Back from Texas

I had a fabulous time in Austin. I wasn't ready to come home. Anthony picked me up at 2:00 AM on Saturday morning at the airport and the fantastic familiarity of being with an old friend who knows you so well immediately kicked in. By 4:00 AM we were in bed, chatting wide awake and laughing so hard we were crying. Our sophistication in taking on the ACL weekend has greatly increased since year One. Better hotel, better parking ($10, baby!), and unbelievable brunches. I got to catch up with my grad school friends, and revisit some old 6th Street haunts along the way. I really loved the shows I saw this year, too. While I knew less about the bands this year, Anthony and I explored more, and we dutifully lounged around in the grass at Zilker Park for hours upon hours soaking in the good music. I have since revamped my iPod, and actually bought tickets for next year's fest at the unbelievably low price of $135. I don't even care who is headlining. Although I must say Foo Fighters were really amazing, and far superior to Bob Dylan. Which didn't really take much, because Dave Grohl was oriented to time and space and could actually sing whereas Bob Dylan mumbled and barely remained alive. As usual, the best people watching occurred on Sunday, when, as Mamie put it "all the freaks come out." My favorite quotes of the weekend though came from 6th Street, where a drunken mid-30s white guy approached me, swaying and sorta leering for the purpose of making this announcement: "I wanna take my pants off!....[pause, I blink at him]....but I won't!" While I pondered the wisdom of his statements, my friend Craig sprang into action, spun me around away from said Drunkard. And then upon seeing Mamie fending off the Drunkard exclaimed, "Geez, I can only cockblock one at a time!"

I flew out of Austin on Monday morning and landed in Raleigh, had lunch with Mom, where I was insanely weepy, and dressed like a homeless person. By the end of all my travels, I was down to one pair of beer soaked jeans (thanks, Chuggin Monkey) and my ACL concert tee I had just bought. Being back in Texas turned out to be a hugely emotional and sentimental deal for me, and in true psych grad student form, Anthony and I spent one brunch gabbing and reminiscing and weeping in our huevos rancheros.

Returning to work on Tuesday was a bit of a shock, but I had a new enthusiasm for therapy, as my brain had done something entirely different for 2 days straight. As Friday unfolded, however, Diplomatic Diana completely eroded as I became fed up with the crappy ass leadership and ridiculous group dynamics of our team. I presented to our 11:30 intern meeting in one foul fucking mood, which is a rarity, as Shawn pointed out, and I very pointedly addressed all of my concerns to our Director of Clinical Training. As we left the meeting Shawn and I went back to our offices and I asked him "Did I overdo it?" He replied, "I've never seen you so upset! It was awesome!" I'm back to diplomacy for now.

Friday night I worked late and crashed early only to be plagued by a weird middle insomnia. At 4 AM I bolted awake and had to fight to get back to sleep. I went to my second Pilates class on Saturday and then into work. I had my first on call weekend this past Saturday-Sunday and ended up working briefly on both days. Basically, when a child is admitted to the acute unit during the weekend, the on call therapist/moi has 24 hours to go in and finish up the therapist's part of the admission assessment, interview the kiddo, and write a treatment plan. Noon on Sunday marks the end of the on call responsibility, and so my friend Beth and I went hiking in and around Maymont Park on the north bank of the James River. We reconvened for dinner at a fantastic Greek restaurant called Zorba's, which had everything I'd hoped for: blue vinyl booths and amazing gyros. I managed to fit in some bar hopping in Shockoe Bottom on Saturday so I didn't feel like I missed out on the weekend fun!

This coming weekend I get to visit Miss Jena in Savannah for girl time! I can't believe its October already. I impulsively purchased my ticket this summer during an Air Tran fare sale because I was worried I wouldn't get to see her before December. My very limited agenda includes walking in the historical district and going to the beach!