So this past week should've been a great week...and it was!
After a FOUR WEEK BREAK, (side note: four week breaks are unnecessary. This extended amount of time just throws life completely off-kilter. That is not to say that I didn't *enjoy* that break, but man, it was long) I started back to school on Monday with a 9am evaluation in Cumberland. It went really well. I LOVE giving evals. If I could just be a diagnostic SLP, I think I'd be cool with that...I like the challenge of keeping a kid on target through some really boring tasks and activities. That took about two hours, then I headed to campus to start writing the report and learn another new eval to give the next day. I'm getting better at report writing...which bodes well for the diagnostician idea. I was on campus that night until 9. First day back = 12 hours plus 2 hours of driving. Thrown in the deep water. And I loved it.
Tuesday was similar, run/eval/observation/report/class. Wednesday was a little more normal, a new client (and another eval) in the am and my old client group in the afternoon. Thursday was really nice...nothing all day, I finished up those reports, read some chapters for classes and got about 85 things done (including four loads of laundry, dishes and a five mile run). Class that night ended early and I was home before ten!
Friday, I got to attend a meeting my good friend Christine and her volunteer team with Hearing House had planned with the Cochlear reps. It was so great to see DeeDee and Laura. It REALLY made me miss that job. I was good at it..and it was so fun. On the other side of the table, being with Christine and hearing about all her work, made me miss serving kids directly. I'm not gonna lie, I got a smidgen depressed. Obviously, I adore being in school. But man do I miss working. I'm so blessed to be able to do something in a field that I'm mega passionate about...and its a bit sad to be so disconnected from it right now.
So after coming home from that and reading about syntax and why all the black kids sit together in the cafeteria (interesting book, but that's for another blog), I started to REALLY bum myself out. Then I see it. Capital Ale House Midlothian posts on their facebook page "Firkin Friday-we hear it might Allagash Black".
Allagash Black is one of my absolute favorite beers. Great in a bottle, better from a tap...I could only imagine what it would be like mega fresh and served at the perfect temperature. What I haven't mentioned yet is that we are in crazy budget crunch. That lack of unemployment income and no more graduate assistantship finally caught up with us. We cut back cable and put the gym on freeze. We are by no means in financial trouble, but we are trying to be smart. And going out to a bar at the end of a $75 in gas costs week is not too smart.
But it's Allagash Black. served at 55 degrees. from a cute little mini-keg thing. at our favorite bar. where we could see our friend Katie. ok, so you see where I'm going with this.
So we go. For "just one" we promise each other. HA. It was heaven in a glass. And as usual, the company was great and we were having a blast. So we have "just one more". Then some friends call to invite us to dinner and we figure oh, what the h, let's just stay. So our friends join us for dinner...on them! Seriously, we have great friends. Anyways...we had a blast. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband...we have so much in common, I feel like it might be a bit unusual.
Now I'm back at it. Reading about the syntax of adolescents. Surprisingly, its not that boring...
So this semester is back in full swing already...but I feel like I have a better grasp on how to balance it all. Here's what it will look like: Mondays - Motor Speech Disorders 1-2:50, Feeding and Swallowing 6-9. Tuesdays - RTI 11:00-12:30, Public School Methods in a Diverse Society 6-9. Wednesdays - artic/lang client 10-11, phonological awareness clients 4-5. Thursdays RTI 11-12:30, Language Disorders in the School Age Population 6-9. "off" Fridays. RTI doesn't start for a few weeks. Somewhere in there, I'll also (hopefully) be seeing a 2 month old with Down Syndrome. I'm also prepping for the Virginia Graduate Research Forum in February, then preparing to teach an undergrad class about communication impairments in April.
I'd like to keep the running at about 20 miles a week, but we'll see. No speedwork in forever, haven't had time for yoga. So I'm a bit out of shape, but I think the distance is still in me.
That's enough procrastination for today...I'm gonna keep up the productive streak...
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