still working on the ole internship hours at Round Rock. I was very fortunate in November and I managed to pass my PRAXIS exam on the first go. Therefore, I am now dealing with getting my application for licensure filled in and sent out. There are so many fees and whatnot that go with it, I’m afraid I’ll be broke before I’m done with all of this, but one more test and one more stack of papers shuffled and I’ll be official. Hope I can manage to get it done before next school year. I’d really like to start things off licensed, but knowing how timelines work out, it’s doubtful that will happen.

Anyway, I’m married now. Mike and I are so grateful to all of our wonderful friends and family who joined us on December 19. We had a blast, and we were so excited about sharing our love and beginning our new lives with all those who helped us get to this place. We spent 4 days in Northern Cancun basking in the sun and overall being gluttonous. It was glorious. Now we’re learning how to be married. It’s interesting, because not much has changed, but it’s still a different beast being married than it is being engaged or dating. I really didn’t expect much to be different, but it still is. And not in a way that can be defined, but just the feel. If I ever figure out how to put it into words, I’ll let you know.

The new question today is, do Mike and I want to attempt to find a church? We’ve talked about it and not done anything and talked about it more and not done anything and, you guessed it, kept talking. We’re in a place where we just aren’t sure what we want to do. I know for me personally, churches represent a lot of things that I have tried to get away from in the past few years of my life. The way that many Christians think the Bible offers them a free pass to judge, and even openly hate, others sickens me. I’m still trying to decide if I have it in me to not only find a group of people, no matter how small, that see my point of view, but then join those people in fighting this terrible epidemic of hatred. Sounds like a lot of hard work to me. Also sounds like a lot of hard work that really needs to be done.

What are your thoughts, oh few and far between readers? Have you attempted this search? Have you been successful? Were you pleased with the results? Tell me everything….

Sweet Blessings

mrsvassallo — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:41:19 +0000

Holy smokes, it’s been a long time since I’ve written in this thing. Work has been crazy busy, and wedding planning has been piled on top of that. The wedding is a merciless two weeks away and I’m caught in the whirlwind of trying to get all the tiny bits in order before the big day. Money is tight, stress is high, and I am in love.

I have discovered that I love working in Round Rock and I hope I will be able to continue on here next year. I like the work, I like the structure, and I love my co-workers and supervisors. I’m working hard, but also learning that things are so different outside of the classroom. Real life brings out its own challenges and ideas. I’ve had to handle lots of situations that I didn’t think I could, and I’ve gotten a lot of experience in things that I didn’t know before. It’s been good all around. Except for when the alarm goes off at 6:00 am.

Wedding plans are coming along fast and furious. Less than two weeks from now, I will be participating in a sweetly sappy ceremony that will bind me forever to the man that I love. Then, immediately following that, there will be a party the likes of which has never been seen. Get out your dancing shoes, kids. And finally, after that, I’m jetting off to spend a week in a luxury hotel with previously mentioned man and spend some time in a spa. Happy holidays.

I’m excited. There is so much to be stressed out about and so much more to be happy and thankful for. I’m a blessed child. Welcome to adulthood, Abby.

Hey, guess what! Next time you hear from me, my name will be Abby Vassallo. How weird is that??

Doing Your Job

mrsvassallo — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:17:50 +0000

Lately I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly it means to ‘do your job’. People interpret that phrase so very differently, and I’ve discovered that the interpretation has a lot to do with where you are in life. I am currently a new employee, or new hire. Not only that, but I recently completed (for the most part) a graduate degree. I believe this causes me to be somewhat of an overachiever. In order to survive any sort of graduate school, you have to be able to go above and beyond in some capacity. While I rate myself lower in this area than I would rate my classmates, I still believe I have it to some degree. Anyway, with all this in mind, I came into this internship expecting a certain degree of above and beyond. I expected to be pushed to my limit as far as doing my job and doing it well. And so far, that has been mostly true. I have done more learning over the past 3 ½ weeks than I’ve done in the past year of my graduate course work. While my courses were engaging and informative, I feel that they were primarily theoretically based and did not do much to prepare me for the practical side of my current job, which is 90% of what I needed to know. So now I’m catching up on what I missed, and rounding out my education.

However, I’m finding that the real world will always be, in a sense, the real world. There will be people out there who work much harder, faster, and longer than I do and are spectacular at their jobs. There will be those who work incredibly hard, and are just not particularly good at what they do for one reason or another. There will be people out there that do only what they must to get by, and will do that much with integrity and focus. Then there will be those who will do what they must, not do it particularly well, and will be the ‘slackers’ that we all know and love. Not everyone in my field is determined to make a difference (sorry, idealistic professors…). Not everyone believes in creating a profession that is not only dedicated to doing the best they can for children, but the best they can for children within the boundaries of the law.

So now I’m trying to find my place between following every directive I ever received in graduate school and participating in the framework set up by the administration at my new job. Who’s ideals do I follow? Who do I try to please? What is considered ‘thorough’ by one camp is ‘excessive’ in another. Here’s hoping I don’t screw up in the eyes of both.

Unsettled

mrsvassallo — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:36:06 +0000

So today I wrote a nice long post about the ole internship, but I think I’m going to post this instead.

I feel really unsettled in my internship. Maybe it’s because I’m the new kid. Maybe it’s because this is my first real big girl job outside of waiting tables and doing other menial tasks for minimum wage. Maybe it’s just because it’s the beginning of the school year and things aren’t completely up and running yet.

Or maybe something’s just not quite right. I miss my friends. I don’t have my dear classmates to moan and whine with and know that we can console one another when things get difficult.

Finally being with the man of my dreams is more than I could have asked for. But at the same time, I miss having friends. I think that might be it…..

First Paycheck

mrsvassallo — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:55:11 +0000

Whew! Hello week 4! It seems like things are going so quickly, but so slowly at the same time. Tomorrow is September!!! This morning was the coolest it’s been in a long while. I stepped outside on my way to work and thought WHOA! I’m not hot! I’m really looking forward to fall weather and getting rid of these 105+ days.

So internship has been steadily getting busier. I feel like I’m learning a lot, but at the same time I haven’t had the opportunity to really use my knowledge yet. I think I’ve decided that I’m not a big fan of the beginning of the year, but I will like the middle area much more. So far it’s a bunch of paperwork, learning to use the computer software, catching up on ARDs that need to happen, and getting ready for re-evaluations that will need to be done in the next 30 days. It’s all moderately overwhelming, and I’d really like to get into some assessment, which is where I feel most comfortable. My counseling will begin soon as well, and I’m not sure how that’s going to go. I’ve never claimed to be particularly good at counseling, and that’s one reason why I got into school psychology instead of, well, counseling. But at the same time I think I can make a difference with students who need that extra help to fit in better socially and learn how to cope with the hand life has dealt them. I hope I can be a good support for them.

Other than that, I’m really looking forward to this weekend, when Mike and I will get to go hang out with my family at the lake for an extended Labor Day vacation. Yay for fun things. Also, in updaty news, my first paycheck came in last week and it went directly to bills and a new sofa and loveseat!!!! They will be delivered tomorrow, and I absolutely CANNOT WAIT!!! No more sitting in a folding chair in the living room.

Last, but certainly not least, welcome to the world, Madilyn Nicole Arduengo!! Heather had her sweet baby today and all my love and congrats go out to their new family addition! Love you guys!

I Am My Dr. Maricle

mrsvassallo — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:00:38 +0000

Yesterday, I read a report that diagnosed a student with ED. Using nothing but a BASC-II Self-Report and Teacher Report.

It took me 3 full minutes to pick my jaw up off the ground. I think Dr. Maricle would approve of my response. Oy vey…