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!

Moving on up

Hi, as you may or may not have heard...I am moving out of my current house and into Eric's new house with him in St. Paul. Yes, the parents know about this and there have been several long conversations that have delved into the future, plans, etc, etc. So.....after talking about this a lot over the past couple months, we are going for it! The closing takes place tomorrow starting with a walk-thru at the house and ending with Eric signing his life away. And then the moving starts on Saturday afternoon. We'll be focusing on getting all his stuff done first, and then we'll start getting my stuff. I'm not sure when I'll officially be out of my place, but I did go ahead and change the address with the post office to start next week. I can email it out to people soon (not sure how smart it'd be to post it on here just in case some wacko hacker decided to pay me a visit).

Anyway, we are both really excited about this. I'm sure we will welcome visitors anytime!

Streaming thoughts before hittin' the hay...

It's Sunday night, and I still haven't decided if I'm going to work in the morning. I only have to work 24 hours this week, so I'm leaning toward not working tomorrow. Well...at least not in the morning.

Anyway, I'm tired but felt like jotting down my random thoughts that seem to keep going and going through my head this Sunday night...

1. I really don't like my landlord and can't wait to move out.
2. Went furniture shopping with Eric today for the new house (he moves in on Saturday!). There are so many options. It's fun and also overwhelming.
3. I love Indy. She's the cutest dog in the whole world.
4. Saw Ms. Petticrew Lives for a Day today, and it was a good movie -- very fast-paced and fun. Recommend it!
5. It is unnecessary for our air conditioning to be on right now. I am the kind of person who would be fine just opening windows to keep it cool until it gets unbearably hot in the summer. Then you should turn the air on. I wish I knew how to change our system, but alas...I don't.
6. My friend Ashlee is in China right now visiting her sister. I wonder what time it is there and if she's having a good time.
7. Which days should I fit in my bike rides this week?
8. Made it through the Badlands in my roadtrip scrapbook tonight. Hopefully I will have it all finished this week. Unfortunately, the first page's punch holes already tore open more so the page can fall out of the book. I guess that's what happens when you buy a scrapbook that was made in the 1930s or 40s from an antique store.
9. I went grocery shopping tonight, but I just realized I didn't eat dinner. Maybe I was just full from late lunch and then popcorn and candy at the movies. Breakfast will be had fo' sho'.
10. Eric and I spent Saturday night playing about 50 games of Mancala and drinking some summery beers. It was lovely. I know, we are crazy. We'll try to be more tame next weekend. I love that we are both perfectly content to do that.
11. My brother just got out of an icky relationship and is having a hard time. I hope he's okay.
12. Haven't seen Ang and Liam in a while. Hope to get over there this week for some quality time.
13. Indy is sprawled out at the foot of my bed right now. I'm turning in. Hope you had a great weekend!

I rode my bicycle past your window last night...

...Oh how I miss that song. I need to find the CD Stacy made me for Christmas and put that song on pronto!

Speaking of bicycling...I'm quite proud of myself for my biking feats this week. I rode my longest bike ride to date on Sunday: 60 miles in the hilly countryside of Wisconsin. We rode from Hudson to Spring Valley to River Falls and back to Hudson again. It was a gorgeous ride with lots of pretty countryside, beautiful homes and of course, lots of cows. I greeted the cows with a "hey cows!" everytime, and most times, I got a cow to look at me! Mom says I must have been getting delusional at that point, but I say, how the heck else am I supposed to keep my spirits up during a long ride? Yes, we had 11 other people along on the ride, but we all go our own pace, so I wasn't right next to anyone most of the time. I'd mostly just see the next person about half-mile ahead or behind me.

Today, I rode 55 miles with my friend Hannah from grad school. She isn't even training for the ride. She's just hard core. We rode from St. Paul starting at the Mississippi River and Summit Ave. down Summit to downtown, then connected with the Gateway Trail, which takes you all the way to Stillwater. Whew! I'm tired. Today's ride wasn't hilly like Sundays, so it only took us 4.25 hours (versus the 5.5 hour ride on Sunday). We were bookin' it! When I got home, I took a shower, took an hour-long nap, ate lunch and then came to work. Here I am working and thinking that I need to eat more before heading to my softball game tonight at 7:15.

Serious question for you:
When you work out, do you crave burgers, fries and beer during the workout or do you crave more healthy things like a sandwich?

I was definitely craving a juicy lucy from Matt's Bar while riding today. Maybe I can make that happen sometime soon.

So, I guess overall, my training for the Red Ribbon Ride is going well. I think I seriously just need to eat more when I'm doing these crazy long workouts. My fundraising is 99% of the way there, so that makes me happy too! I have 6 weeks left to train for the ride, so I think I'm in good shape.

Roadtrip photos

I got all of the photos online from both my camera and Eric's. There are about 200....yikes! Obsessive much? Hey, we like to document our fun and share it with all of you, so I hope you enjoy looking through them.

Click here to see the full slideshow.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Summer vacation

I am officially on summer vacation! This is how I have celebrated/will celebrate:

Finals, food, photo shoot:

I finished my last final on Saturday around noon. The other SLP girls and I then climbed up on the rooftop of Shevlin Hall (it's a low roof around the back of the bldg) and took funny pictures (I'll post 'em soon) to celebrate finishing our first year of grad school. Then we went to the Library (a bar, not a place with books) and got drinks and apps to celebrate.

A friend's wedding:

Saturday evening, I went to my friend Bill's wedding, which was very fun -- lots of good dancing, including "Shout," "YMCA" and my favorite of the night: "The Beer Barrel Polka." I think it's kind of a Minnesota thing to have polka music at weddings...probably a German or Scandanavian thing. Anyway, polkaing really is an aerobic workout -- I was breathless! Anyway, Bill and Valerie's wedding was really simple and nice -- it took place in a park with about 50 guests or so gathered around as the two of them exchanged vows and rings in a short and sweet ceremony. Then we all headed inside for food, dancing, etc. I've known Bill since 5th grade, and it is so nice to see that he is happy. P.S. Valerie made her own dress! She sewed it herself. All of it! I am so impressed with her. I have lots of pictures from the wedding and will get those up here soon as well.

Roadtrip!

To celebrate the end of my first year in grad school, I am going on a road trip with Eric starting this Wednesday. We're driving through South Dakota, staying overnight in the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore. Then we'll head down to Fort Collins, CO to visit Eric's friend from high school and his wife. After hopefully doing some hiking around there, we'll head to Denver to meet up with some of Eric's friends and my friend Sam and her boyfriend Bob. I'm looking forward to hiking, going to a Rockie's game and exploring the sites! We'll be meeting up with some of Eric's work clients as well. Then Monday afternoon, we'll probably start the drive back to Minnesota and aim to get home on Tuesday. Should be a great week! Check back for photos...

I love Indy

I spent about 10 hours today on campus working and then studying for finals. I felt bad being gone so long and knew I didn't have a lot of time to spend exercising Indy tonight, but I'd do my best to throw the ball around for a while. Well, when we were in the backyard playing, I just laughed so hard with her -- with no one else there but me and her. She is just so funny and spunky. I've been working on making her sit before I throw her tennis ball, and sometimes she's good at it and sometimes not so much. At one point, I kept saying "sit." And every time she heard the word "sit," Indy would leap into the air in defiance. It's a leap that starts with her front legs in the air, then the back legs are in the air, so all four legs are up and she's pretty high off the ground, and then she lands and looks like she has a smile on her face. She did this about 10 times in a row. This was exactly the kind of break I needed from studying. Ahhh.... what good therapy it is to just laugh with your dog. So tonight I am really thankful for Indy being so entertaining and sweet. Now, she's just chillin' on the couch looking out the window while I try to finish an essay test.