The Ramblings of a Traveling Speech Therapist

Pause.

2010-09-21T20:47:00.006-04:00

Sorry for the delay folks- April, May, June, July, August, and most of September has slid by without comment from me! I'm not sure exactly why I stopped blogging. We could psychoanalyze my actions and hypothesize that I made the final decision that I had seen what I wanted to see and it was time to stop traveling while driving the PCH. It'd be a good hypothesis. Why stop blogging though? What do you say when you've decided the adventure must end? Like a good little procrastinator, I hesitated to share "the rest of the story" prior to my own knowledge of how things would turn out. And so it ends, but not without finishing the story. Here's what I was doing all those months... --Ramblingspeech 9/21/10

Southern California Roadtrip (April 17-21)

2010-04-21T20:53:00.000-04:00

April 17th: San Diego was beautiful. I explored Mission Beach, toured San Diego Zoo, and met up with friend Adrienne (see posts regarding crossing the United States!!!) for an exciting night of Indian food and partying at the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel. The outfits at the Hard Rock Cafe were amazing--I was vastly underdressed in my very best travel "nice" outfit.

The Meerkats were just as cute as they appear on TV.

April 18th: After dropping Adrienne off at the airport, I drove up the highway 1 to Santa Monica Pier where I had that free night in the Holiday Inn Express. I love Holiday Inn- they gave me a great ocean view that also had a view of the pier at night- I watched the ferris wheel change colors for awhile the night I arrived. I explored the pier, rode the roller coaster and the ferris wheel, wandered and took pictures, then headed up to the promenade to enjoy the street shows. There were some people set up to salsa in the street, magic shows, solo musicians, acts... it was great. I landed in a tiny restaurant (my favorite type) called Manchego which turned out to be everything I hope dining alone will be. And in dining alone, I mean sitting at a bar having a fascinating conversation with a German girl who is working for a studio as a casting agent assistant and a fellow who was an out of work actor. The food was great- I don't remember everything but there were goat cheese stuffed figs and bacon wrapped scallops and that was enough! I wandered home after dark, slightly fuzzy and excited about finally seeing Hollywood the next day.

April 19th: I drove into LA and rushed to Warner Brother Studio for the VIP tour. I had read on the website that you should buy your tickets ahead of time or risk not getting one. I had not planned ahead but was able to jump on the next tour. I highly recommend it-- we toured the back studio on a small golf cart with about 10 other tourists, wandered the set of the Mentalist, touched the walls of the set used for the musical ANNIE, which was also used for the main street scene for FRIENDS and a whole bunch of other shows. We also stopped by a small museum which housed a whole floor dedicated to Harry Potter (I was sorted into Slytherin) and another floor with costumes ranging from the Matrix to Edward Scissorhands. We saw the golf cart belonging to Mr. Lopez (it had sparkles) and the set for Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a wonderful tour--one of the best and most informative I've ever been on. I was sad to inform my parents that they were truly disassembling the set for Two and a Half Men (it had not been officially cancelled yet, but the set was being torn down).

After the studio tour, I became star struck and headed down to Hollywood to walk the star path and place my hands in the handprints at the Chinese Theater. My favorite handprints included the Harry Potter cast (of course), Shirley Temple, John Wayne, Douglas Fairbanks...and R2D2. I finished my star gazing with a massage at a nearby hotel- the spa entrance fee allowed me access to the roof for views of the area and it felt right to get a massage in Hollywood. :-)

April 20th: I went to Disneyland and California Adventures. Yes it was smaller than Disney World (which I grew up going to); yes I liked it anyway. If you were planning a trip to Calfornia I'd recommend the Warner Brother Studios and a drive up the PCH-- but if you have excess time then a trip to California Adventures would certainly be fun. I had fun. Holiday Inn Express wow'd me again with a free upgrade to the whirlpool suite and a cheaper price than I was expecting for a hotel within a 15 minute walk to Disney. The night ended in Fireworks and a churro (as all nights should).

April 21: I drove back to reality, through the rain, up Hwy 5. It was dreary. It was done.

Driving South

2010-04-17T01:27:00.002-04:00

My frantic tour of the south has begun.

Today, left San Jose at 6:30am (dragged myself from the bed).

Drove down 101 for a very long time.

Arrived in Santa Barbara at 11:30am and toured around the courthouse, which was absolutely beautiful. Old wood, murals, and tile- I'd show up to traffic court just to look! Ate at a place called Jeannie's just around from the courthouse- loved the turkey and cranberry wrap. Shopped at some spiritual store and bought some CDs on a whim- didn't need them, and not sure why I bought them, but I shall endeavor to listen to them. Drove around the lovely little town and then headed south on hwy 1 to Santa Monica.

Halfway there I finally got ahold of my Holiday Inn rewards program and realized I could get a free night at a Santa Monica hotel on the pier-- but only for SUNDAY night. Reshuffled the schedule and continued to head south past Santa Monica.

And hit L.A. traffic. 2 hours later, (for what should have taken 40 minutes), I arrived in San Luis de Capistrano. Parked, called around, and reserved at Best Western Inn by the Sea in Dana Point. Cute hotel, nice desk person, but very tricky. They promised me a view of the ocean and I have one-- about a 12 inch view from behind the elevator. Tricky tricky. If he hadn't of said it was a ocean view room I'd be perfectly happy- it's a very nice little inn with a courtyard, a sun deck that DOES have an unobstructed view of the ocean, and a jacuzzi. It's a one block walk from several restaurants and a bar. You can hear the ocean from the rooms (even from behind the elevator!). It's clean and well kept. I just feel a little scammed for my "ocean view". Ate eggplant parmesan at a local Italian restaurant and am now typing and eating some skittles (taste the rainbow).

Tomorrow-on to San Diego to meet up with friend Adrienne who may want to explore the San Diego Zoo with me. We shall see. Today was a whole bunch of driving and a few nice views. Tomorrow it's time to explore.

Kidnapped by Stress and Fun

2010-04-10T23:27:00.002-04:00

I did not get kidnapped in Jamaica. I'd have liked about 2 more days there (the sun actually was OUT our last day- making me desire just a little nap in a warm sun instead of the chilly windy beach trip I experienced instead). It was a grand time though. Old roomie from college was an awesome partner in crime in everything but karaoke (who can blame her need to sit back on THAT one) and really made the trip worth it. We walked up a waterfall, we laid on a beach (slightly chilly due to a cold front) we played checkers with the security guard, we tried lots of sweet drinks, we wandered and swam and ate lots of desserts. It was a nice getaway. Jamaica mainland was scary- and we stayed on the resort to avoid it.

California is still fun, but I find myself slowly disengaging from the traveling life as I contemplate settling down and finding a permanent job. I've been at this 4 years- was only planning for 2 year. The economy and job market scare me a bit and I worry about whether I'll find a permanent job or will I be forced to continue traveling out of necessity?

I've slowly looked at my disposable income and expenses and am ruthlessly chopping back and coupon cutting. I'm examining my retirement portfolio (nowhere close to retiring, but by early 30's I should at least have a better managed plan instead of a target retirement date plan). I'm looking around at my belongings and trying to gauge what is important to me. I'm making lists of things I want to accomplish by 40. I'm slowly getting ready to become boring and I'm slightly scared.

On the upside, a guy at work asked me on a date. I blew him off (politely) but there's hope in that department. I really can't get involved with anyone 2000 miles away from where I plan to be in 2 months. It's not fair to the guy- he's nice though and it was nice to be hit on.

Other fun stuff- went kayaking for the first time in 10 years or so and had a blast. I planned to go again this morning but it rained and I just didn't think cold, wet and worn out was something I wanted to face this week with. Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, CA is just brilliant to kayak in- calm waters, otters playing around your boat, seals, birds of all varieties, and enough people in the water to feel safe but not crowded. The farmer's markets continue to amaze and thrill me with all the varieties of fresh fruits and veggies- though in the back of my mind I'm telling myself that SC does not have farmer's markets like this. The churches have been nice, but instead of picking one I seem to be slowly rotating through all the Catholic churches in the area. There's a limbo feeling within me as I move through the daily routine. What's next. What comes next?

The only reason I extended my contract is that they gave me 6 days off between my original enddate and my extension start date. I plan to use those 6 days to visit southern CA so that I've seen it. So far, the only firm plan in to stay in Pismo Beach the first night. After that- wandering I will go!

And the weekend after that I head to Seattle for a conference. Those plans are already set- hotel/air/conference fees already paid. Ride to and from airport being provided by co-worker's husband. It's all good.

Of course, signing an extension threw a new stress into life. They unfortunately had rented my apartment by the time the extension was signed. So I have to move apartments. The apartment is on the other side of the complex so for the next few nights I'll be carrying over belongings. Tuesday they move my furniture. Thursday I head South for 6 days. Today I finally got my taxes done, though not printed and in the mail yet. Tomorrow I am working. Just a little stress to make it all fun.

So after my taxes get in, and after I move, and after I frantically tour southern CA, and after I go to class in Seattle, I'll work on my resume and see if there's luck in the air in SC for me. What's next? What comes after all the traveling and moving and adventure? I have a better handle on what's important to me in life, and a great competency in all areas of Speech Language Pathology, but will the ducks line up appropriately or will they continue to wander despite my attempts to organize them? I guess that, in itself, is the next adventure.

Goodbye Bees, Hello Jamaica!

2010-03-02T02:15:00.002-05:00

I bid a fond farewell to the now identified yellow jackets that have been haunting my life as late. Goodbye little bee in the corner of my bedroom dying on my floor! Goodbye brother bee in my living room floor! Farethewell nest of fear-invoking swarm living on my porch! Hopefully you will not take up permanent residence whilst I am sleeping on the beach in Jamaica!

The core trip is here again! Last year it was Mexico (with a nice dose of H1N1 thrown in for fun and excitement) and this year it is Jamaica! We'll see what natural disasters or newsworthy events follow me to this poor island with excess sand. I leave tomorrow after work, fly all night to ATL, fly all morning to Ja-MAY-ka man, and meet up with old college buddy (aka des petits moments) who is abandoning life to hang on a beach with me.

I was supposed to pack tonight. Am I packed? Partially so. Will I forget something important (like underware?) probably. But at least I've packed the bathing suits and sunscreen already- so it's all good.

Who needs underware anyway? :-)

(ummmmm.....me...)

Bees again!

2010-02-25T00:55:00.003-05:00

Geesh Louise. I hate bees. Long time fear of bees.

Yesterday morning I awoke, went out to make coffee, and a bee was on my curtain. We went to war and I was the winner. Tonight- another bee in my kitchen. Not the sweet lovely honey bees (that still scare me, but I recognize they make honey and don't usually stalk me) but a mean looking bee I think is a hornet. It was watching me from the top of my curtain. Again, war (this time with bee spray instead of the hairspray I had on hand to off it's sibling). Outside the window I noticed a whole nest of these mean evil hornets- I sprayed it too. Then I started shining my flashlight around- they were everywhere! Under ledges, by my door, on my porch- surrounding me! I sprayed them all, ran inside, and called the office for the guys to come out tomorrow and check it out. Uggggg! Now I'm all creeped out. I even checked UNDER MY BED for bees. Why I think this is a good place for bees to hide, I'm not sure.

Oh, and the best solution for a broken flashlight (dropped it by accident outside) is apparently to take it apart, change the batteries, take it apart again, give up and bang it in frustration on a counter. Tah-dah! It worked from my very expert banging.

Best quote of the day, "I decided to die so I stopped eating. But that cookie was good. I'll eat now-I'll live now." Saved by a graham cracker- who says Speech therapists don't make a difference??? :-)

Busy in the San Jose Area

2010-02-14T21:55:00.005-05:00

Another famous catch-up blog post!!! Here it is by the week:

Jan. 16/17- waited for the comcast guy. Went to Avatar. Loved the movie- love the cable. Also visited the Basilica of St Joseph, and while it was very lovely, decided this is not the church for me. Silly enough, I'm eliminating it because I have to parallel park in the city (the church has no parking lot). I'm always running late for church-add parallel parking to the mix and I'll have to ask for a lot more forgiveness than previously planned for. But it is a beautiful church and worth visiting if you are in the area.

Jan. 23/24- Capitola, CA, Seacliff State Park and the San Jose Art Museum. I had visited Capitola during my stay up north, but it was so cute that I had to revisit it. It had rained a week straight and Saturday was my first sight of the sun here in California.

On the beach at Capitola the locals had used the washed up driftwood from the storms to build small house-like structures that they planned on burning in the evening-- I did not stay for the burn but I admired their handwork.

SeaCliff State park was beautiful- another place to visit often if I was a local. I even figured out how to sneak in without paying (quite accidently I assure you!) Sometimes it is benificial to follow a crowd over a barrier. The art museum was small and a bit over-priced at $8 for the amount of art they actually have on display. I did love the modern art portion- being a fan of that genre- but only one floor of art does not a museum make!!!! They should merge with another museum.

Jan. 30/31- Carmel-by-the-Sea. Sigh. Such a cute little uppity town. There are no colorful signs, no fast food joints, the roads are pedestrian friendly, the streets lined with little boutiques and unique little browsing shops and the restaurants that I visited had on average 18 tables. I ate lunch at La Bicyclette, a small French bistro that served a delicious grilled monk fish and veggies. I visited the Mission museum and dreamed of old Spanish California with its struggling missions.

I browsed the shops and pretended to have money. I ate at Basil for dinner, another small cozy restaurant that served short ribs that made me want to "slap my momma". At Basil I shared my table with another couple who huddled by the warming lamp outside- we had both failed to make reservations and had elected to sit on the outside tables despite the chill. They were very lovely and they were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. They were from San Jose, were planning to retire to Carmel, and stated that San Jose offered "absolutely nothing to see". Shame on them! I'm out to prove them wrong.

Feb. 6/7- after struggling through a cold all week (sniffy nose sinus type cold that flared my asthma out of retirement), I looked forward to a weekend where I had to work. Eck. So I schedule a massage for Saturday and worked my arse off Sunday. Really? 24 consults? You have got to be kidding me! I had 12 swallow consults and the paperwork for each takes about 20 minutes. The massage in no way prepared me for the onslaught of work Sunday. Usually hospitals are quieter on the weekend- the nurses are relaxed and the patients are a happy bunch because of the increase in visitors. Not so much at the one I'm working at now- no one was relaxed and no one was happy. I ignored the speech/language consults and tried to eliminate as many of the "NPO" patients as possible. 9 were seen and the other 3 cancelled for change in status reasons. It was a rough day.

Feb. 13/14- Yesterday I traveled down to Pillar Point by way of the camera store. I finally bought the telephoto lens I'd been salivating over and headed to the Maverick's Surfing Competition to break it in. Good thing I had it- they had closed the beach closest to the contest due to a rogue wave that tried to carry off some on-lookers. The perch I found to watch the contest was far away from the 50 foot waves. From my cliff side perch, I could see small waves in the distance and a couple of specks- with the telephoto the specks turned into boats, more specks on specks were identified as waverunners.

In the center of this next photo there is a tiny little speck on the inside surface of the wave with a little white line behind him. That's a surfer. A very brave and stupid surfer.

A South African man by the name of Chris Bertish won the competition. I think this is him in the pictures- he was the only guy in orange that I saw and he was doing interviews post contest. My telephoto lens is working well!

I am still trying to find that perfect Pacific sunset picture. I've yet to see the famed green flash on the horizon, and I'm beginning to think it may be a myth along the lines of Snipes. That's no reason to stop looking for it, is it? Here's the best sunset from the last few weekends.

San Jose, CA

2010-01-06T19:36:00.002-05:00

Here I come!

This time I had two companies searching for me (due to lack of contract as I ended my last contract!)

Old company came through in the end. Darn- their health insurance is no so good. At least I'll be able to attend my annual trip one last year without any awkwardness! Speaking of annual trips, this year it is in Jamaica and I talked an old friend into attending with me (we split the guest cost- mine would have been free and hers would have been excessive- split it was okay!)

Mexico last year was fun- but a bit lonely. des petites and I were roommates in college and traveled overseas 2 weeks while I was in graduate school. We spoke about taking a trip every 5 years- but life interrupted (me, and my traveling; her, and her lovely family). We are overdue for quality bff time.

Eeeekkkk! 2 months to fit in my bathing suit!

First thing I will find in San Jose will be an exercise routine!

Where to next?

2009-12-27T15:21:00.003-05:00

I don't know.

One of the dangers of contract work is the possibility of work gaps. I've never had an unplanned one before- with the exception of the gap waiting for Georgia to verify my license- but that time I had a contract waiting for me.

I have no contract. Yikes. I've even signed onto another company so I have two searching for me (this new company has better benefits as well so it is well worth the change.)

The problem is that I want to be in Southern California, and I do not want another skilled nursing facility, and California is in financial crisis right now. There may not be a non-nursing facility in California that needs a contract worker- or the competition may be too high. One hospital looked at my well-rounded resume and decided I had not had enough recent acute care experience- despite the fact that I've worked in 4 acute care settings in the last 3 years. Another one is considering me.

I'm relaxed. I'm waiting. I'm laughing when people ask me if I have a job yet. It's Christmas and I'm having fun with the family and I'll worry about the job in another few days. For now, here's a picture of our Christmas tree- which has been providing amusement to me and my friends for a few days now.

Yosemite with Weather

2009-12-27T12:08:00.003-05:00

On the weekend of Dec. 11-13 I traveled back to Yosemite. This time my travel buddy was an OT from a sister facility who had expressed a desire to go National Parking- my usual buddy Lisa had planned to go but stayed home sick instead.

Friday night we stayed at the Comfort Inn in Mariposa, CA- right outside the I-140 entrance to the park. This hotel was pretty bad. As we were unloading our car, I paused on the steps and watched a fellow come and wiggle our door handle- which freaked me out. The ice machine was on the dark side of the building, outside, and was unplugged. I slept restlessly that night- thinking of the fellow who had tested our door. The next morning we found breakfast provided by the hotel: wrinkled hard boiled eggs, milk that came out of the machine SOLID, and wrinkled fruit. I brought the manager over to inspect the milk and he initially stated that it couldn't possibly be bad- then he sniffed it and said, "oh, yes, time to change it." Yes indeed-- as if solid milk wasn't a clue that it had gone bad! We cooked waffles with the idea that the cooking process would kill anything bad.

Saturday we drove up to Hetch Hetchy reservoir which required the placement and removal of snow chains each way. We decreased our time from 20 minutes to 5 minutes to completely place and strap on the snow chains- we are superwomen!!!

Hetch Hetchy had the potential to be quite beautiful, but much was occluded by the clouds of mist and rain. We started a short trail, despite the drizzle, then continued on a longer trail with the hopes of seeing a waterfall. Two ladies coming back from the waterfall informed us that there had been a rockslide and you could not get back to the waterfalls any more. A recent rockslide! We could have been crushed! Pretty exciting stuff. By the time we got back to the car our rain jacket pockets had filled with water and my only dry spots were the pocket with my car keys (I had folded my shirt around them to keep that area dry) and the inside of my shoes (my Timberlands still work after 13 years!) We drove into Yosemite, placing and removing the snow chains to navigate a snow covered pass.

That night we ate soup at the food court and hung the rest of the night at the bar at Yosemite lodge. We sat by the fire and merged with the group next to us that included a guy on a spiritual retreat from Hawaii, and a newly engaged couple from ?Alabama. The girl was filling out her Christmas cards, so we signed one, drew some bear pictures, and burned the edges to give her an authentic "Yosemite" Christmas card to send. While in the bar, the rain turned to snow and we had a couple inches on the ground by 2am. We made a snowman behind our lodge room.

The next morning we woke to a winter wonderland and our snowman was up to his waist in snow! We walked in the snow to see Yosemite falls and then wandered into the trading post- the most mundane things coated with snow appear quite beautiful. In direct contrast, the easiest paths became treacherous slippery treks of doom. We stayed on the easy ones and enjoyed the snow.

By the time we drove out that afternoon, the snow and ice was melted from the roads and the snow chains were no longer needed. We drove back to humanity and stopped at a christmas farm of sorts about an hour from home for some baked potatoes, snow tubing, and a quiet drive through some christmas lights. It was an excellent end to my stay in San Francisco, CA.

Snow Chains

2009-12-09T10:54:00.002-05:00

I did not think that the place I would need snow chains would be CALIFORNIA. Never in a million years would I have guessed it!

#1. It is illegal to drive in snow in California without snow chains.
#2. It is snowing in Yosemite National Park.
#3. We are driving my car to Yosemite this weekend for one last breath of snow covered beauty.

Adventure awaits.

I just have to do about 5 million things, including secure a next assignment, buy Christmas presents for my family and send out my Christmas cards, before this weekend.

Yikes.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T19:48:00.002-05:00

Being quite a distance from home, I was forced into alternatives this year for Thanksgiving. Last year, in Boston, I was invited to a co-worker's house and ate a lovely dinner as a guest. Honestly, I'm blanking on her name. It was lovely and awkward to be in someone else's house and sitting at their family table.

This year I answered an ad in the church bullatin to attend a potluck- I even offered to set up/clean up. After purchasing enough greenbeans for 30 people I was sad to learn it was cancelled. The organizer stated there was a lack of interest- but invited me out to a late lunch with herself and two others who had answered the call for a potluck.

We ate at a place in Lafayette named Petar's and I'll admit I wasn't able to clear my plate! I had a fabulous turkey dinner- very plain and simple and VERY much what I would have eaten back in SC except the turkey was roasted and not fried. The dinner conversation with the two 70 year olds and the 40 year old organizer ranged from health issues, to money issues, and finally to traveling adventures (my specialty!) One of the elder ladies, Shirley was her name, used to be an airflight attendant and spoke about her traveling-- Switzerland in the early winter was her favorite. She remembered the thick snow clumps falling on a sea of black umbrellas which was the first sight that met her when she looked out the window that first morning. It's moments like those, irreproducible, that I hope I'll have a stash of by the time I end my own wandering. The 40 year old, Brooke, had health issues, which reminded me that life is unpredictable and I am doing the right thing by seeing what I want to see at this time. She landed up with my greenbeans after stating that she loved greenbeans, and offered to teach me to knit, (a task that Rachel had started and I have yet to follow up on). The other lady, Maureen, stated her opinion on various topics and used to be a librarian for a law firm.

I enjoyed it. It was more comfortable going to a restaurant than to someone's home, probably because it was neutral ground and didn't involve the complex social skills of being a helpful guest. We were all guests, and the conversation flowed around the table. Would I have liked more in depth philosophical topics? Most of the time, yes, but small talk was enough while I stuffed enough turkey and dressing into me to feed at least 3 of me. Even with my stuffing myself full of stuffing, I had enough for leftovers- so dinner tomorrow night will be the traditional leftover turkey, dressing, veggies and potatoes!

Not a bad Thanksgiving. I would have liked to have been home with the family, but I'd trade Christmas over Thanksgiving any day as far as prioritizing time off.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Do not go quietly into that good night

2009-11-25T22:41:00.002-05:00

I forgot that someone can rally right before death. I warned the other therapists not to get too excited because she wasn't able to eat and had previous wishes for no feeding tube. I warned them that death was inevitable. But when she started improving in my therapy, my optimism and excitement leaped in. And then she passed less than 12 hours later (I wholly reject the word "expired"- we are not milk). That last rally- how miraculous and how cruel.

Yosemite National Park

2009-11-15T20:07:00.004-05:00

My dear friend Lisa whose travels as an Occupational Therapist have led us to the same city set up the trip to Yosemite during my busy month of working weekends, visiting family, and entertaining visitors to my little unofficial hostel. It was Incredible.

We attempted to drive in Friday night after work, but decided to stay in a hotel instead. Saturday morning we finished our drive, parked our car at Camp Curry where we would be staying the night, and started our 6.8 mile round trip hike up 1900 feet. If I remember correctly, only a bare additional 4 miles (8 miles round trip) would have taken us to the coveted Half Dome peak. So we hiked about halfway to Half Dome! The hike was outstanding and took us to the top of Nevada Falls by way of Vernal Falls- best hike I've ever taken in my life. Most of the hike was comprised of stone steps and it was indeed strenuous as the guidebook suggested. I had no idea that I was capable of such a hike- and two mornings later my leg muscles reminded me that next time I need to train a little harder before attempting such a hike!

The Path:

Vernal Falls:

Nevada Falls:

The closest I got to Half Dome:

Dinner was a reward of fried chicken from a local fundraiser in the park and my bid at the silent auction left me empty handed and disappointed. That night we lingered in the communal lounge by the fire playing Apple Scrabble (Lisa KILLED me on the game) until it was time to go to bed in our unheated tent.

Let me write that again. UNHEATED tent. And the temperature dropped to the 20's. I was perfectly warm in my 3 wool blankets provided by the rangers, but my face was freaking cold and had to be pulled under the blankets every hour to warm up. As a person with a history of mild breathing problems, I do NOT like blankets over my face while I sleep, and even though my brain tried to convince my lungs that breathing under the blanket on THIS particular night was a good idea- the lungs just wouldn't agree. They insisted I submit my face to the chill, so the rest of me woke up every hour to reheat the frozen face. I've now slept in freezing weather in an unheated tent- I will never plan to do so again! Not without a ski-mask anyway!

The next day was spent visiting the Visitor's center, browsing shops, taking a small hike to the base of the iconic Yosemite Falls, and driving the scenic route home. It was a lovely and empowering weekend. I'm hoping very strongly that I'll get one more chance to visit Yosemite before the end of my assignment in December- I'd love to see it snow-covered!

The trip reminded me that I really must take a basic camera class- I was disappointed by my pictures and deleted about 300 of the 400 I took. Here are a few of the best ones- but I'd love another chance to capture some of the images I managed to overexpose/underexpose or ruin with sunspots.

Autumn in Yosemite:

Playing with the Shutter:

Reflections:

A random lake on the drive home:

Visit From Rachel; Hearst Castle

2009-11-15T19:04:00.008-05:00

A few weekends ago, my good friend Rachel from Atlanta came to visit and we explored a few places I had seen before, and saw some things I had not seen before.

Our big adventure during the week was to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. This was my second ride from Fisherman's wharf to Saulsalito and by far the most beautiful. The air was crystal clear with not even a wisp of fog, haze or smog.

This time we had time to wander around the little shops of Saulsalito and choose the ferry that delivered us just a few blocks from where we could turn in the bikes. Last time we took a ferry that required a harrowing bike ride down Embarcadero with the tourists and traffic and trolley tracks that threatened to make roadkill of me. While I enjoyed the crystal clear views provided by this outstanding day- I'm also grateful that I had the chance to bike the bridge in the fog as well.

After two days of the city, my friend was ready to see other parts of California. As she does not drink wine, and I felt Yosemite was too much of a trip for just one day, we headed south to revisit an area I had seen on my way into California.

We headed south on Pacific Hwy 1 and made plans to stay the night at the Best Western in San Simeon that had the firepits on the beach. Just 10 minutes up the road was Hearst Castle which I had been told was "worth seeing".

I had see Biltmore Estate on the East Coast, and I preferred the free wandering that the Biltmore Estate allows, but that did not diminish the sheer admiration for the Hearst Castle. I'd visit again to see at least one more of the 4 available tours. We chose tour #1- the "Welcome" tour that introduces visitors to the castle grounds, a guest house, and a few of the main rooms of the house.

There are 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, a couple of pools, and various other rooms. The pools were outstanding- the outside one looked like something I'd imagine Greek emperors sitting around after an exciting day of watching people battle lions. The inside one had a diving plateform whose height made my stomach cringe.

On the Hearst Castle grounds, I saw my first real live in-the-wild tarantula!

That night as I stared into the firepit and watched the pulsating of the hot embers, I brainstormed ways to become rich as a Speech Language Pathologist so I could also build a little house on a hill. I decided that my profession cannot honestly result in such riches, and I really don't have any interest in any profession that would result in purchasing power for such a place. Maybe I can marry well? Any billionaires reading the blog right now, thinking, "gee, who needs a trophy wife- this girl seems like marriage material!"? At least as a traveling Speech Therapist I can sit on a pacific beach after driving down a highway of breathtaking views and touring a mansion- and still have a job Monday morning to support my wandering!

The next morning we revisited the elephant seals and I learned from the rangers that were present this visit that the seals are actually teenagers. They come out of the water to get out of the way for the adult males to woo the females. The poor adolescents sit on the beach for up to 3 months without eating before going back into the ocean- no wonder they look dead! The adults are actually much much larger.

It's always enjoyable to take a roadtrip, and even more enjoyable to bring a friend along. Having another viewpoint present reveals the beauty of the scenery because you are constantly trying to guess what they would enjoy seeing. Rachel wasn't as blown away by the ocean as I was, but even she had to admit the fog rolling in over the ocean was really cool.

Family

2009-10-24T23:12:00.003-04:00

My mom turned 60 this year, though you wouldn't guess it by how she looks. People who look at our picture together have been known to say, "I thought you didn't have a sister?" Anyways, mom flew across the country and visited me a few weekends ago. She and I explored Napa and Sonoma together and I have yet to visit the same winery twice despite having visited the area 3 times now! We visited Cline winery, Jacuzzi Winery, Fritz Winery, Cuvaison Winery, Robert Mondavi Winery, and a couple of others that were forgetable.

We stayed at a place called Zinscape outside of Healdsburg. From the website, you would think that it is a small bed and breakfast. We were informed our second morning, when breakfast was not updated from the first morning, that it was not a bed and breakfast- it was a rental room. Whatever it was, it was clean and cute and surrounded by vineyards. Mom was disappointed by the lack of service (we had dirty dishes from our first morning- and no sink or dishwasher excluding the bathroom sink- but they were still dirty when we returned and we had to wash them with handsoap from the bathroom). I think it was a step up from out tiny hotel in downtown New York City that only let us plug in two things at a time- we had to choose between a TV, a clock, and a lamp that needed power. Try to figure that one out!

We had a great time. Mom left on Saturday, I worked Saturday and Sunday, as well as Monday-Wednesday and then flew to Florida for a family vacation on Thursday. Whew! I had worked 9 days in a row before the vacation- mad props to the nurses out there who do that on a regular basis!

My two brothers, my sister-in-law and 2 nephews, my mom, and my dad all flew to Anna Maria Island in Florida, located south of Tampa, FL. We had a blast despite the chilly weather and off shore storms. We even swam in the ocean 2 of the days despite the wicked surf. When we swam on Saturday, it was difficult to maintain an upright position in the water and the undertow was dragging not only me, but my two larger brothers down the coast as well. Even so often they would trudge against the tow and head back to the area of the beach where our chairs were chilling. I would call uncle, ride a wave in to the sand, and walk back. As it was, my calves and thighs were sore and bruised by the end of the first day. The second day was colder, but the waves were not as rough.

I have to state that we must have a little bit of dare-devil in all of us-- I very much enjoyed the first day of swimming even though I was worried about riptides the entire time. Woman verses ocean! Can she swim against the tow? Can she ride the wave ALL the way to the shore? Eeeeck! A wave! Dive! Dive! Dive! I was 10 years old diving through the oncoming waves and trying to keep up with my big brother- except somehow I've now gotten 2 big brothers (Little bro is not so little). I had a blast.

We celebrated mom's birthday officially and had a guitar player at a bar play Happy Birthday for her. He also played another song (the name is escaping me) and dad and her completed a rare dance. Dad dances just fine, but he doesn't believe that and doesn't like to dance in front of people. He danced for her though- and that was special.

Sister-in-law, nephews, little bro and I set out for a walk at 7am thinking was would score some big shells that no one had found yet. Despite the offshore storm, there were only the tiny shells present the night before. 6 year old nephew does NOT like to walk on the beach and spent about half the time negotiating a return to port. Little 2 year old nephew was content to be passed from adult to adult and watch the birds. I enjoyed the peace with my little brother and my lovely sister-in-law knowing that the rest of the house was asleep.

Another walk later that day with little nephew revealed the treasures we had looked for the morning before. Not shells, but random items caught his interest and he poked an abandoned flip flop into a pile of sand and declared it a rocket before creating the sound effect and following the imaginary trajectory over the sand and across the water. Precious moments.

The way home was rough. We had a 3 hour delay in Denver, CO which obliviated my plans of taking public transit home from SFO. BART,the train, closes at 11:53pm at SFO, and we arrived after midnight instead of the planned 9pm. A taxi ride would have cost me $115 from airport to door. A friend was called who declared, very sleepily, that should would rescue me as a last resort but encouraged me to catch BART if possible. She would have totally come to get me- but I would have totally given her money for it! My rescue came in the form of a seat mate who had just been at a family reunion celebrating her mom's 80th birthday. She also happened to live 5 minute from me and had her car at the airport. I facebooked her photo discreetly and posted "this lady is giving me a ride home from SFO- Stay tuned" then promptly, and a little guiltily, erased it when I arrived home safe. It's a sad world when we cover our asses for possible kidnapping from good samaritans. My only other alternative would have been to rent a car, drive home, and return it after work the next day. Trish, my savior, was very cool and we chatted all the way home about good places to find a beer and a man.

I returned to work Tuesday and by Wednesday night was rested enough to meet my big brother in the city to eat dinner- he was strangely in town for a meeting just days after our vacation together but I'm always glad to steal a quiet moment with family. I'm currently on another run of 9 days. Today, Saturday, i worked to make up for last Monday. Tomorrow, Sunday, I will work to make up for next Thursday when my friend Rachel will be visiting from Atlanta. I haven't had a sleep-in day for 4 weeks due to work, visits and vacation and it looks like it will be another 2 weekends before I can schedule one. Poor me. :-)

It really is lovely to be busy and traveling- especially when it includes family and friends. I think I'll be a little down when the hectic schedule resolves.

Hopelessly Behind

2009-09-26T00:12:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'll just call Uncle, write a post about the past few busy weeks, and call it a day.

August 8: Visited Sonoma, CA and tried wines at Buena Vista Winery, Ravenwood Winery, and Benzinger Winery. Was charmed by the nice people at Buena Vista, enjoyed the strong tasting wines at Ravenwood, and was duly impressed by the biodynamic farming techniques at Benzinger Winery. The insect "highways" built into the winery that allow predatory insects (that eat insects that attack wine grapes) was especially cool. As was the pesticide made from cow manure buried in a cows horn on the full moon and then dug up several months later, diluted, and sprayed as a natural insectacide on the grapes. I bought some biodynamically grown olive oil and a bottle of port for my port-drinking 91 year old grandmother.

August 9: Took the BART and bus to Ocean city in San Francisco and flew my kite. I also walked the beach for, like, hours. I do love the beach.

August 10: cooked my first artichoke.

August 13: cooked my second artichoke. Accidently let the steam water go dry, burned the crap out of my pan, and melted my silicon steamer. Opps.

August 15: Traveled down to Monterey, CA and wandered through the aquarium. For anyone in the area, or traveling to the area, this aquarium is so much worth your time. I'm not an aquarium aficionado, but this one was quite awesome. One area had kelp swaying with the tide- 3 stories high. Another simulated the coast by rushing water over a glass dome that you stand under- and swishing the aquarium creating the wall. Creative use of space and really nice exhibits made this site a must see. Monterey was cool as well- nice walking path over to their pier 39 and free chowder tastes all along the pier.

August 22: Visited Napa, CA and tasted wines at Robert Mondavi Winery and Castille de Amorosa Winery. Robert Mondavi had a Chardonnay that I actually liked! Castille de Amorosa was a nice castle to walk through- but a little touristy-trappy. Also ate the Culinary Institute of America where chef Duff of Ace of Cakes graduated from. Between the open kitchen and the bizarre appetizers, I felt like I was a judge on Iron Chef. It was very fun. Also saw old faithful and some fainting goats that WOULD NOT FAINT. I tried to startle them, I did! But no fainting occurred. I'm not very scary.

August 29: Got a hair cut at Impact Salon in Walnut Creek. She did a good job of blending colors and giving me a very wearable cut. I'll have her cut it again before Christmas. I BARTed into "the city" and walked along the waterfront for several hours- 6 miles total. I met Lisa at TheSlantedDoor restaurant and had pretty good chinese food that was a bit overpriced. There's a place 15 minutes from where I live that sells better for half the price- but I guess you pay for the view.

September 5: Bike across the Goldengate bridge with Lisa and her friend Jennifer who was visiting from Baltimore. We barely made it to Salsalito before the ferry left- and barely got the bikes back before they closed. Huh. We don't bike fast. It was so foggy that I could not see but 10 feet of the bridge at any one time. I couldn't see the water below.

Biking through the fog, sometimes out of sight from everyone, the mists swirled and figures seemed to seep on the platform before disappearing as I approached. It was eery and lovely and spooky and strange. The velvety fog encased you- it seemed to recede before your sight and creep when you weren't looking. No wonder fog is the backdrop to so many mysteries and murders.

September 12: I sat on the couch and watched TV.

September 19: I visited the city and wandered around the Moon Festival in San Francisco Chinatown. Oh, the stories I could tell. Firstly, there was the guy that told me I was his new friend and offered to be my boyfriend for the day. Oh yes, I blushed. And oh yes, he was serious. Then, there was the gasping girl at the next table in the restaurant that found the large cooked cockroach in her food and the manager who told her "you already ate half- you have to pay". Oh yes, she was serious. Then there was the little old lady in line next to me who yelled at me in Mandarin when I offered her little granddaughter the candy I had just won. That was just funny. Finally, there were fabulous egg tarts that I got from Golden Gate Bakery after waiting for over an hour in line. They were worth the wait. I ate one tart every day for 4 days. I did not pig out- but I waited ALL DAY for each tart! They were that good. The Moon cakes I bought- one full of lotus paste and the other full of black beans- were probably pretty good compared to other Moon cakes. I liked the lotus paste one- but did not like the salted duck egg in the middle. The black bean one was a little beyond my American taste buds.

Sept. 21: started my new contract at the new job. It is my first true SNF (Skilled Nursing Facility) and I am learning about the wonderful world of minutes. I have yet to meet the 85% productivity standard despite working very hard. I have felt the pressure to pick up patients that are probably not going to get better. And I have some lovely patients that are truly on a path of getting better. It is not as sad of an environment as I anticipated. The staff seems careful and loving towards the patients. The culture of apathy I saw in the other long term care facility I worked at is not present here. Many of the workers have been working here for years and the patients are an extension to their family. There are many sweet moments throughout the day and I'm getting a reputation for smiling a lot. All good things (except the minutes and the productivity). If the paperwork didn't take an hour out of my day I might be more productive! The boss is a live-wire- but is new herself and is rehauling the department. I respect her a lot already, but that doesn't mean I can't complain about the productivity standards!

This weekend? Plans are to approach the Pacific Hwy 1 North and take lots of pictures of the pretty water and beaches. I need to visit a CVS and buy a notepad for one patient and a mirror for a few others (hard to get supplies in a SNF).

Next Thursday mom arrives for a 10 day visit and I'm very stoked for it. I didn't know I was so excited until I got a message from mom about planning and did a happy dance in the therapy room. Yeah for moms! I'll try to keep the blog more updated. I'm busy for sure-and lots of plans yet- so I can't get slack in my record keeping!

Procrastination

2009-09-10T00:41:00.002-04:00

Instead of uploading pictures and memories into my blog tonight, I walked downtown to Sephora and purchased blush. Then I marched over to Stadium Pub in Walnut Creek, CA and purchased a Smithwick's beer followed by a Fat Tire Amber ale and chatted with some local fellows about a concert happening at Goldengate park this weekend. There may have been a bowl of soup- some Italian type with noodles, spices and little misshapen meatballs. There may have been a joyfully tipsy walk home late at night.

I've become such a lightweight. Really? Two beers? And I'm ready for bed? Geesh, I'm old.

This week has been tough- as was last week. Home Health can be a breeze when you have 2-3 patients a day, but 4 patients and 2 additional evals- add in the drive times and the wondering around lost in the neighborhoods squinting at the small number signs by the mailboxes- and you've got yourself a doozy of a day. Oh, and psychiatric disorders do not make treating dysphagia any easier...

Add in an Obama health care speech and 4 voicemails from people you should call TONIGHT and you've got quite the day. I listened to Obama, called back the little brother and the father, and decided to return the older brother and the old friend's call tomorrow night. You know, after the farmer's market and paperwork that I'm not doing tonight.

Goodnight my lovely blog. I shall update you soon. Afterall, there are some pretty wicked cool pictures that need to be shared.

So much to share!

2009-09-08T20:36:00.002-04:00

I've been lax on my updates, and now, mirroring my professional paperwork, my blog has become hopelessly behind.

I blame the increased caseload at work. My eyes are fatigued from driving from house to house all day, then I fatigue them more typing out the days reports. Then I close my eyes and listen to TV. I have enough eye power to check email and read a few news stories before shutting down for the night.

So tonight I shall finish writing the 2 evals leftover from Friday and the 2 evals and 4 revisits I completed today. I will email the boss my productivity and sketch out my schedule for tomorrow.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll add a decent update to my blog. I've been busy on the weekends- Sonoma, Napa, Alcatraz, farmer's markets, biking across the Goldengate bridge through the fog- it's been a busy couple of weeks.

For now I'll leave you with the knowledge that I will be staying in Northern California until Christmas, but I will not be doing home health. The company I work for has hired a permanent person and I will be starting a new contract at a local SNF. I haven't worked in a Skilled Nursing Facility before, but it will be one more professional experience to perhaps share with students someday.

Hostel Ramblingspeech is still open for company, and awaiting your reservation Rachel!

Santa Cruz and Capitola

2009-08-23T00:52:00.003-04:00

Saturday, August 1:

Drove south to Santa Cruz and Capitola with Lisa.

Capitola was a recommendation from a co-worker and it turned out to be quite a cute little town with a pier, a beach, and some cross streets of small expensive shops. We ate at Pizza my Heart, a pizza place that served thin sliced fabulous reheated pizza (also a suggestion) and walked out to the pier.

We were rewarded by a lovely view of the anchored boats, a restaurant that served floofy drinks on a roof top bar, and a live band playing old music. I danced, floofy drink in hand, with the old smiling people at the bar as they played beach music. Then we moved on towards the mission of the day: to find surfers surfing.

We found the surfers in a place called "The Hook" at Pleasure Point. The waves were lame, but some of the better ones managed to stay upright. One older fellow even managed a few turns- but of course my camera didn't catch that particular picture in time!

Finally, we headed to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and explored the games and rides. I rode the Big Dipper, a roller coaster, and screamed my head off for sheer fun. It put me in an enormously good mood. I think I shall have to find an amusement park here in California, however, I will avoid Discovery Point with their nasty roller coaster that was stuck for 4 hours a few weeks ago! Lisa hates rides, but agreed to go on the sky thingie. She was only a little petrified as we rode over the board walk. We also sampled some of the boardwalk food to the detriment of my cholesterol levels. I'm not even going to guess how many points or calories that deep fried twinkie dipped in chocolate sauce was worth!

The mission of finding a surfer dude was completed. There was dancing. There was screaming. There was eating of scrumptious snacks. And it ended in a harrowing drive through dark twisty mountain roads. It was a successful day.

Alcatraz

2009-08-23T00:29:00.007-04:00

Okay, it's been awhile and a few weekends have passed. I have made the pact with myself that since I am in California for a short time, and there is so much to see, I will plan one trip each weekend.

July 26th: Visited the city and met up with Lisa, her mom, and her two nephews. We went to Alcatraz and toured the famous prison.

I've never seen a prison before, though I did work in the prison unit of the teaching hospital in Augusta, GA occasionally during my first few years as an SLP. If prisons were built and ran the same as this prison, there would be a few less people getting into prison I think. Very small cells. Very strict limits.

Beautiful views of the city and all the things that you, as a prisoner, were not to experience.

After Alcatraz, I split from Lisa's family and headed up towards North Beach to find a pastry shop. I had eaten breakfast at 7am, and had a cookie and a slim jim for lunch, and it as well past 4pm. I wandered through the streets, past cute little eateries, when I heard someone call out my name. I didn't even slow down- just kind of nodded, then blinked....then stopped. It was an old college friend and his wife from Atlanta, GA!!! I had heard through the grapevine that they may be visiting SF, but had not made plans with them! In that great big city, I happened to wander down the street on which they were enjoying a late lunch. A certain Disney song floats through my head...

It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all....

The Kelly & Kelly Project

2009-08-08T00:46:00.003-04:00

I finished reading Julie & Julia the other day- an easy read with moments of insight but mostly just an quirky point of view. It is on its merry snail mail way to a friend- hopefully in time for her to enjoy it while her husband is at quake-fest or something-a-ruther.

After a stressful day of being dragged into office politics (impossible as it may seem- home health still has politics apparently) I wanted to see a light hearted movie. Or I was going to re-see Harry Potter cause I like it mucho.

Julie & Julia was perfect. Meryl Streep was absolutely fascinating as Julia Childs. She was so funny. The movie was extremely funny- not so much in the silly slapstick way, but in the chuck/snort into your drink way. "Stiff as a cock" indeed. It was worth the full price of a movie ticket- and thoroughly pulled me out of my office-politics-induced mood.

It made me want to go buy cooking stuff and a french cookbook. I walked into Sur La Table, a cookware shop, and resisted all gadgets and gizmos and fancy steaming pots-- I bought a spoon to replace my bamboo one that was starting to look shabby and is probably harboring swine flu or other such baddies.

My only question: Where's my book deal? Where's my movie? :-)

I did find a website that will publish your blog- I'm pricing it out and will publish at least ONE copy of my happy little adventures. I WILL be published- and I will set it on my coffee table when I stop traveling and settle down and buy a house. After I earn my Ph.D. We'll see...

More Growing Pains

2009-07-22T13:18:00.002-04:00

I thought Albemarle, NC would be my worst apartment experience ever. Afterall, what could beat 5 nights in an extended stay and inital placement in an apartment that had old musty unmatched furniture and a pile of pills in a cup in the kitchen cabinet.

We have a contender in this move. First, they placed me in Hayward, CA but they switched my office, and my territory, one hour north. That translates to 1-1.5 hours commute every day each way. But it was a very nice spacious wonderful apartment in Hayward.

Then I lose my keys. Okay, I left them in the door- and my neighbor took them "for safety"- and then he kept them, without reporting it to anyone, for 2 days. I was kept busy rekeying my door and finding a club for my car. Okay, that was unusual and completely my fault.

I was unfortunate to be the only one not on vacation during the time my apartment placement problem came to light. My direct boss was on vacation so she couldn't confirm my territory. My housing lady was on vacation, so I couldn't work the lease. The apartment owner was on vacation, so they couldn't clear me for transferring to a sister apartment 1 hour north. So I've been doing the commute for a month.

Last Thursday, I received confirmation that I would be moved. Friday. Or maybe Monday or Tuesday. Well, it didn't happen Friday or Monday- but Tuesday morning I was told it was happening and Tuesday night I moved (Thanks Lisa!- she helped a lot). Last night I abandoned my spacious airy beautiful 857 sq foot 1 bedroom apartment and moved to a tiny 500 sq foot studio in Walnut Creek, CA.

After a restless night I finally rolled out of bed and decided to get an early head start on the day at 6am. I ran the shower- it never got hot. Not even warm. I turned the knob the other way and ran it ten more minutes. Nope. No hot water. I packed up a toiletry bag and headed south 1 hour to my old apartment to take a shower.

As soon as the new apartment office opened I called in the maintenance request and was alarmed to hear that I AM NOT ALLOWED TO PLACE REQUESTS!!!!! I'm not on the lease. I have to, instead, call the contract housing company that my company hires to arrange things and THEY have to call in the request. I asked them if they want me to do this in the even of a flooding toilet and was assured that emergencies could be called in directly. I let them know that the lack of hot water on a work day was indeed an emergency. They did not agree.

So I called the darn contract housing company who called my apartment complex. Let's see if I get hot water.

Good news is that the maintenance guy in Hayward is a very nice Mexican individual who appreciates my attempt to thank him in his native language. He did my walkthrough and said everything looked great. The main desk guy here was telling me I'd have to repaint all the little tack holes from my pictures-- but Jose said he'd take care of it "no problem". I like Jose. First decent guy out here. Amador Village apartments in Hayward has been a lovely place to live for the last month- I'm sad to leave it. But gas prices are too high for 3 hours of driving to and from my territory each day.

The nice thing about Home Health is that I have plenty of paperwork to complete today and only one patient on my caseload today. I've been able to deal with everything. I'll do my actual "work" for the paycheck tonight when I've settled down from this adventure. I'll call my patient in just a little bit to tell her I'll be there this afternoon. I could not have accomplished such a hectic situation with any other job.

A month of being unsettled. A month of not knowing when, or if, I'd be allowed to move. A month of a very long commute. Even I, Ms. Relaxed Easy Going Traveler, am feeling stressed and tired from the situation. My housing lady is stressed. My Rep is stressed. It's just gotta settle down after this, right?

MOMA and Mission District Festival

2009-07-19T23:23:00.005-04:00

This weekend I headed out solo on Saturday to explore the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA-SF) which was housing a special exhibit of Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams works. As a budding photographer, I was very interested in the Adams exhibit and spent a great deal of time examining his photographs and watching a long documentary on his life. I don't have any pictures of these particular exhibits- no cameras allowed!!! Here's a picture of a photographer though (heh).

I'm also always a big fan of sculpture- especially sculptor that's perched on the wall!

And of course, the typical modern art exhibit of strange and unusual things- this time it's a baby surrounded by poodles.

It was a good museum- 5 stories high and not overly crowded. Not as good as MOMA-Massachusettes. I'm a big fan of room size exhibits. This felt more like a typical art museum, but with some strange thoughtful stuff mixed in. I liked the shadow boxes too- but no pictures of them. I could spend another afternoon there and see the stuff I failed to linger at.

Sunday Lisa and I headed to the Mission district for a festival. The Mission district is latino and artsy with beautiful murals defining the streets.

No festival is complete without Aztec dancers praying over it! The streets were closed down for the festival and we dodged bike riders and skateboarders and skaters. People were playing four-square and frisbee down the middle of the streets. Musicians were set up on many corners attracting a crowd. People were out collecting signatures for Prop 8. There was even an area called "Freedom from Training Wheels" where bike club folks were removing children's training wheels and teaching them how to balance on a portion of a closed street. It was really a lovely little festival.

After walking around and absorbing the festival, including some wonderful people watching, we ate at a local place and headed to the park nearby. A few other people had the same idea....

Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, and the Cliff House

2009-07-12T22:08:00.006-04:00

I'm falling into a pattern here in the bay area! Saturday I sleep in till 8am, get up and eat pancakes, then head into the city! Usually with Lisa the traveling OT who's glad to beat the city sidewalks with me. Sunday is for cleaning house, doing laundry, going to church and finding food.

Yesterday we disembarked at Powell street BART station and caught the #5 bus down to Golden Gate park. I'll have to do another complete day at the park- I just walked through a bit of it this time. It's bigger than Central Park in NYC (according to an article found by Lisa).

For $5 we meandered around the winding paths of the Japanese Tea Garden, and for $3.95 we shared a pot of tea and a bowl of crackers, fortune cookies and rice puff. It was money well spent for a moment of zen. The garden was large enough to get a little lost in, but small enough to find your way out. The tea and cookies were a great snack.

We caught the #5 again and rode it all the way down to Ocean beach which was larger than I thought it would be. It's a good sized slice of sand. No swimming due to dangerous currents, but it's a great walking beach and you can do after dusk fires in their fire pits. The rocks are Seal Rock-- turned white from bird poo and former residence of the Pier 39 sea lions.

We walked up the hill to the Cliff House which has an interesting history and two separate restaurants within its walls. We ate in the more casual upstairs dining area and requested a seat by the window so we could watch the waves and the beginning of the sunset over the water. I ate the Frutti de Mare and it was fabulous. Lots of seafood!

Then the sun began to set. We walked the path down to the Sutro bath ruins and watched the coolest sunset I have ever seen in my life. It was my second sunset over the Pacific ocean, and the first that was unfettered by fog. I smiled the entire time and even did little happy skips as I bounced down the path. God is great. Sunsets over the ocean are proof.

And, just to add to the incredible experience, up on the cliff wall above us stood three musicians. They played drums and pipe until the last edge of the sun had slipped below the horizon. Then they quietly packed up and walked away. I applauded at the end of the sunset. *Sigh* it was cool. If you look in the right hand corner of the picture- you'll see the musicians.

FAQ- TLTR for most people.

2009-07-12T21:04:00.004-04:00

Occasionally I get questions regarding traveling. Often it's from a graduate student, but occasionally it's from someone who has a permanent job and feels curious about the differences between traveling and permanent status. My usual response is to write an email to them if they've left an address- but I guess I could just refer them to this link for the most common questions!

Honestly, I'm too lazy to dig up the emails I've had over the last 3 years, but I'll summarize the most frequently asked questions. I'll still answer any specific questions one may have about traveling, but here's the general gist.

1. I'm a graduate student- would you recommend a traveling position for my CF year?

Absolutely not. There are multiple reasons for that strong answer. First of all, contracts don't really want to train you. They expect you to come in the door knowing how to be a Speech Language Pathologist. They want to train you in how to do their paperwork system, where the bathrooms are, and anything else specific to that place of employment. You would do better receiving the experience of a CF from a permanent placement. I'd recommend completing your CF, then working at that same location for at least a year, 2 if possible, before heading out on the road. I strongly recommend teaching hospitals because of the general excitement towards learning that prevail there.

Afterall, you'll often be required to be THE swallowing and communciation expert at a contract. You are representing all SLPs everywhere at that contract. You'll be the first impression into our profession many times. You don't want to be a false expert or a crappy therapist. Inadequate training harms our professional integrity and I would never recommend pretending to know more that you actually do know. A strong foundation will allow you to be an excellent therapist to all your patients- no matter how long you are with them.

I'm embarrassed to share how many times I hear awful stories regarding the contract Speech Therapist my contracts dealt with before. Let's just say the bar isn't set real high for me in many of my contracts. I strive to be the best, most knowledgeable person at my place of work in the areas of Swallowing and Communication. I'm proud to be an SLP and I cringe to know how many bad contract SLPs are floating around out there. Rant over. Get trained, then get traveling, in that order please.

2. How long are contracts?

Usually 13 weeks, though I often will extend. Every contract I've had has asked me to extend my contract. I'm still in this for the traveling and varied experience, so I've never extended past 6 months. If you extend 12 months- there's some tax stuff that starts to occur so it's not recommended. Anyways, if you are extending 12 months, why not just settle in and make it a permanent relationship???

3. Is pay better?

I've found it to be about the same size pay check ( a little bigger?) but the perks are pretty lucrative. I don't pay for my housing (they tell me where to live and I arrive- everything is set up for me down to the shower curtains!) I don't usually pay for my utilities. I get tax credits for gas and phone. Sometimes I even get free cable! My disposable income is pretty high- I'm able to put sizable chunks into savings. If you are saving up for a house or paying off debt- traveling is a great way to do it relatively quickly.

Companies take about half of your money- but you don''t know what they actually charge the "client" so you don't miss it. They do make a good amount of money from you- but they get to do all the stress of finding interviews, writing contracts, and finding your housing.

4. Do you interview for each job?

My resume is sent by my company and a phone interview comes from anyone who's interested. Phone interviews are fun- they can be completed in your pajamas! I usually have my resume in front of me during the interview because it's embarrassing to be asked when you worked last with a certain population and in the stress of the moment you forget which contract you completed where and when! I also take a lot of notes during the interview. Usually I'll have 2-5 interviews in a week (usually a few weeks before the end of my current contract) and I'll decide by Friday which one I'll accept. On the client side, they talk with you and give your company an "offer" or they'll say "no thanks".

5. What companies have you worked for?

I'm currently with Core Medical Group and I like working with them. Contact me if you want me to "recommend you". We'll talk. And yes, I get a bonus for referring you. :-) But I do like working with Core. I worked with Medical Staffing Network for one contract and I didn't like how they dealt with my need to get CEUs (they made me cover costs for both my conference AND for housing costs on the days I had to take off!!!). I would not recommend them based on their poor tolerance for continuing education. I worked for Sunbelt Staffing for over a year. I loved these guys- small company with really great people. I spent quality time with them during the ASHA conference in Miami, FL and they were super. The only reason I'm not still working with them is that they started offering me too many school contracts and I'm a hospital and rehab therapist. I'll work in a school once in a while, but I really thrive off of rehabilitation. If you go with Sunbelt- Julie Cole was a superb rep.

Benefits vary from company to company. Core offers an incentive trip (go read about my Mexico posts from March 2009). Sunbelt offered CEU money and paid vacation time. MSN- who knows- I didn't work with them long enough to accrue anything.

Whichever contract company you work with- talk to several and get a feel for them. Pick a rep who has a similar organizational style to you. Be organized, write things down and for goodness sake--- READ YOUR CONTRACTS CLOSELY EVERY TIME. Don't sign until you are happy with it. I've only ever had to recommend a few changes over the years. Usually it's to add some parking money for city assignments or guarantee 40 hours (necessary to work at least 35 to keep most benefits).

6. Why do traveling therapy?

Everyone has reasons. You can save up money. You get to see different areas of the USA. You get to see various styles of leadership and organization by moving employment locations every 13 weeks. You get exposed to many therapy styles. You learn there are multiple right ways of doing things. You meet lots of people (I overcame a lifelong shyness on my journeys!) You can take lots of pretty pictures. You can taste the food from many ethnicities, live in many different styles of apartments, and try out lots of churches and gyms. I've met travelers who are running from exes, or seeing the world, or just making money. There's no wrong or right reason to travel. Just be the best therapist you can in each location and take full advantage of every hour of every day exploring your new digs.

7. Any further recommendations?

Become organized. Put your stuff in storage. Get the experience you need to be a good therapist and then travel. Keep doing your CEUs to keep yourself updated in the profession.

Pick a location that you will call "home base". Mine is my parents' home. I visit them between assignments if possible. At home base, I have a dentist, a hair stylist, and my storage facility. My boxes that I get into are labeled: "Therapy material for adults", "Therapy material for kids", "Winter clothes", "Summer clothes", "camping equipment", "resource books". That way I can just grab the entire box before heading out to my assignment based on the season and patient population.

If I get sick on an assignment I asked coworkers who their doctor is and then I look it up to see if they are a provider for my PPO- most are. I'm rarely sick- but it has happened. You'll need to see a doctor for an annual checkup anyway (required for most companies). Urine tests are also required by most assignments- they pay for it. Don't do drugs, man. :-) And don't be insulted- they don't know you from the man in the moon so just let them be careful.

Let go of the stress. You will have to complete paperwork last minute ("Gee, the client needs you to fill this out immediately and fax it back!"). You will not know where your next contract will be more than a month in advance. You will not know your new address sometimes until the day you move in (with two of my contracts, and two different companies, I've driven into town not knowing exactly what address I'm heading to- it always works out!) If this scares the crap out of you, then maybe you NEED to travel so you can get over it! :-) There's a certain adrenaline high one gets each time they start a new contract. There's a sense of excitement to walking into a contract or town without knowing exactly what you will have to deal with. You learn to go with the flow and develop a sense of blowing in the wind. I don't stress about that stuff. Housing is not my responsibility. Nothing in employment is so horrible you can't deal with it for 13 weeks. Do what you can do- then walk away from the bad ones. If you get into a situation where they ask you be be unethical- walk away sooner. No GOOD company will prevent you from ending a contract for ethical issues.

In closing: I love traveling. I won't do it forever. I miss building relationships between myself and the doctors. I miss seeing how my patients are doing months and years after I've worked with them. I miss planting professional and personal roots. I miss being in the church choir! I'll be done in the next year or so and I'll have loads of pictures and relationships from across the nation. I'll have done something cool in my life. I have the pictures to prove it.

If there are further questions- post them here. I'll answer in the comment section!

Coit Tower and July 4th

2009-07-06T21:52:00.008-04:00

It's so nice to have a good friend close by that's willing to stomp all over town all day long with you! Lisa and I went exploring again this past weekend- this time with my new/old camera in a brand new camera bag. I packed my point-and-shoot camera too just in case.

Here's the Transamerica Pyramid with my old point and shoot (Canon Powershot SD600):

And here's the Transamerica Pyramid with my brother's camera (Nikon D100):

Ummmm... Yeah, when they are compared directly my point-and-shoot Canon is much clearer and has more color. I think the potential for the Nikon may be higher than what I'm reaching. The stuff I used to trick my Canon into doing has an actual setting/button on the Nikon. Anyways, I look like a more serious photographer with the big honking Nikon! I think the key will be taking classes to figure out why this is a better camera.

Okay- on to exploring!

We looped around from Embarcadero station down to the piers and then looped up to Columbus Ave for lunch at Cafe Delucci's. We then ascended the steep incline to Coit Tower.

It was a rather pretty tower.

And for $5 bucks you could take the elevator to the top for some panoramic views of the city (no stair option).

What's really wonderful about this tower are the elaborate murals inside the halls of the base of the tower. They were one of the earliest WPA projects from the Great Depression and showed scenes of California. Apparently they were quite controversial due to the fact that the artists inserted certain political figures as heros and villains in the murals and snuck in all sorts of political opinions- such as this robbery in the picture of the city's financial district.

Here's another one of the "California cows are happy cows" section.

We headed down the street, wandered through Washington Square, and took a small break at XOX Truffles for some bite size truffles and coffee. Then down the street to Stella's pastry- where we shared a small (heheheh) pastry. Lisa is not good for my diet. It's all her fault.

Our only redeeming thought was that we were walking up and down a lot of hills- which was bound to help us work off either the truffles or the pastry. We checked out some hotels for Lisa's upcoming visit from her mom and nephews, then headed down to the piers to pick one from which to watch fireworks.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but i had read on a SF blog that pier 3 was a great place to watch the fireworks. That information was completely and utterly wrong. Pier 3 was NO WHERE NEAR the fireworks. We saw them in the distance though. Here's my best firework picture from the new camera- I put the shutter speed on 2.5 after much playing around as a compromise between how much exposure verses how still I could keep the camera.

Fireworks are difficult to take pictures of. Not the best subject for the first day testing a camera that's way beyond my ability!

We finished the night at El Mar, a peruvian place the proved to me that octopus does not need to be rubbery or chewy- in fact, it tasted like a tender mild chicken with incredible spices. The crowd dispersed while we ate and flirted with the peruvian waitstaff (they were cute) and we headed back to the east bay area at midnight. And we didn't get mugged. :-)

My best night picture from the new camera:

Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco

2009-07-06T00:01:00.012-04:00

For the record, I'm heterosexual.

For the record I have gay friends.

For the record, I consider myself a practicing Catholic.

These are some raging rapids of controversy I have to navigate right here.

I love all my friends and I have a tendency to be non-judgmental personally and professionally. Without going into it too deeply, my God who I worship is a God who appreciates good acts. If you live a good life, and are a good person, then the rest is up to him to judge. I love my friends because they are good people and I accept the people that they love also.

This blog is not to discuss such things. My life right now is measured in experiences. So, on to the Parade!

My old friend Lisa (an OT who I worked with in Baltimore, MD and is now conveniently working in Walnut Creek, CA) arrived separately and met up at the parade. We stood with about 5 ga-gillion people from 10:30 am until 2pm watching various groups march by our spot. We stood with a lesbian couple to our left and a male couple to our right. A heterosexual couple stood behind us. By the end of the parade, we were all very much friends and had caught some awesome stuff. Personally, I caught a bandana from Macy's that says "Pride and Joy", a snow globe with two fellows holding hands in front of SF City Hall (in tuxes), and a condom. The girl next to me caught a vibrator. There weren't a lot of throws at the parade (both Baltimore's Gay Pride parade and the Martis Gras parade in New Orleans left me with so much stuff I couldn't carry it all), but I have to admit the quality was better. I've never caught a snow globe before!!!

I saw some wonderful costumes!

There were various celebrities and groups ranging from Dykes on Bikes, to Children of same-sex couples on Trikes. There was a group that was angry their penises were snipped at birth and another group stating that they were asexual. There were very stable couples strolling down the street (this couple has been together 21 years) and couples who were involved in subservient relationships:

There were Protesters.

And police- many of them holding hands with same sex partners.

The book mobile made an appearance and people marched along side with pictures of books that had a homosexual character-- including one holding a picture of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Dumbledore came out of the magical closet a while back).

And there was some really random stuff. For example, a bike that appeared to sit 5 people (maybe 6?) and was man-powered.

I'm glad I went. I enjoyed watching the different groups and sharing the experience with the crowd. It always amazes me that no matter how different we are, we all agree that dressing your partner up as a horse and using reins to control him/her is a little strange. The same-sex and different-sex couples around me whole-heartedly agreed.

Growing Pains

2009-07-05T23:49:00.002-04:00

Ah, the life of a traveler is fraught with stress.

They changed the office I'm working out of. Instead of a 15 minute commute in the morning, I have between a 60-90 minute commute. I'm not real happy about the commute. The added pain of the moment is the fact that I love my apartment. It's big, airy, high ceilings, lots of natural light, full washer and dryer, nice view from the porch, pool that's large enough to swim laps, hot tub next to the pool...need I go on? It's a lovely place. It's in a cooler micro-climate to boot.

But due to the unexpected change (which I did not approve) I am now facing a move. Maybe. I can't seem to get a straight answer on this situation from anyone due to the fact that the week I started my contract everyone else who was involved went on vacation. My housing lady is on vacation. My immediate supervisor at the contract is on vacation.

I'm left driving 90 minutes to my first patient in the morning. Depending on traffic.

I am awaiting news, and trying to enjoy the apartment while I have it. I'm trying not to feel frustrated every time I fill my car with gas (5 X in two weeks- getting expensive!) I need to move closer to my clients, but I'm pissed because it really is a lovely apartment and the area that my clients live in is a bit more expensive. That means the apartment will be less nice-especially since the money will have to cover the set up of the new apartment.

I've been screwed by a contract change I didn't approve and I'm navigating new waters. I've never had a contract change like this. I like the job and the patients and the coworkers so far- but I'm very tempted to give 30 days notice due to the underhanded nature of this last minute contract change and the resulting effects on my personal life and checkbook. I'm not sure if I'm more angry with the client (company I'm temporarily working for who made the change) or my company (who has been unresponsive to the situation and is failing to both communicate how this situation happened and is failing to respond to it in a timely manner).

Rant over. Time to download some reasons that I travel! I've been busy despite the drama and unexpected crappy commute.

Home Sweet Home in Hayward, CA

2009-06-21T17:54:00.006-04:00

Friday we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway from San Simeon to San Francisco.

This post is a bit delayed (should be dated 6/19/09).

Beautiful. Stunning. Curvy.

Five minutes up the road we stopped at a sign that said "View Elephant Seals". We parked and noticed a few seal heads sticking up out of the water far into the distance. There were louder barking sounds coming from the right of the parking lot so we followed our ears, though a gate and along a bluff. There, 15 feet below us, were a pod of Elephant seals in all their stinky amusing glory. They were enormous.

The seals would heave themselves out of the water, wiggle along for a few feet, then collapse. Then they'd wiggle a few more feet, then collapse. If they accidently knocked into another seal, they argued by lifting their heads way back and barking/burping into each other's faces. It was extremely entertaining and not at all how I expected to spend my first hour "on the road" that morning. A second pod was further down the path, as were several rabbits and some birds. I'm not sure if it was because we weren't expecting this sight, or if it was because it was entirely cool, but I do believe the Elephant Seals are the highlight of the trip.

The curvy beautiful coast continued north through fog layered mountain and sea views. We stopped at a bakery ran by hippies and ate some lovely quiche at a picnic table in the sun. An old man gave me the code to life. He wrote on a piece of paper "A-Z" and "0-9" and told me that with this code you can write your life story. I liked the old bald hippie. The cookie I carried from the store and ate later that day was good enough to make me want to make a special trip back to their hippie garden.

There were some wind surfers in wet suits at one of the beaches, and a surfer dude selling weird two-seeded cherries at another beach. A light house was another stop. We saw more seals there, but nothing compared to the Elephant seal beach.

At 11am I finally received the message from my company as to what address I would be calling home for the next 3+months. A thought this was way too stressful and proclaimed the life of contracting would not sit well with her- she likes a plan. My philosophy is that my company is responsible for finding me a place to sleep- it's not something I worry about. If it's unsafe or gross, I'll send them pictures. That's only happened once in the 3 years I've been traveling! We popped the address in Garmin and continued up the road and then over east to San Francisco.

A helped me unload my car- I told her she could just sit with the car and I'd run the loads up the 3 flights of steps but she's way too nice and wanted to carry as well. It took 11 trips (5 each, and one box that both of us carried). We found target and spent $150 on soap, groceries and other stuff necessary to make a house livable (Soap: dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, hand soap, dish soap for hand washing pots, shampoo/conditioner, 409 and clorex wipes...we are a very clean nation!)

Then we found my new sushi place and had a fabulous dinner. I will be visiting this sushi restaurant often- the BBQ eel was spectacular and the dynamite rainbow row had great spice.

I'm sure I'll be sharing pictures of the actual city of San Francisco in a later post. We do plan on a quick trip tomorrow, but it's more of a scouting trip for me. I'll do the city justice and devote a few weekends to just being a photo-bug. And good news! My brother is selling me his old camera- I'm upgrading from the point-and-shoot that I've taken all my blog pictures with! We shall compare the professional camera to the point-and-shoot and decide if it's worth it to lug it around on my adventures.

Adam- I'll devote a post to your questions as well. Give me a few days and then check back!

Road to California; Day 5; Arrival

2009-06-19T01:30:00.003-04:00

Kingman, AZ was only about 40 minutes from the border of California. We crossed the Colorado river and entered into the very hot and sunny California sun.

The border patrol confiscated my two oranges. I had placed one behind my front seat within grabbing distance for a morning snack. Apparently the oranges did not pass the inspection's high standards.

Today I was very glad that friend A was here. The Mojave desert was intimidating with the call boxes placed every few miles, the endless scrub land with little ugly cacti, and the sun that beat down through the windows. Even through frequent sunblock was applied (spf 70), I now have pink arms, cheeks, and neck. I was not expecting to be fearful during this drive, but the combination of forces and the knowledge that a friend of mine had broken down on the same stretch of highway worried me. We made it through without incident. The desert gave way to brown dried hills with Dr. Suess-like trees. I believe they are the famed Josua Trees.

On the hilltops were armies of windmills. The windfarms were a bit scary to look at- I think it was the size and sheer number, combined with the fact that they lined every surrounding hill around us at times.

The general rule for the trip has been: keep the tank at least half full, always have water, and keep an eye on where we are. I think these rules have helped keep us safe.

We made no interesting stops on the way (other than border patrol) and arrived at the Pacific ocean at 5:45pm today. A and I parked in the closest beach access and skipped down to the water. Fog was rolling in from the ocean-during our drive we had wondered if it was fog or smoke from a local fire. The water was frigid, and the wind was chilling. We took some quick pictures and proceeded to the Best Western in San Simeon, CA.

Best Western was a pleasant surprise. We had jumped from Holiday Inn to Holiday Inn Express all the way across the United States, but there wasn't one along this stretch of highway. Best Western had an ocean front location, restaurant next door, parking right outside the room (better to watch my car full of belongings). Furthermore, they lit fire pits 20 minutes prior to sunset.

A and I ate at the restaurant and headed to a fire pit to watch the sunset. The fire fought back the chill and the fog cleared enough to enjoy a soft glowy sunset. We laughed at the family sharing our fire pit as they attempted s'mores for the first time. I demonstrated some roasting marshmellow tricks for the teenager who was obviously hanging out with his mom and aunts.

Day is done. Gone the sun. Goal is reached. I'm in California and I've now seen the Pacific ocean.

Road to California; Day 4

2009-06-18T00:59:00.006-04:00

4 am is actually really early, for those who do not routinely wake up at this time. It is the time before dawn; the time before hotel bills being slipped under the door; and the time before coffee being properly brewed. And it was this time we chose to wake and depart. We were on the road by 4:20 pm. Not bad for two girls.

The darkness was consuming, and we had been warned to watch out for elk. I drove in part because I felt that if we hit and elk, I should be driving the car, and in part because we had already determined that my friend A is overdue for a new glasses prescription. We did not see elk.

We did not see the photographed sunrise over the Grand Canyon, but it was still very pretty.

A cloudy sunrise gave way to rain and the view was occluded. We drove to the other side of the south rim and tried a trail. The rain chased us back up the steep trail and we dodged mule poop the entire way back. We headed to the entrance of the park and attended the IMAX movie- it could not have been better! When we stepped out the theater, we smiled and headed back to the Canyons. The sun was back.

Lunch was eaten on the edge of the canyon overlooking the beauty. I had a very interested friend hoping for crumbs (or, if I had turned my back, half my sandwich!)

Puffy white clouds and sunlight brought out some of the colors of the canyon.

And then the rain swept back across the canyon. First, a smaller storm across the canyon. Then, a larger storm engulfing the area in lightening. We headed back to the car and drove what seemed to be a never-ending journey to Kingman, AZ.

Kingman, AZ- Oyster's Mexican restaurant was surprisingly good, and within walking distance of the Holiday Inn Express. This was good, as we were out of energy. As I type this, A is fast asleep and I'm ashamed to say I've been "resting" my eyes as each picture loads. It's almost 10 pm and I'm ready to sleep. Am I so tired due to getting up prior to the crack of dawn or is it the fatigue from racing across the United States? I don't know. I'm glad this trip occurred and I'm enjoying it immensely. Tomorrow, we enter California and we have absolutely no plans other than to pick up my apartment key Friday or Saturday. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but it can't possibly be as full as today.

Road to California; Day 3

2009-06-18T00:34:00.004-04:00

Delayed due to faulty internet connect in the Holiday Inn in Williams, AZ.

Day 3 started much the same as Day 2, but with less stress than Day 1.

We stayed in Tucomcari, NM - much futher than planned- on night three. By mutual agreement, we decided that the marathon pace would give way to more sight-seeing these later days and our first stop of the day was Albuquerque, NM. We drove down the route 66 into town (construction on I-40) and drove through a poor hispanic district, a trendy town by the University of New Mexico, and finally Old town. Old town is a quiet green square surrounded by tourism and arts. Many of the shops are junk shops, but the feeling of the town is more than that. All of the other shops are local artists selling their wares. I really enjoyed Albuquerque and the 1 hour we alloted to this stopover became 2 hours. We saw the church of San Felipe de Neri and I bought a pretty cross at their gift shop.

To be honest, it reminded me of my Zorro movies. My opinion may be skewed, but I liked Albuquerque, NM.

Our next two stops were to be Petrified Forrest, AZ and Meteorite, AZ with possibly a sunset visit to the Grand Canyon.

Petrified Forrest stopped us in our tracks and completely ruined the itinerary. We estimated 30 minutes to see a bunch of petrified wood, but ended up spending almost 3 hours in the park. It was a beautiful drive- and we ended up doing a small hike around the Crystal forrest as well as spending quite some time taking pictures of both landscape and still life of the wood. I'm not sure what held our interest for so long, but we were held and the rest of the day didn't happen.

We arrived in Williams, AZ far after sunset and well into the night. It was 11 pm before we were in bed. We decided that life is short, and tomorrow we would see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon-despite the hour drive to the rim and the lateness of the hour. We set the alarm for 4 am.

Road to California; Day 2

2009-06-16T00:15:00.005-04:00

Arkansas was a whole lot of nothing.

Oklahoma, despite the upbeat musical, was also a whole bunch of nothing. I did not see a surrey with a fringe and the cowmen and the farmers were in constant conflict.

I did stop and see the Memorial for the Federal building in Oklahoma City- what a beautiful memorial! Two arches, with the times 9:01 and 9:03 on them, embrace a reflection pool. The pool is 9:02 am April 19, 1995 when the federal building was attached. Rows of chairs line the pool, organized by where the victims were working in the building, and differing in size according to whether they were children or adults. There were way too many small chair there. Some pictures:

After Oklahoma came Texas. Right outside of Amarillo, TX we stopped at Cadillac Ranch. An art project planted in 1974, these cadillac are half buried. The artists encourage interaction with the project and you may spray paint them, write on them, climb on them, or whatever. It was great! Guess what I wrote? Look closely at the gold wheel!

We drove 720 miles today and were in 4 states (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and now New Mexico). We are now in Mountain time. We are now quite tired. It is time for bed. Tomorrow, we plan a much less road weary day and several Arizona attractions are calling our name. Tomorrow night I'll hopefully be writing from the Grand Canyon!

BTW-iphone vibrated for 15 minutes this morning as we entered Oklahoma. Not sure if iphone just did not agree with Oklahoma or if there is a software problem that is raising it's ugly head. There may be an Apple Store visit in the future!

The Road to California; Day 1

2009-06-14T22:56:00.003-04:00

To those who don't have my phone number out there, my next travel assignment is in California. It's been a long time coming. First, I had to muster the nerve to release my psychological death grip on the East coast. Then I had to get finger printed and jump through the other loops to obtain the SLP license. Finally, I had to interview in a state that is now fraught with hiring freezes and funding cuts. I did manage to find a job and it's within 30 minutes of San Francisco.

I even managed to talk a friend (A) into driving out there with me. I'm flying her back next Saturday evening and I start my new job (home health again, but in a less rural setting) on Monday. She's an old friend from my last permanent job in Augusta, GA (an audiologist who used to work at MCG). So far, she is excellent company and a good driver.

Day one. 700 miles. Six states (SC, GA, AL, Mississippi (MI? MS?), TN (for like, 5 minutes) and finally Arkansas (AS).

We're hopping from Holiday Inn to Holiday Inn so I can accrue points. My company has a ceiling of $500 for relocation, so I'm keeping close track of my receipts. So far we've spent $50 in gas, $82 in hotel fees, and $7 in food (Friend A's Nanny fed us lunch in Pell City, AL).

It's been a riot trying to take pictures of the Welcome signs. I've only managed to get a decent picture of two. Here's one:

We haven't stopped yet for pretty pictures anywhere, but I did take a few from the window. Here's the best from the day:

Biltmore House

2009-06-14T22:49:00.003-04:00

I'm a bit behind on posts, so this will be short and sweet.

The Bilmore is a very large house. I can imagine that it was quite fun to party there in "the day". The flowers were beautiful.

Here's a picture.

And a lovely example of their roses.

I highly recommend a visit here. Do the tour. Visit the winery if you want. Take some pretty pictures!!!

Shelby, NC Festival Day

2009-04-27T17:41:00.003-04:00

Shelby is a small little town but they sure squished a whole bunch of festivals on the same day!

My first stop of the day was the courthouse where local artists had placed booths all over the lawn. There were about 30 or so artists or crafts sellers. Many potters, one wood worker who I bought a "finger top" from (for my nephew), a couple of quilters, lots of bead jewelry sellers, and a few artists from the local colleges. I was highly tempted by a hammered metal necklace with a semi-precious jewel but decided it felt a little heavy for my neck.

I was also highly tempted by one of the college artist's creations: he had hand built a wooden box with soft edges and beautiful graining, and had fit a very rough sliding lid on them made of hammered metal and "stuff" (some had weaving around the metal, some had fuzz, some had other bits of metal welded on). It was a nice combination of metal, wood and cloth-- very cool but not something I could probably travel real well with. Very very very tempting to buy it and put it in storage for my house one day. Alas, I resisted. Surely there will be art that speaks to me AFTER I settle down, buy a house, and start decorating (like in 1-10 years sometime).

Creating a border to the Arts festival was a closed street with the farmers market- it's first time opening for the season. There were about 10 stands with various items- many of them potatoes. I bought some coffee, some home made red wine vinegar, 1/4 pint of local honey (I've heard local honey can help allergies so I'll test that theory), and a pound of frozen ground beef. There were actually two stands selling frozen meat-- free range "family raised" meat products. We'll see if it tastes any better than Harris Teeter meat!

After dropping off my purchases at home (did not think the meat could stand 83 degree temps in a car), I headed to a festival only 2 miles down the road from the first festival: the Carousel Festival.

Geared to kids, with a $5 admission fee, it still lured me in because it looked pretty busy. There were a few craft sellers, a handful of food sellers, a handful of bounce machines, a cluster of spinning rides, a Carousel, a train ride, a pony ride, a Merry go round, a stage with local singers, and a fun house. There was also a "learning area" where you could learn about utilities and ride a cherry picker up into the air! This was one of the best small town festivals I've been to geared to families with small children. For me, it allowed a nice walk in the park listening to kids laugh and taking pictures of different rides. If the stage had been set so you could sit in the grass and listen, I may have stayed longer-- instead it was chairs set up in a parking lot. I have found that people will sit and listen to music more if they have grass and shady trees- what a wasted opportunity. I would have liked to sit and listen to the music a little longer.

I also ate a turkey leg. For those of you counting: 27 points. For those of you that know what I'm talking about, no I did not know it was 27 points until I came home and looked it up. For the record, it may have been worth every darn point.

Easter Vigil

2009-04-11T23:30:00.003-04:00

My favorite mass of the year is by far Easter vigil, and it did not disappoint this year.

For the first 15 minutes, we awaited sunset and then blessed the candle that would be used on the alter throughout the year. Then together we walked into church, a candle lit procession, filing into the seats and standing throughout the prayers. Finally, we sat and for over an hour listened to scripture. The first was on the 7 days of creation, the second on Abraham and his attempted sacrifice of his son (a scripture that always makes me feel uncomfortable), then a scripture that I was less familiar with but that forms the basis of one of my favorite songs "though the mountains may fall". A few more scriptures that were vaguely familiar but interesting and peace-filled. The lights remained off with the shadows dancing around us as we listened to our stories. The children in front of me complained they "couldn't see" and the mother turned and whispered, "just listen- that's why the lights are off- just listen". It was nice, listening to scripture in the dark, unhindered by visual distractions or turning pages.

Then the lights came up in full gloria. We sang. We celebrated. Mass began approximately 90 minutes after arriving at the church. These next few scriptures were celebrating Easter and the resurrection. The rituals of standing, sitting, kneeling returned. The priest talked about how Mary didn't come to the tomb that first Easter morning because, of course, Jesus had visited her first before the disciples. It's not in the scripture, but of COURSE he went to his mom. He speculated what they talked about, or if they talked at all. He talked about how Mary had known even before Jesus was born what the prophecy had said. Blessed is the fruit of your womb. She took up her role as mother of the church that Easter morning. The fishermen, who had become disciples, became priests proclaiming the good news that morning. It was not just the resurrection- it was the moment Christianity began. It was not a small moment, in other words.

And in the church, after sitting for over an hour in the dark, then being flooded with the light and feeling joyous, there was an echo of how wonderful all of that light must have felt like to the disciples after 3 days of darkness.

Happy Easter everyone.

Back to School

2009-03-24T17:14:00.002-04:00

I've started my new assignment: school system in Shelby, NC.

My students range from 4 years to 11 years and so far have been an excellent group of students. It's been an opportunity to get my creative juices running and increase my tolerance for noise as I juggle 2-4 children's goals during the same 30 minute period.

Whew. School therapy is a handful- thank goodness the day ends at 3:30pm!

And therein lies an interesting problem- how does one spend the time from 3:30pm-10:30pm productively?

Gym- check. I'm visiting the YMCA frequently.

CEUs!!!! Oh, geesh, due by March 31st and I didn't go to ASHA this year so I'm short a good bit. I've got a mail order coming my way with 8 hours of CEU to do, and I'll do an online one tonight to make up the missing hours. That'll fill my time this week. Maybe I"ll get in a CEU mood and continue to do CEUs in April so I'm ahead for the next round.

Taxes- yep, this weekend I'm sitting down with Turbo tax and completing the taxes for my 5 states. yikes. But again, just a short term activity.

Arts? I'm looking into the local studios for classes. My first scan yielded few opportunities.

Organizing? It's not as if I need to complete spring cleaning-- I routinely clean and sort as I move each 13 weeks!

I'm trying to fill my weekends with activities-- I"m booked out a solid month at this point with different friends so that's excellent.

Dating. Ahhhhhh. Plentyoffish.com has a new member as of last night. I sent in one of my Mexico pictures. I'll keep you posted as to the status of THAT particular past time. If the free site's a dud, may try Match.com OF course, with the weekends full, it'll take a patient person indeed to fit into my weekday dating style!

We shall see how these ideas develop.

Mexico 2009

2009-03-13T22:20:00.009-04:00

I arrived back in the states 3/8/09 and started my next assignment 3/12/09. Many others returned to their assignments 3/9/09, so I guess I'm lucky!

Mexico was an odd grab bag.

The resort, Sandos of Caracol, was a pleasant place. The beach was eroded and they were fighting back the sea with artificial sand bars, which killed the waves and made the shore more reminiscent of a lake side, but it was still pretty.

The resort was really spread out, and didn't have many activities to promote people getting together. It was a place for established couples and groups of friends-- not singles like me. I still met some decent people- but completely because I randomly strike up conversations. I was respectful of other people's vacations and ate alone most nights. The buffets were nice and the included restaurants required reservations. I tagged on to 2 reservations (totally against the rules, but did it anyway). The best restaurant on the resort by far is La Riviera (Mediterranean) and the couple I was supposed to eat with had a minor disagreement prior to dinner and missed their (our) reservation. The staff realized I was stag AND abandoned- and were absolutely fabulous to me. The food blew the rest of the resort food out of the water.

The real wonder of the trip were the outings. My first outing, Tulum Adventure, occured the first full day I was there. It included a trip to Tulum ruins by the sea which was very beautiful. Finally a beach that looked like Mexico beaches are supposed to look!

After visiting Tulum we drove about an hour in a van down a few long dirt roads, through a locked gate, down some more dirt road. At this point, I was thinking the 10 of us were kidnapped. We turned the last bend in the road and parked next to the other tour buses. Whew. We then went on 3 mini-adventures. It wasn't exactly as advertised: The "repelling experience" was climbing up a tower and taking a rope down; the "snorkeling in the underground river" was snorkeling in a cave so small we couldn't all fit; but the zip line saved the day. Three zip lines, above the level of trees, 200 yards, 400 yards and 600 yards. It was pretty darn cool. After that, they finally fed us (ate at 6:30 am, they did not tell us to bring snacks, and lunch was at 2:30pm). The food was great- but I was pretty hungry so McDonalds would have been great at that point! I did miss the warning about the red salsa and spent about 5 minutes swishing water slowly in my mouth and wondering if the burn would EVER stop.

The next day, Friday, was my chill out day. Instead of carrying away a zen-like peace from the day, I discovered that laying on a beach is as boring as it was when I was a kid. With no waves and an adult point of view that prevented me from building a sandcastle, I was not feeling zen-like or peaceful. Just bored. I should have gone and played in the waves beyond the bags-- or at least built a sand castle! Next time I'm going to be a kid. I swear. I'll be filled with the zen-like peace of childhood. :-)

The final full day, Saturday, I hopped on a bus with about 30 other people from Core Medical and went to see Chichen Itza. I was worth the 3 hour bus ride and the money. Wow. Great tour. The tour guides were excellent- they gave us snacks and drinks on the bus and made us drink water when they anticipated dehydration. They were extremely knowledgeable about the site and the area. They were polite and personal. The ruins were outstanding. The entire trip was incredible because of this one day.

Chichen Itza was a focal point of the Mayan culture from around 200 AD to about 1000 AD with its hay-day in about 600 AD. They think. According to our guide, all but 3 pages of Mayan writing were collected and destroyed by the Catholic bishops. (I'm Catholic- but that action wasn't very cool. Okay, lots of stuff Catholic bishops have done, especially during that time, were not very cool.) Up until a few years ago, you could climb all over the ruins, which throughout time have been a religious site, a cattle ranch, and a tourist attraction. Now it's roped off and souvenir sellers have their stands anywhere there's shade.

The ruins are beautiful, and the further you walk, the more you see. I kept going and keeping an eye on my watch. The tour had taken about an hour and in my remaining hour I tried to see everything. Eventually I had only 15 minutes to retrace my path that had taken 45 minutes and I jogged with another girl from the bus to return. I was the last person on the bus, but the clock read 1:15 pm so I was officially on time.

Our next stop was a hacienda styled restaurant nestled next to a cenote. A cenote, by definition, is a sinkhole with exposed rocky edges filled with ground water. From the pool below, it felt like you were swimming in a pool at the bottom of a large rock bubble that had popped on top. Vines from the edge above trailed into the water where black catfish swam. The cenote we swam in was approximately 160 feet deep and was the size of an olympic swimming pool. People were jumping off a 30 foot platform-- I jumped off the halfway point (15 feet) and that was plenty high enough. It was like swimming in a secret paradise. I could have floated there forever. There was my zen. There was my peace.

My last day was Sunday and I woke, packed, ate breakfast, bought a few more souvenirs from the gift shop, had one last beer at 9am, and waited for my bus. I arrived back in Columbia, SC at midnight. Dad picked me up. Looking back, it was a good trip with moments of greatness. It was a reward for being loyal to Core Medical Group and it gave me opportunities to see things I'll probably never see again. Everything about traveling has been like that, and though there are the moments of loneliness, the journey overall is...unforgettable.

International Traveling (Vacation)

2009-03-03T15:39:00.002-05:00

Hola chicos y chicas! Como Estas? Estoy muy bien!

Voy a visitar Mexico! Viva la Mexico! Esta muy peligrosa? Quien cuidados? Esta gratis!

My traveling company rewards loyalty to the company by giving everyone who completes 4 assignments a free annual trip. This year it's in Playa del Carmen in Mexico. Despite the news reports, I have a feeling I'll be safe. Afterall, with my limited Spanish skills and good looks, who could resist my "por favor, no me mate!" ("Please, don't kill me!"). Second most important phrase would be, "donde esta el bano?" ("where's the bathroom?")

Hopefully you won't see me on CNN as another missing drunk girl-especially since I don't plan to drink. I'm going alone, and sobriety will be key to my safety and enjoyment, right? Just in case, I'll place an updated picture on Facebook for the news reports. I'd hate it if they used the current one.

There should be pictures appearing here by next Monday (I return Sunday at midnight), so stay tuned.

After Mexico, I return to the wonderful world of Elementary school for the second time in my career. What better time to be a Speech therapist at school than right before summer vacation when the weather is warming up and the kids see the light at the end of the tunnel! Here's hoping SOME of the IEPs have been completed. I hope to de-stress on the weekends with some camping trips or hikes in the area with good friends (Greenville is 1.5 hours away, Rockhill 1 hour, and Spartenburg 1 hour-- many hiking friends in each area!)

Reasons for Traveling

2009-02-15T13:52:00.005-05:00

I've been posed an interesting question repeatedly in many of my placements.

"Why don't you just stay?"

I'm searching. Not sure what I'm searching for, and that lack of target is tempting me to consider doing a real job search and settling down in an area. Quite possibly the Greenville, SC area due to the level of already established good friends in that area. Get a house. Buy a dog. Annoy friends by dropping in on them and planning get togethers. Immerse myself in church functions and activities. Build a reputation in my field for being a good therapist to send patients.

Life is about having good times with friends, right? Or is it about finding general happiness? Or is about always doing a good job, even in bad circumstances? Or is it about experiencing as much as possible in as little time as possible? Or is it about family?

What is it all about?

Maybe that's the target. I can't deny the fact that if I met a wonderful fellow who I got along with and fell in love with, I'd consider my search complete. But maybe I'm not searching for him. Maybe I'm searching for the target and he'd stop my search and I'd be okay with that.

Maybe my search is to avoid finding out what it's all about because I'd probably muck it up if I tried. If I settled near friends, would they remain my friends or get tired of me? If I settled near family would I ruin those relationships? If I settled down to a job, would I do a poor job despite my best efforts? Would I ever be content or happy with the house, the dog, the husband, the kids? By traveling and moving I never let myself find out the answers.

But traveling has fulfilled more than just running from underlying issues and worries.

It has proven that I can be by myself and not go nuts. It has taught me to be organized. It has taught me to appreciate being the only one on a frozen beach and instead of thinking I'm nuts I think it's the most peaceful thing I've ever experienced. It has taught me to evaluate the importance of material things in my life and I constantly strip myself of needless stuff because it won't fit in the car. I've heard, "you're a great therapist" from enough people in my field and in other fields to begin to believe it. I've seen patient's gain function because of my involvement in their life. I've heard "you are such a nice person" enough from people to begin to believe it. I've met people who I can't figure out and I've begun to find peace in that as well. You can't get along with everyone, but you can work beside them and still get stuff done.

I have more to learn, both in my field and in general. I also have some more need to travel within me. I want to see more, again both in my field and in general. It's all very complicated and self centered, but surely there will be a nice use for all the experiences, places and skills I've picked up along the way? Something that I'll be able to pass to others? That won't be so self centered?

The simple answer to the initial repeated question is: "I haven't found him yet."

Quietly, in my mind, I add, (and because that'd stop my search).

Home Health Care

2009-02-08T16:51:00.003-05:00

Week in Review (for posterity):

This week I treated 23 patients, 2 of them twice. My youngest patient just turned 2 years old, and my oldest patient is 94.

I have driven 550 miles to and from patient's houses this week.

I drove 119 miles the day that the office was closed due to snow and ice.

I have worked 43 hours.

My least favorite session was with a fellow who had a stroke and whose progress has been minimal. He's middle aged with no previous medical problems. His prognosis is poor for recovery. He makes me sad.

My favorite session of the week was completed in Spanish. I speak very basic Spanish and treat a few young Spanish speaking children for language delays. Every few months the Children's services sends a translator and a caseworker to one of those sessions and this week was one of those times. I got to praise the mother who's been so amazing during sessions and whose child has responded so well to therapy (when we started at the end of November he was saying 3 words, and those words were infrequent; he now is consistently using approximately 50-75 words and is working on 2 word phrases-- that's a good 9 month development in 3 months!) I have been thanking her in my simple Spanish, but it was such a joy to sing her praises to the caseworker and to her through the translator. As a mentor used to exclaim with such cases--"oh THERAPY WORKS!!!!"

My rep called and we've sent my resume to several places needing contract Speech Therapy assistance.

Note to self: The Home Health beat is tough. I'm not cut out for it long term. I'm too much of a perfectionist and I get frustrated when therapy is not making a significant and immediate difference in a person's life.

Carbon Monoxide?

2009-01-22T02:04:00.004-05:00

Alright, the CO monitor has gone off THREE TIMES tonight, after not going off at all the entire time I've been here. I called the landlord down the first time, and it stopped while we were checking it out. He said sometimes the gas logs will cause it to go off??? So I turned off the gas logs- except for the small pilot light. No alarm for 3 hours, then beep-beep-beep-beep. Reset the alarm, and it stayed off for a few hours.

Now it's 2 am and it went off again. Logs are off. No other known sources of gas. Looked on the internet and it says sometimes atmospheric changes can cause it to go off. I moved it beside my bedroom door (instead of in the other room) cause it said it should be placed within 15 feet of my bedroom. I opened the door for awhile. It's not going off now.

But now I'm worried. Landlord was not worried- but he's not up at 2 am.

I'm not dizzy or headachey, or any other symptom. Just worried cause the darn alarm keeps going off. And the internet says to call 911-- but if there's CO levels then it should be present everywhere in the apartment, right? If it goes off outside the bedroom, I'm calling Mr. Landlord down to inhale the fumes with me.

So here's hoping I'm not being hypo-reactive.

UPDATE: Landlord is checking it out. I survived the night after airing the apartment out for 10 minutes at 3 in the morning (4th time the thing went off). We're installing a new monitor for tonight and if it so much as stutters a beep I'm heading to a hotel. I'm tired. And I"m heading to work. Not a lot of driving planned today, so that's good.

UPDATE #2: Did you know plug-in CO detectors have a battery in them? Neither did the landlord. We bought a new one, realized there's a battery in it despite being a plug-in, and changed the battery on the old one. Neither detector is alarming now! Yeah. Now I have two and I shall sleep well tonight- but not well in that "oh I'm breathing carbon monoxide" well that I was scared about last night! BTW- at 3am all sorts of stuff runs through your head when an alarm for a odorless clear gas keeps going off. Lots of whatifs and whatnots. At one point, I was convincing myself that my landlords were NOT already dead from CO poisoning and that's why they hadn't come down to investigate the the shrieking alarm. It didn't help that their 6 chihuahuas were eerily quiet during all of this shriekbeeping as well. But all is well. Another life experience.

Snow day with Home Health!

2009-01-20T09:08:00.004-05:00

An unexpected perk to working with home health in the south is the issue of snow days! I can't see the road, I can't drive the road, I can't do my job. It's my duty to stay safe and sound on my couch with hot chocolate in hand and watch the falling snow accumulate on my back porch. I'm not sure why the birds are dive-bombing the pool, and I'm wondering if I'll find their little frozen bodies out there later when they recognize their folly of taking a bath when it's below freezing. I did leave some crackers on my porch to give them a meal and warm them up.

I've already walked the 200 twisted yards up the driveway to evaluate the main road, and it sure is pretty out there. I may bundle up and take another walk down to the tracks--today is not the day to explore that island, but maybe it'd be okay to explore the edge of the lake again.

Oh, a cardinal just found the crackers. That's a happy cardinal. Here comes a red one! Red on white snow is truly spectacular! Well, I'll chalk that up to a first: this picture of a cardinal eating the crackers was taken immediately after the sentence "a cardinal just found the crackers" and "That's a happy cardinal". There's a screen between us- I tried to take one earlier and the birds flee as soon as I sneak outside.

I think I'll pop some popcorn for the birds. Too bad I don't get paid to sit at home-- but I think I'm fine with taking the pay cut for a day like today. Later I'll do some paperwork and it'll add to my week hours so I keep the ever important health insurance.

Of course the majority of my day will be spent flipping through the news channels watching the inauguration unfold. I remember how cold it was waiting for our band to enter the inauguration parade for Bill Clinton and how desperate I was to keep my shoe on my foot after it became untied halfway through the parade. There was no greater shame in marching band than to stoop down and break formation so the shoe stayed untied and my attention was split evenly between hitting the the notes of "Carolina on my Mind" and keeping that shoe on. I managed to sneak a peek at Bill and Hillary at the grand stands when we marched by. Part of me feels sorry for the people out there in the cold waiting to join Obama's inauguration parade, and part of me is darn envious of that experience. They will be part of history today.

Badin Tracks

2009-01-17T17:00:00.004-05:00

I walked down to the lake today for the first time since I moved in Last November. It seems like every weekend I was out until dark, or was out of town, or otherwise just didn't consider walking to the shore of the lake. Today, I wandered down to see if the edge of the lake was frozen and I found....train tracks! There is a train track route around the lake that ALCOA used to use-- but ALCOA closed 3 years ago and the tracks are overgrown.

The edge of the lake in our little inlet is, indeed, icy. The greater lake of course is still fluid. Tomorrow after church I may have to walk along the tracks and see what pictures there are to take. Curt, my landlord, said there's an island they eventually lead to called "graveyard island" and I'm intrigued.

And finally, I was going through pictures from Christmas and found an interesting one. The round UFO is a gift from my little brother to my nephew. Kevin was leaving the next morning and they wanted to try the toy out despite the rain. My older brother (the dad) and my nephew are hiding under the lid of the trunk controlling the UFO. Kevin is out of the picture to my left. I just liked how the lighting and figures came out-- it's not great, but it's interesting. I could never control that focus- all the other pictures focus on the rain and all the figures are blurred, so I'm not sure how this one came out moderately clearly!

Badin has some exploration possibilities that I'd better jump on before I leave. It is a lovely little town.

PS. Did you know Star Jones is a native of Badin? Huh.

Bad Mood Over

2009-01-14T21:30:00.002-05:00

I found a sushi place in Concord near my last Wednesday patient! And it was good sushi! I am a happy girl now that I can pick up a sushi to go after my last patient one day a week.

Still no donut place, but the sushi is much healthier.

I love my patients here. I'm always fond of my patients, but there's a few here that I wish I could stick around for. Personal life blows pretty hard here though, so I'm moving on at the end of February.

Before that time line ends, I will have fitted TWO people with dynavox communication devices. Two people who have needed these devices for awhile and who will, because I did the darn paperwork, finally get them. I'm pretty pleased. I'm hoping they actually get the devices before I skiddaddle so I can do the initial training at least!

BTW- anyone else cold tonight? I love chilly weather!!!!!!!

A long way from NO WHERE

2009-01-11T22:30:00.003-05:00

Excuse the mood. The weather and the post holiday blues have effected my affect.

So yesterday, I went into Charlotte with the primary directive of finding a decent sushi place. Said sushi place (Nikko's) did not open until 5pm, and I found it at 3pm, so I explored a tiny bit of Charlotte. "Tiny bit" meaning a organic grocery store and Freedom park- both of which were welcome distractions from my current place of residence.

Just to clarify, I drove over an HOUR to find sushi. And then I drove an hour home and sat in front of the TV and savored each and every piece of california roll and rainbow roll. It was lovely. Not as good as Ben's place in Roanoke, and certainly not up to the hole-in-the-wall sushi place in Augusta, GA over by the bowling lane, but quite tasty. I love sushi- and I haven't had it in over 3 months. But I had it Saturday.

Then this morning I skipped breakfast so I could get a donut after church. The closest donut shop? Over a half hour away. I did NOT get a donut. Only one road trip to satisfy food cravings in one weekend allow.

Albemarle is small, but darnit- it should be able to sustain a DONUT shop or coffee shop! It's got a Walmart and a Sears- surely a donut shop should be present SOMEWHERE. There isn't one. Not on Sundays. There's a place Monday-Friday that sells donuts, but who eats donuts on a weekday?

I do miss the donut place in Roanoke- that was worth driving 30 minutes for. Blue Collar Joes- I'm thinking about your lovely chocolate bog donuts.

Pathetic.

Sorry Bambi...

2009-01-07T22:33:00.002-05:00

I may have killed Bambi's mom. The vote is in, and most everyone I've spoken to have assured me that the deer that left the ding in my car didn't hit hard enough to kill the deer. It's a rather small ding- only visible in the sunlight.

I should have gone back to see if I had done it in. Just so I could answer the question, "did you kill it?"

Here's the story:

I had called sjshipper to wish her happy birthday Tuesday night on the way home from a haircut. While her husband was handing over the phone, I hit a deer that jumped out in front of my car. So the Happy Birthday was more of a OH MY GOD I HIT A DEER-- WHAT DO I DO--WHAT DO I DO--WHAT DO I DO??????????? Poor sjshipper. Instead of wonderful birthday greetings she had a crying hysterical friend trying to find a safe place to pull over on a dark foggy NC country road after possibly slaughtering Bambi's mom with my car.

It seems kind of amusing right now. I do wish I had gone back to check and see if there was a dead or dying deer on the side of the road, although I'm not sure what I would have done. My landlord said he's heard of deer coming through the windshield, killing the driver, and then trotting away. Dang, that's some tough deer! Glad my deer wasn't packing heat.

My post traumatic deer syndrome is in full bloom right now--I drove about 10 miles under the speed limit after the sun went down, and pulled over three times to let other cars wizz past me so I wasn't annoying all the other people who had NOT hit deer in the last 24 hours.

Next assignment? Some place without killer deer lurking in the dark foggy shadows. Happy belated birthday sjshipper.

All Christmas-y

2008-12-14T20:29:00.004-05:00

This is my third Christmas traveling, and the first time the rent has included a Christmas tree! My land lords were so nice and let me borrow their spare tree to decorate- then bought all the decorations and helped me put it up! I am co-hosting the company party this Friday, so the place needs a little Christmas. This is my first full sized Christmas tree:

And what's Christmas without a puppy? Not my puppy. I'd like a puppy but I really need a permanent job, a place of my own, THEN a puppy. It's my new mantra, "No, Ramblingspeech, you do NOT NEED a puppy. You do NOT LIKE Chihuahuas. You do NOT WANT a chihuahua puppy!!"

Water Towers: Albemarle, Red Cross and Mt. Gilead.

2008-12-14T20:13:00.003-05:00

Nothing to see here...

2008-12-04T20:42:00.003-05:00

I've decided that water towers are the lighthouses of NC. Stay tuned for pictures. Lots and lots and lots of water tower pictures... The Camera joins me next week in my tours of NC countryside. Should be entertaining. Wish there were some in interesting shapes like Gaffney's- the best I can hope for is some gorgeous background sky.

I'm huntin' water holders.

PSA: my cellphone is bonkers. Getting a new one this weekend hopefully. Until then, I can be reached via email, ichat, or post.

The Homeless Week

2008-11-08T10:58:00.011-05:00

Words cannot describe the past week. I'll let pictures do some of it for me. To make a very long and twisted story somewhat short, my company forgot to get me housing. There was a horrible miscommunication regarding whether I had turned everything in (I had) and my rep was sick so she wasn't as on top of things like she usually is. I received a call October 31st regarding the problem (that was a Friday) and was set to start work November 3rd (the next Monday). They promised housing "hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday".

They put me at the Executive Inn in Albemarle, NC. It was comfortable and I had a small kitchen, so there aren't too many complaints about the Inn. The one annoying problem was that I didn't trust the alarm clock so I asked for a wakeup call every morning. The first morning they called me an hour early. Tuesday morning they called me 15 minutes early (I had complained). Wednesday morning they called me twice- once 30 minutes early and once on time (snooze button via wake up call?) Thursday morning they called 30 minutes early. Needless to say, I was on time to work each morning.

Thursday morning I checked out and picked up my keys at Monarch apartments. There's only 2 apartment complexes that provide short term leases here in Albemarle, and the other one apparently had a "rough crowd" living there.

Some background information regarding my usual housing situation is necessary to fully grasp the situation. Usually I am placed at an apartment complex with rental furniture and a housewares package. My towels are white, my dishes match, the silverware matches, all appliances are either brand new or cleaned to look brand new. The furniture coordinates and all the linen does as well. I walk into a place that feels put together and home-ish. Then I put up pictures to complete the home-feeling. Ahhhh, home (because that's what it is- home for me).

Monarch apartments. I walked in an noticed that the furniture looked like it had come from someone's basement. Three different people's basements. Three very old people's basements. Okay, it's just furniture, right?

Then I noticed a few stains on the carpet. But hey, it was in the "guest" bedroom and the likelihood of me having guests is slim, I can just close the door.

Then he showed me the washer and dryer which is located across the patio. It takes quarters to run, but it's a personal washer/dryer. I told him that's not what they mean by a "personal washer/dryer"- he provided quarters and said when I run out of quarters he'd give me more. Well, gotta go outside to do laundry- still not awful but I'm not real happy.

Kitchen stuff, mismatched plates, cups and silverware. Much of it with flowers on it. Flea market type stuff. And one cup that had PILLS in it. Peeling cabinets. Still, I'm desperate for a place to call home- I'll just wash everything to make sure it's clean. It's only dishes afterall.

I took the keys, and moved in a few boxes.

That night, I realized a serious design flaw. Parking is behind the building. The back door is a sliding glass door- no key. The front door can be reached by walking AROUND the building, through the grass, and there's absolutely no security lighting or sidewalk. I came home after dark, swore, and crept around the building with a flashlight. There was a dim light from the street lights about 50 yards away, but it was insufficient to light up the area. And it felt isolated- not another soul in sight. The owner had told me the apartments were "sparsely populated" right now- after dark, that translates to: "walking around in the dark with no one around". Then I walked out on the patio to consider laundry- the parking area was dark shadows beyond the entrance to my porch- once in the laundry room I was in a small room with no other exit and the entrance to the parking area was right there:

That was the line. So I started snapping pictures. The more pictures I took, the more I realized how grungy the place was. Not only would I have to wash dishes, I'd have to wash walls and blinds. Then I lay on the bed and realized that the HOTEL bed was more comfortable. It was rock hard. I emailed the pictures to my rep and vowed that I would not be spending more than one night in the apartment. The response was "we are horrified- and we are so sorry- turn in your keys".

Oh, that was fun. The old man who had showed me around (the owner I think) was FURIOUS. Told me that I should have come to him and he would have fixed everything. I explained the safety concern that had put me over the edge- told him he needed security lighting, a sidewalk from the parking area to the front of the building, and a gate on the patio doorway to prevent people from just walking on. Instead of yielding to logic, he kept telling me that the previous girl had had no complaints and he didn't understand what my PROBLEM was. I tried to end to conversation- and he accused me of ruining the relationship between him and corporate housing. He told me that he could have moved the couch, rewashed the dishes, etc etc etc.

I left. My company gets a large cut of my salary to look for employment for me and to provide me with housing. For that amount of money, I shouldn't have to make a list of things for the landlord to do to make my housing livable. Yes, it sounds snotty, but must I restate that this is HOME for me? Home is more than 4 walls and a ceiling- it must be safe, clean, and comfortable.

This man had an opportunity to continue good relations with my company. He should have said, "I'm so sorry it wasn't a good fit- can you share with me your concerns? Can I show you another apartment that has parking closer, since safety is your major concern? I'm going to take your suggestions seriously- please let your company know that I am making some changes to update the apartments and next time they place someone it will be much better- tell them after I make the changes I'll send some pictures." Instead- it became MY problem that the previous person had been fine with stumbling through the dark, dealing with a home that looked more like a college apartment, and looking forward to the first weekend re-cleaning the place.

So I moved in with the nurse manager, who had a full apartment in her ground level that looks over a pool and a lake. It's lovely and only $150 more a month. I will share pictures later, but I'm off to walmart for a few things.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T11:57:00.003-04:00

Because I'm usually in an apartment during Halloween, I usually don't get to participate in the tamer activities of Halloween. Last night we put our carved pumpkins out at my parent's house and we handed out candy to about 75 or so trick or treaters. Dad and i went for our evening walk and stumbled on a neighborhood haunted house- scared the S@*t out of both of us. So here's your All Saint's Day treat- a picture of our lovely vomiting pumpkins. Enjoy.

Tales of SUPER-Aunt

2008-10-28T00:28:00.004-04:00

I have survived the 4 day weekend babysitting my nephews- a 5 year old and an 18 month old. Whew.

Thursday: picked the boys up from school, watched my older nephew ride his bike in circles while chasing little nephew (who was trying to "catch" older nephew). Cooked dinner (um, warmed up some corn, cooked some squash and served chicken roasted at the grocery store). Little nephew fell asleep at 7:30 sharp, older nephew required 3 books read by me and 2 books read by him prior to heading to bed.

Friday: Older nephew met me in the hallway as little nephew opened the day by crying at 7am sharp. Verbally prompted older nephew through morning routine while changing diaper and dressing little nephew- who was quite concerned that I was not his mother. Followed little nephew through process of looking in bedroom, bathroom, and downstairs for missing mother while assuring him that she would be back "Sunday". Little nephew accepted that the morning banana was coming from a new source- namely "Super-Aunt"- and begrudgingly ate blueberry breakfast bar and banana. Both nephews refused milk. Drove kids to school and went home to stress until 3:30pm. Picked kids up, took them to soccer practice where I assured older nephew that I had seen his awesome moves while chasing little nephew around edge of field. Felt like a bad aunt due to fact little nephew refused to sit under blanket and thus looked rather cold. Got lost on way to grocery store and finally ended up in strange store with two hungry and tired children. Home with groceries, fed little nephew while verbally prompting older nephew through making personal pizzas from pita. Chased little nephew around basement while older nephew verbally prompted me through every plot element of James and the Giant Peach. Gave baths to both boys and sent them to bed.

Saturday: Dressed older nephew for soccer game and younger nephew for sitting through soccer game on cold dreary day (now fully aware of his opinion of blankets). Repeatedly checked website and hotline to see if game was cancelled. Arrived to game- drizzling rain initially which yielded to full downpour as we were getting out of car. Got back in car. Sent older nephew into rain with umbrella and watched closely as he crossed the field to his team. Game cancelled. Took nephews home, changed to normal clothes, and took them bowling. 18 month old bowled a 54 point game using bumpers and a bowling ball slope- danced every time he sent the ball down! Older nephew bowled a 75 point game using just the bumpers and bragged for the rest of the day that he had beaten his younger brother.... Took kids to play area in the mall and forgot umbrella. Heavens opened and rained cats and dogs on our journey back to car. 3rd outfit of the day for both children after throwing all wet clothes in the dryer. Dinner plans with friends of the family were cancelled due to a fender-bender in THEIR lives. Dinner consisted of multiple snacks on a plate (gogart, applesauce, cereal bars, pineapple and a slice of ham). Chased little nephew around basement while older nephew verbally prompted me through every plot element of Meet the Robinsons. Sent both boys to bed. Collapsed on couch.

Sunday: Dressed kids and went to church. Rewarded good behavior during church with a trip to Dunkin Donuts. Became nauseous after donut. Sensation of needing to vomit every time I saw food for the remainder of the day. Took kids to halloween party. Carved pumpkin abandoned by older nephew while watching him run from station to station and entertained little nephew by handing him pumpkin-goo (sans seeds). Little nephew now glued to me and not allowing friendly neighbors to pick him up or entertain him. Painted 2 additional pumpkins- one with each child. Attempted to give nephews nutritional lunch after letting them eat cookies and a cupcake at the party. Sipped sprite to ward of nausea. Took kids to Barnes and Nobles due to promise on Thursday that if we had a good 4 days without a trip to the emergency room they could each pick out a present from Barnes and Nobles. Little nephew fell in love with doggie book, older nephew hemmed and hawed until picking a book with a telephone which was instantly coveted by little nephew. Parents called, "we've landed and we'll pick up dinner".

TA-DAAAAAA!!!!!! No emergency room visits and I even kept their car safe.

And you people with kids had me convinced this was HARD. Okay, it was hard, but it was very very fun.

Anyone need a baby-sitter????

Blue Collar Joe's

2008-10-18T10:34:00.004-04:00

I feel a great need to write a review of this infant donut shop as it enters the Danville, VA landscape.

If you are driving up 81 in the Blue Ridge mountains, take 150B, bear to the right (two lanes bear to the right, one to the left- go right!). At the next stop light, take a right and try not to get back on the interstate. Then go straight for just a couple of minutes. You'll see Kroger on the left side of the road and that's your clue to start looking for this flagpole on the left:

Get into the left turn lane and pull into Blue Collar Joe's. Park and prepare for some of the best fresh homemade donuts available. Each cake donut tells a story with it's toppings of coconut shreds, toffee, crumbled chocolate, thick coats of frosting, and I think I saw a few with crushed nuts. There was a couple of plain old glazed and blueberry glazed- and at the end of the row was a very tasty pumpkin glazed. I landed up with a Caramel apple donut (apple donut with caramel drizzled) and a Botetourt(??) Bog donut (chocolate donut with thick chewy chocolate frosting and crumbled chocolate crumbs). These were darn good donuts.

The couple that owns and runs the joint are upbeat and adorable. I worked with one of the owner's at the hospital (speech therapist by day, donut dealer by weekend!) and she's one of those rare people with scruples and an endless amount of energy. They are dog people, as you can tell by both the logo and the pictures of their puppies on the back wall, but I know they'll serve cat people there too. The donut shop itself is converted from an old gas station- the middle payment area of the old gas station will soon become a two way drive through. The prices are comparable to other donut shops, but the donuts are far superior to usual chain donuts. It's only a few minutes from the exit, and there's a few gas stations and a shopping center that make this a perfect stop along the mountainous 81 stretch.

In an economy that's struggling, it's nice to see a new business take a brave step into the shaky world. From the fast-paced flow of business I saw this morning (and the taste of the donuts and coffee), it's going to do just fine.

Good luck Blue Collar!

Eagle Eye Review

2008-09-28T20:15:00.002-04:00

Saw Eagle Eye last night, and was not planning to enjoy it. Afterall, it only had 25% on Rotten Tomatoes with a nice green splat symbol and a scathing review. I went and saw it with a fellow SLP and her fiance (an engineer). He thought it was ridiculous and stupid. Since I had lowered expectations going in, I was resigned to gain what enjoyment I could squeek out of it- and focused on the fact that I was going to get some movie popcorn (always a rare treat).

I loved the movie. I fully admit that under a microscope, (or walmart reading glasses), the scenario could never ever happen. But it was fun! It was fast paced, no slow bits, heros and villains that re-sort themselves into groups throughout the movie, and lots of eye candy in the form of shiny things, explosions, and jumps from ridiculous heights. It even has an ugly kid with freckles. And while the government was a character, it didn't try to use actors that resemble in any way the current administration. It did feature a bombing in a middle-eastern country, but that could be referring to any such war.

It was totally worth $7!!! If you spend a few brain cells thinking about it, the movie has a "message", but doesn't sit there yelling the message at you (like some penguin movie I once saw). It reminded me a bit of Transformers and The Net- paranoia and technology and all that jazz. My recommendation- worth the money if you want eye candy and a fast paced run through the streets film. Fun.

Big Lick Blues Festival

2008-09-21T21:22:00.002-04:00

I had planned a totally relaxed weekend-- afterall I had had an adventure 2 weekends ago and had worked AND had gone to a Greek Festival last weekend-- so I was due a couch and paperwork weekend. But then I read a little bit about this Blues Festival going on 15 minutes away. The promise of an evening of music, combined with the lovely sunny 70 degree weather, were enough to move my bottom off the couch. Afterall, I can lounge just as easily on grass listening to blues!

Went at 3pm, left at 10pm. Very strongly considered heading to Blues cafe where they were holding an "After festival jam session" with the artists...but I used my head and decided that walking back to my car at 10pm was stupid enough. If I had roped someone into coming with me, I would have been there until dawn! On second thought, if I had been with someone I probably would have left at 8pm instead-- my friends here are way too sensible. Lovely, but sensible.

I just have to say it. Shemekia Copeland is a beautiful woman with a great set of pipes. She turned off the microphone towards the end of her performance and just SANG. Oh. My. Gosh. That was cool. For a sample of her- go here.

Jimmy Thackery played before her- I liked his long instrumental blues, but I could have lived without the lyrical ones.

I ate some awesome ribs and chatted with an older school teacher named Martha who had recently had her voice "saved" by an SLP. I love being a SLP! She was a funny duck- Martha was! She asked a whole bunch of questions when I first sat down and then said, "aren't you sorry you sat next to me? If you hadn't, I might not have talked to anyone all day!" Well, that's true for me too- but it's not such a daunting thing to me. I enjoyed chatting with her and she was kind enough not to talk during the music. It was fun having someone to laugh at the dancers with- a few guys down on stage were trying very hard to look graceful when dancing with their wives. At the end of the night I folded up my blanket and joined the growing group dancing in a mosh pit on stage and said goodbye to the very lovely Martha. Then I spent the last 2 hours probably being laughed at by the rest of the sitting audience because I love to dance, but I'm of Irish decent and anything but a jig looks awkward on me. I tried to blend in by bobbing, but occasionally involved my elbows and at least once gave off a good imitation of a butt wiggle. The song called for it.

Sunday was spent on the couch. And doing paperwork. And laundry. All good things to do from the couch position. 3 more weekends left- any suggestions?

Monticello, Natural Bridge and FoamHenge

2008-09-07T21:50:00.006-04:00

Insider tip to beat the crowds at attractions: go during a Hurricane. Great pictures due to great lighting, and no pesky tourists in the pictures.

Saturday morning, I headed up to Monticello, former estate of Thomas Jefferson. Quite the house, I must say. I liked his bedroom especially, with the bed forming the wall between his study and sitting room. I could stand living there.

Front of the shack.

Back of the shack with obligatory flower in foreground.

Back of the shack with obligatory water reflection.

Storm clouds over an apple orchard.

After Monticello, I headed into Charlottesville to find food and shop around a bit. I LOVED their public chalk board and speaker podium! On it was engraved "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." (1st amendment, just in case you just had a brain fart).

On the way home, I hit highway 11 at about 7pm and it occurred to me I might be able to make the 8pm light show on Natural Bridge. So I stopped and bought a ticket. I saw this way back in high school on a band trip, and I remember being really impressed with it. This time around I guess I was expecting...more. It was peaceful. I guess with all of the light technology available, I would have thought they would have upgraded in the last 15 years. Nope. Just pretty, slowly changing, multicolored lights on rock. With a deep voice from above talking us through the first 7 days of creation. It still was a nice rock.

I honestly reacted in an excited fashion when the ticket lady told me that I could come back Sunday on the same ticket and see FoamHenge. Yep, you read that right. I've been to Stonehenge outside of Bath, UK and was awed by it. I have now been to the foam interpretation of it. This Foamhenge hazards the theory that while the whole "moving the stones inch by inch over the landscape" is a perfectly acceptable theory, it was probably really Merlin using magic that put it into place. As a bonus, there was a renaissance festival going on around the structure. Not a large one where you can get lost in a crowd, but a small one where they all seem to know each other and you are not sure if they are talking about you as you approach each booth! I hung around to see the famous "Muffin Man" at the urging of the fellow selling crystals.

Have you seen the Muffin man? THE MUFFIN MAN? The Muffin man? WHO LIVES ON DRELY LANE? The crowd was immediately into the act. Mr. Muffin Man had us raise our right hands and promise not to sue him. He then read a quote, "He who lives by the Muffin, dies by the Muffin". I was intrigued. Mr. Muffin Man then began asking the crowd questions about medieval life. If you answered a question correctly, he threw a muffin at you. Not "threw", that would demean the velocity of this muffin. He HURLED a muffin at you. He clocked you in the head with said muffin if possible. The fellows around me kept getting questions correct and I kept ducking because DARN those muffins were moving fast! I was pretty clueless until the last set of questions:

"What was the symbol on Sir Kevin's Braves sheild?" (a chicken)
"What are the 3 things whose weight can be compared to a witch's?" (duck, wood, very small pebbles).
"What is your favorite color?" (blue!!!!!)

At which point he threw a handful of muffins at the crowd and closed his picnic basket.

I liked the Muffin Man. A lot.

The natural bridge cavern was my last stop and it was worth stopping for, but only as part of a general survey of the attractions in the area. I've heard the drive through zoo is something to see (the animals come up to your car) but I decided it was time to head home.

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma Sally!

2008-09-07T18:16:00.004-04:00

The matriarch of our family turned 90 this past week, and we threw a little shindig (40 or so people?). We catered it ourselves (at the last minute)- I think mom is masochistic for doing so, but I helped where I could! The party turned out great, and grandma was all smiles, so it was worth it.

The tiara and throne.... when Grandma was getting surgery on her broken arm (left arm in the picture) she announced that she would NOT be sitting in a wheelchair for her big event. She would be sitting in a throne, cause she's the QUEEN (there may have been narcotics involved in that declaration). So I bought her a tiara and some pink velvet and my talented God-daughter safety pinned the velvet in a drape-like fashion over the wheelchair. I crowned her on her entrance. Mom, I think, gave her a septer.

Finally thought of a gift. Day before the party I picked out and circulated a journal for everyone to write a message to her. Day after the party I put in some of the best pictures taken at the party. Gave it to mom for her to give to Grandma on her actual date of birth (4 days after the party). She loved it. Group effort necessary for this one- but it was blood sweat and tears to make sure everyone signed it-- my family is a bunch of procrastinators! "I want to sign it, but give me a bit to think about it!" 2 hours later, "I want to sign it, but give me a bit of time to think about it!". Towards the end of the night I was cracking the guilt whip at only one or two never-to-be mentioned family members. The footwork involved was my gift-- the journal was from everyone.

Center Square, Roanoke

2008-08-13T20:32:00.002-04:00

Giant produce, model-E powered ice cream makers, and pretty lillys with dragon flies. The town center for Roanoke, VA is quite nice on a Saturday morning. BEST PEACHES EVER!!!!

Say a prayer for the previously mentioned Grandma. She fell and broke her shoulder while shopping for the outfit for her up-coming 90th birthday. I'm thinking the perfect gift may be a helmet and a suit made of bubble wrap. And a massage for my own mother for taking on the role of cushy landing spot (the fall could have broken more bones if mom hadn't been in front of her).

Time Passes On.

2008-08-06T19:45:00.003-04:00

I survived my nephew's 5th birthday, dressed a pirate (Jack-lyn Sparrow- I'll try to find a picture of myself complete with blow up parrot) surrounded by twenty-five 4 and 5 year old classmates of my nephew. By the way, it IS like trying to herd 25 cats. They shifted quite interestingly through the activities (moon bounce, sandbox with buried bones, make a pirate hat, get a pirate tattoo, and pin the treasure on the treasure map). I was shocked that all 25 were not trying to all get on the moon bounce at the same time-- instead they ebbed and flowed in groups of 5-10 kids, with an occasional low tide of only 1 or 2 kids bouncing like popcorn on a pan in the inflatable world of Moonbounceland.

And nephew loved the tent from Aunt Ramblingspeech. We put it up together in the play room. Then we took it down. Then nephew put it back up (all except the tucking of the tent poles, which was beyond his great 5-year-old strength. I was pleased, mostly due to the fact that 5 days before the event I was at a loss as to what to get him.

Now, if I can be equally inspired for my Grandmother's 90th birthday which is VERY quickly approaching, I'll be even more pleased. Any ideas, anyone? I believe there are already photo albums in the works, so that's out. What more does a 90 year old need? Especially a 90 year old that has stated that her goal is to live to 90? She's not really a collector of anything (except, apparently, years), loves bridge but I've already given cards, card shufflers, card holders, etc. I need a really inspired gift. One that will assure her that she is one of the most amazing people in my life and that I do love her, even if I don't call often. Tell me if you think of one. I'll give you a $1 for any usable idea. Really.

Otherwise, time is marching on. I've become a regular at a local sushi place-- Sushi man stated yesterday that he doesn't need a calendar- he knows the day on which I come in. In a few weeks I'll have to mess with him and come on a different day.

Tonight I've found what will probably become a regular visit for me- a coffee shop with live mountain music on Wednesdays just a 5 minute drive from home. Never mind that I'm one of the youngest listeners-- it reminds me of Irish sessions from Augusta. Mondays/Thursdays have become exercise nights with a weekend exercise trip as my third day of sweat.

Work is flowing with the new computer system, though bugs are crawling out of the program left and right- none of them are large enough to cause panic or significant concern- sort of like a moth that has entered your house and is hanging out on the wall. You know it's not bothering anything and you know that eventually you'll open the door and it will fly out, but you keep track of it anyway.

All is well. Dating sucks here in Roanoke. I've made my intentions clear- find me a man and I'll stay. The work gang is keeping eyes open, but all agree that the dating pool in Roanoke is a bit more like a puddle. A much more shallow puddle than the great puddle of 2005 that totaled my car and left me stranded at Medical College of GA. Not sure why I jumped THERE in my thoughts, but stream of consciousness is working tonight so I'll leave it.

I'm going to go play on the internet more now. I miss having it at home, but since this is a time of saving up and not spending, I'm trying to save where I can. And break my tendency to go home and surf for the night. So far, it's working for me.

Y-so-Serious?

2008-07-21T20:29:00.002-04:00

Went to 8 hours of "how to use a hospital computer charting" training. Tried to tell them I usually pick up computer charting in a matter of...well...minutes. The only thing that kept me sane was the fact that I was sitting next to a co-worker who had seen The Dark Knight with me Saturday night and we randomly quoted the movie in our medical "record".

So my patient, "Dodge Curveball", stated during his make-believe swallow evaluation, "why so serious?" when asked what his therapy goals were. Hehehehahahaheheehhe. Right before he pulled a knife on me. That would be a code "green" for all of you out there, or a code-whatever-the-hospital-calls-it. For some reason they didn't show us how to fill out incident reports today-- that would have been a good thing to play with while the respiratory therapists learned how to set vent norms and the Speech therapists were twiddling our electronic thumbs for 90 minutes.

There is a great hospital scene in The Dark Knight. I won't spoil it. But there is a moment when I think I was able to identify every healthcare worker in the theater-- we all snorted our drinks at the same time. That, and I was evaluating a certain injured character's ability to speak and swallow safely. Personally, I'm impressed with the function when acknowledging the amount of damage done to the oral-musculature. Enough. I don't want to spoil a good scene and/or reveal what level of nerd I am.

That's all gobbly-gook unless you've seen it-- and possibly still gobbly-gook if you are not an SLP.

That being said, sitting through a class on computer charting is lame. The Dark Knight- so not lame. It was a fun, fast paced movie that is certainly one of the better I've seen. Even if I watched part of it through my fingers. See Lately'sreview for a more intense description.

4 more hours of computer class tomorrow, followed by 3 days of "training exercises" and then the hospital goes live and all the paper charting I've just now gotten a hang of will change over to computer. Luckily, I type faster than I write.

Go see Batman. And don't be so serious.

Introducing....Roanoke, VA

2008-07-16T20:22:00.003-04:00

The Roanoke star was built in 1949 and for awhile was the largest in the country. They change the colors according to national events- there's a nice write up in wikipedia.

The view from the star is quite nice. Look, Roanoke.

July 4th weekend I went across the street from the hospital and watched some fireworks. A 29 minute firework display! With awesome fireworks! Very nice- best I've seen since the July 4th in Washington D.C.!

For those of you wondering what a portable washer machine looks like. As you can tell from the picture, it rolls over to the sink and connects to the kitchen sink faucet. So far my clothes smell pretty good, but I'm checking them very carefully. Other than having the temperature controlled at the faucet, it works just like a regular washer. When I'm done, I roll it back over the the steel structure that supports the dryer and shove it into place.

The first weekend I went exploring I stumbled on a car show reminiscent of Moab, UT. I'm wondering what the MPG are on this monster.

On a personal note, Roanoke is nice so far. I've already agreed to stay an extra month beyond what I was initially contracted. The unit is nice- I miss MBSSs, but I'll have opportunity for those again after this assignment. It's a small unit with an excellent team- I haven't seen a great deal of friction and that's always nice. The church I'm attending, Our Lady of Nazareth, reminds me of my childhood parish in WV. People really greet each other, and we pray aloud out intentions, and we hold hands during the Our Father. I've been bike riding, and have 2 possible hiking buddies. We're planning our first hike next week after work.

All is well! More later. Take care!

The Booklist

2008-07-04T09:34:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Smitty, I've now been distracted from getting myself breakfast, taking a shower, and figuring out which pictures to post. Instead, I feel an intense desire to post a booklist. Here goes:

The Big Read is an NEA program designed to encourage community reading initiatives. They've come up with this list of the top 100 books, using criteria they don't explain and they estimate that the average adult has only read 6 of these. So, we are encouraged to:

1) Look at the list and bold those we have read.
2) Italicize those we intend to read.
3) Underline the books we LOVE (I put a * instead, cause I'm lazy and was bolding in groups)
4) Reprint this list in our own blogs

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 *Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 *Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 *Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 *Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 *The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 ***The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 *One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 *Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 *Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 *Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I'm at 56- but to be truthful most of the books were read in highschool as part of the summer reading program. I did have a tendency to demonstrate difficulty picking only 3 books off my summer reading list and instead read most of the books and just did the "homework" on the ones I thought would be easiest to get done! Very few of those books were read outside of school. I used to be a reader! Still do, but not as voracious as when I was a child. Too many other distractions.

Break

2008-06-19T16:23:00.002-04:00

Wee, but it's been a fun break. Busy, but fun.

June 7 and 8th- moved out, drove to brother's house.

June 9th- went to Museum of Natural History with nephews and sister-in-law.

June 10th- drove home to the parents.

June 11th- visited the dentist who told me the previous dentist was probably trying to pay off his yacht. 3 cavities, not 9. One didn't even need numbing first to fill! Very nice dentist- used to go to school with me- so I've found who's going to be cleaning my teeth from now until I settle!

June 12th- drove to Atlanta and hung out with audiologist friend Adrienne. Ate excellent sushi and caught up on stories.

June 13th- visited with college friend Angela and lovely almost-2-year-old son who likes "bus and truck". Caught up on life and shared pictures. Met with college friend Ty, his sig. other Jennifer, and her friend Donna for dinner. Dragged them into Highlands to take Baltimore friend Rachel (now re-located to Atlanta) out to the bar scene. Sat in lovely Irish pub (darn if I can't remember the name) and listened to music while sampling multiple varieties of drinks. I still think the "mindbender" should be sipped. Slept on Rachel's couch.

June 14th- introduced Rachel to the wonderful world of the Dakalb International Farmer's Market and all of it's glory. Bought 3 varieties of honey for mom, 6 varieties of dried fruit for mom (including 2 varieties of dried blueberries), fresh corn (which was WONDERFUL!) and blue cheese potato crisps. Walked to Highland's main street with Rachel and ate lunch. Drove back to "home".

June 15th- Happy Father's Day. Cooked breakfast for dad. Spent day admiring my dad. Went to church.

June 16th- bummed around house with mom. Ate lunch with grandma.

June 17/18- Went to Charleston with parents. Dad spent day in meetings (poor dad), mom and I found bargains in Tanger outlet mall one day, and downtown Charleston the next day. 70% off all Sigrid Olsen clothes! Then 25% more off at the register!

June 19- bummed around house with mom. Worked with mom with computer- plan was to teach her how to download and edit movies from her movie camera. Was stymied by mom's question, "can you teach me how to do favorites first?" Umm, maybe I need to review her computer fundamentals. Meeting college friend John and his wife Susan tonight for dinner.

June 20th. Hasn't happened yet. I have a feeling it will involve bumming around house with mom, visiting grandma, and packing my car for the move to Roanoke, VA this weekend. Or it could involve driving to Roanoke if I can't get my keys on Saturday!

Freeport and Pemaquid Point

2008-05-31T22:06:00.004-04:00

Another Maine roadtrip, probably my last, due to the fact that my contract ends this Friday. I headed north with a vague idea to visit the original LL Bean store and maybe hit the midcoast of Maine for a pretty picture.

LL Bean was big. Had the outlet store right there, so I found a pair of shorts for $14 and a travel makeup/shower case that usually runs $70 for $25. The rest was all catalogue prices, so I just looked and enjoyed the sheer numbers of everything. I strolled down the outlet mall shops in Freeport and wandered here and there, but it's surprising how easy it is to avoid buying stuff when you know you have to move that same stuff in 1 week.

I headed east to Pemaquid Point, and into inclement weather. It rained the whole time and I'm not sure if that's what was stirring the sea up or if the sea is just that monstrous at the point all the time. There was no way to capture the fluid immensity of the area, but I sat and enjoyed for over an hour at one spot that had a view of rolling waves and swelling waves with the splash up movement.

There is just something about rolling, waving, splashing water that holds my attention stronger than anything else. Part of it is the unknown energy- where does all of that movement originate from? What will happen next? When will the next wave hit? The unpredictability, the violence, the beauty and the underlying movement of the scene keeps me looking long beyond putting the camera back on my lap.

I sat on the rock, with umbrella propped against my shoulder, watching the waves crash and roll across the rocks. There was one area that the waves reminded me of that scene from the Last Unicorn where the unicorns were running out of the waves- white thunder across a smooth rock. Another area where the waves jumped when they hit from one direction and rolled over the rock when they hit from another direction. Everyonceinwhile they'd hit from both directions and there'd be a splash a house tall. It was hard to shake the spell and head home, but the rain was falling harder and the temperature was dropping, so I headed off and found a nice fried seafood platter at a local place.

On the way home I saw a sign for "historic bridge"- screeeeetch. The Androscoggin Swinging Bridge. Ohhhh, pretty bridge.

New England is a pretty place, eh?

Back to Maine- Ogunquit and Kennebunkport

2008-05-26T20:52:00.008-04:00

Maine was so fun, I decided to head back up and wander around a few of my favorite towns that I had driven through last weekend.

My initial goal was to eat a lobster in the Lobster Shack at Perkin's cove, and walk the Marginal way. The Marginal way in Ogunquit is a 1.25 mile paved walkway that borders the ocean between Perkin's cove and the Ogunquit downtown area. When I arrived to Perkin's cove I was lucky to get a spot- then realized it was only a 3 hour spot with a ticket to purchase. That's plenty of time to get my goals done!

The lobster I had at the lobster shack was outstanding and not that expensive compared to the other lobster prices I had seen last weekend. It wasn't as cheap as buying one and murdering it myself, but it was way more humane to both Fred II and myself. I am now quite good at lobster shucking- not as good as I am at Alaska King Crab shucking- but very close! My Fred II was actually a Female and had an enormous amount of roe- which I have found I enjoy (that's the bright red eggs). I am not a tamale eater- and that's probably a good thing cause that's the green junk the lobster was about to poop out. I avoid tamale.

Then I started the Marginal way with that high powered protein snack in my belly. The weather was gorgeous. Blue sky, bluish water, brown rocks cutting the blues in half! Along the path there were numerous benches with cute little couples and groups just sitting and watching the waves. There was even one older fellow pushing his little old wife in a wheel chair half way through the walk- smiles plastered on both faces. You could step off the path along the way and explore the rocks if you were limber and brave. I'm not sure why I think I'm limber, or brave, but I walked out across the rocks to an outcropping.

As mentioned before, the rocks are sharp, not rounded like the ones in rocky Rockport, MA. When I got to the first water crossing, inspection revealed a shelf of rock a couple of inches below water (without a wave) and about 4 inches below water (with a wave), so off came the shoes and I slowly walked 2 or 3 steps across the slippery ledge. If I had fallen, I would have been wet, but not drowned.

When I came to the second crossing, it seemed pretty simple at first glance. I did notice a peculiar sucking sound as the water rushed out on either side, so i decided to sit and watch the water flow for a minute before trying to cross. Here's the crossing without a wave:

Here's a moment later! The wave crashed as high as my head, and then the water fell back into the sea with a sucking sound. I'm pretty sure there was enormous force pulling that water out to make such a noise on the rocks.

I decided that brave, or not, I'm not stupid. Especially when I'm on my own! So I headed back towards the walkway along the rough rocks- this time barefoot. I returned to my first crossing, and did not pause to snap a photo because in the 10-15 minute I had spent out on the outcropping contemplating my level of stupidity, the tide had come in. Instead of 2-3 steps in 4 inches of water, it was not 6-7 steps in knee deep water with stronger waves. Still would have just been wet if I fell- but I would have been VERY wet, not splash wet!

When I stopped to put on shoes back on the safe shore, I noticed blood dripping- somewhere on the 6-7 steps my frozen feet had bumped against a rock and broke skin. My next post may be a feverish hallucination induced post about getting my infected food amputated! My last tetanus shot was 12/05, so I think I'm safe.

The Marginal Way overlooked the Ogunquit beach. If you want to stay somewhere that has the same view, I recommend the SeaHawk with a beach view! I'm not sure what the rooms look like, but you could just sit on the porch and enjoy the view.

I wandered the shops at Kennebunkport and landed up buying a Tourmaline ring at Coastal Jewelry's. Tourmaline usually comes in bright pink, or deep green, or green fading to pink (called watermelon I think). Mine? Bright orange triangle with a silver setting. I fell in love with it. I don't have a Clemson ring from graduation- maybe I can consider this my early 10 year anniversary gift to myself! Kennebunkport was lovely, but I was a little out of place with my sleeveless shirt and my salt encrusted jeans; the rest of the clientele had on long sleeve shirts and lightweight jackets. I was only chilly in the shade- and I kept thinking that I'll be grateful for the cold in 2 weeks when I get back to South Carolina.

I've been trying to improve my eye for pictures, so I try to pick a favorite among the batch.

I had two pictures, almost I identical. This one, Sailboat #1, which I prefer for some strange unexplainable reason:

And this one, Sailboat #2, which is almost exactly the same, but I don't like as much!

Any views on this? Do you like one over the other? Why do I? I really do need to take a photography class so I can learn perspective and focus and all that jazz!

Chronicles of Narnia; Prince Caspian Reveiw

2008-05-26T19:29:00.003-04:00

I saw the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when it came out, and was contemplating not seeing this one. The first Chronicle installation was a little too long for me. It was pretty to watch, but that was my only lasting impression for the entire movie.

Maybe I was in a different mood, or maybe the second installation was just...better. This, too, was pretty to look at. There was action. There was intrigue. There were differing personal journeys of faith. It was good. It was recommendable! The filming was creative- enough info to establish body count with very little evidence that anyone actually died. No blood. There was an excellent "son calling on the father" scene with cool special effects. There were some twists to the plot that I hadn't expected-- of course it's been years since I read the series so I went in a little blind.

I would recommend the movie, but set aside disbelief. Some of the CGI characters were a little shallow. Some of the real characters were a little shallow in development as well! There were a few too many bad guys with beards running around- I got a little confused on exactly who was double crossing who. There was a slightly preachy tone to the entire story- something I may be a little more sensitive to right now as I contemplate my own faith's acceptance of other faiths. But it was cool anyway.

I did like the line- "maybe you weren't looking for him". I liked that.

Route 1 and 1A North

2008-05-18T21:25:00.003-04:00

I didn't stop until I hit the Maine welcome station, where I met a lovely fellow who suggested some stops along my route.

The first stop was the Cliff Walk in York, ME. As I "hiked" along the well marked path, along with multiple small groups of families and curious folks, I couldn't help notice two very important things. First, Maine is very beautiful- the beaches do have some sandy parks, but the round rugged rocks seen along the MA coastline is replaced by sharp, layered rocks that jut into the ocean like knives. The second thing I noticed were the signs proclaiming the "Cliff Walk is CLOSED. It is unsafe and dangerous to your life!" Had I not noticed them, the 5 year old in the group ahead of me would have pointed them out in his happy sing-song little voice every few minutes.

Also in York, ME was the Nubble Light-- a very attractive light.

The next town was Ogunquit, ME which had some pretty beaches as well. I think this one was from Ogunquit- the beaches are all blending together. I have GOT to take notes when taking scenery pictures!

In Ogunquit I ate at Mike's Clam Shake and had outstanding seafood chowder. It had haddock, scallops, shrimp, clams, potatoes and all sorts of strange stuff in it. It had very few potatoes- every spoonful was 90% seafood. It was so good, I ordered a bowl to go and had it again tonight for dinner! Thank goodness for coolers. Next door, Mike's had a seafood store to buy lobster- at $7.99 a pound I had to buy a lobster in order to compare them to the MA lobster I've been eating down here.

I learned a little bit about why lobsters in the restaurants are so expensive. For starters, lobsters freak OUT when you put them in the pot- and their calm demeanor with the tucked tail turns into a spread eagle position that is difficult to get into the chosen stock pot. Second, said freak out makes inexperienced murderers like myself feel like maybe I should be a vegetarian since the only thing I'm comfortable with first hand killing is a carrot. Third, I overcooked the poor thing and had to eat it anyway because I felt guilty. The only thing that makes me feel better is that in the future I will let someone more experienced kill the lobster because they are probably more humane than me in the process. I think Fred the lobster would agree. (Yes, I broke the rule and named him).

My final stop was Kennebunkport, ME. It is a place of really elaborate houses and nice ocean views as well. One such elaborate house caught my eye and I stopped to take a pictures. I asked a jogger running by who the house belonged to (it was obviously someone well-known due to the scale and placement). She laughed, "former President Bush, of course!". Ha. I found papa Bush's house! It's not hard to find- follow the coast and look for a really big house.

It occurred to me later that the jogger may have been secret service. She was buff enough and had on sunglasses.

It took me almost 8 hours to reach President Bush's house in Kennebunkport. It took me a little over an hour to ride 95 back home. Gotta love the scenic routes!

Iron Man: Female Review

2008-05-18T21:19:00.003-04:00

I second Lucky Bob's advice. Go see Iron Man. It was freakin' awesome. I especially liked that it concentrated on the build-up instead of a never-ending fight between the good guy and bad. Recently, the hero movies have specialized in downsizing the plot and exaggerating all their fancy smancy special effects. This movie reveals that you can show off all the fancy smancy special effects WHILE you share the plot. Bravo.

Wild Ride

2008-05-10T21:38:00.005-04:00

Today I worked 4 hours at the hospital, went on a date with a nice guy, and took a helicopter ride (birthday present from my brother).

:-) Here's some pictures of the helicopter ride.

I forget which one, but apparently this house was built by one of the inventors of the toilet. He wanted a view of the ocean, so he cut down the trees. Nice.

Remember my picture of the twin lighthouses? I got a better look at them from the front seat of the copter.

This is Baker's Island-- only 65 houses, handed down generations, with no public access at all. Most of the property has been owned by the same families since before 1900. I got enough of a view to think "gee, I'd like to live there". Ha. According to the pilot, it takes 50 years of being married into one of the families to get an invite to the island. Gotta love urban legends.

Lots of big houses on the coast. The pilot has done some private tours for some of the families- said that one family talked about throwing lobster cages out of their window and hauling up lobsters!

One last lovely picture. My camera did not even begin to capture the beauty of it. Pilot Roger was awesome and entertaining. The 30 minute ride was great- it was really cool to see all of the beaches I had been exploring, by foot, from the air. I have never ridden in a copter before- but if you ever get the opportunity- go.

Thanks to Roger from Beverly Airport Helicopter Tours for the lovely tour!

Personality Test- Phlegmatic? Like Phlegm? Yuck.

2008-05-06T20:27:00.001-04:00

So I joined a new dating site (a free one) and it made me take a personality test. Any truth in this??? :-) I thought there were a few points that matched me for sure....

If you are a phlegmatic-sanguine, your phlegmatic side will dominate. This will result in a greater tendency to introversion (though still less than a melancholic’s or pure phlegmatic’s). You are congenial and cooperative and get along well with most everyone. Because of your emphasis on harmony in relationships, you are peace-loving, conservative, well-balanced, easy-going, with a dry wit and a talent for bringing people together. As an employee, you are compliant, dutiful, orderly, and subdued (and probably were as a child too). Others may not realize that you have a sanguine side -- at first. It may take a little longer for you to make close friends (because you do not reveal your feelings or thoughts as readily as the more extraverted sanguine-phlegmatic), but once you do, your sanguine nature can assert itself. It will also show up when, for example, you have been so dutiful and compliant about work or school that finally you need to relax and unwind — and now the sanguine, fun-loving side comes out. Or, when you are hanging out with your closest friends.

You are very thoughtful of others, with a knack for empathically putting yourself in other people’s shoes, and value peace and harmony at all times. You also have a great sense of humor and an easy-going manner that makes you a valued friend. You are discouraged by criticism or negativity and need acceptance, support and cooperation in your personal life. You can be deeply wounded by sarcasm, harsh criticism, and anger when it is directed at you. You will not, however, directly fight back but prefer to “turn the other cheek” or redouble your efforts to please.
Phlegmatic-sanguines tend to prefer movies, concerts, or other forms of relaxation that are a bit more spectator-oriented. When they attend parties, they tend to prefer smaller groups, rather than the large social gatherings a pure sanguine enjoys. Like sanguine-phlegmatics, they are very attentive to relationships, to harmony among people. They have deep feelings, hate negative criticism, and become discouraged by negativity in those around them. They are strongly tempted to repress their own wishes in order to preserve peace in a relationship. A stressful situation (especially one that is interpersonally demanding) may cause the peaceful phlegmatic-sanguine to withdraw into solitary television watching, playing computer games, eating or sleeping, instead of directly expressing their negative feelings.

A danger for the phlegmatic-sanguine is to be satisfied with achieving less than what he is capable of -- whether because he tends not to plan for the future or because the more challenging goals seem to be “too much trouble.” A phlegmatic-sanguine will be strongly tempted to quit if he doesn’t think the end product is worth the effort or if he fears he won’t succeed. Perhaps the most besetting difficulties for this temperament mixture are the natural inclination to peace and quiet (tempting one to laziness), a preference to live within the moment (superficiality), and a tendency to make decisions based first on the desire to please someone else or to restore harmony.

In a relationship, the phlegmatic-sanguine is true-blue. He is likely to be a great listener, is willing to put others first, and has excellent mediatory skills. You are a supportive friend and a cooperative employee; however, this can cause you to say “yes” to demands of friends or colleagues, without first analyzing whether this choice is actually the best choice to make. At times, wanting to either please your good friends or avoid conflict either at home or at work, you may “go with the flow” when in fact a strong stance is necessary. Or, you may avoid a more demanding task or career move in order to maintain harmony and stability. If you find yourself “stuck in a rut” or avoiding making the extra effort required to make an important change, take time out to analyze your goals for the future, realign your priorities to reflect your values and, if necessary, seek spiritual direction to ensure that your values are aligned with God’s will for you

9!

2008-04-30T17:42:00.003-04:00

Excuse me? NINE Cavities! Are you KIDDING me? I've only had 3 in my entire life!

And you want to do a SKIN GRAFT because one gum, around one tooth, has slightly receded???

And you can't do it all in one visit- I'll have to come back for 4 visits??? Never mind that I am only here for one more month and only have one day off between now and then. Oh, and the specialist for the skin graft.

And you say you can't forward my records to my parents' dentist because each dentist will set their own treatment plan?

I think I'll get a second opinion. And a new toothbrush.

Smitty's Wedding

2008-04-22T20:56:00.006-04:00

Of course I have to blog this! What a lovely weekend. It was so good to see the Elmstreet Gang, and all their spouses.

What was even better was watching the continuous crazy smile that was on Smitty's face all night after the ceremony. You could not set a wedding in a more beautiful place. The garden they had picked had a gazebo with water behind it, lanterns hanging from the trees that mirrored the full yellow moon on the horizon, and a spacious indoor reception area. I won't post too many personal pictures-- that's Smitty's and The Former Lepidopterist's jobs. But I'll share a few for the friends that weren't there, that don't read their blogs, but have heard me talk about the happy couple.

The first picture is of the original Elmstreet gang. There are a few missing members, but this definitely reflects the core group that met in the dorm hall freshman year for hours at a time.

The happy couple, still fresh from the ceremony and probably wondering, "did we just get MARRIED????".

The get away car. How I landed up with this assignment, I'll never know, but I only supplied the equipment. The two 4 year olds did all the work. Yep, that's my story, and the story of everyone else that absolutely in no way help.

Zen

2008-04-22T20:52:00.003-04:00

Went back to "my" beach in Rockport, MA two weekends ago. The first is the low tide, revealing the rough rocks I didn't get to see last visit. The second is me sitting up on top of the pebble dune wondering if the little spiders running through the rocks bit, but not concerning myself to move.

Here's your moment of Zen:

NYC, NY- Spring Awakenings

2008-04-22T20:03:00.005-04:00

It's been a busy few weeks-- I'll actually post two updates tonight if I find the energy!

The weekend before my birthday I received a call from a Baltimore friend (Lisa) inviting me to NYC to go see Spring Awakenings with her and Emily. The only catch? They were going the following weekend. No problem.

We booked a hotel at Days Inn Manhattan, which was over priced by clean and in a great location. Well within walking distance of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Times Square, Broadway, and all sorts of good places! Two blocks off the diamond district, which I had never explored before. Oohhhhh, pretty diamonds.

Saturday I arrived and explored while Lisa and Emily went to the Yankees game (baseball is okay, but I'd rather be exploring...)

Only having a little time, I wandered up 5th Ave, through the diamond district, to the Apple store. I do love my mac.

I also stopped in to Trump tower, climbed to the top (ha- took escalators to the top!), and enjoyed the pretty shiny place.

We met up, had dinner, then called my old graduate school friend Cheria. After meeting up with her and adopting a bar for a night, we proceeded to bump-bump to the loud music and drink lots of Redbull and vodkas. 5:30 am came very fast, and it was a drag to have to give up on the night and head to bed. 9 am came even faster, and we hit the next day on less than 4 hours of sleep. It was worth it, and none of us landed up as bad as this poor soul--

-but we did things we weren't supposed to do and generally caused good clean fun/trouble. No standing, girls!!!

Now to the review:

Spring Awakenings was amazing. The basic storyline is a coming of age with complications sprouting from the inability of parents to be open and honest with their children. So it's a coming of age in ignorance. The staging was fabulous- lighting set each scene by illuminating a specific target on the wall that defined the room- a picture frame of a grandfather for one scene, a butterfly for another. The singers were amazing-- the main male lead sprayed while he sang, but since I wasn't in the front row, I didn't care! The female lead had a sweet voice, but one of the supporting girls blew her away. The climax of the show is a sex scene- a very realistic sex scene- so I wouldn't recommend this for smaller children (under the age of 15). The choreography was crazy good. I haven't seen such an edgy musical since Rent, and I remember loving Rent, but I think this may be my new favorite.

New York City. Gotta love the big Apple.

Happy April Fools Birthday

2008-04-02T20:30:00.004-04:00

My little brother, true to form, has outdone himself this year with his birthday present to me. This is the same little brother that gifted me a used CD on the tip of his finger, and the DVD Princess Bride which he first watched with a girl he was trying to impress.

This year he invited his office to assist with the birthday present. Box contents (no wrapping paper, of course):

a safety pin
2 travel size kleenex
Thank you card found in bosses desk
Luck of the Irish frozen mug
2 Ferguson hats- one camoflauged with orange lettering, the other light brown with white lettering
a notepad from a rep
3 pens
one package of nestle quick cocoa mix
one package of lower sugar oatmeal
two screwdrivers- flathead
one pipe cleaner
one name tag holder
one package of air conditioner and fridge drain pan treatments
one bottle of Acetyl L Carnitine "memory booster" found in his desk 3 years ago
one XL teeshirt with Lenox printed on it
6 bead necklaces- one with a Bacardi medal
2 paper cups
one small roll of class 1 duct tape
one "brush" tee for golf
4 finish samples for lighting fixtures
3 creamers- no refridgeration necessary

My personal favorite: one "1 year corporate emblem lapel" for a girl who got fired a week before it arrived in the mail

First runner up for favorite: one half used bottle of greek seasonings

And one mystery object with instructions on "photo control":

I love my little brother. :-)

Beverly, Manchester by the Sea, Rockport

2008-03-30T16:37:00.006-04:00

So it's time to post some pictures! Sorry for the lull. My first weekend here was settling in, my second I had to work both days at the hospital, and my third weekend was focused on Easter. I did manage to drive around a little that weekend, but I managed to actually stop and explore a bit this weekend.

It was a little cold on the beaches. Didn't realize it was icicle cold until the end of the day. Aw, frostbite.

This is Rockport, MA. Nice little spot of cute shops with some amazing views. I ate a lobster at Roy Moore's-- he boiled it 12 minutes in seawater and sent me out on the frozen deck to eat it. The butter was solid before the end of the lobster, but I wasn't using butter anyway. I've been ruined- it was the best bug I've ever eaten and it's only 25 minutes away!!!

Pretty rocks. I followed a ramp for divers to get this picture. People DIVE near these rocks??? Maybe DIE, but not DIVE! The waves were huge.

This is Singing Beach- a dog beach in Manchester by the Sea. There were lots of cute puppy dogs running around, but I chose the picture of the rock. I'm really into the rugged rock pictures right now.

And this is Manchester by the Sea. There were seagulls carrying shells high into the air, then dropping the shells to the rocks below to open them. Seagulls are larger than I would expect them to be-- they're about the size of a chicken. Wonder if they taste like chicken? heheheh.

Look, a seashell.

This is a beach in Beverly, MA. Small and rocky, it's still a nice place to go and think.

BTW, got a call from one of my very good friends today who is trying to get a ticket for me to see Spring Awakenings in NYC next weekend. Hi Lisa! Now you are mentioned on the Blog. I will blog the heck out of next weekend if you get me a ticket!!! :-) Lisa is one of my Baltimore friends who came to explore Boston last fall with me. I failed to blog the visit- maybe I was blocking out the miserable cold wet rainy nasty weather we trudged through. Or the chocolate covered pear that had the live maggot inside. Or the married guy that hit on me all night before introducing me to his wife (I still throw up a little in my mouth when I think about that). Could be a combination of all that! But now it's blogged and I'll have a reminder of that crazy weekend afterall. Thanks Lisa! Geesh, what I'll do for a friend. :-)

ANYWAYS.

Here's my favorite two pictures.

This is a picture I snapped out of my car window of the Twin Lighthouses on Thacher Island, Rockport, MA. They are the only surviving twin lights on the US coastline and were built in 1789. I never got another view of them, but the car shot didn't look that bad! Turned out to be one of my favs.

I spent about an hour and a half sitting in the cold on this beach near Rockport, MA. I found it by driving down every small road towards the sea until I found one that had public access. I never saw another person anywhere near the beach, and I just sat and pulled things together for awhile. I've been thinking over some life issues, as is apt to happen as one approaches a birthday. I've been dwelling my choice of traveling, my religion, my plans for the future- always a good time to look at yourself and take stock of what you see. I think the only thing that was decided when I left the beach is that I was going to have to head back to the car to avoid irreparable frostbite, and I will own a place on the coast sometime in my life.

Weird day

2008-03-12T22:26:00.002-04:00

Today was weird.

Grandma had surgery on her squamous cell carcinoma. They think they got it all. She's home and complaining about having to eat soup for a few days. I stressed about her all morning- 89 year old diabetic going under general anesthesia. Not cool. But she's okay right now.

This morning when I left home, it was sprinkling. When I came out at 1pm to drive to the other hospital, it was snowing-sideways- so hard you could barely see. When I walked over to the hospital from my outpatient appointment, it was icing (not sleet- just driplets of ice). When I walked to the car this evening, it was sunny and maybe a touch too warm for the winter coat.

Strange weather day.

It's time to head to bed. Gym is cool. I did cardiokick on Monday night and something called Zumba tonight. Zumba involves lots of salsa-type dance moves to a really fast beat so you sweat. Looking around, I realized the only person stiffer than me was the little 60 + lady in the corner desperately trying to keep up. At least I got out and moved-- I pretended they must have had YEARS of professional dance training and I was doing just fine as an amateur. You know, instead of admitting that I've got dad's bad rhythm and mom's stiff hips. Maybe the practice will help me wiggle better. ??? Maybe.

First Impressions

2008-03-09T20:52:00.002-04:00

I have cable, internet, I'm trying out the gym tomorrow on a guest pass (I'll probably like it), and I found a church. I've found a favorite grocery store, a Trader Joes, and a Target. The basics have been met!

My current job is split between two hospitals. I've already pissed off the boss at one by not being aware of an appointment and throwing the entire afternoon schedule off. I've resurrected my palm pilot and plan to pop in all the appointments starting tomorrow.

I've oriented to 2 separate hospitals in their outpatient, inpatient, and radiology areas. I picked up my caseload on the second day (pretty average for me) and I've asked relative questions. My co-workers are nice, but assume that I remember all my outpatient medicare/medicaid guidelines and I feel a little lousy reminding them that it's been 2 years since I had to keep up with all that. In Macon I had 3 outpatients to follow, and no outpatient evals due to the idea that they didn't want to build a caseload for a temporary person. I've eval'd and picked up 4 people this week alone and I'm not sure what they will do with the caseload I'm building- when I suggested limiting the evals I was told that that's what I'm there for. I'm not sure they've thought this out, but they are paying good money for me so I hear and obey. I'll do right by the patients I pick up and set 3 month goals so that there's measurable progress.

Beverly is a smallish town. I did find the water (finally) and have a great little walkway by a beach to explore. I drove by today- it was very windy and I did not dress appropriately for "blustery" weather. I'll be working for the next 12 days (1/2 day for both fridays and the weekend-- stupid paycheck cut off stuff prevents me from just taking a full day off). I plan on hitting the gym, doing some town exploring, and planning my roadtrip for March 22 (my next free weekend).

First impression? It's going to be a long 13 weeks. There's not a "group" at work. One girl is only there 2 days and we'll only overlap one half a day. The other girl is young, but nice, but has her own group I'm sure. We'll see what gym provides, but it's usually hard to find friends there too. There's some small colleges in the area, so the population of young folk runs about early 20s- and I'm a decade older. The neighbors are old and retired or young with kids. I think this will be my last trip to the north-- I think it's time to head west next. Baltimore was something special with such good friends-- and my friends down south from school are something special as well. How lucky I am to have found two such good groups of friends in one life. How lucky I am that they put up with my homesick phone calls! :-) I'll find friends here too- or strain a muscle trying!

Pictures will come. There's a graveyard across the way that is begging for some pictures to be take (though I was rather hoping for a nice dusting of snow before going for that one). There's the water. I'll find other stuff. Wish me luck!

Goodbye Macon

2008-03-02T17:10:00.003-05:00

I start at my new job tomorrow morning, so I'll go ahead and say goodbye to Macon. My trip from Macon to Beverly took me past my brother's house to hang with nephews, bro and sister-in-law. I had a great, but way to short, visit with them. Friday I stopped over in Baltimore to celebrate a friend's birthday. The late night left me with 4 hours of sleep and 8 hours of driving the next day to Beverly. The new apartment is quite depressing and brown- a 2 story townhouse with brown floors, brown couch, brown and blue bedspread, brown EVERYTHING. I bought a red rug and 2 red pillows just to "pop" my apartment a little and today was spent hanging pictures and scattering stuff to fill the space. It's quite a large apartment and the furniture doesn't begin to fill it-- I'll also have to get used to walking upstairs to go to bed (as if it wasn't hard enough to pry myself off the couch!!!) Here's a few last pictures from macon.

A picture from the riverwalk in Macon,GA. Very pretty walk with strange dookie-like sculptures. Very nice playground for kids. I went here with a visiting friend (Adrienne) and decided that while I could go alone during busy times (weekend afternoons) it was a bit too isolated for afterwork or early morning.

Could not resist. Only in the south would the sign say "ya'll".

Ocmulgee indian burial mounds. Big weird hills with flat tops. I was on the tallest one, but couldn't manage to get it in a picture so here's a small one.

View of Macon from the tallest of the Ocmulgee burial mounds.

In closing, I was pleasantly surprised by the shear friendliness of the people in Macon and Gray Georgia. I enjoyed attending the women's exercise group with Melissa and crew, and Curves of Gray was absolutely wonderful (the owner, Kris, is wonderful to talk to and everyone was extremely friendly around the circle). The togo option at the Old Country Buffet was a great way to eat out. The Cox theater was a great source of good movies in comfortable chairs. And of course, the staff at Coliseum (especially the speech staff) were super friendly and awesome. My only regret is that while I met wonderful people, we didn't spend time outside of work and exercise- it's hard to keep track of people you "barely knew". There's not a lot of stuff to do in Macon, but the people there are quite friendly.

Here's hoping Beverly offers both a source of entertainment and friendly people. The hospital looks tiny from the outside but the job should be varied.

The Wicked Witch of the West is Coming...

2008-02-17T18:54:00.004-05:00

Apparently, Macon has tornado warning sirens. They're blaring. I'm spooked. :-) Got a bag with a flashlight, some food, my shoes and my wallet in the bathtub. I'm feeling quite spooked right now-- probably the weatherman's fault cause he's really rubbing in the fact that we are in DANGER. But if I turn him off, I can't tell where the storm is. The sirens aren't helping. I'll check in later- got my cell phone in the pocket of my jeans. I'm trying to distract myself with internet.

UPDATE: Sirens have stopped. Weatherman is taking time to sip on water. All is well. :-) No tornado in Macon tonight.

Still Too Good to be True

2008-02-12T19:13:00.000-05:00

Get this: the hospital is trying to only pay me for 23 hours last week. They are not counting the 2 days I worked at their satellite hospital (16 hours) or the hour they sent me home early. Nice. May I please speak to my manager!?! I'll get it cleared up tomorrow- I was worried they wouldn't actually pay me for the time they sent me home and put me "on call"- never did I worry they wouldn't pay me for working at their satellite hospital! Grrrrr. I'm not stressed.

So, it's Beverly, MA for all those following the Ramblings of this Traveling Speech Therapist. Beverly is located on the North Shore, 17 miles northeast of Boston. I'll be working with outpatient kids, inpatient adults and head and neck cancer patients. The area should generate some lovely photos, and my rep lives up there so I'll have at least one person I (sort of) know in the area. Take-home $$$ will be more than the current assignment, and 2008 has been tagged my personal "year of saving up". So far, so good- I've even recovered financially from Christmas.

I had a lovely weekend. Didn't take many pictures, but I probably have one of the Jelly Fish Salad from the Chinese New Year to share. My camera didn't make it in from the car to capture the absolute adorable Drew, but it will next time. I'm sure his mom can send a few in.

Too Good To Be True

2008-02-08T18:58:00.000-05:00

That line from the boss saying I'll be "on call" and get "Paid for watching TV"? Yep, I knew it was too good to be true. I've done three 8-hour days with 6-7 hours of productivity on each day since that little fib was told. There are worse things then getting paid to actually work, though! We'll see how the last 2 weeks run-- I'm thinking maybe they haven't had consults because there hasn't been a day-time SLP-- they've seen me and I can't hide!!!!!! "Oh- are you leaving? We have one more consult you absolutely must see before leaving!" Then that consult leads to a radiology visit and two reports and a conversation with a doctor that goes absolutely NO WHERE. Heh. Tough day at work... But I'm heading to a Chinese New Year Party and some good ol' fashion baby-sitting duty this weekend so things are looking UP.

Updates

2008-02-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

No, I don't know where I'll be going next. Yes, I'm aware that my current contract ends February 22.

That being stated right at the get-go, I'll also state that I'm not worried. After all, it may be time to do a SNF. That's Skilled Nursing Facility for all you non-medical people out there. Of course, there's a hospital in New Bedford, MA that may need me. We shall sit back and see.

I've had a few good weekends. Two weekends ago I helped mom throw a baby-shower for her friend who just adopted a brand new baby girl. Adorable child! I walked in Friday night after driving almost 4 hours and was literally handed a dust cloth and instructions to make chicken salad. The "fun" didn't end until 6pm Saturday when the last guest left (the baby shower was supposed to be from 1-3pm!) but it's always fun working on a project with mom. She amazes me with her creativity and the fact that she thinks of EVERYTHING. She really should throw more parties. Sunday mom and I sat down and set up her new scanner so she can start scanning in old slides from her childhood. I visited with Grandma briefly, then headed to Augusta to visit with my childhood friend and her family before heading back to Macon.

Last weekend I had a lazy morning of house-cleaning in my PJs before heading to Atlanta for some fun. I met up with a crowd of former college buddies, and friends of old college buddies, and ate at a seafood place called 6 Feet Under (it was across from a cemetery). The girls then headed to "The Graveyard" and we drank until the Australia guy with the scarred face was cute. He did have a good accent.... The next morning we lazied around the house and watched Hellboy, then prepared for a superbowl party. I took a trip to my absolute favorite market- Dekalb International Farmer's Market in Atlanta- then helped the final set up (or got in the way, depending on the point of view!). I drove back 3/4 of the way through the game to avoid exhaustion the next morning-- and was informed that the last 10 minutes of the game were historical. Ah well, I ate good food and had seen several friends I hadn't seen in awhile.

I'm currently in an interesting position of being paid for being "on call" with slim chance of actually being called. It started today and will last for the final 2 weeks of my contract- something about overall productivity (NOT MINE! I've been hitting my numbers without problem). So I think I'll have time for some projects. Or maybe I'll have time to get hooked on soap operas? Hopefully I'll get the projects done. It's a numbers game of some sort. It's so strange, and very much against my grain, to get paid for not working. I can't believe I'm complaining about it-- maybe I'm just afraid I'll get lazy??? More later, I'm sure.

I'll try to find some interesting things to take pictures of while I've got spare time. Stay tuned!

The Dichotomy of Worship

2008-01-20T20:11:00.000-05:00

Today I went to church twice.

From 9:30-10:30 am I attended St. Joseph Catholic church. I'm Catholic: born, raised, and attempting to practice (sometimes more successfully than other times). Walking into St. Joseph's is like walking into my home parish St. Peter's at home. It's tall cathedral ceilings are bordered by stain glass illustrations of the bible.

Mass is a litany of recited prayer, familiar songs, carefully orchestrated worship that is predictable and comfortable. If it's a good sermon, as it was today, it applies the readings to real life and makes you think right in the middle of all that predictable ritual.

Today we sang two of my favorite songs: Make me a Channel of Your Peace (St Francis Prayer) and Here I Am Lord. I walked away from mass warm, full of warmth towards others, and ready to face another hard week of work.

From 11:15-1 pm I attended Real Life Church at the invitation of some girls from gym. It's Pentecostal.

I walked in and was greeted by one of the girls I know- darn if her name didn't get lost from my head- and walked into the sanctuary. The first thing I noticed wasn't the architecture-- it was just plain walls and a ceiling-- but the full band and at least 30 person choir on stage rocking it christian-style. I wondered if I was late. I sat in the first seat I could find in the back- only to realize later that it was the reserved section for people with infants and children. Oh well. No one moved me, and the family to my right were involved and involving during the service. Every time the preacher said "tap three people and tell them you belong to God," I got a tap on my shoulder from the family. I tapped back enthusiastically, if awkwardly. At one point we even exchanged high fives.

The first 30 minutes or so was music from up front with people on their feet, swaying, some raising their hands at the swell of the music. I once read a study regarding the effect of loud volume music on the pleasure centers of the brain and wondered if they had read the same article. I was in a cheerful mood by the end of the music as were the rest of the congregation. The preacher got up and talked a bit, welcoming the worshipers and commenting the holy spirit had taken him when he got off-topic.

There was a short compilation of film, music, speech and a picture montage celebrating both Martin Luther King and the racial harmony present in the church. Looking around, I noted quite a bit of racial harmony going on and am frankly impressed to see it in small town Georgia. This church, at least on the surface, seems very forward and color-blind.

The preacher got back up and blessed our tithes- the only part of the whole service that I rejected. I did give $10, but said a little prayer for the congregation in general. From what I understood of the preacher's words, the more you give, the more blessings God will give you and your family. If you want more blessings, give more. This seems very wrong to me and I hope I misunderstood.

He then began his sermon (?). The basic message was reject average and strive to be more. Good message. Said over and over again, with increasing intensity, increasing loudness, and more vocabulary. This is preaching fueled by raw emotion, not careful planning. There was a reading-- a sentence above him on the screen- that the preaching loosely adhered to.

There was a music group called the Crabbs family present and they sang a few songs that were well received. On whole, the whole experience was unpredictable, emotion packed, and very much in celebration of christian behavior and Jesus. A few people went up after final prayer to be saved (I accidently raised my hand during prayer, but quickly put it back down when I realized what was going on). Then it was over.

So what did I think? I enjoyed Real Life church, and will probably go back the only other weekend I have here. It was fun and worshipful. I got goose-bumps from time to time. It was a celebration of God, but it didn't feel like church. I like my church with its concentration of rituals, prayer, and a 20 minute sermon that has a definite beginning, middle and end. I wonder how it would be perceived if I went to "church" in my Catholic church, then followed it up with praise in the Pentecostal church? Would it be against the pope? Is it worshipping multiple gods, or acknowledging the two sides of my same God? The solemn and the joyful God? Regardless, it was a nice start to the day.

Small Town Georgia

2008-01-17T17:38:00.000-05:00

Some sights around the Georgia area!

Friend Adrienne and I checked out the High museum in Atlanta- to see the Impressionists. Very snooty. Actually a good exhibit, for all the crowd. As usual, the contemporary art exhibit called my name next. Guess what this picture shows? I love it.

We are DEEP in churches here. Interesting enough, this is a Baptist and a Catholic church sharing the same street.

I was stunned to find out that while chic-fil-a exists in Baltimore, it is sadly absent in Boston. No "Eat mor chiken" slogans? No cows encouraging the boycotting of meatburgers? Down here in Georgia we even have a Chic-fil-a with a tiny non-PC door marked "for dwarfs". See the red door? The sign even reads "chic-fil-a" and below that "Dwarf house".

Last weekend was spent visiting the High, having coffee with dear friend Angela, and spending time with Ty and Jennifer. Somehow I went and saw Sweeney Todd again. Enough with the blood!!! The music is rather gritty.

I'm on the hunt for the next assignment- got a nibble in Roanoke, VA. We'll see if that interview happens. Right now I'm being run ragged at work-- productivity standards at this chain hospital require pretty much non-stop running. I'm becoming more efficient now that I have to clock in and clock out-- no more working extra and marking down the time I SHOULD have left work instead of the time I actually crawled out of there. I guess that's good to learn. I entered today at 35 hours and was told I couldn't earn overtime-- so I left at 1:45pm and enjoyed a long afternoon. It's pretty crazy.

Tomorrow morning, I'm having eggs for breakfast. A lady at Curves raises chickens, grinds her own chicken feed, and sells the fresh eggs. My eggs were laid yesterday. Wonder if they'll taste different than my Walmart eggs? Stay tuned.

Canon in D

2008-01-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

Amuse yourself and watch this. Don't be tempted to turn off half-way through- the end is more amusing than the beginning.

Bleck- Sweeney Todd Review

2007-12-29T18:56:00.000-05:00

I've been humming "Have a Little Priest" for a few months now due to a never-hatched-plan to see Sweeney Todd the musical in Boston. Imagine my delight in finding out that they had made a movie-musical with the music. Even more delightful, my favorite creepy actor was to play Mr. Todd himself. Needless to say, I've been waiting for Sweeney Todd to make its debut.

So I went this afternoon with popcorn in hand, fully aware that I was to see murder, cannibalism, and general mayhem in a barber shop. The first half of the film was everything I desired. The filmography was appropriately creepy and it very much placed you in dirty London. Some of my favorite actors, and a few unknown to me, were thrust into a world where, when you get stabbed, you sing instead of dying. They must have forgotten to read the rules of musicals. No one sang after they died in this one. And there were many deaths. Each death was filmed horrifyingly close-up and with spurting blood everywhere. There were crunching sounds, exploding skulls, body parts in a meat grinder after that wonderful first half. I knew there was going to be murder, but really! I thought the battle scenes in Braveheart showed gratuitous violence-- I have now seen something much worse. As the elderly lady sitting a few seats down from me stated, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph- this is awful!"

I don't watch horror movies. Never saw Saw I, II, III or whatever they're up to. Never was tempted to watch Nightmare on Elmstreet. Don't watch gross movies. Unless they are free on TV and I can put them on mute when the gross scary parts come.

That being said, I'm glad I saw it. I would have seen if even if someone told me it was bloody-gross. But I won't be buying this one on video to watch on rainy afternoons. Favorite song and scene remains "Have a Little Priest", and Johnny Depp was amazing, so I'm not disappointed-- just a bit grossed out. I just think I'll go back to listening to Phantom of the Opera and Spring Awakening now to get those scenes of blood from my visual memory.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T16:10:00.000-05:00

For the family that has been, the family that is, and the family that will be;
For the friends that are, and for the friends that I have yet to meet;
For those that teach me how to act, and those who teach me how not to act;
For all the blessings I have experienced, and all the strife that has made me strong,

I thank God.

Merry Christmas.

And in Memorium:

Grandpa Martin- for whom I will miss playing Christmas music.

And Grandma Kay- whose voice I could hear clearly in the silent room saying "hot mama- are you going to get a guy at church?" as I put on the knee high black leather boots that perfectly matched my red knit Christmas dress.

It's been a year of adventure in ramblingspeech's life, but also a year of loss. Here's to hoping 2008 holds a great deal more joy than sorrow.

New Year's resolutions may include: figure out what type of speech therapist I want to be when I 'grow up' (ie, stop traveling), visit Alaska, learn how to speak Spanish, take a personal finance class to explore what to do to prepare for house and child (speech therapist I am currently working with chose to have a child by herself- I'm looking into fostering at 35 years and I have a feeling I need to start financially preparing right now), work in California and watch a sunset over the Pacific ocean, work in a nursing home just to see what all the anti-SNIF rhetoric is about, and become a better friend.

Stay tuned on how all that goes.

Dangers of GPS

2007-12-24T09:17:00.000-05:00

Twas the Night before Christmas Eve
And all through the house,
we were up wrapping presents,
or eating cookies. (Too tired to rhyme right now).

Anyways, we were robbed.
Apparently, big brother left his TomTom still attached to the window,
and it proved to be too big of a temptation for some criminals.
We were the 5th or 6th call this morning from the neighborhood.

Merry Christmas Eve!
Someone's getting an unboxed TomTom with a Mr. T voice for Christmas.
My dear Garmin is safe in my purse, and I always take down the holder in the car and wipe the circle from the window.
Now I won't feel so paranoid doing so! So everyone giving GPS units this Christmas--put a warning in the letter. If it can happen in my parents quiet neighborhood (we didn't even lock the doors last night until we went to bed at 3pm), then it can happen anywhere.

Christmas cookies

2007-12-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

The adventure continues...

Well, adventures in baking, surely. Mom and I baked cookies last Saturday, then I turned around and went to my friend Adrienne's in Atlanta and baked some more cookies. Then I came home and baked MORE cookies and took them to work. It's been a cookie-baking bonanza. Here's some pictures:

And just so the post won't be too boring, I highly recommend visiting the following site:
Jesus Christ on a Surfboard

Back to Dixieland

2007-12-17T21:49:00.000-05:00

You know you are in the south when....
...the local car dealerships proclaim their love for Christ with electric signs
...boiled peanut signs outnumber gas station signs
...you think you see a highschool and it turns out to be the local baptist church
...gas is $2.80/gallon
...when you say "yes ma'am", it's expected, not commented on
...you see three separate wing places lined up next to each other... and next door to them is a KFC and a Popeye's chicken.

Ah, the south. Here's a picture of the traffic ahead of me on the way here:

Inspired by the Cape

2007-12-03T20:26:00.002-05:00

Two weekends ago I was inspired scholastically by the wonderful ASHA lectures. Last weekend I was inspired artistically by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Gardner Museum (of the two, I suggest the Gardner). This weekend, I decided to become inspired by the nature of Cape Cod.

To get there, apparently, I had to off-road a great deal. See? Here's the proof- if it's not in Garmin maps, it's off-roading. The Garmin map elves haven't visited the Cape (or maybe V.P. Cheney lives there?). It only bothered to map the two main roads-- route 6 and route 6A.

Once I was there, I was caught by both the stark beauty, and the complete lack of any other human to share that beauty with. Not just the lack of a significant other, though it did cross my mind as well, at times I would have been happy with a nod from a stranger in the distance. The beaches were empty. The footprints were mine.

Oh, I spent time shopping too in Chatham, Orleans and Provincetown. While I got a lot bought for Christmas, I've been enjoying just closing my eyes and trying to remember the wind, the surf, the sight of the little round stones being covered relentlessly by waves, the sight of a beach marred only by my clumsy flat-footed footprints. It was lonely, but it was lovely.

Snow Ghosts

2007-12-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

Driving back from Cape Cod, the snow began falling. For the first time in my life, I drove on an interstate cold enough to prevent snow from melting as the first few flakes of a snowstorm began. Within minutes, snow was gathering in small vortexes, pushed, pulled and finally spun by the wind from the cars around me. A hundred ghosts swirling into and out of my path.

Pictures from the frozen Cape to follow soon. Maybe tonight if I can tear my eyes off the storm outside.

Pretty Pictures

2007-11-07T20:51:00.000-05:00

Some pictures from recent road trips. The scary guy towards the bottom was a fellow I met at Salem the week before Halloween. He was sweet-- sang me a song. The leaf pictures were taken on a short roadtrip to the Berkshires, where I kept finding nice cemetaries. Note to all explorers, don't drive up a cemetary road after a good rain. For a few minutes I sat in my car imagining the call I was going to make to AAA if I didn't make it through the last part of the muddy road ahead. The imagined embaressment from the imagined conversation gave me the strength to go steam ahead on a hill to get out of the jam. As my older brother said, I almost was a Fark headline! (Girl found dead in Graveyard?) I also went apple-picking and filled the fridge with lovely apples. The upside-down trees and the stained glass were taken in Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art (Mass MoCO).

Fear of the Dark

2007-11-01T21:49:00.000-04:00

Part of the power is to share the information-- but I'll try not to bore you!

I took a "Street Smarts" class for 4 hours Monday and 4 hours Tuesday night. The final "exam" was a simulation attack. Each of us had to take a turn by going to the middle of the gym and closing our eyes. We had to wait in silence and with our eyes closed until we were physically touched, at which point the simulation began. Our opponent looked very much like this guy, minus the sword:

For some people, he acted like a pushy homeless guy asking for money. For some, a guy using bad pickup lines and then backing the person into a corner so she had to fight her way out. For others he just grabbed them from behind, or from the front.

I waited with my eyes closed, listening to him walk around me, listening to him readjust his velcro, I think I stopped breathing. Then he grabbed my right arm and began to yell "get into the van" while he dragged me across the floor as hard as he could. This was NOT come at me slowly with your left hand stuff. After a short stall, I yelled "let go" and grabbing my right fist in my left, jerked my arm out of his hands and spun around to run. I heard him start to run after me and I turned, spread my feet apart and got my hands up to punch him. Applause rang out-- and the critique began.

1. I had a short stall-- that was good.
2. I could have stepped closer to him to avoid the "tug of war" which an attacker will always win, but I did managed to pull my arm away quite fast-- mixed goodness.
3. On realizing that he was persuing me, I spun to face him. Way good. The worst position you can be in is being grabbed from behind. At that point you can only step on his toes and try to get elbows swinging.
4. On spinning to face him, I got into fighter's stance in record time. Thank you Hapkido and kickboxing class-- there was not even a thought towards it-- it was a very natural thing to do. Also way good.
5. I said "let go", but then the rest of the altercation was silent. When attacked, your best bet is to make noise and yell sentences like "stop", "let go", and "don't touch me". I struggled in silence, and this is my biggest failure. Now I know, when I"m in a stressful situation I really have to think about yelling. I'm supposed to visualize situations and yelling responses.

So that was my class. Points to take home with you on home and personal security.

SHE- fighting principle- Stop the attack, Hinder the attack, Escape.

Rules of the game:
1. Never believe your attacker.
2. Never try to reason with your attacker.
3. Never go anywhere with your attacker. (Die in public, not in private!)
4. Never get into a strangers car.
5. Never let yourself get separated from the group.
6. By resisting an attack, you will be injured no worse than if you comply.

Lifestyle changes:
Lock your doors. With a chain if you can.
Don't place any ladders around your property outside.
If someone asks you to use a phone for an emergency, offer to make the call for them- don't let them inside.
Stand near the buttons on the elevator if you are in there alone or with someone you don't know.
Don't wear your purse across the shoulders-- most injuries from purse snatchings are from the knife they use to cut it off you. They want the purse, they won't wait for you to lift if off your shoulders.
Carry your wallet in your pocket, the other stuff goes in the purse.
Use one hand to carry your bags-- the other is for protection.
Leave some room in front of you when you stop at a red light. If someone tries to break your window and climb inside, it's harder to climb inside a moving target.
Have your keys ready- use them as a weapon.

And my absolute favorite...
Sleep with 3 things near your bed. A phone, a flashlight, and a fire estiguisher. The fire estiguisher is for both fires and to spray in the face of an intruder!!! I like this one-- already moved the estiguisher to my bedside!!!

Wicked Review

2007-10-10T18:22:00.000-04:00

Book Review: I read Wicked between jobs after starting the first chapter while visiting Adrienne in Atlanta. She was reading it for a book club and I ended up going out to buy it. This is not a fast read or an easy read. This is not Harry Potter. I would describe this as political science fiction with an emphasis on class discrimination in a multi-race society. What defines "person". I loved it and it made me ponder quite a bit about politics in a very make believe society. It was unexpectantly rich in both detail and thought. And it was a nice change from the medical nonfiction I've been reading lately.

Musical Review: I saw this last night-- stood in line to try to win a lottery ticket to one of the $25 seats and ended up purchasing a $40 ticket when my name didn't come up. I sat in the front corner of the side orchestra section and it was a wonderful seat with a great view-- usually is sold for $90 but it was all by its lonesome, and so was I, so we matched quite well. This musical is funny, entertaining, and not at ALL thought-provoking like the book. It is the eye- and ear- candy of this story. The politcal veins that run through the book are at the edge of the story, with a typical musical love story right in the middle. That being said, it's shallow and entertaining songs had people laughing and cheering throughout--myself included! Unlike Les Miserables, Phantom, Miss Saigon or Rent, it does not pull you into the story-- the story remains a story and the references to the original movie are sprinkled with glee throughout. There's a moment or two of "awwwww", and a moment of sadness, but mostly it's puzzle pieces filling in a backstory you didn't even bother to imagine. There's even a "Lemons and oranges and Pears-- oh my!" and other such puns on original quotes. I loved it also.

So I think OZ universe has 3 different stories. The musical is more related to the movie than to the book, though I know the book inspired the musical. Does that make sense? I love both- but for very different reasons. The book left me disturbed and thinking....the musical left me all happy and gleeful inside with lots of new tunes running through my ipod this morning.

If you get a chance to see Wicked, especially on reduced tickets, go for it. It's Wicked cool. (Had to say it, I am in Boston afterall).

Busy Weeks and a few Random Pictures

2007-10-07T16:26:00.000-04:00

The last few weeks have been fun but stressful.

Mom visited Sept 13-18. We ate at the Legal Seafood Test Kitchen- cool play toys including a small touchscreen TV/Computer/Sketchpad that is delivered to the table to play with while waiting for your food. Or option #2- a small ipod speaker set you can put your ipod on to play music while waiting for dinner. The wait, I'll have to say, was better than the dinner. Dinner was a lobster roll that had been recommended by 2 different people-- if this is the best, then maybe I don't like lobster rolls. Yeck. The mojito was okay-- the ones in Baltimore at Club 1 were better. Mom and I managed to shop, eat at interesting places,explore, and shop some more. Mom likes shopping.

Highlights included birthday dinner (for her, not me!) at Hamersley's-- nicest meal I've eaten in a long time. Everything was perfect except for the fact that they were supposed to bring desert with a candle in it for mom. The runner started to deliver the deserts and I said, "whoa-- uh, you have the wrong table. Go check your notes!" He started to say something, got a look in his eyes, said, "sorry about that!" and rushed back to the back with the two sweets. A minute later BOTH deserts came out with candles. The waiter apologized-- they had taken poor notes and didn't even know whose birthday it was. The food, however, was amazing. The waiter (other than the birthday mess up) was amazing and attentive. The drinks were amazing. The price... um... well we'll just say that despite the good food, I'll probably not have another reason to go to Hamersley's!

I cooked dinner for mom two nights. One night was Italian-- all the ingredients from North End. Our final night we had lobster and Alaska king crab legs from Shaws grocery.

On Sept. 21 I met up with a traveling buddy as she stopped over in Lowell, MA on her way back from her traveling therapy job in Maine. I have now spent Friday night in a place called Lowell. I can't say I'll be back any time soon! K- and I talked about how the company she recruited me for has suddenly become crazy. Since they are currently trying to charge me $17 an hour for taking off two prearranged days for a conference, and when I do the math for their daily expendature for me I come up with $9/hour, I'm agreeing pretty strongly with her. If they can't figure this out, and maybe even if they do, I think I've had enough. The decision will be to go back to Sunbelt, or try out Core Medical. Core has a cruise once a year for anyone who has completed 3 assignments. Bon Voyage, I think!

My friend Rachel from Baltimore came to visit Sept 26-30th and we had a blast. We hit up the Comedy Connection for some REALLY dirty jokes (I thought HBO was bad, now I know true crassness). We ate at Giacomos (oh my gosh so yummy EVERY visiter will now eat there!), hung out at The Black Rose (Irish bar with good music). We maybe had a little too much to drink at the old Black Rose, and on the way home I somehow convinced two voice majors that were sharing the subway car to sing a little opera for us. It was pretty funny.

Next morning, we had breakfast at Centre Street Cafe (awesome brunch) and wandered around Jamaica Plain Open Studios and admired lots of creative art. I bought homemade artistic soap. We hit up the Boston Ticket booth for 1/2 price tickets to The Blue Man Group-- all visiters will be forced to attend this show (just warning you)-- it was so awesome also. Music, lights, comedy, social commentary-- all wrapped up into an audience participation performance art by 3 blue guys. One of which was staring into my eyes from a space of about 6 inches for a few seconds-- he picked the guy in front of me to go up instead-- so close, but so far away! I still had loads of fun. And Rachel claims she did too! We finished the night at JP licks for ice cream.

And now, for some interesting pictures from around Boston. I somehow managed not to take a whole lot of pictures during my visits-- but still have a few cool ones to share anyway.

First is the Albino squirrel that mom and I saw at Jamaica Plain Lake. Apparently, he's been around for years.

Here's the really cool Lamborgini I saw outside of one of the fancier hotels here in Boston:

A very amusing site from the public gardens (double click to get the joke):

And a picture of a stain glass window made by Tiffany's- with and without flash: