Inspired by Mondo #2

I might suggest reading the post titled "Inspired by Mondo" first ... and then scrolling back up to read this one.

It's Wednesday morning. My headache is gone. I have about 25 minutes before I need to leave for work. I figured now is as good of a time as any to keep updating this blog :) I covered Family and Travel last night.

WORK
I spent the first 5 months of this year living and working in Surprise, AZ. First of all, I love the name of the city! Surprise is just northwest of Phoenix. I was working in the school district's inclusive preschool. Basically, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with 3,4, and 5 year olds who benefited from receiving PT in school. I have always wanted to work with the pediatric population; however, I hadn't really considered this young of an age group until I had the opportunity to interview for this job. As a student, I had one of my clinicals in a school based setting, with K-12th grade. I loved each of them. I also love the 3-5 year old age group! I also had a wonderful team that I worked with at the preschool, and throughout the school district - from other therapists as well as the teachers that I interacted with on a daily basis! However, with any travel position, as well as any school year, there is a definite ending. With my contract and the school year ending, I needed to find another place to work. Insert a cross country drive from Surprise, AZ to Kingston, NY. I am spending the summer working in Kingston, NY in a skilled nursing facility. This facility is much like the ones I worked at in Niagara Falls, Bradford, and Lake Havasu City. However, it is double the size, and with that comes a larger rehab team to work with. I am enjoying working at this facility, but my daily hope is to return to Surprise this fall. My plan is to stay here for the summer, and then return to Surprise for the entire school year. However, nothing is set in stone: nothing ever really is, for a traveler, this far in advance. Additionally, the school district hasn't made any final decisions on who they are hiring back. I guess you've got to love the state of the economy and the budget cuts that school districts are being forced to make.

PERSONAL
I have been doing nothing short of enjoying life each moment that I get. While in AZ, in addition to the seemingly monthly traveling that I was doing, I spent quite a bit of time outside. I have become more and more passionate about hiking and biking (bicycle, not motorcycle) and AZ afforded me several areas to do both. The hiking and biking trails in AZ are about as vastly different from those in PA/NY as you get can. There are still mountains - just cacti, dirt and stones, instead of trees, grass, and brush. There are still so many places that I want to see / visit in AZ when I return. On the return trip from AZ to NY, my Mom and I stopped for a night with Becky and Matt. It was wonderful to see both of you and your house! Thank you so much for letting us stay, and for helping to secure my bike! Since I've been in Kingston, I have been filling my weekends with small trips to see friends and family. I spent a weekend with Erin, and we explored Boston - including going to an un-planned Red Sox game. Well, the game was planned. We just didn't plan on going to the game until we were in the city. Thank you, Jared! The following weekend I visited Jen, and we went to Buffalo to see her friend fight. Congrats on winning, Marc! I had the chance to go home for Father's Day, and surprise my Dad. He didn't know I was coming home until I pulled into the driveway! This coming weekend I am heading into New York City to visit with Amy. I've only ever spent 3 hours (midnight to 3 am-ish) in the city, so I am excited to see what it's all about. The weekend after that is the 4th of July .... which means that I will be at Jen's!!!! I also made a surprise visit to Buffalo for Daemen's graduation in the end of May. Although I think I spent as much time in airports / in the air as I did on the ground in Buffalo, I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Congratulations DPT '09! I even made it into the Buffalo newspaper! Haha! Most of the reason that I feel so compelled to return to Surprise in the fall (as opposed to any school district - with a preschool) .... is the fact that I made so many connections with people. Surprise truly came to feel like home for me, and that wouldn't have been the case if I hadn't met the people that I did meet and become friends with. I miss you every day!

There you have it: a brief update on the last 6 months of my life. My goal is to update this much more often. Mondo - hold me to it!!

Time for work!

Thanks for reading!