29 Mar 2013

Graduation presents?

We have OT students graduating right around now…what are good graduation presents for OT students????? I was just asked and I was stumped. For those of you about to graduate, or who have graduated, what are presents you wish you could receive, or have received???

Any suggestions appreciated.
I have ONE more day of work to get through – one more meeting, a presentation, and some odds and ends – and then two weeks to get my act together! Phew! I think I can I think I can! 
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 5

25 Mar 2013

Spring break fever…

Spring break starts next weekend and I’m glad about that, because I desperately need a break. This last month or so has been rough! It’s all I can do to go to work each day. I’m so tired. On the weekends I’m doing very little besides sleeping most of the day and then all night too! I just can’t seem to get enough rest. Just worn out. I think I’m starting to burn out. I’ve been warned this would happen. I just hoped it wouldn’t happen so soon, seeing as how I’m only in my third year of being an OT, and my second year in the schools. I’m behind on everything – my blog, my e-mails, cleaning, etc. Sleep (as a form of escape) wins every time. I’m keeping up with my work but at the expense of everything else. So I’m hoping with the spring break it will be rejuvenating (I have a good friend visiting) and I’ll take some deep breaths and be ready to face the world again and be a little less broken down! Especially since I normally love blogging about OT and it makes me feel bereft to NOT be OT blogging!! I thought about coming here and writing some random airy note but I decided to be real. I’m struggling. But I’m trying to climb out of the hole I’m in. I love OT, I know I love OT, but I I’m currently lacking the energy to embrace it the way I normally do on this blog!! Here’s hoping I find it soon. 🙂 

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 3

17 Mar 2013

Dried rice: An OT's best friend for weighted items and I Spy…

               

Making weighted hedgehogs, weighted tube socks, I Spy stuff…all with dried rice.

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Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 4

17 Mar 2013

I think I have too much paperwork

 

Y’all think I got enough paperwork? 🙂 Organizing…
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

10 Mar 2013

Sorry for the quiet…

Two articles I’m glancing at…

Chewing Gum Aids Concentration (I totally agree with this one – I frequently recommend letting some of my OT kiddos be allowed to chew gum in class, either for concentration or to keep them from putting other things in their mouth…some teachers are skeptical at first but become believers…pretty high success rate…)
(A comparison between Section 504 and IDEA)
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Sorry for the quiet here lately…March is March Madness in the school OT world in terms of lots of meetings and requests for screenings, so I am crazy busy with work. I’m stressed out and I haven’t been able to give much time to my blog. I need to pick a winner for the LetterReflex and Dexteria giveaway using random.org (only a few people commented so chances of winning super high for those who had commented before the deadline!)
 I also am going to be writing a review about a book I just got called “Implementing Sensory Strategies in the Classroom” if I recall the title correctly – I’m taking the course with the same title on March 19th so I’ll wait to review the book till I take the course. 🙂 I’m REALLY excited about the course because even after just skimming through the book – it looks awesome and great to use with advocates as it’s filled with data sheets, and sheets great for reproducing for teachers and parents. I’ll share how to get the book at the time of the review. 
I’m also preparing for presenting at our national AOTA conference, trying to work on my upcoming redesigned website, etc etc etc, so ummm, I’m a little tired and worn thin! This morning I had a Pilates class, then met a speech co-worker to go walk at Torrey Pines State Park/beach for an hour (a 3 mile hilly loop). I got my exercise in for the day which is HUGE for managing stress! I’m staring at tons of piles of paperwork, but a nap is definitely going to win the battle, I think. Then I go do my volunteer shift holding babies in a NICU, then grocery store, then a few hours doing work in preparation to start the week! It’s report card week aughhhhhh. ::runs around screaming::
Well I’m sure this was absolutely fascinating (said in most sarcastic voice ever). I just felt like a little stream of consciousness/rambling to explain why it’s been so quiet over here in Miss Awesomeness land lately (I am trying my best to refrain from making another self deprecating comment here)…LOOK I SUCCEEDED!! YES!!! 
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

2 Mar 2013

My newest OT blog love ;) + missawesomeness.com about to get a facelift

We’ve got a new OT blog in town….Anonymous OT. I saw Tonya over at TherapyFunZone.com link her on Facebook and curiously clicked. I’ve gotten a little lazy about exploring my OT blogosphere and haven’t seen any new OT blogs in a long time (the newest ones I can think of that I like are MamaOT and Embrace Your Chaos for pediatric blogs, and OTpotential is a great new addition for non-pediatric, serious blogging)
I really enjoyed AnonymousOT….here is her link and I also linked to a few of her “test pins” that I may try out soon. 
In other news, www.missawesomeness.com is getting a face-lift. Right now it’s just my blogspot I’ve had for years. I got a friend/website designer to help me out and it’s going to go live soon – it will still need work, but it’s close enough that it can go live and I can work on it while it’s live. Otherwise it will never happen, yo. Once he gets the site up I’ll post so that those of you who access my blog via RSS feeds can go see it (pretty please)…
It’s almost 1am and I’m posting because um, I may have acidentally taken a nap from 7pm to 1am. Whoopsie doodles.

I haven’t written a stream of consciousness on my OT blog in forever. For those of you who have followed me for almost six years, that’s like…a miracle. I don’t think I’m going to start now (at least not with sixty pages worth like I could), but let’s just say March is going to be a challenging month! An IEP meeting almost every day. Luckily I work with super cute kids and that helps make it bearable. 🙂 
Hope to see a bunch of you at conference! I need to get some business cards made ASAP…plus gather my address labels…plus um, do taxes etc etc etc. And maybe sleep. Yeah, sleep.
Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 2