Browse Category: *sniff*

Are you ready to go?

Camp is all done. Closing ceremony made me cry again and moving day was the fastest ever! I’m still sick, a little sad about leaving camp, but looking forward to my 2 weeks off.
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We’re at La Quinta Inn and getting ready for Jes’ metric century ride. The bike is pumped, the boys are in their rooms, and Jes is a little sick. They’re meeting in the lounge at 7:30 and roll-off is at 8 am. Woohoo!!

So long, fishie.

Back in our college days, around…1996, we bought a little fishie that was only 3 inches long. He was an arowana…one of those long fishies that people display in Chinese restaurants or in their doorway to fend off bad spirits. I remember the days when we would hand feed him bloodworms and check the water temperature religiously. Later, he grew up into a big fishie. We had to get a larger and larger tank for him as he got bigger over time. When Jes moved home after graduating from UCLA, we also had to move the fishie. He lived with Jes’ parents for a long time after that…until today. At about 9 years old, 2 feet long, and 3 inches thick, he is now floaty dead. Jes’ mom called me this afternoon with the bad news and sounded genuinely sad. She even said that she no longer wanted to have the tank in the hallway anymore. I suppose it’s just too sad for her. Bye fishie!
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On a lighter note…I did something kinda weird today. At 3:00, after my last meeting, I put on my running gear and headed out the door. Yup, I ran home. It was a very strange experience…I’ve never lived so close to work before! All I could think to myself was, “hey, this is pretty cool!” According to my GPS, the route I took was 3 miles long. Sweet.

All finished.

Today was the last day of Camp and we ended with a bang. The closing ceremony brought tears to my eyes and smiles all around! Jason (a long-time camper) stole the show when he took the microphone from Cycy to lead the campers in the last 2 songs. Ah…you just had to be there. Moving out was another frenzy but we got it done in record-time. Went out for happy hour to reward all who helped us out.

Communication

Week 4 at Rancho is going great. I’m on top of my paperwork, patients are getting better, and I’m getting off work at a decent time. Today one of the patients I have been seeing this week hasn’t been able to talk because of her stroke. on top of that, she only understands Chinese and Spanish. Now this is when being a former-disney character came in handy!! Anyway, today I walked into her room to start our therapy session and she started speaking to me in Chinese!!! I was so happy I thought I was going to cry!! I was so excited that I got an interpreter right away so I could find out more about what she liked to do at home so that we can start doing more of those activities during therapy.

At home, I’ve been teaching my mom how to use e-mail and instant messenger. She was always afraid to try because she didn’t think anyone would have enough patience to teach her. Before I went to OT school, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much but after working with cognitively impaired patients who don’t speak English, this is cake! I’ve always considered myself to be a relatively patient person but I think I’ve honed that skill to a tee. It’s been really cool to see how excited she gets to recieve mail from her family and friends. She also discovered how fun it can be to send those yahoo smileys back and forth on instant messenger. Since we have dsl now, she is able to send smileys from her computer to mine (in the same room) by herself. She’s like a little kid giggling and running back and forth between computers. Our last session was how to send electronic greetings. Now she can’t stop. Her brothers and friends have been recieving almost one everyday for the last week! I love my mom.