Football Is Almost Over!

Hi Friends! It's been awhile since I've posted ... I'm not as good at this as I originally wanted to be ... but that's ok, because as long as I keep it somewhat updated it's better than nothing at all.

I'm officially done with two weeks of my internship and am still enjoying it! This past week I've started picking up students from my CI's caseload, and actually running the sessions. Thursday and Friday both held significant highlights for me, which reinforced to me how great PT can be! Let's just say that on Thursday I caught a little 6 year old mid air who vaulted herself off of a large physioball, I saw a younger version of myself in another student that I put on a large physioball (she was scared of being on a dynamic surface, just like me!) and then I coached an 11th grader on how to roll from his stomach to his back, and then back again to his stomach ... he hadn't been able to do that in 5 years!! Then, on Friday, some quick thinking on my part turned an unsuccessful therapy session into a successful one for a 14 year old girl trying to get herself from the ground into her wheelchair. Needless to say, I entered into a three day weekend (schools do not have classes on Martin Luther King Day).

My three day weekend has been wonderful so far. I was able to catch up with my friend, Lisa, on Friday, and ended up going out to dinner with her, her sister, her Mom, and her grandparents. We played dominoes after dinner, which was really fun (too bad the highest score doesn't win dominoes because if it did, I would have won by a landslide!) Lisa and I ended the night watching the end of the Sabres game (they won 10-1!!!!) and grabbing a few drinks with the ever famous Denise! Lisa's sister, Laura, let me borrow her book, P.S. I Love You. And I spent Saturday and part of Sunday reading that book. Now that I'm done, I'm ready to go see the movie. I spent Saturday night reliving my days as an RA as I helped Rebecca cut out things for her bulletin board as we watched the Sabres game (they lost 1-2). Sunday morning = church and then I treated myself to some Timmy Ho's Hazelnut Coffee and the Sunday paper! Now I'm just watching the second football game of the day. Once this is over, we've only got the Superbowl and the Pro Bowl left for this football season.

I'm really missing some important people in my life this week ... so if you're reading this, could you please pray for strength for me? AND, my Grandma is going in for cardiac tests tomorrow thru Wednesday ... and I would love prayers for her too.

I spent this past week re-arranging my room and cleaned it out a lot. I'm planning on cleaning the rest of the apt tomorrow. Half time of the game now, so I'm going to end this, and take a shower.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Julie

A Wonderful Weekend!

So, I'm now 4 days into my internship, and have enjoyed each of my days at the school. Each day provides me with children who make me smile and opportunities to learn! I'm still learning all the kiddos' names, and not having them all down makes documentation at the end of the day difficult! One of the two pregnant PTs on staff went into labor today at work!

I spent 4 wonderful days and 3 wonderful nights with some fabulous friends down in Fairfax Co! It was great getting to see Vince for his birthday, and to see Kelly and her new apt, and Erin after driving so long to surprise Vince, and Geoff and meet his new fiance, and last but certainly not least Becky and getting to talk to her and having her HEAR my voice!!!! Vince was completely speechless when Erin walked into the restaurant and he just handed her a chip! He also let me come in and volunteer for an afternoon at his clinic, which was amazing because it was an outpatient ortho clinic. Boy do I miss that setting! Kelly and I had wonderful talks about growing up and well as continued to surprise Vince throughout the weekend! Erin and I had quite an adventure with Vince's GPS, but safely got back to Kelly's apt with the Dunkin' Donuts that we set out to get!! Becky unknowingly gave me a motto: work to live, don't live to work.

Vince, Kelly and I found ourselves going through a tunnel that led us nowhere in the southeast side of DC ... but thanks to advanced technology, we were able to get ourselves back to where we needed to go. Also, I found a really nice VA state park on Friday, and then took Vince and Kelly there Sunday afternoon. We ended up getting kicked out at dusk!

Its time to get going, but I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Julie

Friday Morning in Woodbridge!

Hey Guys! So, I didn't blog after my first day at School 84 - I was too tired! But, now I've got two days under my belt, which means I can say a little bit more about it! I think I'm really going to enjoy this placement, as well as learn a lot - which is always a good thing! The kids that I'm going to be working with are all adorable and have a variety of common and not so common diagnoses. I'm working 7:30-3:00, which gives me a nice early ending time, and enough time to get to the gym before it gets too busy with people getting off work from 4-5-ish.

As the title of this says, "Friday Morning in Woodbridge" ... I am in Woodbridge, VA today. Well, I flew into Baltimore last night, and had a mini Daemen reunion at the Cheesecake Factory with Geoff (and his cousin who both picked me up from the airport) and Vince and Kelly drove up and met us there. I'm sitting in Vince's apt now, he's at work, and let me drive the Pathfinder. Perhaps I will have to do some exploring here after a little while. I'm being introduced to SWIRLS tonight at Happy Hour with Vince and Kelly.

Ok, time to go get ready for my day. I'll probably post again sometime next week. I get back into Buffalo on Sunday night, and Monday night Amanda and I will be taking a major trip to Wegmans, as our apt's food selection is relatively low right now.

Have a fabulous day, friends!

Julie

Happy New Year!

At the request of my dear friend, Becky, I've decided to start a blog chronicling my life. My intention is to keep this updated on a regular basis, hoping that if I get into the habit of blogging now, that I will continue it once I start moving around later this year.

WELCOME 2008!!

2008 holds many changes for me, which I'm sure I will elaborate on as they draw near. However, I'll at least mention them now. For starters, my sister is planning a wedding for February 2. I realize that leaves her almost no time, and as her Maid-of-Honor, I'm feeling the time crunch as well. When she and her fiance, Jory, get married, they will be moving into my bedroom at my parents house. That basically means I had to move myself out of my room while I was home for the holidays. Additionally, they are expecting a little girl at the end of March which means that I am going to be an aunt!! Anyone who has talked with me about that knows that I am super excited! Fast forward to May 17th ... and I will finally receive my Doctorate in Physical Therapy!!! After that, I will need to study for my boards so I can become a licensed PT. The middle of July holds wedding #2 for me to stand as Maid-of-Honor, when Tera (Erie Tera, not my Tera from college) gets married. She and her fiance, Treye, are two of my favorite people! After they get married, I have to become a real grown up and get a real job.

This past semester was my last semester of classes - and let me tell you - that is an amazing feeling!! This spring semester holds two clinical internships for me and provided I do not kill a patient, I'm fairly confident that I will pass both of those. My first placement is at School 84 (Buffalo city schools go by numbers rather than names) and is a school for children with physical disabilities. It is the Buffalo version of the Barber Center for all of my Erie friends. I start this first placement tomorrow at 7:30 am. More on that tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a fabulous start to 2008!

Julie