That’s right – midterms! By next Wednesday, I will have completed two 10-15 page papers, an economics test and a presentation at my internship. Talk about a lot to do!

Bill is still doing excellent at work.  This week human resources  asked him to write a job description for the assistant account executive position I asked him if HR realized he was only an account executive and not a vice president!

We are also still  apprentice leaders of our community group. We lead every 3rd time – so next week is our second time to lead. Last month our sermon series was on idols and this month – leading up to Easter- we are examining who Jesus is by what He said about Himself.

So, I apologize in advance if there are not too many updates in the next week because of mid-terms!

Bill and I both had busy weeks last week so we took the weekend to do absolutely nothing. Now, we’re one day into another week. And it seems like it is going to be a busy one for me. To be honest, I think every week until graduation will be busy!

Friday morning I had to wake up early to get across town by 8:30 am. The night before Bill gave me a stern warning – Don’t wake me up when you get up! I got up and took a shower (as quietly as I could) and then as I was passing the window that holds the air conditioner I saw a large pile of SNOW! So, I went into the bedroom and whispered as loud as I could – IT SNOWED! Of course Bill jumped out of bed and was glad I woke him up! By Friday afternoon we had over 6 inches of snow!

Friday night we had dinner with Tori. We had a good time – we ate at Chevy’s in Times Square. After dinner we went to Rockefeller Center and saw the ice skating rink, 30 Rock and where the Today show is taped. Then we took her to see a New York City apartment – ours! She said it was bigger than she thought it would be.

Today we went out to Roosevelt Island again. This time we rode the tram across – it was fun! Over on Roosevelt Island we walked through the snow and built a snow man.

We are enjoying the snow while it lasts!

2008 has been an exciting year so far!

We are leaders in training for our Community Group. Which will be wonderful!

Bill has been excelling as a digital media public relations guru! At the end of February, he will be traveling for three days to North Carolina to help train 35 marketing and public relations experts at a multi-billion dollar business intelligence company. Bill is getting attention at his company for being a great Account Executive! Even the Executive Vice-President (EVP) has taken note of his work and his stylish wardrobe He was also given the “task” of picking out laptops for the digital media team and is now trying to convince the EVP that he needs a Mac.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I was able to spend several days at the United Nations the past couple of weeks. I attended the Commission on Social Development which was about improving the lives of all people through concrete actions. In particular, I attended sessions that had to do with aging policy. The sessions were about the Madrid International Plan of Action on Action and how regions and countries had implemented the plan to make cities more aging friendly. I am now serving as a United Nations representative for the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG).

I also have the opportunity to be involved in several other international aging projects. I am a member of the NGO Committee on Aging and helping to plan and implement the 2008 International Day of Older Persons to be held in October at the United Nations. I am also the U.S. Student Representative for the 2008 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day that will be held in June in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

At my internship I get to do a poster presentation at the National Association of Social Workers conference in Albany, NY. The conference is at the end of March and I’m presenting on how social workers can use blogging as a means of communication with other professionals and as a tool to inspire communities to action.

So, how is everyone doing on their 2008 goals? It has been almost 2 months are you following through or have you forgotten all about them? One of our favorite things to do is dance (if you can call it that) on Friday nights! During one of our dances we found a “theme” song for our lives. It’s corny and juvenile but our “theme” song is “REACH” by S CLUB 7. (I’m sure only Dana will know who they are!) It’s our theme song because it is all about reaching for the stars, following your hearts desire and being an achiever. But, it’s also about having someone who will always be with you as you are achieving your dreams! And setting goals is one way to “reach!”

Does anybody else have a theme song?

Quite by accident, I attended a reception hosted by the Global Action on Aging tonight. The first Thursday of every month I go to the NGO Committee on Aging meeting. So, I head downtown to get to the meeting by 1:00 but when I got there today the security told me that the meeting had been changed to 5:00. A little perturbed because it’s not an easy place in the city to get – I head back to work but decide to go back at 5 because I love being a part of the Committee. At 5:00 I head back downtown. Instead of there being an NGO meeting they are having the Global Action on Aging reception.

I was able to network with so many amazing people! This morning at work I got assigned to work on New York’s Age Friendly City Initiative and tonight I met the man who dreamed up and developed the worldwide Age Friendly City!!! I met people from all over the world who are affiliated with the United Nations – Brazil, Germany, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Wisconsin

The most exciting part is that I know have UN security clearance until May (at least). Which means that I have access to the UN, meetings and various other things!!!

What should I fix when our neighbors come to eat dinner? She is from Colombia and she wants an authentic southern dinner!

This weekend was a good one. On Saturday we were very lazy! About 4 we decided that we decided that we should get out of the apartment so we went window shopping. All the stores have out their Spring fashions but it was too cold to even think about short sleeves! It was fun and I can’t wait to spend my Christmas gift cards on Spring clothes!

Today we went to church – it was nice to get back in our normal meeting place. Last week we were out of town and the week before we were at DeWitt Nursing Home. Bill and I are going to be “apprentices” in our Community Group meaning we are going to be leaders in training. Then, if we are needed we can lead a community group at our apartment. After church we went to a leader training. I am very excited about being an apprentice.

Tonight we had dinner with our neighbors. It was nice. They moved in a few weeks after we did. He is in a 5 year doctorate program and she is working for an NGO. He is from Ohio and she is from Colombia. She fixed food and it was delicious! There was salad, rice and spicy chicken. Even Bill ate it – which is a feat for him to try something so new. I hope we can get together with them more often.

This week school starts again for me. So, now I will have full weeks. But I graduate in 15 short weeks – May 19! Bill has been working a lot lately but even made some money on the side editing videos. Hopefully, he will get home sooner than 9 this week! He is working hard but enjoying every minute of it!

We are looking forward to people coming to visit soon! Tori will be here in February, our friend Tiffany from Jackson in March, I’m going to meet my Mom in Ft. Lauderdale for Spring Break, my best friend Megan in April and Dana this summer!!! We need to figure out when Pam is going to come and visit and when we are going to see Bill and Gayle again!!

Well, it is official. I am going to Washington, D.C. with my internship. We will be having our National Advisory Panel meeting which is where everyone who advised our program meets once a year to discuss our progress, next steps and plans for the future.

Thanks to my well connected father we are also on the waiting list to tour the White House while we’re in town. We’ll know by early next week whether we get to go or not. We’re also planning on seeing the Capital building, Supreme Court, several monuments, the Holocaust museum and part of the Smithsonian. Does anyone have any suggestions on what we should do while we are there?

We’re staying 2 different places – the Marriott Wardman and the Holiday Inn Capitol. They both look really nice. The second one my Mom stayed at and it is steps away from everything!

I’m really looking forward to the trip because I’ve never really been to DC before. Junior year of high school we went to Arlington Cemetery and to several of the memorials. But, we really just drove through on the bus.