Crazy Busy and a Little Self-Praise
I’ve been so ridiculously busy with school, work, the GMTF, and dating I haven’t had a lot of time to write. I thought I would take a few minutes out of my day to touch base with the blog world.
So all summer I had been working and writing and started dating a very sweet man in Helena, my hometown about 2 hours away ( 1.5 if your my boyfriend). It’s been an amazing experience and I feel so blessed to have him in my life. He has helped me feel confident, he has great ideas, he’s a wonderful listener, and he cums like a horse.
School has been in full swing. I changed my major from Sociology to Community Healthy in the Health and Human Performance field. I’m taking courses on Sociological Research Methods (oh yeah I decided to minor in Sociology as a compromise), a basic philosophy course, a Social Psychology course, and Community Health Theory. It’s been wonderful and I’m really excited about my new career path. It seems more suitable and with healthcare all a mess, now is the time for good people to come in and fix it!
I was part of a conference call with the CDC in Atlanta about the HIV work we do here in Montana. We’ve developed and have employed a tracking method for internet outreach based on a model that I developed. The CDC was really impressed and needless to say I received many accolades– not to toot my horn, but I’m going to go ahead and toot my own horn. The next step in the process is to operationalize it and train a staff of people (volunteers possibly) how to conduct internet outreach and how to track and record data from the population we are trying to make changes in. It’s been a fascinating experience thus far and I hope I have the energy, motivation, and support to further explore and develop this program. Look at me doing big people things. Woot!
In addition I have been working on a fundraiser for our organization. I designed a flyer and have been promoting the hell out of the event. We’ve spent about $200 dollars and I’ll be happy if we can break even. Sometimes Helena is a tough crowd for gay related events. That evening, however, I will be performing in drag and MCIng with my fabulous sister Bambi and I as Heidi Codone. Should be a good time.
For one of my classes I have to help develop a health program. My group and I are trying to develop a toiletries program for the homeless shelter. It’s been a real pain in the ass because I work with two very clueless girls– I mean kind-hearted girls, seriously. I helped develop a training manual and I have an idea of how to manifest this program, but I don’t think I have enough support from my peers to accomplish it.
At the Women’s Opportunity and Resource Development job I have been given a raise and a unique position has been created for me. I get paid an extra .50 an hour to train new people and to develop programs around the office that will help with the effeciency of the organization as a whole.
I attended an HIV positive retreat and invited Mark S King to come join us. He did and he presented and he was fabulous. It was nice to bridge generation gaps and cultural/rural-urban differences and I appreciated his perspective and his participation. It was a fantastic retreat and I think we all learned quite a bit about how we look at the world. Chantz and I did a wonderful job of engaging our audience and generating discussion. Matter of fact we went over by 45 minutes because people were so into discussion. It was awesome and I learned so much about myself and my community.
My roommate moved out leaving me with quite a bit of space and it’s been really nice. We’ll see if I can afford it, but for now I’m basking in the luxury of being a single person household. Stay Positive! Stay Healthy!