Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Thank you
Just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you who called, emailed or sent flowers today. It was a rough one. All your acts of kindness and love made the day easier. And a special thanks to Erin for coming up to hang out. I can't wait for the babies to be able to join us.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Jump Rope For Heart
A message from Maddie:
Hi everyone,
I am raising money for the American Heart Association by doing Jump Rope for Heart at my school, Main Elementary. The money we raise will help fight heart disease and stroke. It's important to me to help people out because it's nice to help. If you want to help too, please visit my web site and make a donation to the American Heart Association.
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=249042&lis=0&kntae249042=F43AA82F02894CB89055B8D75A8D85E5visit Check out my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support American Heart Association – Great Rivers Affiliate
Thanks
Maddie
Hi everyone,
I am raising money for the American Heart Association by doing Jump Rope for Heart at my school, Main Elementary. The money we raise will help fight heart disease and stroke. It's important to me to help people out because it's nice to help. If you want to help too, please visit my web site and make a donation to the American Heart Association.
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=249042&lis=0&kntae249042=F43AA82F02894CB89055B8D75A8D85E5visit Check out my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support American Heart Association – Great Rivers Affiliate
Thanks
Maddie
Look out!
The Divine Miss M is giving it her all to learn how to ride a unicyle, an interest sparked by Mark and his kids. Here, Mark is helping her learn about balance.January 16
In just a few short hours, Kevin will have been gone five years.
Five years.
It almost seems impossible, particularly today when the distance between past and present seems so small. So much has changed since Jan. 16, 2003. At times, I barely recognize us. At other times, I barely remember who we were. I suppose that is the blessing and the curse of losing someone you love.
I was thinking today about all that I've learned in the years that have followed his death. Some things seem ridiculous, like learning to start the lawnmower. Others humbled me. So I thought I would share a few with you.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2004:
1. The world's best motivator has big blue eyes, a gap-toothed grin and sandy-brown freckles on her nose.
2. When everything seems out of control, you still control you.
3. When life feels unliveable, sometimes the best thing to do is to get moving.
4. Sometimes you have to fake it until it you make it.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2005:
1. The amount of time you spend wallowing in grief is not proportionate to the amount of love you have for the person who died. The way you choose to live your life in the aftermath is.
2. Wallowing in grief can become self indulgent.
3. The fastest way to heal is to give to others.
4. The second year is much harder than the first.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2006:
1. The smell of snow no longer makes me sick.
2. Life is too short to not live passionately.
3. It's also too short to waste on things that drain your energy.
4. And it's definitely too short to hold back "I love you," "I'm sorry," and "I forgive you."
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2007:
1. The losses that come with the death of a spouse didn't stop on the day he died.
2. You can't force people to be what you want them to be.
3. Moving on doesn't mean I have forgotten.
4. Knowing the answer to "What's the worse that can happen?" let's you live quite fearlessly.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2008:
1. Stop waiting for what I want and go get it.
2. His death isn't the end of our lives.
3. You can love despite a having had a broken heart.
4. When all else fails, go for a run.
Someone once said to me that Kevin's death, like all things, happened for a reason. I don't think I believe that there's some grand plan that shaped the course of our lives. What I do believe is that we give meaning to the loss by the choices we make. It is my greatest hope that the choices I've made honor his memory.
Five years.
It almost seems impossible, particularly today when the distance between past and present seems so small. So much has changed since Jan. 16, 2003. At times, I barely recognize us. At other times, I barely remember who we were. I suppose that is the blessing and the curse of losing someone you love.
I was thinking today about all that I've learned in the years that have followed his death. Some things seem ridiculous, like learning to start the lawnmower. Others humbled me. So I thought I would share a few with you.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2004:
1. The world's best motivator has big blue eyes, a gap-toothed grin and sandy-brown freckles on her nose.
2. When everything seems out of control, you still control you.
3. When life feels unliveable, sometimes the best thing to do is to get moving.
4. Sometimes you have to fake it until it you make it.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2005:
1. The amount of time you spend wallowing in grief is not proportionate to the amount of love you have for the person who died. The way you choose to live your life in the aftermath is.
2. Wallowing in grief can become self indulgent.
3. The fastest way to heal is to give to others.
4. The second year is much harder than the first.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2006:
1. The smell of snow no longer makes me sick.
2. Life is too short to not live passionately.
3. It's also too short to waste on things that drain your energy.
4. And it's definitely too short to hold back "I love you," "I'm sorry," and "I forgive you."
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2007:
1. The losses that come with the death of a spouse didn't stop on the day he died.
2. You can't force people to be what you want them to be.
3. Moving on doesn't mean I have forgotten.
4. Knowing the answer to "What's the worse that can happen?" let's you live quite fearlessly.
What I learned by Jan. 16, 2008:
1. Stop waiting for what I want and go get it.
2. His death isn't the end of our lives.
3. You can love despite a having had a broken heart.
4. When all else fails, go for a run.
Someone once said to me that Kevin's death, like all things, happened for a reason. I don't think I believe that there's some grand plan that shaped the course of our lives. What I do believe is that we give meaning to the loss by the choices we make. It is my greatest hope that the choices I've made honor his memory.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
I'm So PRDE (pronounced purdy)
*** Congrats News ***
Congrats to the Clymer family who is getting ready to start a new adventure or their own (this is in addition to the new baby that will be arriving shortly). Jamie is leaving is long-time career with Trader and moving on to new opportunities in Atlanta, Ga. Kelly, Peyton and 1/2 (the baby), will be joining him once the house sells. So everyone cross your fingers, say your prayers and offer up any good will to help them along.
*** On to the Blog ***
In addition the all the academic evaluation we undergo in grad school, we have these evaluations called Professional Role Development Evaluation (aka PRDE). Each professor that you have every quarter evaluates you on your interpersonal skills, general academic ability, other subjective areas that are believed to make one a good psychologist. The topic areas include "Ability to Handle Stress," "Quality of Oral Expression," "Openess to Feedback," etc. As you can imagine, the evaluations can be anxiety provoking as they examine things that can be difficult to accept about yourself.
So last week we were given our first round of PRDEs. And yes, I am going to brag, in part because when I told Maddie, her response was, "Great Mom, can I have a snack?"
I totally rocked them! Two professors recommended that I be considered for special commendation.
Comments from my PRDEs:
"Counseling skills were well above average for this level of development."
"Very thoughtful and mature"
"Considerable evidence of potential to be an excellent therapist."
"Top 2% of class"
So yay! But no time to rest on my laurels. Winter quarter began last week. They weren't kidding. This is going to be a rough one. Mountains of reading, dozens of assignments and lots of projects. But it's also going to be a great quarter in the sense that I will finally get into the meat of the program. Also, I'm finally getting out into the profession a bit more.
In addition to school, Miss M and I are up to other things. Maddie, thanks to Mark's prompting, is learning to ride the unicycle (photo to come shortly). I am again training for the Flying Pig. I'm doing the half this time around (in addition to the 5K with Maddie).
So that's we're we are now. Not a bad place to be at all, especially considering that Wednesday is the 16th.
Congrats to the Clymer family who is getting ready to start a new adventure or their own (this is in addition to the new baby that will be arriving shortly). Jamie is leaving is long-time career with Trader and moving on to new opportunities in Atlanta, Ga. Kelly, Peyton and 1/2 (the baby), will be joining him once the house sells. So everyone cross your fingers, say your prayers and offer up any good will to help them along.
*** On to the Blog ***
In addition the all the academic evaluation we undergo in grad school, we have these evaluations called Professional Role Development Evaluation (aka PRDE). Each professor that you have every quarter evaluates you on your interpersonal skills, general academic ability, other subjective areas that are believed to make one a good psychologist. The topic areas include "Ability to Handle Stress," "Quality of Oral Expression," "Openess to Feedback," etc. As you can imagine, the evaluations can be anxiety provoking as they examine things that can be difficult to accept about yourself.
So last week we were given our first round of PRDEs. And yes, I am going to brag, in part because when I told Maddie, her response was, "Great Mom, can I have a snack?"
I totally rocked them! Two professors recommended that I be considered for special commendation.
Comments from my PRDEs:
"Counseling skills were well above average for this level of development."
"Very thoughtful and mature"
"Considerable evidence of potential to be an excellent therapist."
"Top 2% of class"
So yay! But no time to rest on my laurels. Winter quarter began last week. They weren't kidding. This is going to be a rough one. Mountains of reading, dozens of assignments and lots of projects. But it's also going to be a great quarter in the sense that I will finally get into the meat of the program. Also, I'm finally getting out into the profession a bit more.
In addition to school, Miss M and I are up to other things. Maddie, thanks to Mark's prompting, is learning to ride the unicycle (photo to come shortly). I am again training for the Flying Pig. I'm doing the half this time around (in addition to the 5K with Maddie).
So that's we're we are now. Not a bad place to be at all, especially considering that Wednesday is the 16th.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Christmas pics 2
Bid Daddy LOVES Christmas.
Wild and Wonderful Woo Pfirrman
Mom and JilliThe Divine Miss M
Jackie just loves the camera.
Papa, Susan and Jilli
Miss Jilli
A Very Pfirrman Christmas
Today, we celebrated a belated Christmas with our Pfirrman family. I could gush on and on about the lovely nieces, about how big Maddie and Will are, and about how good it is to be with family. But a video is worth a thousand words. Enjoy little Jackie and our pathetic attempts to get her to smile.
Boarding Baby 2
Here are some pics from the trip. I realized that I didn't take as many as I thought so if Mark has more on his camera, I'll see if I can add them.
Mis
s M lookin' cool.
What a goofball!
A Maddie sandwich - The boys are Mark's youngest two. Jason is on the left and Devon is on the right.
Mis
s M lookin' cool.
What a goofball!
A Maddie sandwich - The boys are Mark's youngest two. Jason is on the left and Devon is on the right.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Boarding Baby!
So how do you test a if hardcore control freak can let go? I now know the answer - strap her to a board and send her down a hill. That's what happened this week to my little vacation Nazi. Many of you have heard about my travels with Maddie and her constant need to have an agenda for every moment of our time. This time, Maddie found a way to let go a little bit - snowboarding.
This week, we spent three days in PA at the Seven Springs Ski Resort. It was our first attempt at snowboarding. We travelled with Mark and his kids, who all love it. Maddie and I really enjoyed it even though we didn't make it off the bunny hills. No broken bones, although my butt is sore from wiping out. I spent most of the time trying to master the tricks our instructor, Dale, showed us when he wasn't telling me his life story. Miss M, on the other hand, said, "Screw technique" and just went down as fast as possible running over skiers who didn't listen to her warning yell of "Move it, Move it!"
All in all, it was a great trip and quick escape from the chaos that is about to begin. The winter quarter starts next week and academic madness will begin again. Not sure if I should take my or Maddie's approach to this quarter. Maybe a combination of the two.
Anyway, thanks to Mark for organizing the trip and including us in the fun.
This week, we spent three days in PA at the Seven Springs Ski Resort. It was our first attempt at snowboarding. We travelled with Mark and his kids, who all love it. Maddie and I really enjoyed it even though we didn't make it off the bunny hills. No broken bones, although my butt is sore from wiping out. I spent most of the time trying to master the tricks our instructor, Dale, showed us when he wasn't telling me his life story. Miss M, on the other hand, said, "Screw technique" and just went down as fast as possible running over skiers who didn't listen to her warning yell of "Move it, Move it!"
All in all, it was a great trip and quick escape from the chaos that is about to begin. The winter quarter starts next week and academic madness will begin again. Not sure if I should take my or Maddie's approach to this quarter. Maybe a combination of the two.
Anyway, thanks to Mark for organizing the trip and including us in the fun.
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