Red Ribbon Ride countdown: 3 days

I have three days until I start the Red Ribbon Ride, a 4-day, 300-mile biking journey (to raise funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS) from the Twin Cities through Southern Minnesota and back again.

The route is as follows:

Day 1: Start at Mall of America and ride to Lake City
Day 2: Start at Lake City and ride to Rochester
Day 3: Start at Rochester and ride to Northfield
Day 4: Start at Northfield and ride to St. Paul, with closing ceremonies at the Capitol (on the front lawn, I think)

See the map below for a rough idea of where I'll be biking. I'm not sure of the exact routes, but I do know that on Thursday, we'll be biking about 80 miles (which will be the longest I've ever ridden in one day). And then I think the length of the rides tapers off, ending with a shorter day of 40-50 miles on Sunday.

I'm getting excited about it and did my last training ride yesterday. About 12 others from Team Wells Fargo and I did 50 miles in a lot of wind. I'm really hoping for not as much wind during the actual ride, cause that was tough. So pray for good weather, no potholes, the wind at our backs, not a whole lot of roadkill and no flat tires! Thanks!

One more thing: Thank you so much to all who donated to my fund. I raised more than my intended goal of $1,500, so thank you! Team Wells Fargo raised about $38,000 so far, and I think the total amount from all teams so far totals almost $400,000. Awesome. I'm sure many people will be very grateful for all your support!


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The house

At long last, here are some pictures of the house. I'm putting the more recent ones below--those that were taken just today, after we got a lot more furniture, rugs, etc., and after we finally hung one picture (seen in the dining room). It feels a lot more homey and cozy now, so come on over and see it. We will welcome you with open arms and also invite you to play Wii, which Eric just bought pretty recently too. It is super fun, and you don't have to be good at video games to play. We will also entice you with our comfy guest bedroom and guest futon in the basement. Yes, that's right, there are two places for guests to stay (two in each bed), so four guests total would be able to sleep comfortably. There's also a couch, the floor and an air mattress.

Click here to see all the pictures of the house and yard.

Highlights from my clinical practicum

This week marks the end of my fourth week seeing clients already! Here are some of the highlights:

1. Trying to hold in my laughter and tears (so as not to scare the little 3-5 year olds who might have thought I was crying) caused by my 5 year-old client in the preschool group, who always interrupts group conversations/activities with "ah....scuse me?" and then rattles off some little comment that is usually really funny or creative.

Example: Yesterday our theme of the day was bugs, and we were about to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

5-yr-old boy interjects: Ah....scuse me? I know a different version of this song.
Hannah (another grad student clinician): Wow! Well, how about you listen to the teachers sing this old-school version and then you can tell us if it's the same or different from your version?
(We all sing the song, and the kids join us.)
5-yr-old boy: Ah...scuse me? My song is different. It goes like this....(and then he just makes up a song as he goes that was something like this: The itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again. Down came the rain and washed the spider out....away....to a different place....).

2. Learning to think on my feet a lot! Example: my 3-yr-old client is becoming pretty darn comfortable with me and not so shy anymore, so he has become super squirrely. Monday, he just did not want to work on his /f/ sounds and was kind of dancing around in circles saying "aaaffaa" (which was what we were working on). But he wasn't really there with me focused on what he was doing. So for reinforcement, instead of playing a game, I had him run to the other side of the room as fast as he could, touch the wall and then come back to slap my hand. That motivated him a lot. Then he'd come back and say a few good /f/ sounds for me, and then he'd get to run again. It was a very simple reinforcement tool. Funny what kids like. He also really liked a pirate ship with toy canons, a toy farm and bowling (bowling rocked).

3. Realizing mid-session with my 10-yr-old boy with Autism that the phrase I was having him use was slightly inappropriate. Thankfully, he did not get it yet (but my supervisor commented that it might be inappropriate a couple years down the road and just said to be careful with what you have them say!). So the game was Chipper Chat -- it's a speech game where you show a flashcard of a picture that has the target sound in it (in this case it was /r/) and then when they say a couple of the good sounds, they get to cover a part of a picture with a little bingo chip type of piece. Well, this particular picture he was covering was of overalls with ants all over it, and it was titled "Ants in Your Pants." Since we're working on using the correct sound within a whole phrase, I just had him use the target word in the phrase "__________ in my pants." Yeah....so he was saying things like "Turtle in my pants" or "Rainbow in my pants" or "Doctor in my pants" or "Rabbit in my pants." A little inappropriate? Yep. But it was over his head. He just thought it was funny in general.

4. I have only met one time so far with an Aphasia group (it's a conversation group for stroke survivors that meets once a week). Aphasia basically means that a person has the words in their head, but the pathway from the brain to the mouth is just not letting them get the right word out. So we are supposed to be there to help them try to talk around the word to explain it in a different way and to also take notes for them to remind them of what topic we're talking about, etc. The first meeting was really interesting -- it was sad to see the frustration that the survivors endure while trying to find the right words to use in everyday conversations. But it was also really cool to be there to help them out and see all the support they were getting from each other. One volunteer conversation partner (which is basically what I am as well) is not a grad student but a stroke survivor herself. She is doing great and understands exactly what these other survivors are going through, so it's so nice that she's there to help them as well. I have my second group meeting tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.

So this is just a little of what's been going on with all my clients. I'm sorry if I haven't been keeping in touch really well. I never imagined how busy I'd be planning sessions, etc. I fell asleep on my loveseat the other night at like 8:15 pm and then had to get back up to finish cutting out little planets for the next day's session with the preschool group. It's been fun, and I'm learning a ton. I'm just pretty tired by the end of the week. I hear it gets easier as you go, and it already is taking less and less time to plan, so that's good.

Furniture comes tomorrow!

So yeah, I'll finally post some pics when we get our couch and chair delivered tomorrow! Last weekend, we also bought a rug from IKEA, a futon for the basement from IKEA, a low table-y thing to hold our CDs and Eric's record player and a little cart/extra counter space for the kitchen. The pics I took previously were mostly of empty rooms. So maybe I will post some before and after shots. Huh? How would ya like that?

Other thoughts of the day:
1. I wish my meetings after clinic didn't last two hours just because my supervisor talks a lot. She's super nice and I like her, but man, I have places to be!
2. I have a headache.
3. The 5-year-old client I see in one of the preschool groups brought a picture in for me today that he colored at home. It's a bionic man holding a balloon (which, by the way, was one of his homework words from Monday), and he has steam coming from behind him cause he's going so fast. That kid is so freakin' creative! I can't even handle it! Today, he earned little planets, the sun, Darth Vadar, Princess Leia and a rocket every few words he said with a good /l/ sound. Eventually, he got to make a mobile out of it. I am getting good at figuring out what motivates these little guys.

That's all I have time for right now. Need to work, then go home and play softball. Have a lovely evening!

Off the grid

This post is dedicated to Eric, who often talks about living off the land and being self-sufficient. Read this article from the Star Tribune about two women who did just that in Wisconsin: http://www.startribune.com/local/22919019.html?page=1&c=y. Amazing....and not something I would want to do. Camping is fun. Being green in normal life is nice too. Living in a cob hut and peeing a bucket? Not so fun.

Super long run

I have been so busy and have a million things I want to write about, but I don't have a lot of time today during the day. So just fyi, I will try to post pics of the house, write about my clinical practicum, update you on the family of bunnies that lives in our yard (and Indy's attempts to catch them) later tonight.

Right now, I just wanted to post this link and tell you to check it out. My boss at the Center for Spirituality & Healing has a daughter who is 17 and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about a year ago. Well, she's a runner in high school and just decided that she wanted to try to run to Canada this summer...just for fun. Then, she thought about it some more and decided she could turn it into a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (Katy, you work there, right?). So that's what she's doing. She's leaving today and starting her 300-mile run to Canada from Minneapolis (leaving from her front door) and ending up near International Falls just across the border in Canada. Her mom created a blog (with the same cute format as mine), and they're planning to update it to keep people informed of how the run is going, post pics, etc. She'll have at least one parent with her following her every day, and I think her boyfriend and maybe some others will join her on different days. I just thought that was amazing. She's raised like $2,500 already! That's just pretty cool for a 17-year old. So check out her blog: http://megansruntocanada.blogspot.com/. It should definitely be interesting to see how she does. Hopefully she stays healthy along the way!

Have a good day. Hope to catch up with you all soon!

Dad and Beth's blog

Dad and Beth started a blog! And they said they weren't savvy enough for such things...nonsense! Check it out: http://bobandbeth1.blogspot.com.

Clinicals update

Busy, busy, busy. That's how I feel. Clinicals are going, well, okay. I'm surviving.

Had my first phonology group yesterday and felt like an idiot with the 3 year old. I need to make things way more fun for him because he was not so into learning /f/ with just flashcards of pictures and a mirror. However, he did like reaching into a magic box to pull out toys that start with /k/. The 5 year old loved me and everything we did, so I think he might be a little easier to plan for. I liked that I could also explain what we were doing to him and talk to him a little more like a person than the 3 year old. We'll meet again tomorrow morning, so I'm working on new session plans for them.

Some funny highlights from the group:

Preschooler #1: (grabs Preschooler #2's teddy bear)
Preschooler #2: (grabs it back and gives a mean look)
Grad student clinician: Maybe he'll let you play with his teddy bear if you ask him nicely.
Preschooler #1: (with mouth full of teddy grahams) Can I play with your bear?
Preschooler #2: (with attitude) He asked with his mouth full.
Grad student clinician: After you finish your teddy grahams, maybe you can ask him again.
Preschooler #1: (swallows) Can I play with your teddy bear?
Preschooler #2: (hands it over nicely...surprisingly)

If anything, these kids will make me laugh. :)

Friday, I start an Aphasia group (it's a group for adults who've had a stroke and I think we do conversation-type activities). I'll learn more Friday.

Next Tuesday, I will meet with my newest client, a 10 year old with Autism who I hear is super cute and fun. Need to make my session plan for that one this week too.

First session out of the way!

I met with my first client this morning, and it went pretty well. She is very cute and polite, and we had a great time. She's 12, so I was trying to think of things to do that wouldn't be too juvenile for her, so one of the activities we did was Mad Libs (remember those?). She had to think of words to fill in that included her two sounds she's working on, and then she got to read the stories afterward. I might have been more amused than she was at times (I tried to control my laughter, but I just love those things, and they were pretty funny!).

Anyway, I survived, and my supervisor said I did great. So I feel good that I got that out of the way. Now I just need to write up two more session plans for two little ones I'll start seeing next Monday. I have to have those turned in by end of day today....yikes! Those kiddos are 3 and 5, so it will be totally different -- a lot more play and games while trying to trick them into saying their sounds. :) So far, I'm thinking of doing some puzzles and building with legos while also working on their sounds. I feel like little boys that age would like that, right? We'll find out soon, I guess.

Okay, back to work and then need to write up those session plans! This has been such a busy week. The stress is causing my face to break out a bit (darn it!). But I did get an email from Eric saying that he is making lasagna for dinner tonight. How lovely that will be to go home and not have to make dinner! Thank you, Eric!

PS The moving went well, and we are still working on unpacking boxes, etc. We're getting a table soon! Once we have things more set up, I'll get some pictures up here.

Survey says...

I'm curious... Who reads my blog? Reply with a comment, please! I just never know if anyone's reading cause there aren't too many comments. Feel free to comment whenever -- I love to read them!