No baby geckos this year *sniff*
7.01.2007
Sisters
It's official. After over a year of trying to mate Sobe and Tang - it turns out they're sisters, not lovers.
No baby geckos this year *sniff*
No baby geckos this year *sniff*
6.17.2007
Self-Titled Week Two
June 10th - After a tiring day of unloading, obstacles, throwing out my shoulder on an antique chair probably worth more than my life and spraining my ankle, we finally got a good night's rest at our new peachy place of residence. Yes, our house is peach. It also has a pretty rose out front that Ben insisted on taking a picture of:
Begins week two: I freakin' love my job. I started putting together a proposal at the end of last week for a purchase order containing music therapy items adding up to almost $500. Jamie told me to star the items that are needed more than others because she wasn't sure how much would be approved. We met with Pat (head honcho) today, who seemed very excited about the newly added Music Therapy program, and he approved my proposal, plus another order of activity/rec. and leisure supplies. Woohoo!
Tuesday was another fun-filled night of Salsa dancing. Ben mastered the turns, very smooth.
The remainder of the week I completed most of my clients activity assessments and monthly scheduling. Next week I'll be able to begin my Music Therapy sessions.
We've also been unpacking the never-ending piles of boxes. We actually started to form some sort of order for our attic (office) and desk supplies. (No pictures until it's all said and done).
So I guess that pretty much updates everyone on the last two weeks of my new life.
Job is great
House is great
Ben is great
Begins week two: I freakin' love my job. I started putting together a proposal at the end of last week for a purchase order containing music therapy items adding up to almost $500. Jamie told me to star the items that are needed more than others because she wasn't sure how much would be approved. We met with Pat (head honcho) today, who seemed very excited about the newly added Music Therapy program, and he approved my proposal, plus another order of activity/rec. and leisure supplies. Woohoo!Tuesday was another fun-filled night of Salsa dancing. Ben mastered the turns, very smooth.
The remainder of the week I completed most of my clients activity assessments and monthly scheduling. Next week I'll be able to begin my Music Therapy sessions.
We've also been unpacking the never-ending piles of boxes. We actually started to form some sort of order for our attic (office) and desk supplies. (No pictures until it's all said and done).
So I guess that pretty much updates everyone on the last two weeks of my new life.
Job is great
House is great
Ben is great
Self-Titled Week One
June 3rd - I arrived at 114 Ferris Place (Ben's apt) just in time to relax and settle in prior to my first day with my new job. Ben was off camping with his PhD buddies in the Adirondacks. Peace and Quiet. After re-reading a couple chapters from The Order of the Phoenix, I tapped out.
June 4th - First day at Lakeside. I met up with Jamie and she gave me another tour of the huge labyrinth of the facility. I also met a bunch of the clients I would be working with and observed a few groups in the Phoenix Behavioral Health program. <---- That is the new program in which I will be the Recreation Therapy Director/Music Therapist. Ben arrived home Monday night and took me out to dinner at Aladdin's. It's a fine eating establishment catered to veggie hippies. Welcome to Ithaca!
I had training all day on Tuesday. It was a bunch of the same stuff I went through with Devereux the first time around. The part that cracked me up was when a few of the CNA's freaked out about the FBI background check Lakeside administers. What kind of people are they hiring here?
The rest of the week was more observing and reading through medical charts.
Aside from working, Ben, Rich, Erin (Rich's girlfriend) and I started Salsa dance lessons. It's a 6 week session class held on Tuesday evenings at an extremely fancy and overpriced gym. If anyone knows what the ACAC in West Chester is, you'll know what I'm talking about. But the Salsa classes seemed pretty reasonable and Ben definitely laid down some pretty sweet moves.
Over the weekend Ben and I drove down to P-Ville/Chester Springs to load up my life (and some of Ben's) belongings into a U-Haul plus two cars:
Before heading out of town we stopped over to visit with J.D. for a second to deliver the last of his nerf gun supplies, then made our way back up to Ithaca to unload.
Highlight of the weekend = Renting a ladder to hoist my full size mattress through the second story window since it failed to fit around the sexy curves of our stairs. Ben and Erik climbed up the ladder while my dad and I were at the receiving end. Sorry no actions shots - it was actually quite a quick process of about 20 seconds.
Pirates:
Stabilizing:
Testing:
Success:
Erik's mattress went up the stairs just fine, after we folded it like a taco.
Phew.
Week Two: Coming REALLY soon
June 4th - First day at Lakeside. I met up with Jamie and she gave me another tour of the huge labyrinth of the facility. I also met a bunch of the clients I would be working with and observed a few groups in the Phoenix Behavioral Health program. <---- That is the new program in which I will be the Recreation Therapy Director/Music Therapist. Ben arrived home Monday night and took me out to dinner at Aladdin's. It's a fine eating establishment catered to veggie hippies. Welcome to Ithaca!
I had training all day on Tuesday. It was a bunch of the same stuff I went through with Devereux the first time around. The part that cracked me up was when a few of the CNA's freaked out about the FBI background check Lakeside administers. What kind of people are they hiring here?
The rest of the week was more observing and reading through medical charts.
Aside from working, Ben, Rich, Erin (Rich's girlfriend) and I started Salsa dance lessons. It's a 6 week session class held on Tuesday evenings at an extremely fancy and overpriced gym. If anyone knows what the ACAC in West Chester is, you'll know what I'm talking about. But the Salsa classes seemed pretty reasonable and Ben definitely laid down some pretty sweet moves.
Over the weekend Ben and I drove down to P-Ville/Chester Springs to load up my life (and some of Ben's) belongings into a U-Haul plus two cars:
Before heading out of town we stopped over to visit with J.D. for a second to deliver the last of his nerf gun supplies, then made our way back up to Ithaca to unload.Highlight of the weekend = Renting a ladder to hoist my full size mattress through the second story window since it failed to fit around the sexy curves of our stairs. Ben and Erik climbed up the ladder while my dad and I were at the receiving end. Sorry no actions shots - it was actually quite a quick process of about 20 seconds.
Pirates:
Stabilizing:
Testing:
Success:
Erik's mattress went up the stairs just fine, after we folded it like a taco.
Phew.
Week Two: Coming REALLY soon
6.16.2007
For all those devoted Transmogrification readers out there:
I have so much to write - but so little time. Just know things are going swell and there will be a ginormous post (with pictures) coming very soon.
Love,
~L
Love,
~L
5.20.2007
Holy Crazy Batman!
Last Wednesday night = a very intense episode of Lost. Sorry to those who don't watch the show, while I ramble a bit. I go back and forth with my feelings on Charlie. Yeah, that list of greatest hits was the kicker in the last episode. But does anyone think Desmond was lying about how Charlie is supposed to die this time around? Usually we see the "flashes" of events that lead up to and include Charlie dying. We didn't see that in the "Greatest Hits" episode. I cannot wait for the season finale. The battle is just going to be so awesome!
Anyway, the entire hour had me so worked up that I couldn't fall asleep Wednesday night. I think the last time I looked at the clock it was nearly 2:30am. Okay, some people may think, "what's the big deal?" But, with a normal bed time of 10pm (with the exception of Lost nights)... I need my 8 hours.
However, I've come to realize the REAL reason for not getting a good night's sleep. Stress. I'm leaving in TWO WEEKS!!! I haven't even started packing. What I think has been happening in the back of my head is that I don't really need to hard core pack because I can always just come back down to PA if I forget something. I'm thinking this is like college, where I just need the necessities. But it's not. I'm moving, for real. New address, new phone number, new job, new driver's license and license plate.
People keep asking me if I'm excited - of course I'm excited. But then recently I was asked if I was scared. My initial reaction was, "No, I'm just really excited . . . I never really though about being scared." Then after actually pondering a different emotion. . .
"Yup, I'm scared, thanks for pointing that out." This is a major change in my life, a good change, an awesome change. The excitement definitely overrides being scared. That's all the matters.
And that I have everything packed.
Anyway, the entire hour had me so worked up that I couldn't fall asleep Wednesday night. I think the last time I looked at the clock it was nearly 2:30am. Okay, some people may think, "what's the big deal?" But, with a normal bed time of 10pm (with the exception of Lost nights)... I need my 8 hours.
However, I've come to realize the REAL reason for not getting a good night's sleep. Stress. I'm leaving in TWO WEEKS!!! I haven't even started packing. What I think has been happening in the back of my head is that I don't really need to hard core pack because I can always just come back down to PA if I forget something. I'm thinking this is like college, where I just need the necessities. But it's not. I'm moving, for real. New address, new phone number, new job, new driver's license and license plate.
People keep asking me if I'm excited - of course I'm excited. But then recently I was asked if I was scared. My initial reaction was, "No, I'm just really excited . . . I never really though about being scared." Then after actually pondering a different emotion. . .
"Yup, I'm scared, thanks for pointing that out." This is a major change in my life, a good change, an awesome change. The excitement definitely overrides being scared. That's all the matters.
And that I have everything packed.
5.13.2007
Three Weeks Notice
All your fingers/toes/legs being crossed paid off. As of June 3rd I will be an official resident of New York, again. An Ithacan, Ithacian, Ithacer... someone please give me a decent name for living in Ithaca.
Anyway, I heard from Jamie via e-mail Friday afternoon and called her during my later-than-planned lunch break. I guess I'm lucky if I'm able to get one at all. Anyway she offered me the position, full time with benefits. This is such a great career opportunity. I couldn't contain myself while on the phone - I was just full of "Yes"'s and "Absolutely"'s and "I'm so excited"'s, Jamie must think I'm a freak. Though she did sound just as excited as myself. Hooray!
I called my parents and they were thrilled. In fact my dad was already looking up truck rentals from Phoenixville to Ithaca. Nobody needs to ask twice where I get my organization skills from. Anyway, I think I'm going to switch my Nationality to Irish because I undoubtedly have been blessed with a lot of luck. Or maybe it was all the hard work, searching approximately 5 months for a job, that certainly paid off.
So with that said, I have three weeks left in P-Ville. Three weeks left at CARES. Three weeks to pack. Holy crap, what am I doing on my computer? Procrastination, how I love thee...
Anyway, I heard from Jamie via e-mail Friday afternoon and called her during my later-than-planned lunch break. I guess I'm lucky if I'm able to get one at all. Anyway she offered me the position, full time with benefits. This is such a great career opportunity. I couldn't contain myself while on the phone - I was just full of "Yes"'s and "Absolutely"'s and "I'm so excited"'s, Jamie must think I'm a freak. Though she did sound just as excited as myself. Hooray!
I called my parents and they were thrilled. In fact my dad was already looking up truck rentals from Phoenixville to Ithaca. Nobody needs to ask twice where I get my organization skills from. Anyway, I think I'm going to switch my Nationality to Irish because I undoubtedly have been blessed with a lot of luck. Or maybe it was all the hard work, searching approximately 5 months for a job, that certainly paid off.
So with that said, I have three weeks left in P-Ville. Three weeks left at CARES. Three weeks to pack. Holy crap, what am I doing on my computer? Procrastination, how I love thee...
5.07.2007
Employment Specialist; The Never-Ending Interview
I had another interview yesterday with the JM Murray Company. The position title is "Employment Specialist" and pretty much involves finding employment for anyone with any type of disability.
I met with a man named Ray yesterday at CTB in downtown Ithaca. The actual site location of the facility is up in Cortland (about 30 minutes North of Ithaca), but Ray is from Ithaca and decided to just meet me downtown, especially since it was a Sunday. We gabbed about the job over Chai Tea and ice water and he said he would love for me to see the facility if I was able to make it back up to Ithaca during the week. I wasn't too excited about the position, especially after hearing the base salary, but I didn't want to shoot it down until I had actually seen the facility.
Ray told me to get back to him on Monday with a day that would work for me. In the back of my head I'm thinking, there is no way I can take off a day from CARES to make yet another trip up to Ithaca... When I mentioned this to Ben, he suggested staying an extra night and get it all taken care of. Brilliant idea. I talked with Crystal first to make sure she'd be okay with me playing hookie and then I got a hold of Ray to schedule a meeting.
This morning I drove up to Cortland (about a 45 minute commute - blech). Once I got there, I met with Ray and he took me to a conference room with two women, Bri (pronounced like the cheese) and Loree, reviewing my resume. I definitely didn't expect to go through another round of interviews on my "tour" of the facility. They were extremely nice though and interested in my Music Therapy background, which was awesome. Bri asked how I would be able to bring Music Therapy to the job which had me thinking "hmmm maybe this COULD work if I'm able to contribute my Music Therapy knowledge to this position."
Ray then took me around the facility and I was able to meet more people. Everyone was extremely nice, I knew I would fit right in should I take the position. After we toured the "office facility" Ray drove me down to the other JM Murray location, about a 10 minute drive. We made good conversation in the car but it kept leading back to the travel time/distance from Ithaca, like he was trying to sell it. He even told me that from time to time he'll ride his bike up to work. I would've totally bought it, but not after making the 45 minute drive myself just an hour prior.
After going through another interview with Jack, the head of HR, Ray drove me back up to the first center where I filled out an application. After two exhausting hours of interviewing with Ray and JM Murray, I was on my way home to P-Ville.
It was a wonderful drive - no traffic and perfect open sunroof driving weather.
When I arrived home I had a message from Jamie at Lakeside Nursing and Rehabilitation asking me to call her as soon as I get the chance because she wants to know what I thought about the position.
ACK!
I immediately called Jamie back and let her know that I was extremely interested in the job, but only if we were able to make it a full time position. Jamie said she would love to have me at Lakeside and asked me to research base salaries for the position (since it is new to the facility) and to throw out some ideas on how to make it full time. She would go over any information I send her with her supervisor and get back to me later in the week.
I hung up the phone and exploded with excitement. It was quite a scene, seeing me prance (yes prance) through my house. I called Ben and my folks and filled them in on the exciting information.
I did some major research and scratched my brain for ideas on how to make this position full time. Now all I need to do is wait and make sure I didn't quote too high a base salary. I can't undersell myself.
*fingers crossed*
I met with a man named Ray yesterday at CTB in downtown Ithaca. The actual site location of the facility is up in Cortland (about 30 minutes North of Ithaca), but Ray is from Ithaca and decided to just meet me downtown, especially since it was a Sunday. We gabbed about the job over Chai Tea and ice water and he said he would love for me to see the facility if I was able to make it back up to Ithaca during the week. I wasn't too excited about the position, especially after hearing the base salary, but I didn't want to shoot it down until I had actually seen the facility.
Ray told me to get back to him on Monday with a day that would work for me. In the back of my head I'm thinking, there is no way I can take off a day from CARES to make yet another trip up to Ithaca... When I mentioned this to Ben, he suggested staying an extra night and get it all taken care of. Brilliant idea. I talked with Crystal first to make sure she'd be okay with me playing hookie and then I got a hold of Ray to schedule a meeting.
This morning I drove up to Cortland (about a 45 minute commute - blech). Once I got there, I met with Ray and he took me to a conference room with two women, Bri (pronounced like the cheese) and Loree, reviewing my resume. I definitely didn't expect to go through another round of interviews on my "tour" of the facility. They were extremely nice though and interested in my Music Therapy background, which was awesome. Bri asked how I would be able to bring Music Therapy to the job which had me thinking "hmmm maybe this COULD work if I'm able to contribute my Music Therapy knowledge to this position."
Ray then took me around the facility and I was able to meet more people. Everyone was extremely nice, I knew I would fit right in should I take the position. After we toured the "office facility" Ray drove me down to the other JM Murray location, about a 10 minute drive. We made good conversation in the car but it kept leading back to the travel time/distance from Ithaca, like he was trying to sell it. He even told me that from time to time he'll ride his bike up to work. I would've totally bought it, but not after making the 45 minute drive myself just an hour prior.
After going through another interview with Jack, the head of HR, Ray drove me back up to the first center where I filled out an application. After two exhausting hours of interviewing with Ray and JM Murray, I was on my way home to P-Ville.
It was a wonderful drive - no traffic and perfect open sunroof driving weather.
When I arrived home I had a message from Jamie at Lakeside Nursing and Rehabilitation asking me to call her as soon as I get the chance because she wants to know what I thought about the position.
ACK!
I immediately called Jamie back and let her know that I was extremely interested in the job, but only if we were able to make it a full time position. Jamie said she would love to have me at Lakeside and asked me to research base salaries for the position (since it is new to the facility) and to throw out some ideas on how to make it full time. She would go over any information I send her with her supervisor and get back to me later in the week.
I hung up the phone and exploded with excitement. It was quite a scene, seeing me prance (yes prance) through my house. I called Ben and my folks and filled them in on the exciting information.
I did some major research and scratched my brain for ideas on how to make this position full time. Now all I need to do is wait and make sure I didn't quote too high a base salary. I can't undersell myself.
*fingers crossed*
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