Passed!

When you get the email about your licensing exam scores, the score does not appear in the email. The email simply says that your scores are available and that you must log in (with username/password that you've surely forgotten since you signed up for the exam months ago). You click the link, realize fortunately that your username is your email and you smartly chose your password-for-all-random-things, then search through a long list of options to click on. Frustrated that you actually have to READ the links instead of having some big flashy sign saying "SCORES HERE," your heart pumps even faster. What if I didn't pass? I didn't realize I was so nervous until I had to go through a few more hoops to finally get to the page that gave me my score. Why do they do that to people? Psychologists know that the longer lag time there is in anticipation of something, the more anxiety can increase...so shouldn't the people behind a psychology licensing exam be a bit more sympathetic to that?

Anyway, I passed. It didn't say "pass" or anything like that. It just listed my score. Fortunately, I had already looked up the passing scaled score for California, so I didn't have to wait even longer, but man, if I had had to then go look up what the passing score was before really knowing...that would have been even worse.

But yay! National exam behind me. State exam left to go...

Damn

Why is there all this hype about Prince William? Marry him, and sure, you could be Queen, but marry his brother, and you get to look at this everyday:

Little brother got hot...

Countdown Updates

I got to take down a horrible, terrible countdown widget today! I finished the EPPP (psychology licensing exam)! I won't know my score for "several weeks" (or a few days, depending on when they get to it), but it's over.

In the meantime, I have these countdowns still running:

• 12 days til I leave for the Academy of Eating Disorders conference
• 42 days til I go to Portland for Memorial Day weekend
• 48 days til Kristen and Andrew visit me
• 57 days til Baby Rittman is due (my first local baby to play with...)
• 91 days til Hilton Head vacation

There is another conference and training workshop in there that isn't on the countdown list yet - mostly because I am not sure about my departure dates, but that is happening in June. I love countdowns, although I'm sort of excited for those few weeks between the ED conference and Memorial Day where I can just have a normal life again. :)

Studying

Dear Industrial/Organizational Psychology,

If I cared about leadership styles and the subsequent effectiveness for an organization's success, I would have gone to school for I/O psychology instead of clinical psychology. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU! Why are you on my clinical psychology test in such a substantial way?

Seriously, if clinical psychologists are supposed to know about this crap, why doesn't the American Psychological Association require courses on it as part of their accreditation process for clinical psychology graduate training? Spending a few weeks cramming this stuff into my brain to regurgitate it for some exam and subsequently forget it seems like a major waste of everyone's time.

No offense, I/O psych. But I sort of hate you.

Sincerely,

Me

PS: This hatred will probably be over as soon as this test is over. 15 more hours to go...

Dining in the Dark

Years ago, when I was planning a trip to Berlin, I came across this restaurant called Unsicht-Bar. It's a restaurant where you eat in pitch black and have to maneuver and experience dining with your other senses. I wanted to go so badly, but in the end, with all of the other things we were doing on the trip, it just didn't make sense to spend so much money on one dinner.

Fast forward to last November, when I checked my daily Groupon email to see that there was a restaurant based on the same idea in Santa Monica called Opaque, and I could get a half price dinner through this Groupon. It was still expensive (regularly $99/person, so this was $99/for two), but I thought, "I've been wanting to do this for YEARS, so I should just take advantage of the deal." I talked to Ida about going with me initially because she was going to come to LA in December, but then her plans changed, so I needed to find someone else to go with.

Last Friday, I finally used it. I hadn't thought too much about the experience before we got there, but as we were ordering (in the light before you go into the dining part of the restaurant), I suddenly realized that I was nervous. Turns out, I was not alone, as my friend Erica who came with me, felt relieved to hear me say it, and acknowledged that she had suddenly felt a little anxious, too. Neither of us quite knew why - or what we were afraid would happen, but I guess the idea of not being able to rely on our sense of sight throughout the meal was scarier than we thought it would be.

We were led into the dark to our table by our waitress (single file with arms on shoulders so that we would not trip on other tables or chairs). She took our hands to orient us to our table and chairs, pointing out potential dangers, like table corners, along the way. We each had a bottle of sparkling water, which was a daunting task, as we were expected to fill our glasses ourselves. (Actually easier than I expected.)

My nerves began to relax through the first course, as I realized that we would be oriented to the location of each plate and utensil both verbally and by touch. Erica may have ended up putting her fingers in the butter at one point, but nothing too terrible happened.

The best part of the experience to me was the surprise of each bite of food. I had no idea what part of the course would end up on my fork, as I blindly stabbed away at my plate. I was also more aware of myself and my own thoughts than I would typically be at a restaurant. I was not distracted by other tables of people (aside from one man who had an Indiglo watch - who later put it away in a pocket). I was not concerned about whether that bite of salad resulted in salad dressing on my cheek. Instead, once my nerves calmed down, I could just be mindful about the food and the company. And it ended up being really relaxing and peaceful.