It's been an interesting 24-and-a-bit hours

This entry may be a little scattered as the bits that made this past day and a bit interesting are somewhat unrelated.

First off, when I got home yesterday evening, I saw a mouse in my new apartment. It seemed I startled it when I opened the door, as it took quite the long jump - at least 2, almost 3 feet. I never saw it again - probably thankfully. But believe me, every time I went into my office where I saw it running toward, I walked with trepidation, and I made sure I made noise before entering the room so as to either warn the mouse or allow it to run out before I went in. I feared I'd have a hard time falling asleep knowing it was in the apartment, but I guess, living with a mouse for about a month at the house trained me to be ok with it around. I just don't like being startled by the sudden movements, and I don't like the fact field mice carry things like henta virus and Hep A.

The rest of the evening was neither here nor there. I packed for the weekend and worked a bit more on my course.

Today, I woke up, sensing that something wouldn't quite go as I'd hope today or this weekend. I feared things like falling or getting injured. I prayed about that and I feel a bit better, but still I felt unsettled. It was a weird day, though. And I do think God protected me several times. While driving, one individual cut me off quite severely at highway speeds. I really don't think he was paying attention at all. He just changed lanes in front of me without signalling ... or apparently shoulder checking. But, I reacted quickly and safely and stayed safe. It seemed like there was another incident while driving up to Edmonton too, but nothing as significant as that one.

On to my travels within the city of Edmonton. It felt so disorienting as I didn't actually have a map of where I was going. I knew enough to know that I needed to drive in the Northeast direction. I had looked at a map last night and I felt fairly certain I would find my way to the hotel without taking a detailed map along. Afterall, I'd been there before. But, no, that didn't happen as I planned. I did find my way to the ring road. And, even in that process, it felt weird not really knowing where to drive. I was purely using logic to find my way. My problem came when I thought I was following a sign to get to the Yellowhead and ended up on some little 2-lane road that seemed to go nowhere. It felt eerie. It was the kind of road you'd expect dangerous things to happen on - places where nobody would find you. Nobody else was around. I wanted to get out of there fast. I turned around after a bit, but I had to search my vehicle to find my map of Edmonton - which apparently never made it to my new vehicle. I did find an Alberta map that gave me enough information to realize what I did wrong. I was so thankful for that! Then I got to the hotel and there were no spots left to park except the spot reserved for the taxi company. They let me park in that spot, so that was good.

I feel settled in my room and I think it should be a good night. I am hoping I sleep well and am awake for the whole conference. I am looking forward to the conference. If today's meeting with Alberta Mental Health OT's is any indication, tomorrow should be a good day. I felt refreshed in my career, just being at the meeting. I got excited and passionate about ideas I would like to do with my practise. I had a renewed desire to pursue a PhD and got some ideas for projects. I learned of new opportunities for OT work with the veterans. That will take time. But, at this time, I am still in a permanent 0.8 position at the hospital and I still feel that is where I'm supposed to be right now. In time, maybe I can try to pursue some of these things.

I really do enjoy these opportunities to network with other OT's working in mental health. I also like the learning opportunities of these conferences. Again, it renews my interest in continual learning - my academic side shining through.

So on that note, I should sign off. I really do hope that those ominous feelings I had this morning go away and that all of the things are now over with or even totally avoided. Right now, I am not feeling the way I did this morning. I also hope and pray this weekend with the youth will be amazing - on so many levels. Spiritually, relationally, fun, no injuries or mishaps. A chance for us all to grow together. I will be sharing one story during the talks this weekend about how God has spoken to me and I pray it will somehow be beneficial to someone or many. One of my friends is the weekend speaker, so I'm sure he is looking for wisdom to know what to say and how to say it.