Updating...

Today is the Legako Family Christmas celebration. At least half of us present are sick. Other than that, it's really great to get together.

My job is going great. I am really fortunate to have a job that allows me to work with families in this capacity. I also work with some of the greatest people. Particularly my bosses. A little peek into my work environment: When having a lively debate about the 'date-ability of guys who pop their collar and wear Sperry's' during our daily staffing (because we had an influx of these guys in treatment at the time, and the girls would not leave them alone), my clinical director politely excused himself only to return with his pink polo collar popped, a pair of Ray Ban wayfarers, and a white cardigan draped over his shoulders. He asked if this look changed his date-ability?
I folded over in a fit of giggles. I love this job.

Jerrad is doing well. He is getting ready to take his qualifying exams next month.
Welker and Sonny are still spoiled, but getting ready to duck hunt. We'll see if they like the cold.

Food for thought

From Jeff Kottler's "On being a therapist"

I wonder is Freud's admonishment to remain detached in the therapeutic relationship was intended less to promote the client's transference than to preserve the emotional safety of the clinician. The experience of any practitioner would attest to the emotional as well as the intellectual strains of living constancly with clients' crises, confusion, and intense suffering. We sit in a sacred vault, completely isolated from the rest of the world and all other intrusions, accompanied only by those who have lost hope, who live with excruciating agony, and who sometimes try to make others' lives as miserable as their own. Even with the best defenses and clinical detachment, we are still sometimes polluted by this pain.
-Kottler

It's been so long...

Well, it's been months... so much to report. Jerrad and I went to Ireland. Which was really neat. Well, we went to Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. The more I learned about Northern Ireland, the more I was ready to go home. But after being there a week, and being charmed by the locals, I would definitately go back.
Jerrad is still working hard on his PhD. I'm not jealous. In fact, the longer he is in his PhD, the more I do not want to start one.
The dogs are doing well. They are just as spoiled as ever. We are getting them ready for dove season in September. I know Sonny will blow us away with his hunting abilities. It's interesting to see how the exact same genetics can rear totally different hunting styles. Welker with hunt because we want him to; Sonny hunts because Sonny wants to. I'm a proud momma.
Work is still working.
And Stephanie is still Stephanie, that about sums it all up.