Back to reality

I suppose I am not ready to go back to work. This vacation was too brief, but better than nothing. We did a whole lot of nothing in one of my favorite places. I even braved some 58 degree water for about 5 minutes on Saturday. It is amazing how quickly I can kill a day where I do not do much at all.

Glimmer

I need to get the chords for this one once somebody gets around to figuring them out. I think it is a beautiful song, and it is slow enough for me to figure out.

Why is this news?

Girls Gone Wild sued for sex harassment - Yahoo! News

Off to the cape

I may be quiet for a few days. I am working tommorrow and driving to the Cape for a few days. yahoo!

Open House

Today was a full day. We went runnin', swimmin', open housin', and visitin'. We went down to the city with our friends Igor and Regina who are visiting from San Fran. We hung out in the park with our other friends Tracey and Marcello, and we all caught up. There was a free concert in the park that we listened to on the lawn (Rodrigo and Gabriella who are Mexican guitar players from Dublin/they like to play metal classics on acoustic guitars, and they were pretty good!). We ended up having dinner at Cafe Lalo. That is the cafe in "You've Got Mail", and it is usually a tourist zoo. The desserts are really good there, so I have been there several times with actual New Yorkers. On the train home, a baby was in distress. They were calling out for doctors. It was just as we were pulling out of Grand Central, and the emergency response was pretty fast. We had to switch trains before we finally left.
The open houses were interesting. One we just wandered into, and we knew the house was way too damn expensive. It was cool to take a look. The other house we had looked up before, so it was fun to check out. I suppose it is fun until we have to put an offer on a place. Here's the big and cool place that we can not afford! The realtor told us it was one of the best values in Rye.
http://www.coldwellbanker.com/servlet/PropertyListing?action=detail&ComColdwellbankerDataProperty_id=11726543&page=property

"The Kitten"

I think this story is about more than a kitten.

Weddin'

Had fun tonight catching up with some old and current friends. Here are some highlights.

Weekend

Well, we are going to a wedding this weekend. I have not been to a wedding in at least 3 years, and we are going to 2 in the next month. Since the wedding is in Greenwich, I got concerned about my shoes. I realized my dress shoes are all old, navy, or black. I was never concerned about my shoes really until I moved here. I think about them a little more now, but I am not willing to go through major pain. So I ended up buying 2 pairs, so hopefully they will go with something. I thought my friend Regina would have been proud of my choices (she was always pushing stylish yet brutally uncomfortable shoes on me). I swear I tried on about 10 pairs, and I could not walk in most of them. They all have this crazy heel that is like balancing on a nail. My balance is bad enough! The last time I tried to buy dress shoes, they had all of these shoes with heels and no straps on the back. It was like wearing a heel flip-flop. How in the hell does anyone walk in that?

Look what else I found!

I should get a few bucks for them on Ebay!

Emily Dickinson?

When I was in third grade, I fancied myself a poet. I was in some experimental split class that had many self directed times of the day. There I explored my "talent" for poetry. I think my teacher was being nice by encouraging me. I remember thinking this poem in particular was genius. I thought it was very deep indeed. I will let you judge for yourselves. As you can see, I did receive a sticker for my fine work.

Really old n' scary!

Good thing I got over my fear of prosthetics. My job would be really tough. I can not believe I did not fess up to a major childhood fear which is tornadoes!

Old Schtuff

I was cleaning a closet, and I came across a box of old stuff I did not know I had. I found this amoung other photo collages from college, but I thought this was pretty funny. Linda made it for me, and she has 3 kids with a fourth on the way! You may have to click on it, but I love the caption where I am standing in the airline check in desk.

Oh Yeah!!!

White House Is Subpoenaed on Wiretapping - New York Times

Clip From movie Knocked Up

Do not watch if you are planning to see the movie. I just love Jodi!

"This place is a zoo"

Today was really hot and steamy. Despite this, I went to the zoo with a former patient of mine who I have not seen for a while. She is almost 16, and she is doing incredibly well. When I started working with her, she had just had a severe TBI (traumatic brain injury) and was lucky to be alive. She was a gifted kid at the time of the injury (especially in music), and she needed help just to sit up. At the end of a year of seeing her, she was playing violin again and able to get around well. She is a funny kid, and it was really good to catch up. Here are some highlights from my favorite exhibit in my favorite zoo. Mike will be jealous he missed it. As you can see, it was hot out!

knocked out

I saw Knocked Up last night. Good funny flick, and I got to see a lot of my Freaks and Geeks kiddos in the movie. I give it a thumbs up!

Overuse anonymous

wcbstv.com - Coney Island Hot Dog Champ Suffers Arthritic Jaw
Wow, I did not realize even the most sedentary of sports has such a risk of injury!

San Francisco bans bottled water for city staff - Yahoo! News

San Francisco bans bottled water for city staff - Yahoo! News
interesting!

good news squared

1. My knee stopped clicking. I was losing hope, and I went swimming to see if my knee could tolerate it. I have been going stir crazy and not working out for a few days. The swim was terrific! Outside, hot, sunny, (watchin' my shadow on the bottom of the pool which is perfection to me!), cold water, no crowds!!!!! When I got out, clickin' was over (hopefully for good).
2. Last month I went to this awesome aquatic therapy course, and I got all riled up. Since then I had a lot going on, but switching to practicing in the water has been brewing in the back of my mind. Now that it is quiet this week, I finally called one of the therapists who taught the course. She runs sessions in White Plains, and she said I could come by to practice. Turns out she has one of my friends that I used to work with in the hospital here working with her. She said if I like it she could use some help. I reduced my hours with the agency that I work with now, and I would love to get into the aquatics with somebody else instead of on my own. I feel like my learning has stalled a bit, and I could use some colleagues again. That is what I miss most about working in the hospital setting. I also have to be realistic and know that working with the kids is not helping my joints. It will be easier on my knees to work in the water for sure. So, I will have trouble falling asleep tonight.

Slackin'

I do not have many kids that I can see this week, so I am doing some odds and ends. I will clean up the house, etc. I would be doing all sorts of hard core workouts, but my knee is still clicky. I think I will try swimming on it today since the long course pool is open (less turning).
I suppose I could do some paperwork too. I love to put that off. If I am feeling really nice, I could do somebody's laundry too.
A and K, thanks for the recommendations. We ended up going back to Truro, but I am saving it all for another weekend. We do not have much time, and taking the ferry took a day off of our trip. We got a cool place though......
http://www.cyberrentals.com/USA/Massachusetts/Cape-Cod/vacation--Truro/p158083.htm

I met the Mets

We finally made it to a Mets game. This was my first, and we have been talking about going since I moved here. Mike just threw it out there as an idea, and luckily there was a game last night (perfect weather too!). The traffic sucked getting there (a normally 40 minute ride turned into an hour and a half), but it was worth it.
The game was scoreless into the bottom of the 9th, and the winning runs were scored after an error by the Oakland As. So the whole place was satisfied. The other exciting moment was when the catcher got kicked out (while he was batting) and started throwing all of his equipment on the field. When the game ended, Shea was chanting his name. It was pretty funny. Here are some pics, and aren't we so photogenic? I gave up on pictures. I took about 20, and Mike had his eyes shut in all of them, or slightly open.

meet the mets

Going to my first Mets game tonight. The tix were cheap, it is cool and sunny, and my knee is snapping around. I will give you all the full report later.

sorta clean bill of health

Well, my ligaments are intact, and there is nothing torn or floating around in my knee. That is the good news. The doc just thought since there was a little swelling, my synovial fluid is snapping around. Of course it is always fun to see how degenerated my knee are, and we discussed long term planning which was helpful. So I am currently relieved about the status of my knee.

Cheapskates rule!

Not Buying It - New York Times

Threat to the planet

I realize as an American with the typical lifestyle here, I am polluting the earth and being incredibly wasteful. I try to do little things like recycle, use my canvas shopping bags, and turn stuff off when I am not using them. I know that is very little in the grand scheme of things. I wonder what the large scale environmental impact of the printer cartridge is? I always send them in the envelopes the manufacturer provides, but they are so small! They should do that for bottled water as far as I am concerned. That uses a great deal more plastic! (I have considered that they can not process them in normal town plants, but it is funny the great effort to recycle them like they are causing the landfills to overflow!)

He used up the brains in the family

Study Says Eldest Children Have Higher I.Q.s - New York Times
Thanks alot John.

Hippo Birdie 2 Ewes

Happy Bday to Ann. I hope you day is filled with joy! I will never forget dancing on your birthday in the Rock on 5th and ending the night at the Lantern. Of course, this is another highly memorable night indeed!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

A couple of days ago, I got out of the car and my knee started crunching around. It makes a clunky snapping sound with nearly every step now. So I am going to my orthopod tomorrow. It does not hurt, but it is really annoying. I can not figure it out. Maybe something is floating around in there, or I have a flap that is sticking up from cartilage. Soooooo, wish me luck. I am anticipating that I may have to retire from triathlons.

WTF

It tells you how much my service is valued when a client's family calls to cancel an appointment so they could go to the pet store.

Windin' down

I am just trying to wind down on my year here. We spent a great deal of time trying to figure out our vacation for the last 2 nights. Anyone have any great ideas for our long vacation in August? That is going to be our big anniversary trip.

Shaking Off Amnesia, Gonzales Remembers He's Actually Pool Salesman From Tulsa

Elliott Smith- Stupidity Tries

This is also cycling through my head. I want to learn the guitar to this, but I have a feeling it would be way too over my head.

Buns are cooked

We did the Cook your Buns 5K race tonight after work. We do a lot of races put on in Greenwich. It is the best sporting value we have encountered in a long time. $15 for a T-shirt, entry into Tod's Point (if we went there to hang out it would have cost us a total of $40 dollars), and a post race BBQ put on by Whole Foods. Mike wanted to get a hotdog before the race, and we joked about having BBQ instead of water stops. It makes me want to live in Greenwich so we could go to their beach when we wanted. I was not trying for a good run (I am being careful with the knees), but I ended up with a personal best anyways. I got to pass people for once. Mike placed in his age group, so he had a good showing. Greenwich lost a Supreme court ruling a few years ago, and now they have to allow others to use their beach. They keep exclusive by making you drive to another building to get a parking pass and charging $10/person and a $20 parking fee. The beach is nice, but it is not like the ones on Long Island on the open Atlantic. We go to Jones Beach for free with our NY parks pass!

Elliott Smith

Can not get this out of my mind this week.

Family Guy - Electric Man

Gotta love the union suit.

This one's for the girls

I guess the guys would not find this interesting at all. I have noticed the thong underwear fad is fading away (admit it, they are uncomfortable!). I sat at many a lunchtable at a previous job (which employed a ton of women), and they would claim thongs were comfortable. I supposed they just wished they were really comfortable. I suppose they are if you like the feeling of having a perpetual wedgie. Now, I do not wear granny panties. I am a bikini girl. I was in the mall the other night, and I bought more underwear (strategy to avoid the laundromat). I decided to throw in a pair of boy shorts for the hell of it. I tested them today, and I have to say that they totally suck. I got the same size I use for bikini, and they were huge. I thought I would pull a grampa Simpson by lunch. The bottom part lacked elastic, and they were just flappin'. They also tended to bunch up in my crack. It is amazing how something that appears to be comfortable was driving me batty all day. Is it just me? I do have enough junk in the trunk!

The Daily Puppy

The Daily Puppy
Here is Anita and Jonathan's Pup.

Please explain

In the middle of a treatment the other day, the kid's mom asked me, "Are you Catholic, Protestant, or Presbyterian?". Apparently I appear to be a type of Christian. After I told her I was Catholic, she asked the child to ask me his question. The burning question, "What is a saint"? I guess he was interested since he had been to some Caribbean islands. So I did my best simple explanation of what a saint is to the young one, and he seemed satisfied with the answer.

WNYC - Radio Lab: Memory and Forgetting (June 08, 2007)

WNYC - Radio Lab: Memory and Forgetting (June 08, 2007)
Radiolab is back, and this was really good. I apologize for 2 memory-related posts in one week.

Whewhh!!!!

I got up at 7:30, because I passed out on the floor last night watching the "Untouchables". I am the queen of passing out watching movies, even when I like them. As you all know, it has been a crazy week. I topped off the craziness by undergoing a state audit yesterday morning. I see kids in a particular program governed by the dept. of health, so I was one of the providers that was randomly audited. As you may imagine, it was a tad stressful. They wanted all of my documentation for the kids I have seen, and I had to undergo an interview. I am not too eloquent in a stressful situation, but it went well. I knew that they would find errors, and they were not as hard on me as I expected. Part of the interview problem was just semantics and the dept likes to use a ton of acronyms. I am glad that I went through the process now, and I learned a lot. It would have sucked in another three years.

I got home last night, and it smelled like I was entering a turpentine factory. Carol fixed a floor upstairs, and you could taste it down here. I was bummed since I picked up some fish last night I wanted to make for dinner. So Mike and I decided to go out for Sushi at a little place we like in White Plains. I was looking forward to catching up with Mike since I have not really seen him all week. When I flew back from MI, he was in Chicago. He went to the Waldorf-Astoria thursday night for an Economic Club meeting, and it was a fancy event. It was black tie, and Condi Rice and Alan Greenspan were going to be speaking. Mike dusted his tux off to discover the boutonniere from the wedding was still pinned to it, and his shirt was never washed. He had to make a run to Syms to fix that up! When Mike got home from the event, I was in the throes of the last minute audit panic, so I could not appreciate the debriefing. The hostess asked us which table we would like, and I picked the WRONG one.

The cornholios at the other table were 2 dudes. One was a tanned, pumped up lookin' character. The other was a similarly tanned, but kinda bloated guy. I can assure you that they did not get laid tonight. The not good lookin' guy was talking so loud with expletive-laced sentences, and much of the conversation revolved around "f'ing women, people who are fat, types of fish, hot women, and how much he could bench". Holy shit, what a meathead! I had to look at him since he was talking so much about looks that I had to see if he was hot-but he was not. I swear his friend did not say anything the whole time. He was telling the waitress she was beautiful, and then commenting after she left about her, etc. I am sure they were on the way to the bars down the street. I tried my best to drown him out, but his booming voice kept appearing in my ear.

When we were going back to the car, a guy approached us to beg. What was funny about it was that he gave us a dollar amount of the begging. He told us he needed 8 dollars to get to Poughkeepsie. I just realized that even the cost of begging is higher in NY (who knew?). Of course, we did not give him a 20, but we did fall short of his 8 dollars. He shook our hands, and then was saying something about how I should not be afraid of him since I had Mike to protect me. Mike then told him that he keeps me around for protection, and the dude thought that was pretty funny. This is the second time I was approached this week. Some young dude asked me for money at the gas station by the airport in Detroit on Tues. He needed money to get to East Lansing supposedly. I always tend to throw a person a bone, and maybe they sense it about me. I can see the comment section now filling up with requests for money!

Keane concert - Bad Dream

This is a clip to the concert we went to in the park last week. It is a little wobbly, but I like how you can hear the crowd singing along. Another song he sings too high, so the sing along is pretty scary.

Thanks Joe Rao

News 12 Interactive - News
This good lookin' man is our local weather guy in Westchester, and thanks to him, I saw the International Space Station tonight!

Bloggin' from the Dead

www.myspace.com/billatthemovies

This one's for PB from the D

wcbstv.com - Moose Collision Leaves Driver In Serious Condition

wcbstv.com - Moose Collision Leaves Driver In Serious Condition
This is the exit after Mike's work. I guess I should be on the lookout for Moose now!

Forgetting May Be Part of the Process of Remembering - New York Times

Forgetting May Be Part of the Process of Remembering - New York Times

Sweet flick

Here is a flick that I remember from being a kiddo.

Back from Michigan

I am back from MI. A little delayed, but no worse for the wear. The time went quickly as usual, and I am bummed to be going back to work tommorrow. Oh well! Several of the boys this year were difficult to recognize due to new hairstyles. We had several arguments about one of the boy's hair color. Many of us thought it was lighter, but we were wrong. He looked like one of the Beatles in the 60s, and usually he sports a buzz. Another kid had a Mohawk (he tended to keep it braided), and another had a sweet mullet (with frosted tips). The girls had a creative prank of sewing the boy's underwear shut (you should have seen some of them sweetly sewing them!). It was typical Michigan weather (temps from the high 40s to mid eighties, sun and rain). I was able to get some warm showers and sleep which is tough to do when you are sleeping in a room with 10 people. The kids were really having fun, and that is what counts. Unfortunatly last night, a UM plane carrying the transplant team crashed. Many of the staff at the camp worked with who was on the plane and often took the Survival flight themselves, so it was a somber mood. Otherwise, I caught up with some friends and family too. So overall it was a success! Here is one of the volunteer's picture websites to give a flavor. http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g133/kathyp54/

Peachy Keane

Just got back from seeing Keane in Central Park. It could not have been a more beautiful night. About 75, clear, and slightly breezy. It made up for the hellish traffic jam we endured coming in (95 in the Bronx caused a back up on the Deegan!). Keane was fantastic as I expected. When we were walking back to the car, a man asked us if we were at the concert. We were at Park and 67th street. He then told us he could hear it in his office! The concert was in the Park at about 70th street. It did not seem that loud to me, but I guess my earplugs do a lot of work for me!

By the way, that fly is still in the bathroom.

Funhouse

My bathroom is like a funhouse. For some reason, there is an excessive amount of mirrors in there. If you need to check yourself for moles, c'mon over! The trashcan, tissue boxes, and vent covers are also mirrored. It is really the room of truth. A big ole' fly was stuck in there for a long time this morning. I think it was confused.

Design That Solves Problems for the World’s Poor - New York Times

Design That Solves Problems for the World’s Poor - New York Times

Busy

I wanted to do laundry tonight, but I lacked the necessary energy after seeing 13 kids and jogging. We are going to Keane tommorrow, and then I am flying to Michigan on Thursday night for camp. Sooo, I may be relatively quiet for a while. :)

Beach, Birds, Bricks, Boats, and Polo?

I wanted my weekend to be described with B words, but I could not leave out the Polo since it was one of the events. So I am sorry that it ruined the flow :)
We cruised out to Newport for a couple of days. RI is not far away from us, but it really feels like you are getting away. It is definitely a more New Englandy crowd out there. This is the first time we were out there that we made a bigger effort to try out some touristy events. We did miss Pirate fest,so we did not partake in everything.

It was hot on Sat, so we hit the beach for a while. The water was less than 60, so nothing more than our feet made it in. They have nice beaches surrounded by rocky hills. We attended our first Polo match, but the price was reasonable since the Rotary club was using it as their fundraiser. It was pretty cool to see the horses, the venue, and the play. The atmosphere was fun, and people were tailgating and sitting on blankets. At half time, many of the spectators went on the field to fix divots. Then people were playing Frisbee, football, and soccer on the field. The players would haul ass on the horses, and they could change direction really fast. The ref was bucked off his horse at one point.

Yesterday, we got up early and went birdwatching at a preserve with a bunch of bird geeks. They were friendly, unlike the super bird expert at our local preserve (we were asking about a bird we saw, and he gruffly asked us if we were birders). Anywhoo, my favorite viewings for the day were a Green Heron and the Bobolink
The Bobolink had a call like, "I'm heeeere!" followed by a bunch of R2D2 chirping. Then we did a brick workout, took showers at the Y (we were checked out of our hotel), and took a sail on a schooner to finish the trip. The boat was really cool, and you can not go to Newport without sailing at least once. The people on the boat were really slamming the Champagne, so we may have been the most sedate couple there. There were a bunch of women hitting heavily on one particular crew member.

Cereal bar or feminine product?

Take your best guess.

Hey you scaredy cats! I did not realize that this game would frighten everyone so much.

Employee's Multitasking Doesn't Include Work

My friend Jimmy

I can not believe I found this one.

P-sy-kick

I swear I am developing a 6th sense when I am going to have a last minute cancellation or a child will be absent from school. I had a feeling my 8:00 was going to cancel, and my phone rang while I was in the driveway (thank God I was not running early this AM). Of course, the suprises I do not appreciate. Yesterday (when half way into my session), the nanny came up and felt the child's forehead. Then she said he did not go to school and was running a fever of 102 yesterday. Thanks a hell of a lot! I would not have even seen him. I really can not catch that, especially since camp is next week. I need to work on my sick child sense.

Random updates

I recently spotted Hiro's hair salon. Maybe my power to write backwards or my flexible joints have a special power to save the world! I think I may find the answer at Hiro's. Speaking of Heroes, I am glad that they did not make it an annoying cliff hanger for next season. I was really sick of hearing about the bomb!

Joe Pat rules!

Taking out the trash - NCAA Football - Yahoo! Sports

Hawaii Travel advice

I hope you can avoid this peril while you are in Hawaii P+M

New Dance Show Commercials, VOL 1

I am scared of Joy Ride

WGPR ads

Including Club Mozambique!

Detroit Legend

I miss crazy Billy!

KABAAM!

I was driving down the Hutch this morning, minding my own business, when my rear hatch window just exploded. That was exciting! I am sure it will cost a lot to fix!

This is the job for.....

SAC - CAS: Willkommen beim Schweizer Alpen-Club SAC
Euromike!!

Summer's around the corner

I planted this weekend, and I have to get some Rosemary to be all set. Mike's trees are doing well, and they are downright soft and furry. I planted tomatoes, and Mike being such a Jersey boy chose the Rutgers variety. During the fall, all they tend to show out here is Big East football (after all, it is one of the nearest conferences). I was so annoyed that I could not catch any big ten action easily, and they were really hyping Rutgers (who I still think are over-rated). I sure hope the tomatoes are not over-rated as well.

Meet you in the mitten

I am going to be in Michigan soon. Let me know if you will be around everyone! I am gettting in May 31rst, and only really available through June 2 in the evening. I want to catch up with some of you folks!

Wishy washy

I am so wishy washy. Decision making has never been a strength of mine. I suppose it is because I am not opinionated about most things. That is not to say I do not have any opinions. I do not have enough energy to worry or have strong feelings about a lot of things. I think I would have been happy at all of my top picks for colleges. I like the city and the country. I like cats and dogs (although I can not be around cats anymore).
The wishy washiness is compounded by Mr. W. He is wishy washy too. For example, we are considering buying a house. We both know that jobs are not for a lifetime anymore, and there is a strong possibility that he will need a new one in the next few years. So it makes sense that we get a place that is also a reasonable commute to NYC. The market is so damn expensive, that we want to find something that we will want to stay in for a long time. Since the houses are obscenely expensive, it is depressing to see the pieces of crap that we will have to work a lifetime to finance. We can not decide if we want to live in one of the cool little towns here (with a tiny lot, but walking distance to the town and train)or live in a beautiful wooded lot 10 minutes north where we get a lot more for the money. Part of buying in my opinion is becoming part of a community which we have not been able to do yet.
I am not just wishy washy about this. I also want to plan a trip and tris this summer, and I just can not seem to figure it out. There are so many places I would like to go. I do not have a particular dream trip, so figuring it out is difficult! I know these are great problems to have, I am just annoyed that nothing is planned or figured out yet!

This is not a misprint!

Houlihan Lawrence #2713084
I guess you may be able to see why we drag our feet on looking for a house. It is scary when we think 800k is a good deal.

Drain

There was this guy in line at Target tonight with a tattoo down his forearm that said "Drain" in old english letters. I wonder what the hell it means. Is is his band? Or perhaps his last name? I can not imagine feeling so strongly about the word drain that you would want it permanently on your arm.

Keep em comin'

I wonder if my toughskins are going to be in a landfill forever!

Nostalgia Battles

I have heard of rap battles, battlin' robots, and warriors going into battle. I did not imagine that now my inocent posting of a Hong Kong Phouey clip has begun a Nostalgia battle. I have been scouring the internet for distant memories of childhood (Detroit clips are the most desired). I should be doing work, but it is fun to dig for information. I think P+M got a good one today. I could recite it verbatum after all of these years. If only I could remember important things! I can not find any Tyler construction ads or old footage of Sonny Elliot.

On another note, being home is like being on a hut trip a little. We have a boil water order since Saturday, so hopefully it will be lifted soon.

Aqualung-Cinderella

This song is getting stuck in my mind a lot lately. I am a sucker for nearsighted boys.

This one's for George and Eunice

Top that one beotch!

Kimba

Why wouldnt anyone ever let me watch this :(

Happy mother's day

Also, I wish a happy mother's day to these 3 great moms!

Happy Mother's day

This one's to a mom who cries in National Parks and places that inspire her, but can enjoy a good toilet joke always. I am lucky I have a cool mom!

Grody to the max!

I was gathering clothes for the gym, and a nightmare happened. My room was dark, and I saw something hanging on my knee sleeve. Without thinking or assessing what it was, I picked it up. When it began to move, I then realized it was a friggin' huge CENTIPEDE!!!!!!!!!! I may be having some bad dreams about it in the days to come.

I take your Underdog and raise it to......

Take that P! Ultraman could kick Underdog's arse!

Rainy start

I sense a productive day. I woke up to some rain, but the birds are singing wildly. It is so pleasant when you can take your time and listen to the morning. Spring has arrrived, and I really feel safe putting away my heavy coats now. I can smell it in the air and the leaves are open.
Time to get into shape!
My knee has been recovering nicely. Dare I say it is recovered fully. I guess recovery to me is not what most people settle for since my knees are screwed up in general. I am tolerating running on it well, and will begin to build distance. I have been building really slowly and cautiously, and it seems to agree with me. Of course, now my hip hurts in a strange place (my innominate bone along the iliac crest for those in the know). I guess I should ice the hell out of it. I am sure it is not my back causing the hip pain, because it feels really sore when I push on it. At any rate, it is a new one!
I swear I am feeling squeezed for time. I wanted to plan a weekend for Memorial day, but have not had any luck. Mike and I want to do a big trip for 7/7/07, but we need to get our act together sooner rather than later. I will feel better once I finish a plan rather than just an idea.

hong kong phooey

For no reason. Just wanted to feed some nostalgia!

The value of health

When I started PT school about 13 years ago (has it really been that long?), I loved the idea of learning how to guide people in their own recovery. I wanted to develop some magical hands that I could lay on people and make them feel better and possibly improve their lives. I wanted to find something that I would love to do, and luckily I can not imagine doing anything else. I never wanted to think about money, insurance, and other third party payers. I guess I was naive or more idealistic.

As much as we like to have the best in health care, nobody wants to pay anything for it. I realize that the costs of healthcare are really outrageous and a problem of our system. Perhaps that is why I get a lot of fights on my hands when I recommend discharging school based services. It took a while for me to get a feel for when to keep a child on in the schools, and this often conflicts with my medical background. There are kids that I must discharge from the school setting that could still benefit from PT. Needless to say, this is very confusing to many parents. My job in schools is to make the environment accessible to learning and the goals are related to participating in school. Believe me, this is tough for me too, and it puts me between being an advocate for the kids I see. When the area is grey though, I will fight!

Recently one of my clients ran into some family trouble (which will be unnamed to protect privacy). It troubles me so much that I can not see this client. I have developed a close relationship with the child and the family, so it is more difficult. I am tempted to see the child pro bono if things do not work out. The child is too young to understand why I am not there, and I really hate that she may feel abandoned by me. I guess that is what bothers me the most. I also decided recently to drop a school district, and some of the older kids are asking if I am coming back next year. That is bumming me out too, and I do not have the balls to tell them I am not! I really suck at confrontation, so I tell them I am planning on it (I recently decided not to do it, and they have not been asking anymore lately). Although I know I am making the right decision to leave the district, I still feel bad about it.

A Sweet So Sour: Kool-Aid Dills - New York Times

A Sweet So Sour: Kool-Aid Dills - New York Times

Pickles...Oh Yeah!!!

Glorious

Today is the kind of day where all of the kids I see will play outside whether they want to or not.

Amazon.com Recommendations Understand Area Woman Better Than Husband

Glamorous Goodnight

My hair has never looked this good at 11:30! I got my haircut from 8-10:30, just to smash it on my pillow. I would go out, but I have to work a lot tommorow, get up early, and go solo (Mike is working hard in the Cape today!)

Here are some recent questions that we have pondered lately:

What do you wear to a clambake? My answer was flip flops, khakis, and some preppy button down shirt (as if your name was Chip).

Do you want me to color your eyebrows? Answer was a quick no. I barely recognize myself as it is, and that would freak me out.

Leap of Faith

Ed visited this weekend on his way to Africa (He is moving out there, and if you want to visit, he will love to have company!). Unfortunately his visit co-incided with a continuing ed course I really wanted to take. So off went the guys to have fun in the city on Sat while I learned. It was worth it though. I am considering taking my career in a new direction now!

In the line of duty

Yesterday I got beaned in the eye with a whiffle ball. I was playing with one of my patients, and I was pitching from about 3 feet away. Normally this is not a problem when you are working with 4 year-olds. Suddenly he blossomed into a major leaguer at the expense of my looks. Thank god I was wearing my sunglasses. As it is, I have a cut on my nose, and it is swollen under my eye. I did not let the child know the extent of my injuries, and I did not even know I was bleeding until we finished. Now when I look down, I can see my cheek on the left side. It is kinda distracting.

Today I am heading to a water therapy class. I am excited about, especially since they told me about a job that needed to be filled up the street from me. I have been thinking about practicing in the water for a while. I think it would contribute to career longevity. After all, my joints are not getting any younger!

George Bush uses

See if you think that man on the street reminds you of anyone we know.

Sugar Cut Up In Lines

Oh yeah, but they cut out the guard and some other goodies!

Left-handed women may have a shorter life-span - Yahoo! News

Left-handed women may have a shorter life-span - Yahoo! News

I bet some right-handed a-hole wrote this!! It has been nice knowing you all! Maybe there are less old lefties since there are less lefties to begin with.