Come on down Labor day

I've been working hard on my capstone. Most of the time, I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm trying to understand Independent Living philosophy, the different arms of IL and the rule governing how the different organizations can interact. It's mighty confusing. For instance, the Arkansas Independent living council is a mandated organization, but it's a non-profit, but its state funded, but it can't lobby or ask for funding, but it represents Centers for Independent Living, but they themselves do not provide direct services. See what I mean?

I'm having issues with financial aid, surprise surprise. I still find it hilarious that UALR says that a graduate student in AR only needs 9,625 dollars a year to meet the cost of living. Because I can't take out the maximum federal allowance of 20,000 a year, I can't take out a federal plus loan, which is supposed to give graduates a little extra money. I can only borrow what UALR considers my cost of living. I also find it ironic that UCA considers the cost of living in Conway more than the cost of living in Little Rock. I sure hope my old, beat up Pontiac with 93,000 miles on it decides to hold up a little longer, despite the perpetual check engine light that just keeps shining at me. If that thing goes, I'm just going to have to start hitchhiking. Maybe my mom can sell me a scooter to get by on, that is if the 400 extra dollars I'll have after rent, food and bills will pay for it. Better yet, I'll get an ox and do what these guys did. I think that thing is street legal. If anyone has any odd jobs, will work for gas money. Arghhhhh

And now for something completely different. Did you guys here about that boy with Autism who was the manger of his high school basketball team, and when they finally let him play, he scored 20 points in 4 minutes tying the game? This kid is awesome, and here's the news story http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2352763 It happened last year, but I just heard about it yesterday.

Hey operator won't you put me on through I gotta send my love down to Baton Rouge. I'm headed to good ol' Louisiana tomorrow for some labor day fun or watching a lot of dvds. I'll be back on Tuesday, and I've got some juvenile fiction on CD to keep me company. Harry Potter got me all amped up, so I'm listening to the Wrinkle in Time books.

I will slim down....

I joined weight watchers online last Tuesday. I have already lost 4.5 pounds. I've finally figured out what to eat and what not to eat, and I honestly think I will stick with it. I'm really short on cash so not going out to eat is a health and financial benefit. I made a really great low fat recipe for creamy herb pasta and here it is:

Ingredients

• 4 medium shallot(s), peeled and left whole
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 8 oz silken tofu, about 1 cup
• 1/2 cup watercress, tough stems removed
• 1/4 cup parsley, flat leaf variety, leaves only
• 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
• 9 cup cooked whole-wheat spaghetti, kept hot

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Place shallots on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Bring four corners of foil together to make an open pouch. Pour oil over shallots and pinch foil ends together to close pouch; place on a baking sheet. Roast for 25 minutes. Carefully remove pouch from oven, open and let shallots cool (use oven mitts and keep face away from pouch when opening).

Put tofu, watercress and parsley in a blender and blend on low for 20 seconds; scrape down sides of container with a spoon. Add lemon juice and roasted shallots. Blend on high for 30 seconds and scrape down sides of container with a spoon; season to taste with salt and pepper. Blend on low for 20 seconds more; serve over spaghetti. Yields about 1 1/2 cups of spaghetti and 1/2 cup of sauce per serving.

This was easy to make, and tasted great. It only has 6 points a serving.

The school stress is kicking in. I realized today that I have 3 months to find statistics, create a survey, conduct focus groups and an independent living training, create a business plan and write a report. If anything though, I learned this summer that I can do a lot more than I think I can.
Boomer is completely obsessed with playing catch. He wants to do it all day long, so here is a cute picture of him trying to get me to quit typing. That's it, I'm boring. I hope your life is more entertaining.

Working girl

I started my Capstone yesterday. I am determining a need for independent living services in Mississippi and Craighead county. That's up by Jonesboro. After that, I am going to survey providers and consumers of IL services. After that, I am going to try and write some legislation to provide funding for those services. It's a lot of work, but someone's got to do it. This map shows what areas are covered by IL services in gray and which areas are not covered in white. Arkansas could use a little help. We have one of the highest percentages of persons with disabilities in the US. We are the 3rd highest for people over 65, the 4th highest for people between the ages of 21 and 64 and the second highest for people between the ages of five and 20.

dorks

My mom, Christy and I sat in one of those drawing photo booths in the mall. I'm not gonna lie, it was kind of hilarious. Here's the evidence:

Moving right along

We got David moved into his new apartment in Baton Rouge this weekend. He hasn't had his own place (that wasn't full of sculptures) in a few years. It's a nice little apartment. We also found a couch for 20 bucks. The guy who sold it to us said he hoped we weren't staying long, that Baton Rouge was not the best place to live. Nice to know.

I joined weight watchers online today. I'm going to try and lose weight digitally. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to go to the meetings.

I started my final semester last night. I think I might be a total freak, because I'm actually excited about my public policy analysis class. We get to do a group project evaluating and giving recommendations to children international. It sounds like fun to me. I'm also meeting with Angela at Arkansas Independent Living Services to talk about my Capstone. Hooray, I'm on my way to graduation. 3 months and 20 something days until I can get a real job.

Interesting things to report on the drive to Louisiana:
There is an injury attorney in Mississippi named Chuck Norris. I bet he roundhouses the competition.
We drove through Moscow and Transylvania, which both sound a lot cooler than they really are.
Even though it seems impossible, it's actually hotter than Arkansas. I know we are all feeling a little relief with the temperatures finally in the 90s over here. I'm pretty sure Baton Rouge is over the gateway to hell, anyway, here's to moving there!

They are all in the front seat of my car......ridiculous

And the Oscar goes to....

So the people who made Word Play, the documentary about Will Shortz and Crossword puzzles are making a documentary about the Clinton School students in Class three. We're going to be on the map folks. I'm excited for them, a little jealous and mostly thankful there is no embarrassing (but probably entertaining) footage of my Practicum team on the verge of a breakdown.

David and I went to the reception for the new students last night. It's a good, lively bunch. There are thirty students, so I'm sure it's going to be different. We had a lot of fun. After the reception, we went to the Travelers' game. Hot dogs and beer, hooray.

I ran into my Capstone people at the reception last night, and I'm excited to get started. It will be really nice to basically be able to focus on one project. I am taking one other class, but mostly I'll just be working for AILC. My mom is coming into town tomorrow to go to my presentation. I am graduating in four months, crazy.

Yesterday Boomer and Rocky we're playing, and Rocky fell on Boomer with his crushing, gargantuan weight, and hurt Boom's leg. It's a good thing we were going to the vet today anyway.

I hope you had a great weekend.

Meet Boomer

This is Boomer. He is about 2 years old and really sweet. I've only heard his little bark once. He's quiet and friendly. He and Rocky aren't too interested in each other yet though. It's strange. They act like they just want to play by themselves. I do not recommend the Little Rock Animal Services though. They told me he needed to be neutered, but he obviously already was and didn't have surgery so I have to go back there and try to get my money back for the surgery. Also, he is on some medicine but they didn't tell me why. I had to pay for them to take him to their vet, but I didn't receive any information about him. It's great to rescue a dog that was going to be put down, but they need to get their act together. This weeks been pretty mellow. David found a place in Louisiana that's reasonably priced and across the street from the fine arts building at LSU. They also love dogs. Katie and David are both coming back today so I need to finish doing all that stuff I need to do to get back to normal.

Siloam Extravaganza

Hey everyone,
I'm a bad bad blogger. I've been so busy catching up, unpacking, seeing family, emailing, reading 3 months of mail and eating good food. I had a great time in Siloam and got to see everyone in my family. My mom also made a really great dinner with corn, mashed potatoes, fried chicken and chocolate pie. It was fun to see the kids, but 3 kids under 6, a swimming pool and jet lag can really wear a girl out.

I went to Little Rock Animal Services and adopted a corgi mix. I get him tomorrow, after he's gone to the vet. He's quiet and playful and calm. He's also about 2 years old. I'm not sure what to name him yet, but maybe Brutus or Rooster. David is still trying to find a place to live. He has to go down to Baton Rouge on Friday and he's probably coming back one last time to see my (short) presentation. If anyone wants to see what the students were up to this summer, you can come by the school from 9am to 1pm to watch. It is amazingly wonderful to be back in Little Rock. It really feels like home.

Chicago

Hey guys, I made it home. I cleared customs 30 hours after I started flying. I was really exhausted. David hadn't finished his sculpture, so he debated for awhile, and then ended up leaving late. I used the little bit of change I had to call him from a pay phone and he proceeded to call me back about 23 times while I found numbers for hotels. I finally found a cheap one that would pick me up. I took a hot shower and slept for 3 hours. David got here around 7pm and we went to eat. It's so good to see him. I'm actually amazed at how fast the internet is, how hot the shower is, how big everything is. We live in a great country, ladies and gentleman. It's good to be home.

Mama, I'm comin home.

This picture is of every child I interviewed for the Case Stories Kids at a government school
Here is the CWISH staff and me.
Writtu, Smriti and Shanti at my going away dinner.

Well, that's it. It's over. I spent 11 weeks alone in a third world country after one of the roughest years of my life. It was profound. I feel like I can do anything now. I've made achievements personally that I never thought I could. I also feel liked I helped a lot of great kiddos. In a few short weeks I grew considerably as a person, wrote two very large papers (one is over 100 pages double spaced and the other is 88), got to ball rolling on a children's book about child labor, interviewed 50 child laborers and took 30 of their stories and made a publication to advocate for education, created two newsletters that have received positive feedback from dozens of countries, survived a parasite, given elephants a bath, learned to take a shower with a bucket of cold water, and not to totally freak out when everything is going wrong. I also lost a couple of pounds, bought a ton of presents, and learned that there is more to life than I ever could have imagined.

CWISH through me a nice going away dinner and gave me some gifts. They are really wonderful people, and I can't help but feel a little guilty that I can so easily go back to the US, when there are lines of people wanting to only get a chance to visit. I'm getting on a plane in 9 hours and getting off in 28. I can't wait to see all of you in the states, and I'll miss all of you in Nepal.
Love, Chandle

Drink it up boys it's my last night in town

For your viewing pleasure, here is a live chicken tied to a bicycle and me in a polka dot dress.

I'm going out to dinner with some people from work. I truly believe that CWISH is a phenomenal organization. They are one of the best NGOs with which I've had the pleasure of working. I can't believe tomorrow is my last day in Kathmandu. It's been a crazy summer. I'm going to try and stay up really late so I can get a head start on the time change. Yeah right, 12 hours is just too much. I also like to refer to the plane as the Delorean, since I am actually going back in time. I'm flying or in an airport for 30 hours, but it's all worth it because I get to go out to dinner with David at the end of it where he can tell me all about his FINISHED sculpture. That's going to be the news of the year people. David is finishing his sculpture tomorrow or Friday.

In other news, Rocky waits for David's dad's tomatos to get ripe and then eats them right off the vine. They haven't picked a single tomato since Rocky's been there. We own one strange pooch.