Browse Author: beakatude

on our way

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I’m on my way up to SF now and blogging from my blackberry. Last night we packed our car to the top and Koa got his last walk and visit with Kuma before we left. It’s official. We are out of here! We dropped off Koa an hour ago and said goodbye to my parents. My mom was really sad and so was I. But we have another car’s worth of stuff to haul up so I will see my parents again when they drive it all up with Koa in tow.It’s a big day and I couldn’t help getting a little emotional this morning. I’m just happy that I got to say goodbye to everyone. I even got to give my little brother a big hug this morning on his way to ComicCon.

So that’s it for now. I will miss all of you back home. And I’m excited to see all of you in SF! Let the new adventure begin!

celebrations and goodbyes

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I finished my last day of work at the preschool today and it was so bittersweet. Since our clinic was up and running, we christened it with a full day of treatments and meetings. We had lots of visitors stopping by to check out the new clinic and they were all very excited for us but also sad to see me go. I even had two teachers in tears when they came by to say goodbye. That was very touching.  I also got a bunch of hugs and goodbyes from my kiddos.  It’s so great to see how they’ve grown these past years.

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Today was also the last day for our interns.  My intern worked so hard these past three months and I’m so proud of how far she’s come in her clinical skills.  I still find it kinda funny that I’m actually imparting knowledge to another person now. Geez, I’m getting old.

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To celebrate both of their accomplishments, we went out for lunch and exchanged gifts.   Later in the evening, I met up with my colleagues at the local wine bar and they gave me a $75 Target gift card.  How thoughtful!  Well, we had a great school year and I will really miss our monthly lunches and meetings.

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So, I am done for now. Jes flies down early tomorrow morning and we’ll be driving up to SF on Sunday. I’m just crossing my fingers for a closing date next week. Let’s hope it all falls into place soon.

all in one day

Today was a marathon moving day at work. Yesterday we packed the remaining items in our clinic in preparation from the moving guys today. At 7 am, I arrived at work and found five big guys from Custodial Services with two trucks ready to help me move. They managed to move every last piece of furniture, equipment, and paper into our new space within a matter of two hours. We spent the remainder of the day unpacking, arranging, and cleaning to have a brand new OT clinic ready and waiting for my last day at IUSD.

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Here’s the view from the front door. That’s our fine motor area in the foreground.

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We now have TWO mat areas!!

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We created a snazzy office space with a window.

I still can’t believe how large the new space is. It’s wide open and has sooo much storage!! It was so nice to have a place for everything with extra space for future supplies and therapists. We also have separate areas for swings and gross motor activities so that two therapists can easily treat simultaneously without getting in the way of each other. I’m so jealous of whoever takes my place this fall but so relieved that it’s done and ready for September.

T-minus Two Days

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This has been a pretty interesting week at work so far. The week started out a little crazy considering half of our furniture was already moved to our new portable. On Monday, I also had my last day working with Dave. I was looking forward to working with him next year but at least we got to hang out for a few days this month. Here are some photos I took during our last week in the old clinic. I’ll certainly miss our little portable.

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This is my intern working helping two kids with an obstacle course.

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Here are the PTs in action. We definitely need a larger space.

Today is Wednesday. That means I have two days left to finish up all my work. I’ve been staying at work later than usual each day this week printing, organizing, turning stuff in, and making sure that the work I’ve done in the past three years doesn’t fall apart as soon as I leave. On top of that, I still have one or two more reports to write, three IEPs tomorrow, and my student’s final evaluation to complete. On top of THAT, I’ve gotta finish moving to the new portable. The custodians are scheduled to finish moving our equipment and furniture tomorrow morning at 7am. Sheesh.This afternoon, I met with the Director of Special Ed and basically tied up loose ends. They’ve decided to keep me on as a consultant to help with the high profile cases and the transition in general. We haven’t found a replacement for me yet but it’s no longer something I can help with anymore. I’ve done my part to recruit everyone I know and now it’s up to them to find others out there.

This evening, I had dinner with some old co-workers and it was so great to catch up again. I love how we’ve managed to stay in touch after all these years. Elaine gave me a large mug from Starbucks that had a said “ORANGE COUNTY” on it so that I’d always remember her. That was very sweet.

on display

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This summer, I entered my first photography competition and it was for the Orange County Fair. I didn’t know it even existed until my instructor mentioned it to me last Fall in my photography class. Apparently, it’s a very popular contest and they receive more and more entries each year. It’s open to all Orange County residents and my photography instructor encouraged me to enter this year’s competition. So, I shot a couple rolls of film a couple months ago and printed one of them in the darkroom. I submitted the photo in June and it got accepted!

On Thusday night, I went to the “Judge’s Walk Through” to learn a little more about what they were looking for and what they liked about the winning photos. Someone said that there were 2100 entries and 1098 were accepted into the show. Not too shabby for my first try! I was just hoping to make it on the wall so I’m pretty happy. They gave out first, second, third, and honorable mention in each division. I didn’t place but it was really neat to have lots of people viewing my work.

The Orange County Fair started last week and my photo is now on display for the “world” to see for three whole weeks! If any of you are going to the fair, go to the Visual Arts Gallery to find my photo hanging in the Black & White section.  The OC Fair ends on August 5th and is closed on Mondays. 

On Saturday, Jes went back to the fair with me to check out all the photos and to see mine amongst the other entries. He said that mine should have won but I think he’s a little biased…just a little. Haha. Afterwards, we stuck around and took in the sights and sounds of the fair. We saw the fair’s largest onion, cows (of course), and lots of interesting people everywhere. As Jes guzzled light beer throughout the evening, I enjoyed a genuine caramel apple with nuts. Sorry, no fried Twinkies or Snicker Bars that night.

Here are photos from the fair. Enjoy!

homeless

I got a grip of calls today from various Realtors with clients interested in looking at our house. I had so many that at 11:00 am, I decided to go home and pick up the dog. I didn’t want him to scare away any potential renters while he was stuck in the patio. So, he came to work with me and hung out with us for the rest of the day. With people coming by at 12:30, 3:00, 5:00, and 7:30, I decided to just stay away from the house until the end of the evening.  It was weird to not have anywhere to go after work.  I felt like I should have just brought the Aerobed to work too.

I ended up staying at work until about 4:30 and then met up with Marie and Cole at the Spectrum. The four of us hung out, had dinner, and walked around some more until about 7:30. When I got home, one of the Realtors was outside waiting for her clients who were running late. They finally arrived at 8:00 and seemed nice. It was a young couple who seemed like the athletic type.  They even asked if I was a triathlete because they noticed the magazine that I had on the kitchen counter.  That was kinda neat.  Anyway, I hope we get a bite this week.  That would definitely take one load off our shoulders.  Cross your fingers!