The Last Chapter of my Life as a S/OTA

I have been working extremely hard to become a certified Occupational Therapy Assistant and I am in my final stretch to become one. I am currently a Level II student working at a facility that is contracted through a developmental disabilities board. I am at a location the hires individuals diagnosed with a developmental disability to work on jobs they are contracted to perform. It is a completely different realm than what I am used too (which is the medical world) and within the past three days I have learned so much. It is a completely different setting than what I am used and along with learning about OT and gaining knowledge of my career and how to become a COTA, I am also learning about job production! Many companies come to our business and have us perform tasks. We have a group that collates glass dishes into a box for sale, those boxes you see at Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl's, we do them. We have another group folding t-shirts and sealing them in plastic bags for distribution to stores. The major project we have going on that many of our groups work on his bagging rice husks. First off, I never knew that rice was basically enclosed in this husk. Second off, I never knew how important rice husks could be in the steel world and more importantly in making steel wheels for trains. The husks are important because they won't melt or burn unless they are heated to 1,800 degrees F. This is important because as iron workers are melting and setting the steel wheels they need a product that will help maintain holes in the wheel (for the screws to attach) and will help cool the wheel down effectively without causing cooling errors. This is where these rice husks come into play. Iron workers throw the husk on and the holes are filled and the rice cools the steel down because the husks are a natural cooling agent. Learn something new everyday!!!! I also learned the difference between habilitation and rehabilitation. Habilitation is where everyone is constantly learning new where as rehabilitation is where there was an injury and the person is re-learning a task or knowledge.

A Hard one to Write....The day that was perfect

It has been 3 months (I started this on 02/23/12) since I originally began this post and each time I open up my blog to write I get stuck. I will jot a few sentences down and then I erase it all. Towards the end of February I lost my great-grandmother and it was and still is pretty hard for me to deal with, I think about her daily and still wish I had time with her. I was very close to my grandmother and have been at a loss for words since her passing. My grandmother was born in the '20s and was very independent, even in the later years of her life. She did not want to be a burden to anyone and even though sometimes it felt like a burden, I enjoyed my times with her. Everyone has that family member that can drive them crazy but it definitely was rewarding for me to have her for 24 years of my life. That is how I look at it now after her passing. I was extremely fortunate to have had my great-grandmother for 24 and 1/2 years of my life, most of my friends have either never met their great-grandparents or had them for only a few years of their life. My grandmother spoiled me rotten, I definitely do not deny that! She took my family and I to California to see the Red Woods and the Pacific Ocean, she took me on my 1st trip to NYC and she taught me the importance of an education. She always took me shopping and never said "no." I don't know why all the sudden I am able to write this post, I haven't had the words to post or I didn't feel the words did enough. When thinking on her final days I think about the Friday before she passed. I spent the entire day with her which is very rare since the past few months I was finishing school my winter quarter, but it was finals week and I took work off that day to be with her. I spent ten hours with the woman I knew and it was like old times again. She sat in her rocker while I laid on the floor or the couch and we watch her soaps, talked about family, looked through the paper, and listened to music. Even though caregivers and nurses were in and out it felt like old times, she slept when she wanted, as did I. The day was absolutely perfect and even though the looming illness was the big elephant in the room, it never once felt like we were being squished. I now thank God for that day I had with my grandmother and I think it was the closure I was looking for. Since her passing, I have been wanting this piece to come to me and allow me to move on, but unfortunately due to family issues since her passing it has been nearly impossible too, but I believe that day was my closure. I meant to visit my grandmother the Sunday before she passed and instead I stayed home to work on homework. I called and told her that I would then see her Tuesday but unfortunately that was not the case. I would see her that Monday night in a way that I wished never came. Right before she got really weak and ill, she handed me this card (that was our thing, I always sent her cards for any and every occasion) that I made her when I was really little. She handed me the card that told her if she ever were to get sick that I would take care of her because I did not want her to die. Whenever she handed me the card to read I would say that's the truth and I still don't want her to die. I cannot wait for the day that I can tell my kids about their great-great-grandmother and I hope that my future kids have that same relationship with theirs. Love you a bushel and a peck ;)

Stressed is dessert spelled backwards....

Um....I don't think so. At the end of my day I am not relaxing with dessert, I am piling stress on top of stress. I have been super crazy busy (obviously since my last post was January 1st) and really don't feel like I have accomplished much. I am in my last quarter of school and have two Level II fieldwork's and then I AM DONE!!! At least for now. A lot of changes will be happening in my life in the next couple of weeks so we'll see where my stress level gets me after that! :) My 12 habits are going okay, instead of starting one a month, I am doing them slowly all at the same time. I couldn't decide which one to start with and wanted to do my best at some of them so I am trying and it is I would say 70% successful! Some of the ones I wanted to try right away is read the Bible everyday (I am only 4 days behind and catching up fast), decrease my Dr. Pepper intake (I was going to say pop, but I really only drink the pepper), take my medicine regularly (doing it pretty much 100%), and attempting to get at least 7 hours of sleep (this so far is a great success).

2012 New Year's Resolution

A resolution is a determination or firmness of purpose. Typically upon a new year many individuals resolve to break bad habits, lose weight, quit smoking, etc. I decided that besides the typical resolutions that instead I was going, I am determined to gain or lose (respectively) 12 new or old habits. A habit is a behavior that is repeated on a regular basis and they tend to be subconscious. They say it takes 28 days to gain a habit, thus at the start of each month I am going to either quit a bad habit I have or gain a new one that I have always wanted to do. 12 months + 12 habits = an interesting 2012. I know it is going to be tough, but I have to have the determination or I'll quit while I am ahead. So for the next year, expect posts about my progress and what is going on, I may not say what habits I am working on but I am really excited and interested to see if I can hold up to my resolution for 2012.

Whoa, my blog has a 2012 archive!

So as I was looking through my blog today I got a reality jolt when I realized that following this blog post I will have 1 archive in the year 2012. Talk about a smack to the face! I am so excited and looking forward to this year, last year was a beyond amazing year and I had quite a few downs, but my ups definitely out weighed them. I already have so many plans for 2012 and am looking forward to the surprises that are upon me.

A great great great Christmas

Christmas has passed and I cannot believe it is gone. To me this season did not feel like Christmas at all and I wish that it was still coming, but since I cannot stop time I can only remember the season and plan for the following. To me this sounds really odd because I am not a huge fan of Christmas. I love decorating, the real meaning of Christmas, and giving more than receiving but I just don't think of Christmas as one of my favorite holidays. It is by far one of my favorites in regards to tradition (blogged about this last year) This year I want to describe some of the gifts I received. I spend all year working on Christmas gifts or at least gathering ideas for family and friends and I try to put a lot of effort into what I make or what I come up with. My two young sisters mentioned some items through out the year so I jotted some notes down and got them some items that reminded them of either what they are currently involved in or their childhood. As for some of my friends and family I made them more personal items, but back to what I received. For the past two years I have asked Santa (yes I still "Believe" look for a future post regarding this) for a Crayola Magic Glow Dome, I am a kid at heart and some toys still make me excited. Well finally I actually received the Glow Dome instead of an IOU. I was so excited to get it and color on it. The second gift I received was from my mom, she made my brother and two sisters each a cookbook. She has been trying to come up with the concept for years and she was finally able to create one and I absolutely love it. I was so excited to get that I have already put a lot of recipes I have been hanging onto in the cookbook. Now all I need is my own kitchen to use it in. The last gift I want to talk about was also made by mom and it was definitely an emotional and sentimental gift. In early November, my grandfather (mom's dad) passed away. One thing that we always remember about him is what he wore, he always wore a flannel shirt. So my mom asked my grandmother for some of my grandfather's shirts and she made us each a pillow out of them. It is weird to think of my grandfather as gone but there are still times when all the sudden were caught up in the moment and the tears start to flow. It is definitely a gift that I will be keeping forever.

Guest Blogger of the week!!!

This week I was honored to be the guest blogger of the week for Flying Horse Farms. I know I have already blogged once on here regarding my experience there but here is the new one, enjoy :) Volunteering at camp: How to describe the indescribable When anyone asks me about Flying Horse Farms and the experience I had at camp, I can only say one thing: it’s indescribable. I knew I was going to have a great experience when I drove through the gates this summer for a hematology/oncology week. But I couldn’t have imagined everything I felt and still feel today about camp. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about camp and all the amazing people I met there: from the medical staff to the grounds crew, the Alcoa fellows, the volunteers, and definitely to the children. Beyond a doubt, I was changed forever. And one story in particular showed me why this place is so magical. For the first half of the week, one of the younger boy campers struggled with homesickness. Even though I was an activities counselor, not one of his cabin counselors, the cabin adopted me early on. So I spent a lot of time with them and noticed that whenever he was kept busy he was always having fun. So his counselors and I did our best to get his mind away from being at home and keep him occupied so he would have a great time. His homesickness started to fade around day three and he started having a noticeably better time. It was amazing to see his transformation from a camper struggling and wanting to leave to one who began volunteering for games and wanted to participate. At the last campfire of the week, we all wrote wishes on our wish sticks. I wished for more times like this (the ones that most definitely make us feel human). The formerly homesick boy sat next to me and scribbled on his stick. When he finished, he showed me what he’d written. It said: “for all the kids to get better.” While you’re at Flying Horse Farms you sometimes forget the challenges these campers face in their daily lives. After all, they look like any other child walking down the street. So when I read his wish stick it struck me: camp actually gave these kids a week of freedom. Freedom from the hospital, the doctors, the “how are you feeling” questions, things that I don’t always think about because I don’t experience them on a daily basis. Through Flying Horse Farms we let kids have fun, be creative, dream, imagine, and hope. But most important of all, we let them be kids. Guest Blogger Amanda Ghiloni is a program volunteer at Flying Horse Farms.