I'm an SLP. Weird.

Hello out there (anyone still check this?).

If you do, awesome. I hope you enjoy catching up on my life through once a month(ish) blog posts.

Here's another one.

So, I started work last week. I am officially a speech-language pathologist. It's weird. I didn't feel ready to be fully responsible for other people's health outcomes, but turns out, they trust me.

On my first day seeing patients (last Tuesday), Patient A (who has dementia, among other things) confidently told her husband, who she was talking with on the phone, that "the nurse is here, why don't you talk to her?" and then promptly handed me the phone. So I had a chat with her husband and their home health nurse, and it worked out fine (even if I wasn't the nurse they were expecting).

I've also had to call in orders to hospitals to schedule swallow studies for patients based on my experience with the patient. It's so weird. I wonder if they can tell I'm a brand-spankin' new clinician?

Today was stressful - I worked 9.5 hours. Too long. I just had a surprising amount of paperwork today. I have no idea how people do it all and fit it in during a normal work day. Hopefully I learn quickly because, as much as I'd love to get paid overtime, I really don't like staying late and driving home in crazy traffic. I'm more of a "get there early so I can leave early and avoid rush hour traffic" kind of gal.

Anyway....such is life as a new SLP.

The highs of this past week (which may or may not relate to my new job) include:

• Feeling really good about my ability to establish rapport with my patients.
• One of my patients says "Oh hi, honey" when I come to see her for therapy. 
• Eric and I went car shopping and test drove a bunch of different cars. We really like the Honda Element and the Subaru Forester...stay tuned for our decision...
• We went golfing on Sunday, and it was lovely to be outside even if it was overcast (it's been rainy here in MN for like a week). Also, Eric and I tied exactly. We're a pretty good match.
• Going out with some friends last Friday - it had been a while since I'd hung out with them, so it was fabulous!

And because I don't feel like dwelling on the negative, I am deliberately not making a list of my week's lows. Take that, negativity!

One low: not seeing my niece for a long time! We were going to hang out this weekend, but it was rainy. Boo.