my resolutions

1. Drink more water when I'm home to waste less plastic

2. Walk Odge more

3. When speaking to people, not to overtalk - they don't need to know every detail. But meanwhile maintain my personality.

4. Use my ear piece when driving. and don't text unless at red lights.

5. Floss. And while we're on the subject of teeth, brush Odge's teeth at least once a week.

6. File my paperwork quicker - don't let it sit on my desk for a while and then do it.

7. Eat less sodium and less white starches.

8. Continue to read for pleasure. At least 1.5 books a month, but can be less if I'm reading a therapy manual.

9. Continue to be responsible about my sleep schedule.

10. Go out more!! I'm young!

11. Use the principles I use in therapy on myself to train myself to run  3 miles without stopping. 

12. Take my vitamins and fish oil every day. Maintain my iron levels high enough so that I can donate blood 6 times this year (every two months), unless rejected for non-iron related reasons (fever, low blood pressure, etc). On the blood topic, encourage at least 2 people to donate this year, and hopefully encourage them to become regular donors.

13. Pack in a more organized fashion and not put it off to the last minute when I go on trips.

14. Learn more sign language.

15. Complete Sara and Lauren's manual from this summer. This is an inside joke but the Resolution is not a joke.

currently RE-reading

Currently re-reading The Great Gatsby for book club. I forgot how much I like this book. It's so fun reading it without having to memorize every single word that I didn't know the meaning - my 10th grade English teacher, who has very sadly passed away since then, would give us quizzes on vocabulary words from the reading. Did we know what words would be on the test? No! So if we didn't know a word in the passage we had to read that night, we had to memorize every single one! And we didn't get a context for the words either. Poor us! Gatsby has great diction though and I'm enjoying seeing what words I know now that I underlined back then, and what words I still have no idea what they mean.

Being back is good but I'm so lazy and unmotivated - I really need to go clean stuff but since I'm not on my busy schedule I just want to sit and do nothing!  I did go to the museum today with Brittany and her son Seth which was fun, and free! But now I'm home and instead of filing paperwork and vacuuming I am on the couch with my cuddlebug Odge and writing this blog.

I am going to do a whole bunch of cooking in a bit. Giant batch of turkey chili with lots of beans and corn; braised cabbage with raisins; tomato soup; minestrone; mom's cabbage salad (that I make better! mwa ha ha); and just some chicken breast to cut up into salads for the week. I'l probably make a bean salad w/the leftovers beans from the chili and add in more corn and peas, with some vinegar and lemon juice and pepper - it's the easiest salad in the world and super yummy and healthy.

I gave my clients a free babysitting session for Christmas - figured it would mean more to them than a chachki gimmick. I babysat for one last night and it was so fun. I know I'm obsessed w/work but I just love all my clients and their families and I love actually helping someone.  I love seeing the tangible effects I have on my kids - literally, they focus better and are closer to their goals the same day that they have therapy versus a day off. I couldn't be happier.  I'm waiting to hear from several different students that will be interns on my programs so that my kids can get in more hours, and will also be great because it will help them generalize to different people. How exciting! I'm going to see one of Sara's kids tomorrow that I'm writing a program for - he's a very part time client - just an hour or so a week, but I'm still excited to get started on his program and see how he progresses.

I saw the Bricklins the other day to bring them a small holiday gift, and they told me they were going out of town for a week, so I offered to watch Xena, their dog, so she wouldn't have to be boarded, and they took me up on it for part of the time. I'm picking her up on Wednesday and will stay at their house with her and Odge until Saturday. It will be really nice to be in North Raleigh - closer to work! Hopefully something will work out for the New Years Eve plan for the kid's party.

Okay, back to being lazy for another hour by watching House reruns. Then I guess the kitchen's waiting.

my dogs are my posse

Me with Lee and Maya shoving her way into the pic

Odge and Lee - they don't look like twins with Lee's haircut.

So I was stuck at the Jetblue terminal at JFK for about 6 hours. Pretty sweet place to be stuck though - they have a salon and little rows where you sit and order your food on a computer (anywhere in the terminal) and they bring it to you. Plus, there were literally about 15 dogs in the terminal - none in their travel bags, so Odge made quite a few friends. It costs $100 per flight (so $200 round trip) to fly a pet, and you get 2 true blue points (frequent flier miles) each time you book. Good thing I learned early on that I can sneak Odge on w/o paying and nobody ever checks, ever, for a pet ticket. I've saved quite a few hundred dollars. Odge is upset about not getting his rightly deserved mileage though.

I made it very clear to my mom that I would only come home on the condition that I would have no responsibilities and get to be lazy, and she's done a wonderful job letting me do that! I've barely even cooked!

Okay - going to walk doggies. Here are some cute pics.

Oh - I almost forgot, Maya broke down the gate last night and came and slept with me. I woke up in the middle of the night and somehow she had gotten into my bed. So cute!

bad weather = i'm not home yet

The last few days, it has warmed up significantly in Raleigh, and it has snowed several inches in Vegas. How odd is that? I was finishing with a client today and decided to check my flight status to see if I had time to run to school to pick up my paycheck, and my flight was an hour delayed. On the way to school my mom calls me and tells me all flights out of JFK are cancelled. So I'm here for the night, which didn't turn out to be so bad because I got to hang out w/Cristina who is in town for the holiday from college. We hung out and went to dinner together :-) 

The last week and a half nothing major has happened, mostly 

because I've had a case of Bronchitis who brought along his friend high fever, so I've been a little out of commission. I've been taking a break from my novels and reading some ABA manuals just to keep up with my game. Is it sad that I want textbooks for the holidays this year? At least I love my job!

Yesterday nobody would allow me to come in to work because I wasn't on antibiotics for 24 hours yet, and I got so bored by afternoon that I went and hung out a bit with Brittany and her son Seth, who is adorable. I had fun being goofy and reading him a book - I think Brittany thinks I'm crazy, but I can't help it - I'm used to being a fool with kids. The dumber I look when I'm working, the better I'm doing, right? Well now I'm doing it with neurotypical kids, and guess what? he loved it!  We went to Starbucks (I know, make your own coffee and save lots of money, but I don't go that often!), and I got a ginger something latte, it was yummy and they actually put sugar cubes with crystallized ginger on top! Muy impressivo (how do ya'll like my spanglish?)

I'm really disappointed because I bought a pomegranate today and it was bad. Totally rotten. Food Lion is no good.

I hope my flight goes through tomorrow - keep your fingers crossed!

accident

So things are well, I have a few new clients, working on a team with Sara Rose on one of them, blah blah, driving home from work on Friday, getting ready to go to Harris Teeter so I can make yummies for game night, and I get in an accident. I was making a right turn and a POSTAL TRUCK came and we hit each other. Yeah, a postal truck. So I don't have a car right now and since it's government property things are going to move S   L   O   W.   How fun for me. My bumper is on the ground. Luckily there were no injuries, and I have AAA. It really isn't that bad - could be so much worse, but still put me in a bad mood all weekend.

Yesterday Sara Rose and I spent the day together (Tim is out of town so we've reverted back to our college days of spending every waking moment together - I missed it!)  We went to the bank and the store and I made the chili I was going to make on Friday. A girl Sara found that is interested in dog walking came over. Sara and I watched hours of tv and did nothing, and it was so nice to be lazy and do nothing, especially since I was still in a lousy mood. By evening I couldn't take it anymore and so I cleaned, paid bills, etc. 

Brittany called Sara and asked if she wanted to go out but she was too tired, but I told her to head over to hang out for a bit, and lo and behold, Brittany convinced me to go out for about the second time this year. I actually really enjoyed it even though by about 1 am I was so exhausted I was falling asleep at the club. And Brittany is the mom! Luckily she didn't want to stay out too late so we left the people we came with and Brittany took me home (one of her strategies to get me to go out was that I had a free DD and to take advantage...).

It's Sunday, I have an appointment at noon, a client at 2, and then Jason and I are going out and he is taking me back to Durham with him so that I can get my sister's car (since she's a student she can walk to class, but I still feel terrible about taking it from her). Hopefully on Monday I can have them remove my bumper so that I can give her her car back and drive w/o a bumper until she leaves town for the holidays (in about a week so not that long) and then I can return my car to the shop.

I'm excited to get started w/my new clients and to figure out what programs work for them and see their progress! I'll keep you updated :-)

Since Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving was a huge success! We had wonderful people over and wonderful food - although I was an exhausted stress mess by the time our guests arrived and sat there like a zombie for the first good part of it. The pumpkin cheesecake didn't set like it normally does - which is funny because i used full fat cream cheese and I usually use low-fat! I think I've just made cheesecake so often that I've adjusted the recipe to create its density with low-fat - oh well it still tasted yummy!

Now I'm trying to get back into the swing of not seeing the dogs and parents each day. Odge always gets depressed the first two days I'm back and barely eats but then he snaps out of it.  Erica picked me up from the airport and we went to Red Lobster and both got such healthy choices and NO BREAD I was so proud of us! We're trying to motivate each other to be super healthy through the holidays. 

On Sunday I met with new clients, then went to a make up session with one, had some other stuff to do, and then met Erica at her parents' house. They were really interesting, warm, and intelligent, and it was so nice to FINALLY meet them! After that we went tanning (what can I say I'm still a Vegas girl at heart) and to see Inman Park.  (Erica is my future roommy and Inman Park is where we want to move). We LOVED IT. It's an apartment community right across from crabtree, which is close to everything and so much closer to all of my jobs. Best of all, the community is interspersed (can we say a mixed class? lol) with townhouses and really nice custom homes.

Monday was super busy - I started w/my new client and am SO excited. The family is simply fabulous - down to earth parents who care so much about their kid. Sometimes I worry about being unprofessional because I get really close to some of my families but then I remember that for what I do, there is an emotional attachment and that it's okay.

Most exciting is that one of the Mom's had her baby! SO TINY! I can't wait to see what she turns out to look like because newborns kind of all look the same.

Sara and I are back to organizing schedules and doing work together and I love when we get into that groove because we really motivate each other. It's so interesting because we can either be the most positive force for each other (as just explained), or order greasy fried dumplings and eat every single last one of them...

Oh and most important:

Currently Reading: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (still)

Moby Dick

Just finished: Peace Like a River

Magazines: cooking light (obvi), and fitness

I wish books on tape were free on itunes. Maybe the library can create a program...

currently reading...

I go through phases of lots of reading and then no time at all for reading, so while im in the reading phase, i'm trying to get in as much as possible.

I recently finished about 6 books (wow, nerd!). Among them, I really enjoyed The Glass Castle, The Red Tent (which i've read before), and Tara Road by Maeve Binchy.

I came home for Thanksgiving with two pairs of jeans, about 3 or 4 shirts (figured mom would take me shopping...?) and about 6 books. Balanced I know.

I finished Vinegar Hill on the plane - it's for this month of book club (join if you want!), and I liked it, but not a favorite. Good solid book though.

I also read the Alchemist which for some reason I think I would have appreciated more in its native language, even though I clearly don't speak it. The end was really good. It seems like a good book to read in a high school English class.

I started Song of Solomon today, and it's good so far. I am reading my sister's version from her high school class and it's funny seeing her highlighted rows and some notes she took. She is the smarter sister so maybe I can take in the book better w/her help.

I have about a million books on my list right now, and I'll keep you updated.

As for other things that are going on.

-Went to teach w/my mom today and watch some of the elementary school teachers so I could observe and learn - very fun. Helped my mom w/an activity in her classroom. The campus she teaches on is beautiful and I am envious that she gets a computer in her room, and one to keep at home (the new macbook and the new imac).

Cooking..what am I cooking lately? Well last night I baked the pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving.  We also made a salad w/a balsamic/wine/garlic sauce. Not my best dish but we were in a rush to go hear Alan Zweibell speak - he was one of the original writers on SNL and a very funny guy - very enjoyable.

The dogs are all together and it's my favorite thing to watch all three of them, even though Maya annoys me by following me everywhere. This morning I was eating breakfast (egg whites, red pepper and onion, some lean turkey, and lean cheese), and she was on the couch and was whining and whining because i wasn't paying attention to her. Eventually she put her paws on my back and was stepping on me (kind of felt like a massage) and licking my face. So cloying! (isn't that a good word? it's on my gre vocab list).

Okay I am off to take the dogs for a walk and then the gym.

Happy Monday!