Sunday morning...

Max and I went out to the park after I was done with my shift. Looks like they painted all the playground equipment over the summer. Now they are all red, yellow, and blue - I love it! No more sad chipped baby blue with hints of orange and brown. Not until these layers flake off anyway. Quick snap of him trying to conquer the rocketship. (Note: the light pole tilting in the background is due to my cameraphone)



I had my textbooks with me in the car so I was going to read while he played but it was more fun playing, of course. So that's what we did. I did manage to get him to get in the jogging stroller so that I can get some decent exercise.

The other 2 kids were with my mom (her suggestion, not mine, and who can pass up unsolicited babysitting?). It was nice to hang out just with Max. We could actually talk without him feeling like he has to yell for attention. Though our conversation consisted of him telling me that we were going to go to Africa using the submarine (that yellow thing behind rocketship, no not the giraffe, the other yellow thing)

So no OT work done today but we went to Africa so the day was not a total loss :)

and... B R E A T H E

1 week of OT school down, 14* more until end of the semester...

which if I had thought about that after the first day, maybe I wouldn't have panicked as much. The first day is usually going over the syllabus, setting expectations in the class - but couple that with trying to understand the structure of the program itself, getting used to the school computer systems - well it can understandably be overwhelming. After going through the schedules for the year (which I am so grateful that all the professors have planned out for the duration of the semester) and listing all the projects / readings / assignments /etc., the schedule is more digestible. See? when I just say 14 weeks left, it's not so bad. Lesson to learn: if there's anything overwhelming to the point you don't even know where to start, break it down to more manageable chunks. This way, when you meet your mini-goals, you can at least see some progress. Works for many things: school planning, projects, laundry (though I'm not quite sure about the laundry, at least for us...)

So one of the objectives this semester is setting up the foundation of OT: its history, frameworks, etc. One thing I've noticed is there is a lot of mention of "Reflection". Reflect on this, Reflect on that. I am not that comfortable thinking that way. Well, I am - but had never been obligated to commit my thoughts down on paper. I think that may also be part of the reason why I never journaled very much; I have this need to perFECT my thoughts. Not that my thoughts are PERfect - from far it. It's more like I'll jot something down and it would be fine - for that day. But if I come back to it weeks or even years and I disagree with what I wrote down at that time, I want to delete it. I need to just let it go, at the very least witness my own ever evolving thought process - however scatter-brained it may be.

On the kid front, they have been coping. My daughter is very excited that she gets go to the after school program they have because her friend from last year (who is not in her class this year and she is sad about that) is also in the same program. In fact, last year she kept begging to join because it sounded so much fun. All I could think of was I am working nights from home so I can spend more time with the kids and she would rather hang out at school longer. shEEsh! Actually, I am glad she feels confident in herself to go off on her own. Even when she started preschool, she never had separation anxiety. At the time, it made me kind of sad that she would leave my side so easily. But the boys - OH THE BOYS! - they have a hard time letting go. They started preschool last year and it would almost always take me 20-30 mins to leave the classroom. I think it's harder with twins: with one, you can distract long enough to sneak away but with two, it's like they serve as each other's lookout. Oh, and they can each grab a leg. They'll be starting school next week so we'll see how that goes.

My daughter had come home one day this week with a dollar that her friend had given to her. I asked her what is was for. She said she helped her friend with her math - took me a while to figure out that my daughter got paid for doing her friend's homework. Is it wrong to feel a bit proud? I did tell her to give the dollar back, you know, cuz it's the right thing to do. At least wait until 2nd grade. :D

So other than working this weekend, I'll be reading the various chapters from the vast array of books. I can't wait to read that APA Publication Manual!! Just kidding of course - I mean, I do have to read that Manual but I am looking forward to the OT textbooks themselves. Not that I'm anti-proper use of parenthesis or anything. Maybe I should start blogging in APA style? nah - I like my liberal use of run-on sentences and dashes for no-apparent-reason.

Just for fun: check out the anatomical socks and t-shirts. ALMOST makes me want to take A&P again. Well, no it doesn't but it's still neat. [via boing boing]

*No, I didn't count the weeks. I am using a teacher's planner that just so happens to list the week by numbers so when I looked at my calendar, I knew it right away. It also lists how many days into the school year we've been in. Makes me wonder - are teachers also counting down the school year as much as the students? Probably so.

Pre-reqs are done!

This past Friday was the last of the pre-reqs (neuro A&P). I AM DONE! But it's only just the beginning. Now I'll actually start the MOT program - wow! This has been a long time coming; honestly, it really doesn't feel real. Have you ever planned for something so long that by the time you actually complete it, it's more like, "wha? there's actually a next part to this?" College was that way, but not really. It seemed more like an extension of high school. And also, undergrad was work. I mean chore-like work. Like laundry (which the bane of my existence and will probably be a running theme in this blog). This is due to the fact that at the time I was picking out my major, I didn't really consider what I actually want to do. Daily. For the rest of my working life. See? I didn't look at it that way. I thought any job will do. Anyway, I'll talk about that some other time.

OT School, on the other hand, is something I look forward to because I actually want to do this. Wow - what a concept! From what I've been reading out in the intertubes, OT students really love school. That is such a foreign concept to me. You mean, it's not about finishing whatever it is and getting a job and realizing the grown-up world is not all that it's cracked up to be. OK, need to get away from that topic again.

So we'll have orientation in a couple of weeks and the following Monday will be the start of school. I am ScaredCrazyOutOfMyMindWhatAmIThinkingMaybeIShouldWaitAndStartNextYear ... and if I can just harness that nervous energy and just focus on school, I think I should be OK. Who needs Red Bull? Pshaw!

House Update: C, the kids, and my parents (and me) went out there after Dim Sum-day^TM today. The mason has put up part of the wall in the master's bedroom. They should be delivering the steel for the columns on Tuesday. Should be updating the house blog sometime next week.

Kids Update: They're glad I'm done with this class. Next thing that came out of their mouths were "Can we go swimming NOW?" Of course, I said no because it was evening by that point and they spouted off something like It's not fair/We never get to go/I'm going to live with Mama and Papa (my parents). To which I responded that's fine and that's just less laundry for me and then I can donate all their old toys. To which they said NOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!! Haha - I'm mean.