He who would search for pearls must dive below.
John Dryden
This is turning into the misadventures of Molly Mud - or some equally horrific account of my ridiculous attempts at - well, whatever. Currently it is all about diving.
I did not drown the beautiful girl in the "buddy breathing and ascent" drill today. This is an improvement over the last attempt, and since this time we were in real water, about 20 feet down, it is definitely a bonus. However, I brought her up so fast that if we had been deeper or down longer, we probably would have gotten bent. She, of course saved me in the classic textbook way. She started her descent at least once without putting her regulator (breathing doo hickey) into her mouth - oops, snorkels do not work underwater, which I proved when I tried to use my snorkel after giving her my regulator in the buddy breathing thing. Seriously, if I am the responsible party, one of us will drown. (not really, Mom, we are getting it)
I did not cramp up. Yay! I managed to control most of the painful parts of pressure equalization, but am still very stuffy and can barely hear out of one ear.
The biggest problem I have is control of my body in the water. I have always prided myself on my good balance. Even flabby and out of shape, I have great core strength and excellent balance. Except for some reason I have no control over my body in the water. Everyone else comes down straight, feet toward the bottom, head toward the surface. And they come up the same way. Not me. Sideways, sitting, twisted, flopping every which direction. I look like those movies of astronauts floating in space, except that I am more flailing than floating. A fish out of water looks positively graceful compared to me.
Some really cool stuff. We were diving at Weeki Wachee, and one of the Mermaids was training, right off the same platform we were learning on. I got to swim with a mermaid! Sort of - she was rather busy, and so were we. Random question - do mermaids pee in their tails? the water is very chilly, just sayin.' There was a very pretty little fish that was quite fascinated by our instructor. Not annoying like a mosquito, but you could totally start slapping at it after awhile. Best part? Watching the girl child play with the bubbles. She was trying to juggle them. I managed to catch one, and let it go, but she was passing them from hand to hand. It made me laugh - which always loosens the seal on my mask and makes me practice clearing - you know, so I don't drown. Guilty secret? Burping into your regulator is hilarious.
We still have our tanks - I'd like to borrow some pool time before we have to bring them back tomorrow. Next adventure is on the 11th. Then we will be official. Go us!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Under The Sea
We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
About 5 years ago I was visiting a friend in the keys when the girl child decided she wanted to go snorkeling. ACKKKKK I had been snorkeling, when I was very young, out at Looe Key, it was beautiful, and amazing, and I went into full panic mode everytime I got water in the snorkel. I'm sure my newly minted husband was already having second thoughts. Flash forward to the beautiful blue-eyed blonde, pleading with me, and telling me how easy it is - she does it with her Dad all the time.
I am not a momma that likes to deny my child new experiences, and I certainly don't want her to grow up tainted by my fears, so, I agreed. The darling man got me a cool "dry snorkel" we found a pretty little glass-flat, bath temperature, waist deep inlet and waded in. The girl says "see mommy?" stuck her face in the water and took off. Me? Gingerly put my face in (bent at the waist) and, yes, the snorkel did its job. With great trepidation I picked up my feet and started flailing like a mad women. At this point the Darling Husband convinced me to relax and quit stirring up the water. And guess what? I float! 15 years and 40 pounds after the previous attempt, my body composition is perfect for water sports. And it was on! a couple of snorkel trips to the keys a year, mask in the water at local beach days - go me.
I have to mention that I am probably world's laziest snorkeler. I often lay on a boogie board with my mask in the water while Fish Child pulls me around. And I don't get my face wet, or go under the water. So - time for the next step. SCUBA. It is a logical step. Photo girl is old enough, wants to beef up her underwater skills, loves the water. We live in Florida, for goodness sake! Plus, instead of whining because I miss my mountains, you would think after 20 some odd years I'd take a look see at the natural beauty offered by my immediate surroundings. The problem is that "beautiful Florida" is mostly underwater.
I am NOT afraid of the water. I just go into full freaky panic mode when my face gets wet. Logic, reasoning, knowledge that I am safe, all go AWOL the second water gets in my mask. I am blind, and I cannot breathe. Really. I don't get my face wet in the shower. I kind of thought SCUBA would be a cinch - I was significantly more worried about financial hurdles than mental ones. Besides, I'm not about to let my 14-year old 50ft under the surface without me. I bought all the gear, hoping my fear of wasting money is stronger than my fear of water.
No one told me that we would practice clearing the mask UNDER water. Or that I would have to tread water for 10 minutes (I never learned how - useless skill for someone that does not get wet). The first day in the pool was AWFUL, H-E- double hockey sticks, AWFUL. Every time I opened my mouth to put the regulator back in, my mask fills with water. Instant panic. Yes - I have air, Yes - I can breathe. But there is water in my nose and I can't see - I am blind I tell you, BLIND. I would be very hard to rescue - they will have to knock me out so I don't drown everyone.
Jeff - amazing instructor guy at Mac Sport is very patient and very firm. The second day was all about "you are OK, you can do this. Do it again. and Again. Do it one more time. OK, do it again," etc, etc. And did it, I did. Yay me!
Then it was fun! My nutball daughter even convinced me to do head stands with her at the bottom of the pool - and forgave me for letting her drown in buddy breathing scenarios when my legs cramped up just when we reached the surface. She saved me, of course. She's the calm one.
The girl child is amazing - and very proud of her mommy. We waited until she was older, because I knew that I could not be depended on to be calm in an underwater scenario, and she definitely is stepping up. We still have a pool class, and a couple of open water dives. My next challenge is properly clearing the ears, and learning how to maintain neutral buoyancy - We had tons of fun on the bottom of the pool, but I still can't hear 2 days later, and that big pile of money on the floor is not going to go away just because I go deaf when I dive.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
About 5 years ago I was visiting a friend in the keys when the girl child decided she wanted to go snorkeling. ACKKKKK I had been snorkeling, when I was very young, out at Looe Key, it was beautiful, and amazing, and I went into full panic mode everytime I got water in the snorkel. I'm sure my newly minted husband was already having second thoughts. Flash forward to the beautiful blue-eyed blonde, pleading with me, and telling me how easy it is - she does it with her Dad all the time.
I am not a momma that likes to deny my child new experiences, and I certainly don't want her to grow up tainted by my fears, so, I agreed. The darling man got me a cool "dry snorkel" we found a pretty little glass-flat, bath temperature, waist deep inlet and waded in. The girl says "see mommy?" stuck her face in the water and took off. Me? Gingerly put my face in (bent at the waist) and, yes, the snorkel did its job. With great trepidation I picked up my feet and started flailing like a mad women. At this point the Darling Husband convinced me to relax and quit stirring up the water. And guess what? I float! 15 years and 40 pounds after the previous attempt, my body composition is perfect for water sports. And it was on! a couple of snorkel trips to the keys a year, mask in the water at local beach days - go me.
I have to mention that I am probably world's laziest snorkeler. I often lay on a boogie board with my mask in the water while Fish Child pulls me around. And I don't get my face wet, or go under the water. So - time for the next step. SCUBA. It is a logical step. Photo girl is old enough, wants to beef up her underwater skills, loves the water. We live in Florida, for goodness sake! Plus, instead of whining because I miss my mountains, you would think after 20 some odd years I'd take a look see at the natural beauty offered by my immediate surroundings. The problem is that "beautiful Florida" is mostly underwater.
I am NOT afraid of the water. I just go into full freaky panic mode when my face gets wet. Logic, reasoning, knowledge that I am safe, all go AWOL the second water gets in my mask. I am blind, and I cannot breathe. Really. I don't get my face wet in the shower. I kind of thought SCUBA would be a cinch - I was significantly more worried about financial hurdles than mental ones. Besides, I'm not about to let my 14-year old 50ft under the surface without me. I bought all the gear, hoping my fear of wasting money is stronger than my fear of water.
No one told me that we would practice clearing the mask UNDER water. Or that I would have to tread water for 10 minutes (I never learned how - useless skill for someone that does not get wet). The first day in the pool was AWFUL, H-E- double hockey sticks, AWFUL. Every time I opened my mouth to put the regulator back in, my mask fills with water. Instant panic. Yes - I have air, Yes - I can breathe. But there is water in my nose and I can't see - I am blind I tell you, BLIND. I would be very hard to rescue - they will have to knock me out so I don't drown everyone.
Jeff - amazing instructor guy at Mac Sport is very patient and very firm. The second day was all about "you are OK, you can do this. Do it again. and Again. Do it one more time. OK, do it again," etc, etc. And did it, I did. Yay me!
Then it was fun! My nutball daughter even convinced me to do head stands with her at the bottom of the pool - and forgave me for letting her drown in buddy breathing scenarios when my legs cramped up just when we reached the surface. She saved me, of course. She's the calm one.
The girl child is amazing - and very proud of her mommy. We waited until she was older, because I knew that I could not be depended on to be calm in an underwater scenario, and she definitely is stepping up. We still have a pool class, and a couple of open water dives. My next challenge is properly clearing the ears, and learning how to maintain neutral buoyancy - We had tons of fun on the bottom of the pool, but I still can't hear 2 days later, and that big pile of money on the floor is not going to go away just because I go deaf when I dive.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Mediocracy
I have noticed a trend toward the mediocre. This is not new, but lately it is really starting to annoy me. Maybe because it seems that the bar has been lowered, and what I consider to be sub-standard, not even passable, is viewed by the world at large as mediocre.
I consider myself to be a mediocre Home Health Physical Therapist. I know what it is like to be REALLY good at something. I understand the passion and drive for continual improvement, the attitude that if I don't have an answer, I will find it - because I want to know everything I can about a subject. I understand the desire to be the BEST, or at least the BEST I CAN BE. I don't have that with home health. Frankly - I show up at my patient's house, assess where they are at that given moment, what we need to do to steer them toward one or more of the goals we laid out in the eval, work with them: educating, pushing, cheering them towards that goal, document the day's work, and walk out. The skills I use are the ones I learned in PT school. Not the hours of continuing ed and research I have worked at in the past 17 years. When I take continuing ed now, it is how to document, or how to keep up with Medicare guidelines, not anything to do with improving my skills as a therapist. Sadly - this is interpreted by patients, employers and peers as "good" physical therapy. And it is not "bad," I am way too ethical to spend my time and Medicare money not providing reasonable and necessary care. I just know, for me, this is as lazy as I get. My job requires a strong back and a license. Any physical therapist can do what I do, but apparently many do not. It appears that if you are friendly, the patients will like you, if you get them to move at all, they will improve, or at least not decline, and patients (and families) do not have a point of reference for interpreting whether the care they get is quality or not.
It is not just PT, or medicine, for that matter. Everywhere I look, I see people going through the motions of their day, without really putting any thought into what they are doing, or if it is producing the desired effect - sometimes I wonder if people remember what their goals are with each activity. But as patients, or consumers in any industry, we remember the goals. We have a vested interest in the outcomes, much more than the professionals providing the service. So how to make sure that the care we receive is quality? That the goals being addressed are specific to our needs? That the care is really focused on the goal?
ASK QUESTIONS !
The provider may get a little annoyed - he/she will probably feel like they are being personally questioned, which they are. But if they thinking about the process, and answer will be available, and if they are not thinking about the process, you may jump start a dormant part of their brain that will improve the quality of service. As a caretaker, hang out during the session, observe (don't interfere) and prepare specific questions and observations for discussing with the provider after each session. Is the therapist doing the same exercises over and over each session? Are they the same exercises your mom does as a home program? If you can do them with her, or if she can do them on her own - do we need to use valuable treatment time doing them again?
This principal of observation and discussion can be applied in almost any scenario, PT is just the one I know.
So there is my rant - demand Mediocrity - it will be such an improvement over the norm.
I consider myself to be a mediocre Home Health Physical Therapist. I know what it is like to be REALLY good at something. I understand the passion and drive for continual improvement, the attitude that if I don't have an answer, I will find it - because I want to know everything I can about a subject. I understand the desire to be the BEST, or at least the BEST I CAN BE. I don't have that with home health. Frankly - I show up at my patient's house, assess where they are at that given moment, what we need to do to steer them toward one or more of the goals we laid out in the eval, work with them: educating, pushing, cheering them towards that goal, document the day's work, and walk out. The skills I use are the ones I learned in PT school. Not the hours of continuing ed and research I have worked at in the past 17 years. When I take continuing ed now, it is how to document, or how to keep up with Medicare guidelines, not anything to do with improving my skills as a therapist. Sadly - this is interpreted by patients, employers and peers as "good" physical therapy. And it is not "bad," I am way too ethical to spend my time and Medicare money not providing reasonable and necessary care. I just know, for me, this is as lazy as I get. My job requires a strong back and a license. Any physical therapist can do what I do, but apparently many do not. It appears that if you are friendly, the patients will like you, if you get them to move at all, they will improve, or at least not decline, and patients (and families) do not have a point of reference for interpreting whether the care they get is quality or not.
It is not just PT, or medicine, for that matter. Everywhere I look, I see people going through the motions of their day, without really putting any thought into what they are doing, or if it is producing the desired effect - sometimes I wonder if people remember what their goals are with each activity. But as patients, or consumers in any industry, we remember the goals. We have a vested interest in the outcomes, much more than the professionals providing the service. So how to make sure that the care we receive is quality? That the goals being addressed are specific to our needs? That the care is really focused on the goal?
ASK QUESTIONS !
The provider may get a little annoyed - he/she will probably feel like they are being personally questioned, which they are. But if they thinking about the process, and answer will be available, and if they are not thinking about the process, you may jump start a dormant part of their brain that will improve the quality of service. As a caretaker, hang out during the session, observe (don't interfere) and prepare specific questions and observations for discussing with the provider after each session. Is the therapist doing the same exercises over and over each session? Are they the same exercises your mom does as a home program? If you can do them with her, or if she can do them on her own - do we need to use valuable treatment time doing them again?
This principal of observation and discussion can be applied in almost any scenario, PT is just the one I know.
So there is my rant - demand Mediocrity - it will be such an improvement over the norm.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Way Back
I refuse to start each blog entry with an apology about not writing often. Except that I am sort of apologizing. It has been so long that BlogSpot changed the format to the point that I cannot figure out how to make the font bigger. So I am writing words that I can barely see. And NOT whining about getting old. NOT.
Currently, summer has invaded the household. I was so anticipating this. Visions of lazy summer days with the fam. Going to work without the usual mad craziness of getting the girl out the door to school, yelling about chores and remembering lunches and gym stuff. Summer is historically slow at work, so I thought I could swing by the house and take her to practice, pick her back up, hang out supervising the teenish activities. Relax. Maybe have some FUN?
Instead, I am actively working with patients from 5 of my 7 jobs, because everyone is on vacation. Trying to muscle through the Lymphedema course work, getting the girl and I through 4 chapters of the dive manual before we go on vacation, as we have had to bump our first class up a month. Dealing with the fact that my mainstay job has let me know (gently) that if my handwriting does not become more legible, they will no longer be able to use me. So now I am applying to home health companies that use electronic documentation, because I can only write legibly if I keep my caseload down to 3 patients a day.
I did start working out, on a nearly daily basis. That is a good thing. And, I am making progress toward my New Year's Resolution, which is simply "to drink more wine."
The girl leaves for Oregon next week, and I follow her the week after. She has a 5 day gym camp at OSU (go Beavs!). I may actually get to spend a little relaxy time - out doors. YAY! The Hubby is off to his guitar camp at the end of July. One of the classes he is taking is on song-writing, and he has been working on it a little on his own. I'm liking some of his stuff. He sings funny folk songs, and now he is starting to write them - a new chapter in his creative life - very cool.
Currently, summer has invaded the household. I was so anticipating this. Visions of lazy summer days with the fam. Going to work without the usual mad craziness of getting the girl out the door to school, yelling about chores and remembering lunches and gym stuff. Summer is historically slow at work, so I thought I could swing by the house and take her to practice, pick her back up, hang out supervising the teenish activities. Relax. Maybe have some FUN?
Instead, I am actively working with patients from 5 of my 7 jobs, because everyone is on vacation. Trying to muscle through the Lymphedema course work, getting the girl and I through 4 chapters of the dive manual before we go on vacation, as we have had to bump our first class up a month. Dealing with the fact that my mainstay job has let me know (gently) that if my handwriting does not become more legible, they will no longer be able to use me. So now I am applying to home health companies that use electronic documentation, because I can only write legibly if I keep my caseload down to 3 patients a day.
I did start working out, on a nearly daily basis. That is a good thing. And, I am making progress toward my New Year's Resolution, which is simply "to drink more wine."
The girl leaves for Oregon next week, and I follow her the week after. She has a 5 day gym camp at OSU (go Beavs!). I may actually get to spend a little relaxy time - out doors. YAY! The Hubby is off to his guitar camp at the end of July. One of the classes he is taking is on song-writing, and he has been working on it a little on his own. I'm liking some of his stuff. He sings funny folk songs, and now he is starting to write them - a new chapter in his creative life - very cool.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Balancing Act
I have not written in a long time. The Wild Child is busy, full time gym girl mode, full time student mode, part time photo girl mode. Lots going on.
Then there is the ever present, slight feeling of impending doom as weird chaos infests the country, dismantling the framework of the democracy I know and love. The economy is in the crapper. Badly needed social programs are disappearing, basic rights of assembly and collective bargaining are being villanized and disbanded. Teachers, police and firefighters - the heroes of our society, are laid off, stripped of pensions, slapped down. Corporations are posting record breaking profits while unemployment continues to grow and tax breaks are aimed at the wealthy. Environmental politics are a disaster, The world is amok, and we are no longer the sterling bastion of democratic morality and righteousness our world once new.
I have a solution. At least to the economic part of the equation. It is one of those, "greater good," Utilitarian concepts. I realize that no one is going to go for this, regardless of your political affiliation.
This came out of conversation with my infinitely wise teen-age daughter. She suggested that we should adopt the Chinese philosophy of "1 child." A good idea, which I quickly pointed out would be against the concepts of freedom of action our great country was founded on. You can't go around dictating how many kids a family wants, even if that family can't afford to pay for the upkeep. Hell - the way it is heading, we can't use government funds to educate people about pregnancy prevention (or !horrors! termination), even if the burden of that child will be placed on the government. Population control, as a means for environmental responsibility, fiscal responsibility, social responsibility, well, that's a little like asking people to take personal responsibility for their actions.
My solution? a clause in taxation that would add huge amounts of money immediately into the federal budget, level the playing field for all citizens (OK, not level, but take some of the responsibility of an individual's choice off the back of the government).
Eliminate the deductions and tax credits for kids.
OMG - she did NOT just say that. To be fair, I milk my little tax break for everything I can, this was a huge negotiating point during the support settlement with her dad. She has bailed me out of deep financial holes more than once. Families depend on those deductions and credits. But why? Why do we give a deduction for something that increases cost to the government? More people means a larger need for police, fire fighters, teachers. The bigger the population, the larger the strain on all programs. Families may consider not having a kid, if each child was viewed as an expense; not a deduction. The next logical step would be to actually tax families more for having kids, but I'm already outside the realm of realistic.
I am all for a flat tax, fair to everybody, no deductions. How much did you make? give x% to the government. Don't really care how much you spent on interest for your 3 million dollar home, or how big of a "loss" your business took. When I had a business, I paid myself a salary, and taxes were taken out regularly, just like all of my employees. My business only once showed an actual profit. I was able, routinely, to deduct enough of the business expenses to get more than 50% of the taxes I paid back. Of course, I was delighted, but really? It makes me wonder how much people with BIG businesses are NOT paying, and how much of those costs are getting thrown back to the working Joe. If the money was just taken out of your paycheck, and that was the end of it, no squirreling around at the end trying to get some back, or "oops - I shouldn't have claimed all of those kids, now I have to pay more," just a straight - if it comes home, then the government gets some, and everyone pays the same percent, wouldn't that be nice?
I would be OK with maintaining the tiered tax brackets, the "make more, pay more" concept. (How Socialist of me) But frankly, minimum wage jobs cannot keep a family afloat, and I really wouldn't mind paying a couple of percentage points more in taxes than people hovering at or below the poverty line.
If they let me run the government, everyone would hate me, even the ones on my own team, because nothing that will work is going to make anyone happy. Compromise is hard and "win/win" is sometimes not feasible. Maybe we could be happy with "lose less."
Then there is the ever present, slight feeling of impending doom as weird chaos infests the country, dismantling the framework of the democracy I know and love. The economy is in the crapper. Badly needed social programs are disappearing, basic rights of assembly and collective bargaining are being villanized and disbanded. Teachers, police and firefighters - the heroes of our society, are laid off, stripped of pensions, slapped down. Corporations are posting record breaking profits while unemployment continues to grow and tax breaks are aimed at the wealthy. Environmental politics are a disaster, The world is amok, and we are no longer the sterling bastion of democratic morality and righteousness our world once new.
I have a solution. At least to the economic part of the equation. It is one of those, "greater good," Utilitarian concepts. I realize that no one is going to go for this, regardless of your political affiliation.
This came out of conversation with my infinitely wise teen-age daughter. She suggested that we should adopt the Chinese philosophy of "1 child." A good idea, which I quickly pointed out would be against the concepts of freedom of action our great country was founded on. You can't go around dictating how many kids a family wants, even if that family can't afford to pay for the upkeep. Hell - the way it is heading, we can't use government funds to educate people about pregnancy prevention (or !horrors! termination), even if the burden of that child will be placed on the government. Population control, as a means for environmental responsibility, fiscal responsibility, social responsibility, well, that's a little like asking people to take personal responsibility for their actions.
My solution? a clause in taxation that would add huge amounts of money immediately into the federal budget, level the playing field for all citizens (OK, not level, but take some of the responsibility of an individual's choice off the back of the government).
Eliminate the deductions and tax credits for kids.
OMG - she did NOT just say that. To be fair, I milk my little tax break for everything I can, this was a huge negotiating point during the support settlement with her dad. She has bailed me out of deep financial holes more than once. Families depend on those deductions and credits. But why? Why do we give a deduction for something that increases cost to the government? More people means a larger need for police, fire fighters, teachers. The bigger the population, the larger the strain on all programs. Families may consider not having a kid, if each child was viewed as an expense; not a deduction. The next logical step would be to actually tax families more for having kids, but I'm already outside the realm of realistic.
I am all for a flat tax, fair to everybody, no deductions. How much did you make? give x% to the government. Don't really care how much you spent on interest for your 3 million dollar home, or how big of a "loss" your business took. When I had a business, I paid myself a salary, and taxes were taken out regularly, just like all of my employees. My business only once showed an actual profit. I was able, routinely, to deduct enough of the business expenses to get more than 50% of the taxes I paid back. Of course, I was delighted, but really? It makes me wonder how much people with BIG businesses are NOT paying, and how much of those costs are getting thrown back to the working Joe. If the money was just taken out of your paycheck, and that was the end of it, no squirreling around at the end trying to get some back, or "oops - I shouldn't have claimed all of those kids, now I have to pay more," just a straight - if it comes home, then the government gets some, and everyone pays the same percent, wouldn't that be nice?
I would be OK with maintaining the tiered tax brackets, the "make more, pay more" concept. (How Socialist of me) But frankly, minimum wage jobs cannot keep a family afloat, and I really wouldn't mind paying a couple of percentage points more in taxes than people hovering at or below the poverty line.
If they let me run the government, everyone would hate me, even the ones on my own team, because nothing that will work is going to make anyone happy. Compromise is hard and "win/win" is sometimes not feasible. Maybe we could be happy with "lose less."
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Time Flies
Time flies whether or not you are having fun. It has been 2 months since my last post. So much has happened, none of it particularly noteworthy.
Work has been up and down. Health care in Florida is fairly seasonal. Blame it on the snowbirds, or everyone having selective (not elective) surgeries - if you need a new hip, you NEED a new hip - but you can put it off for a long time if you can stand the pain. Whatever the phenomenon is, we are BUSY in the winter. Last year, one of the companies I worked for had 4 full time Physical Therapists, and 2 very busy per diem employees with a full time load, and we were still giving patients to contract companies, because the staff had all the overtime they could handle. Now, this same company has 2 full time and 2 per diem PT's, and none of us has a full case load. This is across the board - I have 5 jobs - only one of them is giving me patients, and I am not that busy. So what gives? In this crazy economy, health care is the one thing that is supposed to be stable, especially in the geriatric population. When I am slow, I usually run out and get a new job, because everyone will hire a per diem employee, even if they have no current need, especially this time of year - because they want to have coverage when the dam breaks.
At least I have time to spend with the family. In the last couple of months the Wild Child had a vendor's booth at the local Sunday Market of Seminole Heights. They moved the date because of weather, then it was freezing, and drizzly and damp all day, but she still did OK. Good enough to want to try again this month. (there are still calendars available)
Then it will be ON! Gymnastics season is about to slam into us. 2 meets per month, very few of them close to Tampa. Gym girl is now a solid level 7, she has almost all of her 8 skills, and they waffled on what she would compete, but I think she is more comfortable with perfecting her 8 skills while she competes 7 - so, go her. Back handsprings on the balance beam, and double back fly aways on the bar are unnerving for the momma - I'm happy with whatever she decides to do.
I have decided to take a certification course in the treatment of Lymphedema. It is 145 hours of independent study, then 8 straight days of classes in Orlando this October. After waiting for weeks to get my course materials in the mail, I was more than over-whelmed when they arrived. I huge text-book, like you you would expect for any college based science course, 2 Gigantic spiral bound manuals (really gigantic, not exaggerating), and 5 dvd's. This is just the supplemental portion of a mostly on-line course. Did I say overwhelmed? Plus, I am shocked to find out that I am old. My brain is losing all of those elastic/plastic qualities that I have depended on, that made didactic learning so incredibly easy for me when I was younger. My "study" habits have been pretty much read the material, maybe rewrite my notes, because I can't read my own writing, then never look at them again, 'cause I already got it. Not any more. I read it, write it, color it, watch the video, and it still all just looks like words on paper. Words that I understand when I read them individually, but when they are all strung together as part of a sentence, they lose all meaning.
I often make comments, especially after driving, or listening to the news that people are stupid. It has occurred to me that I, also, am in that category. ALL people are stupid. Maybe instead of bitching about it, I could make more allowances, because it is really nice when people react kindly when I do stupid things. Stupid is inevitable, Mean is a choice. My New Year's Resolution will be to choose "Mean" less often.
Work has been up and down. Health care in Florida is fairly seasonal. Blame it on the snowbirds, or everyone having selective (not elective) surgeries - if you need a new hip, you NEED a new hip - but you can put it off for a long time if you can stand the pain. Whatever the phenomenon is, we are BUSY in the winter. Last year, one of the companies I worked for had 4 full time Physical Therapists, and 2 very busy per diem employees with a full time load, and we were still giving patients to contract companies, because the staff had all the overtime they could handle. Now, this same company has 2 full time and 2 per diem PT's, and none of us has a full case load. This is across the board - I have 5 jobs - only one of them is giving me patients, and I am not that busy. So what gives? In this crazy economy, health care is the one thing that is supposed to be stable, especially in the geriatric population. When I am slow, I usually run out and get a new job, because everyone will hire a per diem employee, even if they have no current need, especially this time of year - because they want to have coverage when the dam breaks.
At least I have time to spend with the family. In the last couple of months the Wild Child had a vendor's booth at the local Sunday Market of Seminole Heights. They moved the date because of weather, then it was freezing, and drizzly and damp all day, but she still did OK. Good enough to want to try again this month. (there are still calendars available)
Then it will be ON! Gymnastics season is about to slam into us. 2 meets per month, very few of them close to Tampa. Gym girl is now a solid level 7, she has almost all of her 8 skills, and they waffled on what she would compete, but I think she is more comfortable with perfecting her 8 skills while she competes 7 - so, go her. Back handsprings on the balance beam, and double back fly aways on the bar are unnerving for the momma - I'm happy with whatever she decides to do.
I have decided to take a certification course in the treatment of Lymphedema. It is 145 hours of independent study, then 8 straight days of classes in Orlando this October. After waiting for weeks to get my course materials in the mail, I was more than over-whelmed when they arrived. I huge text-book, like you you would expect for any college based science course, 2 Gigantic spiral bound manuals (really gigantic, not exaggerating), and 5 dvd's. This is just the supplemental portion of a mostly on-line course. Did I say overwhelmed? Plus, I am shocked to find out that I am old. My brain is losing all of those elastic/plastic qualities that I have depended on, that made didactic learning so incredibly easy for me when I was younger. My "study" habits have been pretty much read the material, maybe rewrite my notes, because I can't read my own writing, then never look at them again, 'cause I already got it. Not any more. I read it, write it, color it, watch the video, and it still all just looks like words on paper. Words that I understand when I read them individually, but when they are all strung together as part of a sentence, they lose all meaning.
I often make comments, especially after driving, or listening to the news that people are stupid. It has occurred to me that I, also, am in that category. ALL people are stupid. Maybe instead of bitching about it, I could make more allowances, because it is really nice when people react kindly when I do stupid things. Stupid is inevitable, Mean is a choice. My New Year's Resolution will be to choose "Mean" less often.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Smooth Sailing
I have been happily bustling around in "mom mode" lately. The weather is gorgeous, and there is enough chill in the air that the house is starting to smell like a spice rack. Pumpkin. Pumpkin. Pumpkin. Pumpkin scones. Pumpkin cream cheese muffins. Pumpkin pancakes (with caramel syrup). I LOVE October. I've sort of cleaned up the back yard, so it does not look as much like the aftermath of last years forty freezes - ok, there were only five, but they were hard freezes and all right in a row. I kept waiting for the hisbiscus to come back, but it never happened, and I have finally faced up to some of the losses that I was hoping weren't real.
The upside to all of that is this weekend's annual fall plant sale at USF. Yay. I will actually have fresh herbs to cook with again. Lemon Balm tea cookies in the very near future. We even had a fire and roasted s'mores last weekend.
The girl child is in the middle of a very intense school project. I will not rant about puppy mills yet. When her presentation is done, we will post on YouTube. We have spent the last week inundated with some of the saddest images and stories I have ever seen. She is very dedicated to this project, and what little I've seen of it is VERY good. We spent Saturday at the saddest place on earth (the local pound), getting lots of footage. Then I went with the girls while they interviewed a woman that has been involved in several puppy mill rescues. Lots to learn. Kind of shocking how cruel and insensitive people can be.
Work is FINALLY starting to speed up. I was almost considering a full time placement again (ugh). Now I'm back to happily working my 5 jobs. Only two of them are actually giving me patients right now, but I have options, and enough patients to keep me mostly out of trouble.
I'm hoping to pick up the 2011 Wild Child Pics Calendars today. If so, the pre-orders will be out in the mail by Monday. Go Photo Girl!
The upside to all of that is this weekend's annual fall plant sale at USF. Yay. I will actually have fresh herbs to cook with again. Lemon Balm tea cookies in the very near future. We even had a fire and roasted s'mores last weekend.
The girl child is in the middle of a very intense school project. I will not rant about puppy mills yet. When her presentation is done, we will post on YouTube. We have spent the last week inundated with some of the saddest images and stories I have ever seen. She is very dedicated to this project, and what little I've seen of it is VERY good. We spent Saturday at the saddest place on earth (the local pound), getting lots of footage. Then I went with the girls while they interviewed a woman that has been involved in several puppy mill rescues. Lots to learn. Kind of shocking how cruel and insensitive people can be.
Work is FINALLY starting to speed up. I was almost considering a full time placement again (ugh). Now I'm back to happily working my 5 jobs. Only two of them are actually giving me patients right now, but I have options, and enough patients to keep me mostly out of trouble.
I'm hoping to pick up the 2011 Wild Child Pics Calendars today. If so, the pre-orders will be out in the mail by Monday. Go Photo Girl!
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