AmandaOT

New blog

2008-11-15T11:41:00.003-06:00

I will be closing this blog soon. Alan made us a new one so check it out. I won't be posting here anymore.

http://alanandamanda.com

Your item has been shipped

2008-10-27T21:08:00.003-05:00

I ordered a $250 Zales gift card from my Thank You points on my credit card this weekend. I got an email about 5 minutes ago telling me my gift card had been shipped. When I got the mail 2 1/2 hours ago the gift card was in the mailbox. I think the email notification is a little slow....

Ugh!

2008-10-27T17:32:00.001-05:00

It snowed today :-/

Baby it's getting cold outside!

2008-10-25T17:39:00.002-05:00

Fall is in full swing. This weekend is cool and rainy. Highs are supposed to only by in the upper 40's and low 50's. Our heat is on intermittantly, and the heaters were turned on at the EL over the last couple weeks. I bought my winter coat 2 weekends ago, and got my boots today. My boots are waterproof are supposed to keep my feet warm down to -20 degrees. I'll report how they do when the cold sets in. I got another sweater today, and I think I'm going to wear it tonight for Bryan's 30th b-day party. After appetizers at the Zera's, we're going bar hopping. I expect that I'll be pretty chilly.

In other news, work is still going well. It's been a slow week for me, but next week I get a new vet whom I expect to be challenging. I'm looking forward to a challenge. I don't want to work with easy guys all the time. I volunteered to be on the committee to raise money for the Combined Federal Campaign. Just in the last 3 weeks the blind center has raised over 600 dollars. Our goal is to be the best money raisers in the hospital. I bought my wedding dress. I sent the link to several people, but if you are interested and didn't get an email from me then let me know. We also reserved rooms at a local hotel for out of town guests. Sometime soon Alan and I need to reserve our room. That's about all I know for right now.

Update!!!

2008-09-29T19:37:00.002-05:00

We're officially under a year out. I don't feel so lame telling people the date now. Until last week I'd tell someone the date and they'd think it was just around the corner. This weekend we finalized the DJ, got engagement pics, and I picked out my dress.

In other news Alan and I were officially directly affected by the mortgage crisis. Until last week we were Wamu customers...not so much anymore. Thank goodness for Chase :)

That's about all for now.

Are you kidding me??

2008-09-23T17:45:00.001-05:00

What the hell?!?!

http://www.wptz.com/news/17539127/detail.html

Crack pots.

So Much Devastation

2008-09-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

Ike...train collision...ugh

Been busy not posting...

2008-09-07T20:30:00.002-05:00

So...since my last post I've

Entertained family in Chicago
Gone to Indiana
Been entertained by family in Ohio
Gone wedding dress shopping
Gone canoeing on the Chicago River
Bought spices at the spice store last weekend
Hung out with Sherri
Went to a couple house warming parties
Bought a 37" LCD flatscreen
Ate some yummy yummy food...

Next weekend is hopefully thrift store shopping

Monthly Update

2008-07-23T18:33:00.002-05:00

I've decided that I will probably be blogging occasionally since I'm too lazy to blog regularly. Some wedding news...Date and location done! DJ done! Photographer...getting there. We're looking forward to our zoo wedding. Yep it is, it's at the Toledo Zoo. How cool is that? Now if I can just remember to make some dress appointments, maybe I won't be naked :-)

Amazing but could be true

2008-07-09T17:08:00.000-05:00

So while walking Meili today I ran across a man who was looking for a church. He said he was from Berkeley and had taken up working for a company that sold books and magazines. Apparently it was a traveling company. This company sent him by bus to Pocatello, Idaho, a few placed in Iowa where there was flooding, and Forest Park and Evanston, Illinois. In Evanston he got sick and ended up at Northwestern's hospital. When he got out of the hospital, the social worker attempted to contact his employer, but they didn't answer their phone and pretty much abandoned him. He said someone (I forget who because this story was so out of control it I thought it had to be made up) had a bus ticket to Milwaukee because he has an aunt in Green Bay. However, his aunt can't get to Milwaukee to pick him up so he has been all over town looking for help. He said he was just looking for $20...$12.60 for the extra fare to Green Bay and take the change to buy some food. He said he had been to the police to file a report about his company, but they said they couldn't help him. He said he had been to a couple charity organizations and a few churches but couldn't get any aid. He definitely smelled as if he had been sleeping on the streets, however, was dressed in business casuals and was carrying a briefcase. Showed me his folder with his bus tickets, police report, and hospital discharge papers. I didn't look too closely at the dates on the bus ticket, but it was definitely going to Milwaukee. On the surface the story seemed to check out. He was definitely dressed better than your average homeless man, he had the briefcase, and he had the paperwork to help back up his insane story. Even if this guy was making it up, he obviously needed money more than myself so I gave him $20. Hopefully he doesn't get drunk on it.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

2008-07-07T22:17:00.000-05:00

So this weekend was jammed packed. After our activities on Thursday, Alan and I spent a good part of Friday morning finishing the house. Staci and Adam arrived in the mid afternoon and we went to a great place next to Improv Olympic and Wrigley Field for some food and beer. After that continued consuming beer until we went to a local bar in the evening. This bar is great because it allows dogs on Friday nights, so Grody and Meili got to join in on the festivities. After the bar we went to the grocery store and in out hunger bought more food than we could consume in several days.

On Saturday the boys and girls split up so the girls could go wedding dress shopping. We found some good ones. That evening we had deep dish pizza and then went to celebrate my bday at some bars a few neighborhoods away. We finished the evening with hotdogs and fries. Mmm.

On Sunday Adam and Staci left early and I played with my new iPod Nano. In the afternoon, Sarah and I took Grody and Meili to the dog beach. Meili had a lot of first this weekend. First she got to go to a bar then she got to go to a beach. She was entertaining to say the least. I've got pics but Alan is much more of a handle the pictures type of person so I'll let him handle that. After the dog beach we ate yummy stir fry at Bryan and Sarah's.

Today was my first day of work. It was pretty much uneventful. The day was filled with meeting people, getting a tour, and observing lessons. The girls and guy in my office are pretty cool. My supervisors seem great. I have a lot of literature to look over, but tonight I was just too busy with other stuff. I'm back on my diet hard core. My body has rebelled these last few weeks of bad eating. I resisted pie and donuts today, exercised, and ate vegetarian corn dogs. Alan is in Vegas so I'm on my own this week. I'm exhausted so it's time for bed.

Happy Firecracker Day!!

2008-07-04T14:39:00.000-05:00

So last night Bryan, Sarah, Alan, and I went to Taste of Chicago for good food and beer. While we were heading over to meet up with friends of the Zera's for fireworks, Colleen called. As I answered the phone firecrackers went off and the crowd started running. I immediately forgot the phone rang and ran on instinct because at the time we didn't know it was just firecrackers. As we were running I saw a little boy on the ground on his hands and knees crying and no parents in the immediate vicinity, so I picked him up. In the next couple steps when we realized it was just fireworks and the crowd wasn't stampeding any longer, the parents were there wanting their kid. They thanked me for my intended good deed, but I think they really thought I was trying to steal their baby. Therefore July 3rd will now be known as the day I tried to steal a baby!

Happy firecracker day!!

Good news and bad news

2008-07-01T18:25:00.000-05:00

Bad news: While traveling through Utah (Salt Lake City to be exact) we drove through some construction. A rock or some other kind of hard, flying object hit our windshield. The result was a chip the size of a dime with a tiny bit of spider webbing from it on the upper passenger side corner. This morning Alan walked the dog and saw that on of the threads of the 'spider web' had spread. Now there is a big line stretching across the passenger side. Yuck. So I called the insurance company and made a claim. Good news: Only $100 deductable to pay there and the windshield replacers are coming to us. Bad news: I tried to update my policy to Chicago since I figured it would be cheaper to have an Illinois policy over a California policy. However, AIG and my insurance company merge and they are only accepting new claims in Kentucky. So now I have to shop for new car insurance. Blah!

Good news: The VA called today and I start working on Monday! Yippee!! A real paycheck. Totally awesome.

Oh Wyoming

2008-06-20T23:05:00.000-05:00

Another blog is up. Check Alan's site.

I'm a terrible blogger!!

2008-06-17T21:35:00.000-05:00

OK so up front...if you want updates on our trip, you have to check Alan's blog. I'm not internet dedicated enough to update. He's got it all...pictures, interesting anecdotes, humor? I have no idea actually, I haven't read them myself :-)

What I can tell you is that CA and southern AZ have the grossest bathrooms at their gas stations. Northern AZ much better bathrooms. That's all I've got. Check the link for Alan's blog to the right.

Yippee!!!

2008-06-07T11:54:00.000-05:00

I'm all graduated! Now to start packing for the move!

Holy crap!

2008-06-04T21:39:00.001-05:00

My internship ends tomorrow!!

Counting down hours not days...

2008-06-02T22:37:00.000-05:00

It's getting close. I'm tired and sitting in a hotel room on the back end of Stanford's campus with virtually no cell phone service. The truck bed and cab is full of my stuff. I'm driving around town with a good chunk of my possessions in my car. Only a few more days....

Winding down

2008-05-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

My internship is coming to a close. We move out of the house we've been renting tomorrow and move into a hotel at Stanford. Monday and Tuesday I brief the people taking over my students. Wednesday there are no classes for the students because of staff development day, so I will spend most of the day finishing all my paperwork. Thursday's it! It'll be all done! Woohoo! Next Friday I will have a Master's degree!

Getting hitched

2008-05-27T08:39:00.000-05:00

So Alan came to visit this weekend. For those not on MySpace, you may not know (unless you got a call from others on MySpace) that Alan and I got engaged on Saturday. No details yet, but stay tuned. Alan plans on making a wedding plans website for all to see the planning progress.

I want that doggie in the parking lot...

2008-05-22T20:04:00.001-05:00

So this little guy was wandering around the Target parking lot today. Seems that the owner's friend was dog watching and she left all her windows down in the car thinking that Kato wouldn't jump out. Duh!! So he's safe and sound with his mommy now.

BTW...I got a new phone the other day; an Env2. Awesome phone and great pics!

Stupid cyberspace

2008-05-19T23:16:00.000-05:00

So I posted yesterday and it didn't go up. How irritating. I'm tired so here's the short of it:

Friday: Alan had to make a last minute run to Fresno to finish his motorcycle. I showed up in the 'No' and didn't tell him I was coming

Saturday: Shopping for summer clothes that do not fall off. Last summer size 8/10 this summer 4/6. Blah! After shopping Jamba Juice, naptime, visit with Will and Carrie, and Paige's bday bash with sushi and karaoke.

Sunday: Lunch with Jeanine, help finish the motorcycle, leave Fresno at 8, get stuck in Pacheco pass for over an hour, get back to Palo Alto at 11:10. Blah!

Today: Tired as all get out, family training that I did not expect, Mexican food for dinner with the girls, and working on my last project for school.

Tomorrow: Just getting through the week. Alan will be here on Friday! Only 13 more days of internship!

The government...

2008-05-09T20:05:00.000-05:00

gave me $600! Woohoo!!

I swear to you I'm not dead.

2008-05-07T19:13:00.000-05:00

So these last couple of weeks have been rough. We took our Comps on Saturday and I tried to regurgitate everything I was supposed to have learned this last year. I only had to make up a small portion of the first section, so hopefully I recited enough Special Education law and litigation crap to pass. The second section was a breeze. The third section was what I expected, but still a lot of regurgitated information. But regardless, it's over. If I pass, then I'm free and clear. If I don't pass, I retake the sections I did not pass.

The internship is going ok. I'm so sick of being here, but I'll survive. Being away from home for 3 months is crappy. Two of my students are being tempermental. I got a new student today and he seems great. He grew up in Monclova, OH and lived in Point Place for awhile. Today we talked may flies. Good times.

Jessica and I are probably going to San Francisco this weekend and get out of our house. I'm itching to do something fun and different. I also need to start my online class. It should be a breeze, but the motivation to do is escaping me. Maybe I'll get to it tonight, but Harry Potter sounds so much better.

Still kicking, but barely

2008-04-23T20:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a rough week. Instead of staying home and studying like my roommates did, I went to Fresno to meet up with Alan and hang with Will, Carrie, Fritzen, John, Paige, and Jeff. I got very little studying done and have been trying to catch up all week. Comps are in 10 days.

On a lighter note, my supervisor told me she can tell I'm working hard, and she said I'm doing a good job. She can see improvement in my lessons as the days go on. That was reassuring. Sounds like she's going to pass me :)

Nothing else to report. Just more studying. I've memorized the definitions for the 10 categories of IDEA plus the IDEA definitions for deaf-blind and multiple disabilities. Now I get to work on Special Ed. law!! Yippee! Sounds riveting doesn't it?

Not dead, just busy

2008-04-17T21:50:00.000-05:00

I've been furiously working on getting my study guides for my comp exam done. I am finally done with that, and now should be studying furiously. Instead of studying, I applied for a job at The Chicago Lighthouse. They have a full time OT position and a part time O&M position open. I can live with either, but prefer to do the O&M and help out in the OT department, but we'll see. Having skills should help get me at least something. I can't apply for the VA jobs yet because they don't even accept your application until after you graduate. This sucks because there are 7 positions open now. We'll see though. Maybe I can get in later. Ok I really have to study something now.

Moving forward

2008-04-03T08:36:00.000-05:00

With the comp exams and graduation looming ahead of me, Alan has been working diligently to get us moved. He got the word yesterday that we do indeed have an apartment in Chicago available June 1. Yay! We won't be homeless. So the only thing left to do is find me a job. Ugh!

I suck!!

2008-03-30T20:03:00.000-05:00

But better late than never! Congrats to Emily for passing her nursing boards last week!!! Hooray!

My first week in Palo Alto

2008-03-30T12:38:00.000-05:00

So we moved in on Sunday and started unpacking and realized we needed some stuff to make life a little bit more homey. So while Jess took her friend to the San Jose airport, Kristina and I ventured to Target. Apparently Target and Wal-Mart are closed on Easter. Frustrated because it didn't feel like Easter to us, we went to Rite Aid and Sears to get a few things. After a trip to Subway for dinner, we returned home and tried to make due. We worked on the internet with no success and decided that Monday after we were done with the intern we would go to Target and get a new router and create our own wireless network. After fighting with the router for 2 days, we finally had internet...which we only had a few hours. I think I finally have fixed it after working on it all week. We've had wireless for 24 hours now without problems. Keep your fingers crossed. I think it was Wednesday morning when we blew a fuse and had to travel to 4 stores after work to find a stupid fuse they don't even make anymore. So needless to say, it's been a long week.

The weekend has been great though. Friday night the girls and I found a Thai restaurant that was suggested by our supervisor. It was mighty tasty. We pigged out and split a bottle of wine before heading to Cold Stone for some dessert. We came home and all read a bit before passing out from exhaustion. It was kind of rainy and cool on Saturday so we stayed home and worked on our homework a bit. We also jammed to some songs from our childhoods and tried to find a good song for Kristina and Corey's first dance at their wedding this summer. No success. We worked on some more homework before heading to the Alfred Hitchcock movies at the Stanford Theatre. We watched a double feature of Psycho and The Birds for $7. It's a great old theatre that features one person's movies for about 2 months. Starting next week is all Bette Davis movies. I know nothing about most of the movies showing, but we'll probably check out at least one weekend's showings. We walked around downtown Palo Alto for a little while last night too. We're just now getting up and around, so I'm not sure what we're doing today. Regardless, it's going to be pretty stress free.

FINALLY!!

2008-03-25T20:25:00.000-05:00

After 3 days and 5 hours of work...we finally have internet. I don't want to talk about it right now.

Internship is going fine. Just orienting right now. That is all for now. I'm hungry and a little bitter with the internet.

The bests and worsts of my NYC trip!

2008-03-13T17:52:00.000-05:00

Bests:
10. Karaoke with my classmates.
9. Getting to know the Fall class.
8. Girl's night
7. Hanging with Forney.
6. Walking around NYC.
5. Being blindfolded in NYC and traveling with the cane.
4. Going out drinking with the gang.
3. All the cute doggies!
2. Using a dog guide under blindfold.
1. Holding Helen Keller's Oscar.

Worsts:
10. 3 1/2 hours sleep Sunday night and multiple seminars on Monday.
9. Getting wasted Tuesday night and having seminars all morning on Wednesday.
8. Personality clash with a specific person who shall remain nameless, but is really difficult.
7. The wind.
6. Sitting for 2 1/2 hours on a runway in Norfolk, VA because of storms in Newark.
5. Sitting for an hour on the tarmac at Newark waiting for a gate.
4. Sitting for 30 minutes near a gate at Newark waiting to be guided in then sitting another 30 minutes while they wait for someone to run the jetway.
3. Circling over Detroit and Cleveland...my poor poor belly.
2. Waiting for an hour to get our bags after sitting on a plane for 11 hours.
1. Sitting on a plane for 11 hours for a 5 1/2 hour non-stop trip from LA to Newark.

It's over!

2008-03-07T22:59:00.000-06:00

The most grueling 10 weeks of my life is over. My case study is done, all my finals are done, my student teaching is done. Holy cow! I haven't slept in 10 weeks--ask Alan because I keep him up too. In 11 hours I will be on a plane to NYC to party with Matt and my classmates, and play with Seeing Eye dogs. Speaking of Seeing Eye dogs...you can only call them Seeing Eye dogs if they are trained at Seeing Eye (one of our seminar stops on our trip). Seeing Eye is trademarked, so all other dogs trained for the blind or visually impaired are 'guide dogs.' So I'm going to get to be blindfolded and use a real Seeing Eye dog. How cool is that?!?!? Ok I'm exhausted. I'm off to finish packing and crash out ASAP. Toodles!!!

OMG!

2008-03-06T23:29:00.000-06:00

It's almost over. One more exam. Everything else is done. I'm so tired. Only one more day of student teaching. I leave for NYC on Saturday. Matt is off duty this weekend so we're going to hang out Saturday night and Sunday. I'm so tired and hungry and tired. Weeeeeeeee!

I'M LOSING MY MIND!!

2008-03-03T23:23:00.000-06:00

I feel better now.

Baby it's warm outside!

2008-02-26T19:18:00.001-06:00

Hit 80 today. Didn't know it was going to be that warm. Significantly over dressed. Yeah 80 in February!

Being a professional is expensive

2008-02-25T22:49:00.000-06:00

So this OT/O&M combo is going to be expensive. I'm hoping that I can land a job that will help cushion all the spending. I had to join another professional organization this month on top of my American Occupational Therapy Association renewal. I joined the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired today. It's only one of 2 or 3 I will probably join in the next year. By the time I'm all graduated and out of the grace periods that come with being a new grad, I'll be looking at a minimum of $1000 a year in professional organizations and licensures. Between Illinois, California, and Ohio OT licenses, AOTA, AERBVI, national O&M credential, CA and IL O&M credentials--it's gonna be expensive. Part of me says to let the CA stuff expire, but the plan is that Alan and I will be moving back to CA. When? No idea. But if I let me teaching credential in CA expire, who knows how much hassle it is to get it back. Here's to crossing my fingers that I can afford it all.

Congrats!

2008-02-19T21:36:00.000-06:00

Congrats to April and Mike on their bouncing baby girl Michaela Rose born this morning!

*CORRECTION* Makala Rose not Michaela

Some interesting events that have occured during student teaching...

2008-02-13T16:27:00.000-06:00

So student teaching is interesting to say the least. Never a boring day. It's almost as entertaining as demented folks!

One day A. and I were traveling north on Vemont near Hollywood. A. was preparing to cross Melbourne and was analyzing the intersection. She had just figured out that it was a traffic light and was going to look for pedestrian buttons. As she walked away from me, a lady crossed Melbourne talking loudly. I figured she was on a Bluetooth. Apparently not. She stopped talking and went up to A. and asked her if she needed help crossing. A. told her 'no' but the woman was persistent. She then insisted with following A. across the street. By this point A. had a deer in the headlight look and I came over to save her. I told the loud lady that A. was with me. Loud lady seemed to be satisfied with that for 1/2 a second before she went on her Scientology spiel. Ugh!! I told the woman we had to go and took A. away. Stupid Scientology!!!

Another time we took P. and J. on a field trip. We drove to Rite Aid on Sunset and Vermont. We walked to the bus stop and took the bus to Santa Monica then continued walking to Melrose. Near Melrose we stopped for lunch at Jack n the Box. Then we went to Braille Institute. One thing we did at Braille was go to the student store. At the store, J. put all her money (which she had no clue how much that was) on the counter and asked what it would buy. After we explained to her through chuckles that she needs to have at least some idea of what she wants, she bought a talking watch/key chain. Then we went to the Office of Special Services at Los Angeles Community College and talked about what the college offers students who are blind. By then we were all beat. We walked back to Santa Monica and got on the bus. J. and I sat down next to a guy who was in an electric wheelchair, was totally blind, and had been born deaf and now had a cochlear implant. On our short ride to Sunset we learned a little about him and offered to help him cross the street at Sunset to get on the Metro (subway). Holy cow! Getting off the bus included trying to teach J. and P. what to do to keep them safe and giving our new friend safe on the wheelchair ramp. With only 3 wheels on the ramp, he forced his way down it. Then he drove down the sidewalk way too fast for someone with vision. I was scared to watch. When he got to the corner, he lined up on the wheelchair ramp and we verified for him it was time to cross. He started veering into the intersection so we called for him to come back toward us. Still traveling really fast, he headed toward a slow moving lady with a walker. Again I didn't want to watch. Somehow everyone got across the street without being hit by wheelchair man and we directed him to the elevator. They guy was truly amazing to watch.

Some recent events....

2008-02-11T22:59:00.000-06:00

I found out that I will be going to Palo Alto, CA (south of San Francisco and west of San Jose) for my intership. I start the day after Easter and end June 5. Two other classmates are going too. We are trying to get into a house with 3 bedrooms while we're there. $900 a month each (blah). Good news--we get paid $500 a week for 10 weeks. Yay! I'll have a week off from school before I have to move.

The other day 2 of the student with low vision were late showing up to class (like 20 minutes late). The teacher asked them where they were. They said they were in the bathroom putting on makeup because they had to look good. C- piped up, "Why? No one in here can see you anyway!" BURN!!

Student teaching is slowing down for me. Because I'm at a year round school, the kids are split into 'tracks' A, B, and C. Only 2 tracks are in session at a time. Right now B and C are in session and A is on break and intersession (summer school, but not summer school because it's not summer! Confused yet?) Most of my kids at this school are on A track. We're teaching them during intersession, but intersession is over soon (Friday). This entire quarter my master teacher has had me do more teaching than I'm supposed to do because I will be losing several hours of teaching for my last 3 weeks (oh darn!!). Last week was especially bad and I got behind. This week I have so much more time!! It's great! My goal is to get some of my final projects done now so I don't have to work on them in New York.

Speaking of New York...I go on a field trip to NYC soon. Yippee!

That's all. I'm tired. This 5 AM crap is for the birds. Next week is some sleeping in!!

Annoyed

2008-02-05T17:20:00.000-06:00

So I have to do a research project for school. My group has to survey 20 people that don't know anyone that is blind or know anyone who works for the blind. I spent an hour today walking around trying to get some participants. I got 1! That's it! ONE! I talked to 10 people. 4 said they'd participate but they knew someone that was blind or worked with the blind. And 5 just rejected me. I don't have time to spend 6 more hours on this. Oy vey!

Internship

2008-01-30T17:33:00.001-06:00

I'm going to the Bay area for my intern. I'll be at the VA in Palo Alto, CA. I should know more details tomorrow.

Update: Just got an email that I start March 24 (day after Easter) and am finished Friday, June 6. Graduation is the weekend I am done with my intern.

YAY! YAY! YAY!

2008-01-28T17:11:00.000-06:00

ATM card...check!
Student loan check...check!
Money to pay bills...oh yeah!

Damn!

2008-01-27T15:12:00.000-06:00

So I got my student loan money! Yay! Wrong....I took it to the bank about 8:00 last night and deposited it in the ATM. The ATM locked up while processing my transaction and ate my card and my check. Bastards!! Called B of A while standing at the ATM. Since it was a Saturday night, not a lot they can do. They blocked my card so that if the ATM unstuck no one could continue a transaction. His recommendation was go on Monday and get my card back from the bank. If my check doesn't clear by Tuesday, file a claim. So I had money for 24 hours. Now my money is in virtual limbo. I'm hoping that when I go tomorrow afternoon to get my card they can tell me where my money is. Hopefully the bank people are smart and can figure it all out. I spit on you ATM!

Girls Night!

2008-01-20T16:14:00.001-06:00

Last night our neighbor Kate, her friend Lisa, and I had a girls night. We went to see 27 Dresses at the Arclight. It was a very cute movie. I recommend it to lovers of romantic comedies. There was some smart comedy and some great one liners. Plus, James Marsden is just a cutie.

Some grad school drama

2008-01-19T19:03:00.001-06:00

So when I started this program in June, all of us sat down and started filling out the paperwork that would be needed to graduate. Our program advisors made copies for herself, and sent the originals up to the Associate Dean's office. When this quarter started, I had to apply for graduation and fill out an application for 'advancement to candidacy.' I filled out my advancement to candidacy and turned it on the first day of school January 3rd. The next week I filled out my graduation application and paid the fee. About the time I filled out the graduation application, I got a letter saying that the Assoc. Dean needed a copy of my program because they didn't have it. In other words the lost it. I called my program advisor, and she turned in another copy. This past week on Thursday I get a phone call. An approximate transcript of our call:

Jill: Hi Amanda I have your application for graduation here and I'm missing your advancement to candidacy

Me: I turned that in 2 weeks ago.

Jill: I don't have it. It's funny because I got your program yesterday, your graduation application a week ago, and don't have your advancement to candidacy yet.

Me: (not thinking that situation is funny) I did turn the program in when I signed it.

Jill: Yeah I see you signed it in June. Are you sure you turned your advancement to candidacy form here?

Me: Yes

Jill: Let me make sure I don't have it. Hold on....Yeah I don't have it. You need to turn that in to me as soon as you can.

Me: (I did turn it in you moron!) I won't be on campus until next Thursday is that ok?

Jill: Yeah that's fine. I'll start processing your graduation application, but I really need that form.

Me: OK, I'll get it to you on Thursday. (Although I don't see what the point is, you are just going to lose that one too!!)

Idiots!! And if it was just me that this was happening to, then yeah we could say it's a fluke. But my classmate Jessica is having the same problem. I have little patience for incompentence usually, but with my school caseload now there is zero tolerance. I wanted to climb through the phone and ring her neck.

YAY! YAY! YAY!

2008-01-15T21:20:00.000-06:00

My student loan has been approved and will be disbursed on 1/23/08! WHOHOO!

Eeeeew!

2008-01-11T19:14:00.000-06:00

This brings up some interesting points. Eeeew!

Another blog!

2008-01-09T20:47:00.000-06:00

There will probably be a lot of blogs this next 2 weeks. Alan's not home, but I don't have to time or money to go out. So during study breaks I'll blog. Today was a weird day. First, some jackass parked illegally behind me and gave me literally 4 inches of room. So at 6:30 in the morning I had to wake up my neighbor that doesn't go to work til 10 because she was parked in front of me. I didn't feel bad when my bumper scraped the top of his low riding car while I was trying to squeeze out. I did feel bad waking up Kate. I owe her big time. When I got to student teaching it was probably 10 degrees colder than at my house, and I didn't bring gloves. That sucked. But not as much as when some kid threw a football and it hit me square on the side of the head. Once the headache and the dizziness subsided, it turned out to be a pretty normal day.

WTF!?!?!

2008-01-06T20:47:00.000-06:00

How can a document show up 3 different occasions on 2 different programs, show up in print preview, and yet print blank 3 times!!! HELP!!!

Lucky you! 2 posts in one day!

2008-01-06T00:19:00.000-06:00

So school's back in session. I've read non stop since Thursday morning. I'm trying to get a jump start to make life less stressful once student teaching starts on Monday. I should be reading some more, but the WebCT program that all my online classes are on (90% of my classes that is) is down so I can't get some of the articles and study guides. They update it every weekend. I guess they figure normal students are out on the town. Not O&M'ers. All of us lead pathetic lives. In other randomness, I'm scrambling for some student loans. Come Feb. 1 the only money I'll have left is moving money. Sending my application out Monday and crossing my fingers it goes through in time. Probably not but I'm hoping. Alan is out doing improv tonight. I went out last night so tonight I'm inside reading. It's raining sporadically tonight. There was a short downpour a little bit ago, but now I hear nothing again. The 'Storm Team Coverage' on the news cracks me up. Flipping wusses. In the canyon areas, yes, mudslides are a danger. I can see that. But this is no where like being in a tornado or hurricane. The news last night said that winds were 67 mph gusts and that 74 mph is hurricane force. That may be true, but this is no hurricane. We had gusts higher than that during the Santa Ana's and no one mentioned that. They interviewed a couple people last night that said it feels like a tornado. No it's not!! There's no hail, no shingles blowing in the streets. For heaven sakes we don't even have any lightening!!! It's just a steady rain with some wind gusts. The real problem is that nothing drains here. The drainage systems are insufficient so the streets flood. We got 2 1/2 inches of rain yesterday in like a 12 hour period. Come on people! Get some balls! I'm actually looking forward to being with people that know what real weather is. Enough of my rants. Back to reading about blind kids.

Grrrr...

2008-01-05T16:22:00.000-06:00

First, I never received a package my mom sent USPS in November.
Second, I never received a Xmas card with a Xmas check from my mother sent USPS.
Now someone cancelled my Time subscription only a year after I paid for 3 years.
Is someone out to get me?

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T13:06:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone has had a warm and safe Christmas so far. Ours has been incredibly lazy and that seems so odd to me. After moving to California my family traditions were disrupted and I no longer had to travel to and from church, to grandma's, and to my parents' on Christmas Eve then endure Christmas Day with the rest of the family. In California my friends and I made our own traditions. Christmas Eve we went to Will and Carrie's and Christmas Day we'd go to Bryan and Sarah's or my place. Both events will filled with food, staying up late, getting up early, cooking, drinking, family and friends. This year since Bryan and Sarah moved to Chicago and Will and Carrie are in Florida visiting their families, I have no tradition this year. Last night I tagged along for the Santa run with the White Family, Alan, and John. Today Alan and I are just lazying around until we go to Alan's mom's for lunch/dinner. It's an odd feeling. Tonight we're hoping to gather some friends to see Sweeney Todd. It's a Christmas I'm not accustomed to. I feel like I should be stressed out or cooking or at least have drink in my hand. It's kind of nice.

It's a small world

2007-12-13T20:26:00.000-06:00

On Monday I found out that one of my patients is from West Toledo. When she found out I was from Oak Harbor, she asked me if I shopped at Bassett's and we talked about the Bassett family a bit. Yesterday I evaluated a new patient. The patient's daughter asked me if I was from Michigan (from my 'accent'). I told her I went to school in Michigan, but was from Ohio. She told me she as her mother had family in Ann Arbor. I told her I went to a school called Eastern Michigan. She said her sister went to Eastern, and we chatted about EMU and Ann Arbor. Even more weird is that these 2 patients are roommates. It's like I walked into the Twilight Zone when I go in the room.

Congrats to Alan!

2007-12-12T19:10:00.001-06:00

He got a audition with the Second City Touring Company in January. He'll be flying to Chicago for the audition. He planned on going in January or February anyway, but now he has a even better reason to go. Here's to wishing him some luck!

Working 9 to 5

2007-12-10T20:08:00.000-06:00

Today was my first day of my new work assignment. It was nice to be an OT and do something comfortable and familiar rather than student teach and be followed around by 1-2 people. The facility is nice. It's in Santa Monica off of Santa Monica Blvd so it's easy to get to. I like the therapists. They appear to have a personality and are friendly. The facility is small so I wasn't exhausted when I was done. Only 59 beds! They appear to do a lot of rehab for a SNF because they have a therapy staff of 7 or 8 people. PG had more than three times the beds and less than 3 times the staff. It's pretty laid back to. 85% productivity is expected not 90+. 85% is a piece of cake.

Random thoughts

2007-12-07T17:32:00.000-06:00

1. The best part about being done with exams is good food and drink with friends on a Thursday night.

2. The second best part about being done with exams is that it is 3:40 PM and I'm still in my PJ's.

3. If your name rhymes with Laci do not marry a guy with the last name Petersen. As a matter of fact, if you name is Macy, Tracy, etc and a guy introduces himself as a Mr. Petersen, run like hell.

4. USPS sucks again.

5. People in LA can't drive in the rain.

6. I'm done with school for almost a month!!!

It's finally happened!

2007-12-05T23:53:00.000-06:00

I'M ALL DONE!!! Exams done! Papers done! Portfolio turned in! Resource Kit done! Aaah now I can breathe and sleep.

Warning...May be too much info for some people!

2007-12-01T21:58:00.001-06:00

So recently I've had this debacle with the nurse practitioner at my school's health center about my birth control. In lieu of everything, she convinced me to switch to the Nuva Ring. I got 3 samples before getting a prescription. Yesterday I filled my prescription, and leafing through the warning information I found this statement: "This product may be harmful if swallowed. If...swallowing is suspected, remove the ring if possible and contact your local poison control center or emergency room." WHAT?

Working to the bone

2007-11-26T22:12:00.000-06:00

Not dead, just crazy busy. Since my last post I (in no particular order):
wrote a 10 page paper
wrote a 8 page paper
constructed a concept mini unit
went to Vegas--7 hours one way, 5 1/2 hours back.
went to the Liberace Museum (gay-tastic by the way!)
went to Alan's shows
freaked out on the amount of homework I have to do
kicked back with my awesome friends Staci, Adam, and their parents
chilled with Jess, Kristina, and Corey
read a minimum of 500 pages of schoolbooks
finally found out what I got on my midterm
worked on my project for my student teaching
wrote and taught lots of blind lessons
did an obscene amount of homework assignments
hiked in Red Rock
got a cold
met James' new gf
went on a fieldtrip to the Southern California College of Optometry
went to the Alien Jerky store in Baker, CA
drank a yard of frozen Marguerita with an extra shot
went to Kate's birthday party
freaked out again about homework
ate the best burger I have ever had (twice)

I think that covers it. Stay tuned. More after my finals are over December 5.

OSU LOST

2007-11-10T17:47:00.000-06:00

It's about time! Your team is not that awesome. Will you beat Michigan? Probably. We suck. I have no denials. But I've been telling people to watch out for Illnois!

Dell is the devil incarnate

2007-11-08T21:44:00.000-06:00

I've got a beef with Dell. Alan wanted a laptop. For space reasons, we really need him to get a laptop. Dell had an offer for 0% financing for 6 months plus an instant rebate on their laptops. We looked into it and for what Alan would need, Dell's price seemed comparable. So I signed up for the financing deal, since I've got better credit, and was approved. Easy right? So we purchased the laptop on 10/25 and were supposed to get it 11/2. On 10/30 (the day before the computer was to be shipped) the order was cancelled. I got a late call on 10/31 saying my order was cancelled. No reason given. I called Dell and talked to 2 customer service reps and sent a email to customer service and was told that something had not been verified on my account. No one could or would tell me what that something was. As an incentive to reorder, they gave us a 6% discount on our purchase. After discussing it, we reordered through a customer service rep online chat. The service rep gave us next day shipping free of charge in addition to our 6% off to apologize. Great deal right? He said my account had no problems and emailed me a transcript of the chat and everything. He suggested I call financial services in the morning to verify that my account was ok. So the next morning I called on my way to student teaching. I talked to Francis and had to explain my problem 3 times and I still don't think he got it. Long story short I said 'I just want to know if you are going to cancel my order.' He said no. Done right? No. Yesterday (again the day before the computer was to be shipped) the order was cancelled. No phone call mind you, Alan discovered the cancellation when checking the order status. So by this time I was done. I sent an dissatisfied email to customer service again, and told them I will never shop at Dell again and that I was going to make sure everyone I knew heard about my terrible experience. Funny that last time I got a reply within 2 hours. This time I've heard nothing. Despite my irritability, I felt bad that Alan wasn't getting his laptop because he was really looking forward to it. While I did homework last night, he searched the web and found that BestBuy had an Acer with comparable specs as the Dell for half the price. In the end he got a laptop that was a similar size, larger hard drive, and better warranty for $700 cheaper. Yay! I guess it's better we found out that Dell sucks before we paid for the laptop. That's me story.

Meat

2007-11-01T20:53:00.000-05:00

Today after reading Johnny's blog about meat, I sure miss meat. I usually am not such a meat eater, but because my doctor has significantly restricted me on things that I can eat, beef has been one of my cravings. I wake up everyday wanting a cheeseburger. Something dripping in fat.

For those not in the know, my doc says my triglycerides are now in the unexceptable range (almost 300). I'm pretty much limited to chicken, turkey, and fish. I can only eat so much chicken and I don't like turkey (and for those that say ground turkey tastes like ground beef you lie. It tastes terrible. I tried. The tacos taste bitter and the turkey burgers just taste blah!). For some wierd reason I don't want fish. I generally love fish but it just doesn't sound good right now. As a compromise, I eat one slice of low fat ham at lunch on a sandwich with low fat provolone. I eat oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast. I eat raw veges like it's my job at lunch. Dinner usually comprises of pasta, low fat stir fry, or pierogies. I cheat one meal a week (Friday night date night) where I had my first cheeseburger in 2 months. It was heaven. Like the people in Fresno know, the Lucky Devil on Hollywood Blvd has amazing food. I got a black angus burger with Vermont chedder and portobello mushrooms with a garlic sauce for dinner last week. It was the best burger I've ever had and can't wait for another one.

Switching gears a bit...(Damn that was a good burger. It had the same affect as that ham. Remember the ham?) I've lost over 10 pounds in the last 6 weeks (although my weight seems to be more stable this week). None of my clothes fit me. I have to wear belts because most of my pants can be taken off without unbuttoning them. I took a cholesterol test on Tuesday and go in next Tuesday for the results. My doctor and I will have to come up with some kind of compromise. I'm not getting enough calories with my change in diet. I feel like I'm starving myself even though I'm not hungry. I'm shrinking rapidly and am tired most of the time. I'm exercising, but not so much that I should be losing weight as rapidly as I am. I'm frustrated and thought I should vent.

Sad sight

2007-10-29T23:34:00.000-05:00

After a very long day today, I came home about 8:30 PM. Sitting on the cement wall near where I parked was a young woman and a baby in a stroller. She looked very sad. She asked me if there was a shelter nearby. I told her I did not know, but give me a minute and I'd get inside and look for one on the internet. Alan and I searched for shelters, and found a 211 hotline to call. We found the information for the girl and went outside to find out more information. The woman and baby had moved further down the hill and were now joined by a young man. He avoided our gaze and didn't talk to us. We told the girl that there was a shelter downtown. She asked if we had the address. She assured us she had bus fare. We went inside and printed out the map and address and gave them $5. I hope that they make it there alright.

California is burning

2007-10-22T23:00:00.000-05:00

Pretty much all of SoCal is on fire. I have to drive toward the Stevenson Ranch, Saugus, Santa Clarita, Valencia, and Porter Ranch fires to get to student teaching. Seems really stupid to drive toward fires, but seems that we are surrounded by them anyway. Luckily, we aren't burning. My friend Pat in San Diego area was forced to evacuate and as of last night my classmate Katie's family might be soon. My master teacher's friends had to evacuate from their home near Malibu. Luckily the Porter Ranch fire is out because that was just across the freeway from where I do student teaching. I'm hoping that the Santa Clarita, Saugus, and Stevenson Ranch fires stay north and don't head south. If they head south then they invade where I'm student teaching. If I get displaced again I'm not going to be happy. My classmates joke that they'll make me do this quarter again. I told them I'd quit before that happened. I better get an A for effort and flexibility. Today I wrote 4 lesson plans for 4 kids I've never taught. I don't think I made one of the lessons difficult enough and I also feel like they have not one bit of creativity to them. Oh well. I'm tired, my throat hurts, and my nose is bloody. I have no idea how people that are actually in the middle of the fires or have asthma are surviving. This morning I left the house at 9:30 and the sky was blue overhead and you could see the smoke from the Malibu and/or Topanga fires in the West and I think I may have been seeing the Lake Arrowhead smoke to the East. Either way...by 11:30 the smoke had rolled in over West LA and the sky was no longer blue but a orangish grayish color as the winds must have picked up and blew the smoke our way. I know it's no comparison to what everyone else is enduring, but the closest fire to us is 20 miles away. That's my perspective on how bad these fires are.

Meili in her new coat

2007-10-21T23:25:00.000-05:00

Life update

2007-10-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

So the new student teaching placement is going well I think. Sandy is a doll and she is really trying to help me out. Bryan and Sarah are enroute to Chicago for their big move. I'm excited for them. Fresno is not where the 3 of us wanted to stay, it was a stepping stone to something better. We made fabulous friends that we will always love and stay in contact with (even if not as much as we want to). I agree with their blog that if we aren't moving forward, we are moving backwards. There are so many things I want to do and explore in life and staying in one place doesn't always offer that to you. That's all I've got on now besides school work that is piling up higher and higher. I have a large paper due in a couple weeks that I haven't even attempted to start. My Intro to Vision midterm is next week. I have a lady coming to observe my teaching style next week. I started on the homework for this week for the vision class and I must say I don't think I understand it. Doesn't help that it is an online class so there's no lecture to help you understand. YAY! I've got 2 study groups planned for early next week to get ready for this test. It's going to be a busy week.

Student teaching drama update

2007-10-10T17:41:00.000-05:00

My master teacher's ankle is not broken. Hooray! But she will be off work for at least one more week, maybe 2. Boo! So effective today, I will have a new master teacher. My new teacher is my instructor from my blindfold class this summer. That's the good part. The bad part is that I will start traveling to the San Fernando Valley. That means I have to take the 405 better known as the slow-o-5. My commute's gonna be a bitch. I've sent out emails and made phone calls to get my assignment's due dates moved. Since I'm starting over, getting some of the assignments done on time won't be quality work. All these assignments are going in my portfolio, so they've gotta be at least a little organized and well planned. Ugh!

Freakishly odd

2007-10-06T22:23:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else that is a Big 10 fan find it incredibly creepy that Illinois is ranked #1 in the Big 10 right now? What the hell? Not only that...Indiana isn't doing too shabby either. Did hell freeze over and no one told me? Alan blames it on global warming. Your thoughts?

Warning! Long ass blog.

2007-10-04T22:27:00.000-05:00

So Monday our class found out that all of us enrolled in a grad directed study class that we weren't supposed to be in. Now I must say that I thought that it was really premature for us to take this class, but what do I know right? This class was to prepare us to take the comp exams (the exam I have to pass to get my Master's). The comp exams this class was talking about was in November (I take mine in June), but all of us figured it was on our list classes for this semester so we need to sign up. This class's assignments include answering weekly discussion questions, filling out study guides for 7 conditions that make you eligible for special education services, and answering a timed question that is similar to a question you might see on the comp exam. Sounds not too bad right? Last week the discussion question was about IDEA and we don't learn about that until week 3 of this quarter. So all of us looked dumb there. Then each study guide took me an hour to complete. Then the timed question was on a condition that was barely touched on in the book. All of us were beyond stressed out because the class was a ton of work and we hadn't even learned the info for the class yet. It was the first time I thought that this is not worth it and I could just drop out of this program and continue OT. It's not worth this (and it turns out everyone else was thinking of quitting too.) So Monday on my way to class, I get a phone call from Kristina. She's all excited. All of us signed up for the wrong section and we spent hours (7 hours filling out study guides, 2 hours at a study group trying to answer the practice question, and who knows how long participating on the discussion) for nothing. We were pretty much idiots and signed up for something that we don't have to take in June if we don't want to, let alone now. Huge relief!

Then Tuesday I had my first distance learning chat for my class that coincides with my student teaching. It was very cold feeling. I am disturbed that someone that lives in Pismo is grading my lesson plans when she's never seen me or any of my students.

Then Wednesday morning I was supposed to meet my master teacher at Marshall HS at 11:00. She called me and left me a message at 10. I didn't get the message of course, so when I arrived at 10:45, she was in the nurses office. She tripped and fell on campus and sprained her ankle severely and was filling out an incidence report and workman's comp paperwork. She was leaving to go to the hospital for xrays. I was on my own that day. She had me cancel one of my students because the lesson that we were going to do I didn't know how to do by myself, but my other student I had to teach alone. So I walked down the street to get her car and parked it in front of the school because she couldn't walk well. So then I was on my own teaching a student 2 weeks ago I had never met and I had only taught twice before. It went alright I think. But what do I know? I've only been doing this 2 weeks.

Wednesday night was another distance chat for my intro to vision class. It's and hour long chat and people spent the first half hour wasting time by having their own conversations instead of chatting about the class. My O&M class were texting and calling each other and I was talking to my master teacher on the phone and calling the program director while chatting and texting classmates. Complete waste of my time. Especially since I developed a cold during the day on Wednesday and I felt like shit.

So it was decided that my master teacher is off work until at least Monday. The xray she had done was inconclusive. She may have a fracture. So for now I am on my own for the rest of the week. Today I taught 3 kids and tomorrow I teach someone I have never really taught (yippee!) and I think 2 other girls (I think). I'm not allowed to take anyone off campus so that is going to be a long boring day. Hopefully she doesn't have a fracture because then I'm ultimately screwed and be out a master teacher. You can't teach O&M on crutches, and following me around while I teach 1/2 of her caseload is going to be impossible. She's calling me on Sunday so I will keep the blog updated as I have time for developments in my adventures in student teaching.

Damn!

2007-09-27T22:51:00.000-05:00

You know what sucks...throwing away your Neuroanatomy and vision stuff from OT school and now wishing you hadn't of done that.

Back in LA

2007-09-23T20:15:00.001-05:00

Alan and I went to Fresno for a few days. I left here Wednesday feeling pretty good. By the time we got to Fresno, I could already feel my allergies plague me. By the end of the trip I thought I had a cold on top of all my allergies since I felt so miserable. Nope. I've been back in LA for 3 1/2 hours and other than a little tired from lack of sleep last night, I feel good. I haven't sneezed since we first got back and my head feels human except for the chapped nose from all the sneezing and blowing the last 4 days. Any hope people had that one day I might move back to Fresno, forget it. I'm not about to feel like that all the time again.

It was still a good weekend despite the allergy misery. We got to spend some quality time with Bryan, Sarah, Will, and Carrie that we really didn't get to do last weekend. Got to congratulate Matt on his acceptance into NOAA. Plus we got to see Aimee, Colleen, all the peeps at PG, John, Jeff, and Paige.

I worked at PG Thursday and Friday. That was really nice. I got to see people that I loved working with for so many years. I also made some quick dough (yay!).

It was a good way to end my 'summer vacation'.

I know this is way early...

2007-09-06T23:51:00.000-05:00

but if I don't say it now I'll forget. Watch Jeopardy! starting September 11. Our friend Rick is on!

Being a bumb

2007-09-06T10:35:00.000-05:00

Not working has it's perks, but not knowing the date or day of the week is a bit irritating. I didn't request to work because I was hoping to do some observations for one of my classes. So far no go for another week and a half. I'm gonna make some more calls today, but not holding my breath. So far this week I've done a mega size laundry trip, washed most of the camping stuff, exercised, grocery shopped, and tried to stay cool. Now that it is cooler I will probably be more productive. I plan on finishing the decorating that stopped when I got sick of moving in. I may go buy some curtains even and get rid of the sheets on all the windows. I may even find things on sale!

You know what sucks?

2007-08-31T12:46:00.000-05:00

Knowing your apartment is like this big, but you still can't find the Camelbak bladder.

MIA again

2007-08-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

So I've disappeared again. I've failed miserably with Aimee's 2 post a week quota. So we're back from Ohio. I finished my Intro to Special Ed class this afternoon. I got my blindfold class final back. So much better than I expected. I've got my classmate Kristina addicted to Harry Potter. She started book one about a month ago and she has been waiting for book 4 for over week. Alan and I are going camping this weekend at the Southfork campground near Devil's punchbowl. Not sure if there is bear boxes, so we aren't taking any thing that needs refrigerated. Really hard to hang a cooler. We're only taking a cooler to hold two 2-1/2 gallon jugs of water that we've frozen so we have cold water. I think it's going to be in the 90's this weekend. No fires this weekend. All the national forests here have no fires after August 1st because of the lack of rain over the last year. That sucks but what can you do?

Making the grade

2007-08-18T18:47:00.000-05:00

I haven't heard about my final yet, but I did get my first O&M assessment graded. My instructor wrote at the top of my paper:

Amanda,
Outstanding Report!!! Very well-written with excellent organization and tremendous detail relating to the content! I feel compelled to give an extra point for such great first assessment report! Credit = 6/5

Yay!

My weekend so far...

2007-08-18T17:19:00.001-05:00

Last night Alan and I went to dinner with Kristina, Jessica, and Amanda (amazing how many of us there are) at Messob, an Ethiopian restaurant. After gorging ourselves on beef, lamb, chicken, veges, and baklava, we headed to Jess and Amanda's for a game of Cranium. Fun times and Alan, Jess, and I won. Woohoo! I had to spell asparagus backwards. That sucked.

Today Alan and I went to the Kenneth Hahn city park and found the Olympic forest from the 1984 Olympics and the Japanese gardens then had a nice hike around the park. We ate lunch under a tree from some other country (no markers on the trees so we had no clue what was in the forest).

Now I'm going to shower and take a nap before we go to Alan's show tonight. Tomorrow is last minute errands and start packing for Ohio!

I'm bored

2007-08-16T22:58:00.000-05:00

I'm bored out of my mind tonight. Anyone wanna come to LA this weekend?

Really?

2007-08-10T01:55:00.001-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20179059/

Harry Potter

2007-08-10T01:37:00.001-05:00

So because school is so busy and chaotic most of the time, I refused to buy Harry Potter until my final was over. I went to Target the day before my final (Tuesday) to get it so I could start as soon as I recovered from the shock of the final. They were out!! So not happy. So after my final on Wednesday, I called our neighbor that had bought 2 copies to see if one of hers was available. I picked up the copy she gave me Wednesday night, however, was too exhausted to start. First thing this morning (around 8 AM) I started reading my awesome gift from Kate and finished it about 11:15 tonight. Oh my god! I expected it to be much more traumatic for me to read. Great book and fun read. Tomorrow my goal is to do the stuff I was supposed to do today....like take the truck in to get fixed. When will people stop smashing my truck anyway?

No...

2007-08-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

I did not feel the earthquake. I was sleeping. That is all.

Anyone interested for Labor Day???

2007-08-07T23:03:00.000-05:00

CAMPGROUND NAME: South Fork

STATE: California

REGION: Pacific Southwest

RANGER DISTRICT: Santa Clara/Mojave Rivers

NEAREST CITY/TOWN: Wrightwood

RESERVATIONS: No

DIRECTIONS:From Wrightwood, CA, take State Rt. 2 west 2.4 miles toPalmdale/Jackson Lake sign (County Rt. N4/Pines Hwy). Turn rightonto Rt. N4 and go 11.5 miles to Sycamore Flats sign (Forest Rt.4N11). Turn left onto Rt. 4N11 and go 2.3 miles to campgroundsign (Forest Rt. 4N11A). Turn right at sign onto Rt. 4N11A(dirt) and go 0.9 miles to campground.

GENERAL COMMENTS:The elevation is 4,800 ft.This is a desert campground with junipers, sagebrush, and othershrubs and surrounded by mountains. The seasonal South Fork ofBig Rock Creek runs by the campground. The campground has arustic, semi-wilderness feel and is a base camp for hikers. Privacy is fair to good.Note: To use a camp stove in campground during "fire season," you will need a California Campfire Permit available at the Ranger District Office.

SEASONS
Open Seasonal: Yes
Open All Year: No
Seasonal Comment:Open May 15 through November 1

RATE AND MAXIMUM STAY PERMITTED
Rate: No charge, BUT an Adventure Pass is required. The Pass is$5 per day or $30 annually. Contact the Ranger District Officefor purchase information.

Maximum Stay Permitted (days): 14

CAMPGROUND SITE CONFIGURATION
No. RV Sites: 0
No. Tent Sites: 0
No. Combined Sites (Tent or RV): 21
Total Sites: 21
Tent Pads: No
Group Tent Sites: Yes
Open Sites: Yes
Wooded Sites: No
No. Tables on Sites: 21
No. Grilles on Sites: 20

RV INFORMATION
Hookups: None
Group RV Sites: No
No. RV Pull Throughs: 0
Waste Station: No
Average Parking Apron Size: 12' X 35'
Comments:The parking aprons are dirt and although there are smallvariations, most are same size.

FACILITIES
Vaults: Yes
Flush Toilets: No
Hot Showers: No
Wheelchair Friendly Toilets: No
Public Phone: No
Playground: No
No. Water Spigots (non-site): 0
Comments:Potable water can be obtained from Sycamore Flat campground(Forest Service).

WATER SPORTS - None

HIKING
Manzanita Trail
South Fork Trail
Punch Bowl Trail

FISHING - No

Alan bought a camcorder...

2007-08-06T23:30:00.001-05:00

'Our first video' has been made. Ugh.

2007-08-06T23:29:00.001-05:00

What a day!!!

2007-07-31T21:05:00.000-05:00

Today was just messed up. I left for school in Santa Monica at 8:10 for a 35 minute commute. After 25 minutes I had only gone a mile or 2. Then as I was stopped at a light, and just getting ready to call my instructor to tell her I was going to be late, I was rear ended. The lady hit me kind of hard and jolted me. Pulled over onto a side street, no damage. Exchanged phone numbers just in case. Called my instructor. Then my back felt funny. Grabbed the ice pack from my lunch bag and drove with it on my back. Got to school. Walked around for a couple hours. My back got tighter and tighter. Left Santa Monica to travel to campus and decided to stop at home to get Darvocet. Halfway home, a semi tried to get in my lane with me in the way. Lay on horn and slam on breaks praying that no one is behind me. Escape. Almost home I get a phone call. Jessica from school is crying. She was sandwiched on the 405 on her way to campus from Santa Monica. She's fine. The front end is ok, but the rear end needs a lot of work. None the less she missed an important class. My back is sore but ok I think. Just gonna stay on top of the meds. No insurance right now (in application process waiting for approval). Can it get worse?

Am I done yet??

2007-07-24T21:38:00.000-05:00

I'm tired today. Despite getting to sleep in almost an extra hour and only spending 2 hours in the sun rather than 7 or 8, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I can't concentrate to study and I feel like if I try I will just fall asleep. But I have to find a way to will myself. There are a couple articles that I have to read by tomorrow. Tomorrow we may begin bus travel. Next week we will be traveling blind folded in downtown LA. We will be taking buses and metro trains blindfolded. I already can't wait to come home and shower. Enough procrastinating. If I get this stuff done now, I get to go to bed early.

BTW...

2007-07-22T22:42:00.000-05:00

WE SOLD THE CAR! HIP-HIP HOORAY!!! YAH-HOO!!!

Our day

2007-07-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

Today Alan and I scrapped the hiking idea to go to the Griffith Observatory. It was pretty cool. No pics though. We forgot the camara. We were distracted by a call to buy the car. The building is beautiful. We weren't able to stay as long as we liked because Alan thought he had class, but we plan to go back. On the bus ride to and from the observatory we scoped out a site to go hiking tomorrow. After getting back to Hollywood we ran errands. I have shoes for Carrie and Jason's wedding now. Hopefully I'll get that altered this week. That's pretty much it. Just been studying and occasionally watching Alan do improv. He's out trying to make a deal with a guy right now. Keep your fingers crossed that we can get rid of the nightmare of a car.

Cedar Point

2007-07-20T17:50:00.000-05:00

Anyone that will be in Ohio the same time I will be (August 21-29) is invited to go to Cedar Point. I'd like to take Alan. I can order a 4-pack of tickets online for $130 (saves almost $10 a ticket) unless someone can save us a Pepsi can or something. Just hit me up if you or someone you know is interested.

Reflective

2007-07-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

I was inputting an observation appointment for next week in my phone, and saw I had something in my calendar for Friday. I looked it up and realized I was supposed to go for a long weekend backpacking this weekend. I had decided weeks ago that it isn't feasible to go, and after a period of grieving over that decision, I pushed it out of my mind. But there it was, reminding me that I'm missing out on something I love. It made me jealous that Team Nayked will go backpacking or camping without me. I love the upper Sierras and miss them terribly. I miss waterfalls. I miss bright blue sky, crystal clear water, and the majesty of the mountains. I miss the peacefulness and beauty. It'll probably be a long time before I enjoy them again. I love school and the challenges that come with it, but I miss the mountains. I also know I may never live near the mountains again. All I have to look forward to are a few short trips every once in a blue moon. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to my new experiences in the city and with Alan, but letting go of what was a big part of my life is hard. My life is evolving into a new chapter full of different kinds of adventures. So now I'm going to work on my study guide for my exam tomorrow night, and forget about the mountains.

Yippee!!!

2007-07-17T20:44:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Staci and Adam on the arrival of Madisyn Marie today at 1:09 PM PST. She's a healthy 8 lbs and 21 inches. It was an easy delivery without much work. Can't wait to meet her next month!

The baby's a comin'!!!

2007-07-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

Staci is being induced tomorrow morning at 6 AM her time. I forget if that is 3 or 4 AM here. Baby Maddie should be making her way into world sometime tomorrow!

My alum is awesome!!!

2007-07-16T18:39:00.000-05:00

YPSILANTI, Michigan (AP) -- The president of Eastern Michigan University was fired months after top university officials were accused of covering up the rape and slaying of a student by publicly ruling out foul play.

John Fallon, shown in a 2005 photo, was dismissed as president of Eastern Michigan University on Sunday.

The president, John Fallon, confirmed that he was fired Sunday evening by a unanimous vote of the Board of Regents, The Ann Arbor News reported in its Monday editions. Board secretary Jackie Kurtz on Monday confirmed the firing to The Associated Press.

Fallon told the newspaper that his termination letter was delivered Sunday night and did not state a reason for his firing. The letter said the board had voted unanimously to terminate his employment contract effective Sunday -- two years after his five-year contract took effect.
"As a citizen, I am disappointed in this hastily called meeting, without any opportunity to be present or to respond," Fallon told the newspaper. "I have a story to tell and intend to tell it."
University spokeswoman Pamela Young said she couldn't discuss Fallon until after a board meeting planned for Monday afternoon.

The president's dismissal follows an independent law firm investigation and U.S. Department of Education report, both of which found that the 23,500-student public university violated the federal Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to disclose campus security information.

The body of the slain student, Laura Dickinson, 22, was discovered December 15 in her dorm room. At the time, university officials told her parents and the media that she died of asphyxiation but that there was no sign of foul play, despite evidence to the contrary.

It wasn't until another Eastern student was arrested in late February and charged with murder that her family and fellow students learned she had been raped and killed.

The accused student, Orange Taylor III, of Southfield, has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal sexual conduct charges in Dickinson's death. He is scheduled for trial October 15.
Many in the university's administration were accused of covering up the truth and endangering students to protect the school's image, which has been marred in recent years by tensions with faculty, students and the community.

The board was expected to meet later Monday to discuss the case. Still undetermined was the status of Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Vick and Public Safety Director Cindy Hall.
Howard Bunsis, president of the faculty union, said Monday that everyone involved in covering up information about Dickinson's slaying should no longer be working for the university.
"It's now time for the university to move forward," Bunsis said. "When I say move forward, I mean put a total focus on what happens in the classroom between students and faculty. We've had a difficult time."

Fallon's secretary did not know Monday morning how Fallon could be reached for further comment. Fallon told the Ann Arbor News that the termination letter indicated his office had been secured and arrangements would be made for him to retrieve his personal items.
Messages left by The AP at a telephone listing for the official president's residence at Eastern Michigan and by e-mail were not immediately returned.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

2007-07-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

Bryan and Sarah are coming to town today, the Jamros's tomorrow, and maybe gonna see Pat! Yay!!

Holy smoke Batman!

2007-07-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

I hear it's gonna be 111 in Fresno today!

Look what I did in school today!

2007-07-02T20:05:00.001-05:00

0702071759.jpg, originally uploaded by amandaot.

Today we learned about orientation aids. This is a tactile map. The orange represents city blocks, the black area wih the dotted line and cars is a road, and the ladder looking this with the train is railroad tracks. This is all a raised surface for a person with blindness or low vision can use to 'see' how a neighborhood is arranged. Not the best one in the world, but it's a start.

Also today, we started residential travel. We learned how to travel up and down a sidewalk without going in the grass and identifying when you are at the end of a sidewalk. Tomorrow we learn how to walk around the block. We may introduce street crossing. Yikes!

Randomness

2007-06-22T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today is Friday. My 'day off' school. I got up a little before 8 when I got a text message from my cousin Hillary. I don't think she realized how early it was here. I played online for a little while to wake up, then exercised to work off some stress. After a really warm shower, I sat down to study around 11. It's now 8:00 PM and I have probably studied over 6 hours today. I'm finding that I'm taking more and more breaks this evening than I did earlier today. I have to get a little ahead to be able to enjoy going to Fresno next weekend. I have to work tomorrow, and I promised Alan we would have some kind of fun on Sunday since I am not working. The goal is to put down the books tonight and not pick them up again until Sunday evening.

In other news, any one that has taken the CBEST, hit me up. I'll chat with Carrie next week, but I need some input. I have to take it in August. Haven't taken a standardized test in 10 or 11 years.

Chatted with Sarah over email and texts today. That was a nice break to the day. I miss Team Nayked in between all the craziness. How is everyone doing out there in Fresno anyway???

School update

2007-06-22T01:26:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted much since school started, because frankly, I've been busy. Here's a little info about my classmates. There are 5 of us total. I appear to be the old one of the group. There is David from Columbus, OH. He has lived in CA for about 5 years, and recently came back from working in Hawaii for 7 months. He has an undergrad degree is some form of education. Katie is from San Diego. She has a degree in English and Asian studies. Jess is from Pennsylvania. She is a Penn St grad in education. She moved to LA about 7 months ago. Kristina is from New York. She has been living in Colorado near Wyoming until about 1 1/2 months ago. He fiancee just got out of the Air Force and moved with her. She also has a degree in education. I enjoy my classmates. They are smart and quick-witted. I have a good time with them. I think all of us a overwhelmed with the workload, and I know at least most of us, have a hard time organizing our load. There is a ton of knowledge to learn in a short amount of time, and a lot of paperwork. All of us eagerly await our refund checks and stipends.

Since the first day, we have learned how to guide someone up and down stairs (with and without a railing). We took our human guide techniques outside and tooled around campus. We tried elevators, stairs of different heights and lengths, crowded cafeterias, the library, the bookstore, and lecture halls. We also learned how to trail a wall with no device using upper and lower body protective techniques. We used constant and selective trailing. I say there is nothing harder than trying to stay oriented to where you are in a hallway with no device and no vision. I, and a couple others, got disoriented and lost. We also started to learn how to write a route and describe it to a person with no or low vision. We were introduced to white canes yesterday. We learned how to teach someone to carry a cane not in use, the 3 grasps, diagonal technique, constant trailing with a cane and selective trailing with the cane. I have no idea if that is all I learned. That is all I remember.

Our lectures are a mix of review for me and new knowledge. We learned about optical devices today. Next week is diabetes. There is just so much reading, that I am not sure I am absorbing it. For the most part, it hasn't been too dry. Today's reading makes me want to stab my eyes out, but that has been the only one thus far. Tomorrow I have to make phone calls to set up observations on my 'free time'. I need 20 hours in 2 quarters with 7 of them being before the end of the sememster. I'm hoping to get a good chunk done soon. We'll see. That's all for now. It is late and I am tired.

First Day of School

2007-06-18T22:41:00.000-05:00

So. I went to school today. I only made one wrong turn getting to school. I got on the 101 instead of the 10 where the 101, 5, 10, and 110 all smash together near downtown. Oops! No biggie. I left at 6:45 AM for my 8:00 class. Even with my detour, I got to campus at 7:15. What did I do for 45 minutes!?!?! I walked all over the daily park lot looking for a ticket dispenser that worked. One in the whole lot. Pretty crappy. Then I walked around campus because I couldn't remember where the building was. So I got there at 7:15 to show up at class at 7:50.

Today I signed my life away to get grant funds for school. Then I paid my tuition and got my student ID. After lunch of California rolls, we started learning something. Today I started learning Human Guide Techniques. I learned how to lead a blind individual through open spaces, close spaces, and crowded rooms. I also learned how to make basic and about face turns. I learned how to take a person through 4 kinds of doors: open away and to the left, away and to the right, open toward and to the left, and toward and to the right. I also learned how to cue someone to switch sides during guiding in different circumstances. We learned how to navigate elevators also. That was less than 3 hours of training. Tomorrow we learn stairs and begin leaving the building. Apparently, one of our practicums will require that I am blindfolded and then I am driven to a location (still blindfolded). Then I will have to navigate myself back to a designated location (still blindfolded). For anyone that knows me, if I survive that, my instructors deserve an award. I can't find my way around with vision. Yay!

All in all it was a good day. I came home, did my reading, and bought plane tickets. I didn't find myself overwhelmed today, however, it's my first day. We'll see how I feel next week.

Did ya see....

2007-06-14T21:31:00.001-05:00

how many days until school starts? YIKES!!!