Thanks for visiting!

I started blogging in 2007 when I entered occupational therapy (OT) school. See archives in sidebar. It started out as “OT Students (B)e(lo)n(g),” then “Days of Our OT Lives” (beginning practitioner) and finally, “Miss Awesomeness” (school-based OT, now business owner/private practice/adjunct faculty). I rarely blog anymore, but occasionally post on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter (sidebar). I’ve been neglected this site for years, but am now focusing on the “Books” tab above, as my first book just came out! The Centipede Who Couldn’t Tie His Shoes.


Recent Blog Posts:

14 Jun 2022

OT Rocks and OT Memory Lane

Check out my rock art….specifically, OT Rocks….               Plus a quick -hopefully amusing – stroll down OT Memory Lane 🙂 PS: I tried to make these images bigger and they exploded all over the page so I went back to small – plus other quirks popping up –  website […]

Category: laughs | Comments: none

12 Dec 2021

Some awesome pediatric fine motor skill ideas from an OTA student

Enjoy these three simple and fun fine motor activities for kids…. One of my former OTA students, Karina, has a FABULOUS imagination and creative streak. I was very impressed with the things she came up with. I’ve been meaning to post these for a long time.

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

26 Nov 2021

Funny OT-related quotes

"If you can’t make fart noises, you might as well not be a pediatric OT." – former professor "If you’re board certified in pediatrics, you know how to use a whoopee cushion." – former professor "Embarassing moments" story told by a post-professional OTD student to the class. Nurse: You have to rub this lube into […]

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

3 Nov 2021

Upcoming blog posts?? Finally?

It’s been a looooong time since I’ve posted. In fact, I wrote what’s below in JUNE 2021 and it took me this long to actually post it. ::shame:: Starting in November 2016 until just recently, my life has involved a lot of death and upheaval. My grandfather, my father, my cat, and most recently my […]

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

10 May 2019

My geriatric fieldwork…so many highlights

Some excerpts from my OT mental health fieldwork (inpatient geriatric psych ward) journal, a decade ago: I did a group called “Transformation” and it had to do with drawing past and present and future, and discussing things to do to help ensure the future as they depicted it. One sharp lady drew an embryo for […]

Category: laughs, reflections | Comments: none

10 May 2019

Lava Paper: Dramatic Game Paper make learning handwriting more fun

Pediatric OTs or parents: If you’re working with a child who is highly intelligent but has poor handwriting and one of the reasons is that they are bored/don’t care about sizing rules….this “lava paper” (game paper) is for you. Lava.paper modified 2019  


9 Aug 2018

The importance of validating feelings

I haven’t posted about OT in a loong time here! But this situation arose the other day and it got me reflecting. My friend and I were leaving a restaurant. A white-haired woman was slowly headed towards the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. She had the panicked look of someone who is scared of […]


28 Jun 2018

My first book is OUT!

My first children’s picture book is finally out on Amazon as of mid-June 2018! The Centipede Who Couldn’t Tie His Shoes.  So far it’s only on Amazon, but hopefully soon you’ll be able to find it in libraries and some local San Diego stores. I’m also aiming to get it in some therapy catalogs and […]

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

21 Mar 2018

My first children’s book is coming out…

Wow, I haven’t updated my blog in over a year! Yikes! How horrible is that! The end of 2016 and most of 2017 were pretty challenging but I think I’m ready to start blogging again/cleaning up and updating my website. For now I am just excited to say my first children’s book is coming out […]

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

3 Oct 2016

Therapeutic use of self in OT

I am now teaching a mental health/psychosocial course to occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students at a local community college. This week we’ll be looking at the concept of “therapeutic use of self” when working with a client/consumer/patient/your preferred term here. How we can respond to behaviors in various ways, and “therapeutic use of self” is […]

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none