Year in Review

It's that time of year again.  Part of me says thank goodness this year is over and part of me is sad to see it go.  Then there's the biggest part of me that really just doesn't care either way.  That is definitely the dominant part.  Nevertheless, as I have been horrible at blogging lately, this is the perfect opportunity to compose a blog post that will hopefully entertain, enlighten and perhaps cause a few tears to be shed.  Haha, not really, but that was quite dramatic!  And now I shall commence with the discussing of me and my year, as that is what is truly important tonight.  :) 

Highlights of 2012

• Moving closer to my family.
• Every single moment in Paris, even the ones I didn't absolutely love because hello, it was Paris! (Except for the one lowlight, see below.)  I can't pass this one by without mentioning a few specifics:
• Sharing the experience with my family.
• Seeing works of art that brought tears to my eyes and are some of the clearest examples of the influence of the Divine that I have ever seen.  It never ceases to amaze me how the arts can be such a spiritual experience.  
• Pastries!  Glorious, glorious pastries!
• Weekends spent in Wyoming.  
• The fact that the moments where I felt like all was right in the world far outnumbered the moments where I felt like everything was wrong.
• My daily email and text conversations with Traci, who saved my sanity many, many times.
• My apartment and the solitude, serenity and pants-free environment that it offers.
• Antagonizing people on Facebook for sport during the election season.  I really felt like it was the only way to make those few months before the election bearable.  If any of those people are now reading this, I apologize if you were really and truly offended.
• Temporarily living with BFF Amber after I moved back to Utah. 
• Discovering Homeland, Misfits, Iwan Rheon, Harlan Coben and Lee Child. 
• Taking my client that had cancer for a CT scan a few weeks ago and finding out that there is no sign whatsoever of cancer!

Lowlights of 2012

• The whole Wyoming exodus.  Leaving my friends and clients was heartbreaking and many tears were shed.  Then there was the whole having to give my dog back to the shelter drama.  I still can't speak of it. 
• Moving three times in one year.  I don't want to move again any time soon.  As I wrote that I felt like I was jinxing it and condemning myself to move again in 2013.  Nooooooo!!!!!!
• Having my car stolen.  I still can't quite believe it actually happened.
• The slight (meaning major) nervous breakdown I had early in October.  It was the perfect storm of events and circumstances that caused me to question every single thing in my life; not eat, sleep or bathe for a while; and watch an excessive number of episodes of Roseanne.  Very glad that it's over and that there were people around that I could lean on for support.  On the other hand, it was this event that led me to make my plans for Dublin and London because I needed something to look forward to, so I can't complain too much!
• Being in Paris and having massive blood blisters on the bottoms of my feet that caused excruciating pain with every step I took.  I had to pad and tape my feet every day, but then it would all just come off with all the walking around.  :(  
• My client being diagnosed with cancer and the subsequent treatment.  Taking her to radiation every single day for weeks on end was definitely one of the lowest of the low moments of the year.  And I wasn't even the one with cancer! 

I know I'm forgetting many things but these are the things that immediately came to mind.  There were so many other awesome events, people and moments throughout the year and also several other really crappy moments, but all in all, I consider 2012 to be a success.  I have learned much and experienced much and I am ending the year feeling more content and secure with myself and my life than ever before.  Thanks for reading and being part of my journey!

Can you believe it's almost Christmas?

• I swear Christmas sneaks up on me quicker and quicker each year.
• Still no Christmas decorations-at this late date, there's no point.
• I've been crazy busy trying to get all the Christmas shopping done for my clients.  It's been fun spending someone's money other than my own, but it's been a little stressful trying to buy things for people who really don't need anything.  Most of their wants are simple, too.  One of my clients is perfectly satisfied with balloons to blow up, another with pens and paper to scribble on.  Their bank accounts can't have over a certain amount of money in them at the end of the month, so I'm usually pretty up to date on replacing worn out clothes and belongings.  This has not made Christmas shopping very easy.  I'm just about done, though.  Hooray!  
• I'm planning on working Christmas morning this year.  I want to make sure my staff, some of whom have children, are able to spend the time with their families.  I spent Thanksgiving with mine and we won't have kids around for Christmas this year, so hopefully it won't be a problem to open gifts later in the day.  
• My friend, Taryn, came down from Wyoming to visit for the weekend.  We had lots of fun and lots of good chats.  It was kind of nice to have someone around to hang out with and talk to.  I guess on occasion I do miss having a roommate.  On the other hand, if I had a roommate, I would have to start wearing pants.  That might be a dealbreaker.
• I am obsessed with Mojito-flavored Crystal Light.  It's perfection in a glass.  You should try it.
• I finally had a cortisone injection in my gimpy elbow and now it feels great!  It doesn't sound like it would be, but this is very exciting!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works for a while. 

I feel like this was possibly the least interesting set of bullet points that I have done.  I gotta get back on the ball here!  Side note-did you see the monkey in the coat that was wandering around Ikea?  I want to cuddle him.

Brills!

I've finally made my flight reservations for Dublin and London in March!  Whoohoo!  In thinking about what I want to do on this trip, I stumbled upon a brilliant idea.  So you know how I run a group home for people who have disabilities?  And you also know how I get a little obsessive about things?  Well, due to my obsessiveness and my dedication to this community of people, I thought it would be cool to see if I could possibly check out a program of a similar nature in Dublin as I would really like to see how other countries provide these services.  I found an organization that looks cool, so I'm going to see if they will let me come check out their facilities and meet some of their clients.  Now here comes the brilliant part . . . I'm going to see if I can set up a pen pal program with my clients and their clients.  How great would that be!?!  There are some of my clients (and actually some former clients-I'm working on that piece of the puzzle too) who would love doing this and I think it would be an awesome opportunity for them.  So yeah, that's my exciting news.  And yes, I realize that this plan is probably exciting to no one other than myself!  :)

thoughts and an update

• Remember my client that has cancer?  Well, we had a check-up with the surgeon yesterday to and . . . the tumor is gone!  Whoohoo!  We still have to do a CT scan to make sure it didn't spread, but thank the Lord, I think we're going to be ok!
• The surgeon we saw is a colon-rectal specialist.  How do you decide you want to spend your day poking, prodding and looking at people's butt holes?  I mean, seriously, he had to suction away poo before he could fully examine the tumor.  What kind of person wants to spend their day doing things like that?  In case you were wondering, he was definitely a little weird.  And he flat out lied to us.  My client was supposed to be sedated for the exam, but when we got there they said they couldn't do that.  The PA said the notes from the referring doctor said we would need sedation, but the PA didn't know where the miscommunication came from since they're not equipped to do that in the office.  Fine, whatever, mistakes and miscommunications happen, not a big deal.  I didn't appreciate it, though, that when the surgeon came in he totally pawned it off on the first doctor and said yeah, so and so didn't tell us she would need sedation.  Oh really?  That's funny, because your PA already told us it was in the notes that he did.  It's not even a big deal, but don't blame it on someone else, just say sorry about the miscommunication, let's see what we can do to make this easier without the sedation.  
• My poor dog, Lizzie, tore her ACL and is having surgery on Monday.  When my dad called to tell me about it I though he was going to say they were going to put her down and I immediately started crying and getting all dramatic because if they have to put Lizzie down, then it'll only be a matter of time before Darcy goes because because he'll be so lonely and he'll die of a broken heart and then we'll have two dead dogs.  Fortunately my dad had already decided to pay for the surgery and my sanity and the lives of our two dogs are safe again.  
• I hate it when I come to the last of an author's books.  When I find an author I really like I usually go read all of their books and get all obsessive about it, so it really sucks when there are no more new books.
• Why is it that books at the DI in Provo are so much more expensive than anywhere else?  The books that sell for one or two dollars at the DI closest to me are four and six dollars at the DI in Provo. 
• As I've been sitting here writing this, the tv show I was watching ended and Saved By the Bell came on.  I can't bring myself to change the channel.

Things I'm pondering

• I'm feeling antsy again.  I think I need a hobby.  I don't really do anything crafty.  I like to cook, but don't have anyone to cook for or the money to buy any fancy ingredients.  Maybe I should take a community class or something.  
• I really need to find a way to get my staff to (for lack of a better way to say it) give a shit.  We're a not for profit, so what we can pay them per hour is based on what the government will pay, which means not much.  How do I motivate people to do a good job when they don't make much money?  I keep thinking they must care at least a little bit considering they could probably make more money at McDonald's, but I know that when I'm not there, most of them sit around and do nothing.  
• I think I might be emotionally unavailable.
• I keep thinking that maybe I should go back to school, but I think it's just because I'm bored.
• I'm finding it difficult to bond with my clients here like I did with my clients in Wyoming.  I feel like I need to find a way to form better relationships with them.  Until I do, I don't think I'm giving them the best care that I'm capable of. 

So . . . anyone have any suggestions?

stuff

I'm going camping in Wyoming this weekend and I just found out it's going to be all couples . . . and me.  I'm sure it will be tons of fun and not depressing and lonely at all!!!

Here are some random pics from my phone because I can't come up with anything else to blog about:

A friend of mine taught me how to make homemade kimchi.  It has these disgusting looking baby shrimp in it.  Delicioso!

I bought this awesome cat plate at DI for 75 cents.  Money well spent!!!

 I did not buy this Jesus statue.  Look into his eyes!!

 The difference between driving around in Wyoming . . .

  . . . and Utah.

 

Homemade sushi from the friend who made the kimchi.  I admit the thought of homemade sushi was a little frightening, but it was actually really good.  

 

This is how much snow was on the ground when I left Wyoming in March.  I didn't miss it then, but I do miss it now.  It's been so stinkin' hot lately!

 

 The friends I'm living with for the moment have two dogs (the brown one and the black one whose face you can see), and a couple weeks ago they were dog-sitting their aunt's dogs.  For unknown reasons they all liked to congregate on my bed.  While I was in it.  It actually totally made my day.

The cousin of my client who has cancer sent me flowers.  How gorgeous are they!  And how sweet is she!  It's always nice to know you're appreciated. 

Stating the Obvious

Cancer sucks and life isn’t fair.  

No, I’m not just realizing this, I’m just REALLY realizing it.  One of my clients was recently diagnosed with cancer.  I’ve been spending my days taking her to doctors appointments, chemo and radiation and my nights worrying about how to give her the best care I possibly can.  This is a woman who was born with severe disabilities.  She was then molested and contracted HPV, which eventually led to anal cancer.  She doesn’t understand what’s going on, she just knows she doesn’t feel good.  She can’t verbalize if she’s in pain, all she can do is scream and hit her head.  She doesn’t understand that her hands are covered in socks and taped up to keep her from pulling out her IV.  She just knows that now she can’t feed herself, which was one of the few things she used to actually able to do for herself.  She doesn’t understand that she can’t have breakfast because she has to go under general anesthesia five days a week and you can’t eat beforehand; she just knows she’s hungry every morning and we won’t let her eat.  And worst of all, she doesn’t know what’s in store.  The doctors told us that this is one of the most treatable types of cancer, but the actual treatment is one of the worst.  Not only is she going to have bowel and bladder problems, but when she soils herself it’s going to be on top of skin that is raw from the radiation.  She will probably be nauseous all of the time, but at her current 87 pounds, she really can’t afford to lose any more weight.  And her food doesn’t even taste good right now because we have to put her ground up meds in it since she can’t swallow pills.  I’m guessing chemo drugs and chocolate pudding probably don’t make a good combination.  She can’t even go to day programming anymore because there are too many germs there.  Instead, she sits at home all day long, only leaving to go to the hospital. 

Fortunately everyone at Huntsman has been really great with us.  They understand that this is a more challenging case than normal and they have been very accommodating.  There has only been one person who hasn’t been absolutely wonderful, but I think this receptionist just wasn’t quite sure what to think about the woman in the middle of the lobby who was screaming out and pulling her pants down, trying to figure out how to make the pain go away.  Everyone else just loves her.  She gives everyone kisses on their hands and says “Very, very sweet,” which is one of the few things she can say.  Then she starts crying. 

an update

Job's good. It's really cold. I'm super psyched for Christmas. Ugh. Alright, I guess I can do better than that. Hmmm . . . let's see . . .

• I'm liking being the boss (well, one of four bosses) at Christmas. I've been getting lots of treats. Of course it also means I have lots of staff to give something to. I decided to do cake balls because I pretty much like anything that has balls in the name. Instead of making them with frosting I used cream cheese. They are so much better this way.
• Netflix is taking up way too much of my time. I started watching The Vampire Diaries and I can't get enough of it. Stefan needs to go, though. I'm all about Damon. Stefan is far too whiney and depressing. He's like Edward Cullen without the glitter.
• I got a puppy over the summer and named her Veronica Mars. She lasted two days and then I gave her away. I couldn't handle the getting up every two hours during the night and the constant chewing of my furniture. It's probably a good thing I don't have children.
• Now I have Walker. He's a treeing walker coonhound. I got him from the local shelter where he had been for a year. He's super cute, but also super pesky sometimes. Today I came home from work to find my 25 pound bag of potatoes strewn all over the living room. He also really likes to chew on plastic food storage containers.
• Someone is doing the 12 Days of Christmas for me. There are few things in life that are better than coming home to a present every day. Yay for presents!!!
• I've been kinda seeing this guy, but I really don't like him very much. I don't not like him, but I don't like him, if you know what I mean. He always wants to talk on the phone. I'm not in junior high anymore-I don't need to talk on the phone for hours. I keep coming up with reasons not to talk to him or go out with him again and I need to just suck it up and tell him I'm not interested. It's hard to blow people off in a small town. The chances of seeing them around town are very high.
  
• I got a little obsessive about Christmas this year and got out my decorations the first week in November.
• I've been doing a weekly game night with some friends. Apples to Apples is a great way to get to know people. People have learned that I rarely go with the obvious answer. I'm all about creativity and humor. If you don't amuse me you won't win.
• It's really cold up here. It was like 2 degrees mid-day today. I always know it's really cold when I take the dog out and my nose hairs freeze and tickle me when I breathe. Since it's been so cold we haven't had much snow and now what snow we do have looks all weird like fish scales.
  
• One of my clients is constantly amazed to see me. I go say hi to her every day and every day she looks at me and says "Kim?!?" like she can't believe it's really me. Then she runs/toddles over and gives me a big hug. Then when I see her later in the day at her house, she is again amazed to see me. It's great.
  
• I'm going to attempt to keep track of the books I read next year again. I tried this year (see sidebar), but when I updated it with a bunch of new titles I forgot to save it. This of course irritated me and I gave up on it. I'll try again next year. Not that anyone ever looks at the list anyway-it's much more for my own information.

Alrighty, that's it for now. I would say I'll try to be more regular with my posting, but I'm guessing it probably won't happen. I will try to update after Christmas though. The nieces and nephew are coming, so hopefully I'll have some cuteness to share.

And now it's October!!!

My cousin lovingly and kindly brought to my attention that it's been a while since I updated. Wendy, your wish is my command. Here's what's been happening:

• I ended up applying for and getting the management job. I told them I would commit to two years. It's good so far-the hours are definitely better. Being on salary is also great. I have a feeling, though, that being the only single and childless member of management is going to mean a lot of travel for me. I went to Laramie last week and I have to go to Casper next week. I volunteered for the Laramie trip and was informed that I was going on the Casper trip. I can't be too bitter, though, since it's for Special Olympics and I love Special O.
  
• My roommate moved out, which really, really sucks, but it's good for her, so I guess I have to be happy. :(
• My parents are coming up to visit this weekend and since I now have a free second bedroom, they're staying with me instead of at a motel. I was going to go buy a cheap bed from the Penny Pincher, but my mom informed me that she didn't want to sleep on a used bed, so I bought a new bed yesterday. Fortunately my parents paid for most of it. I currently have a full size bed and the new one is a queen, so it's totally going in my room and the full is going in the spare bedroom. This whole thing means that I have a place for people to sleep when they come and stay! This means people need to come visit me!
  
• This has all made me feel very grown up. At 30 I finally have a career-type job, my own place without a roommate and actual furniture. Yay me!!!
• Last weekend was my roommate's last weekend in town, and because she requested it, I went with her and other friends to the bar. A guy asked me if I wanted to go next door (to the hotel) and have a good time. I politely declined. Maybe next time.
  
• Did I mention that you should come visit me? Seriously. No excuses.
  

thoughts

• I have so few Facebook friends that it would be sad to lose any, however, every time I log on I want to delete people based solely upon the number of times they update their status each day.
  
• I went to a class on autism this week and it's pretty fascinating. I plan on doing a lot more studying up about it. Now I have to go and teach all of the staff I work with about it.
• The place I work was having a yard sale as a fundraiser, so I went through all my stuff and got rid of quite a few things. Why does it look like I haven't even made a dent?
  
• Have you seen the new show, "Roseanne's Nuts"? I love me some Roseanne. She's crazy, but in a good way.
  
• What is everyone thinking about this season of So You Think You Can Dance? I haven't been feeling it so much this season. There are a couple of people I like, but I'm not really connecting with anyone. It's all just kinda meh to me.
• I heard last week that the first snow is predicted for six weeks from now (or rather, from last week). Upon hearing this news, I vomited a little in my mouth.
• One of my best friends always says "To be truthfully honest . . . " Is there any other kind of honesty?
  

Failure!

I am once again failing at being a blogger. It's just that life is so darn busy, what with my grueling schedule of tv watching and online shopping. I've also started but not finished about 10 books. Oh wait no, that's a lie. I did finish one of them. Matched by Ally Condie. (Whose child I happened to teach in Primary. He was not one of the demon children, fortunately, or I would be forced to hate her book on principle.) So anyway, here's yet another bullet point themed blog post for your reading enjoyment:

• Pretty in Pink is on right now and I just had a WTF moment. I've always bitched about how Blane (That's a major appliance, that's not a name!) said "You said you couldn't be with someone who didn't believe in you. Well I believed in you. You just didn't believe in me" Well, apparently (according to the Bible of IMDb), he actually says "Well I believed in you. I just didn't believe in me." I guess that really would make more sense, but whatever.
  
• It's snowed like a foot here in the last 24 hours. When I checked the weather forecast on Friday, I swear it said an inch. I take consolation in the fact that we're almost through with two months of winter. Only five more to go!
  
• Lorri and I just watched the Oprah from a couple weeks ago where she goes back to a town in West Virginia where she did a show in 1987. The show was about a gay man who had AIDS and how he was treated by the town. It was really uncomfortable to watch how hateful those people were. I realize that back then we didn't know as much about the disease and how it was spread as we do now, but a lot of the hurtful comments were about the fact that the guy was gay. It always drives me crazy when people cite the Bible as a reason for being anti-gay. If we're going to go by what the Bible says, we should probably start stoning people again. Oh, and according to Mark, if you get divorced and then marry someone else, you've committed adultery. I wonder how many of those people were (and still are) on their first marriage.
• Remember a little while ago how I made a client cry twice because I made her do her laundry? Well, I managed to make her cry again. This time it was because she lied to me about eating Christmas candy. That makes me sound horrible. I didn't get mad at her or anything, she just felt really guilty and didn't want me to tell her mom. So really, in both incidents, I didn't make her cry, the consequences of her behavior made her cry. Somehow that still makes me sound horrible, doesn't it!
• Does anyone watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? (I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I do.) The last episode was cray cray!!! That psychic lady (I'm afraid to even say her name-she might put a hex on me or something) is truly insane. I won't ever be able to see a cigarette again without thinking of her creepily puffing away on her fake cigarette. I'm getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about her.
• I'm not usually a huge Kenny Chesney fan, but I can't get enough of this song:
  

• I'm also enjoying "Long Time Coming" by Delays. If you actually watch this video, can we please talk about how creepy twin children can be? For other examples, please see The Shining and, let's be honest, pretty much any Olsen twins movie.

• O.k., just one more song! Since I invited myself on my parent's trip to Ireland next summer, I've been watching Irish-themed movies (great excuse to watch The Boondock Saints again!!!) and one of my favorites is The MatchMaker. This song is in it and I can't stop listening to it. It's "Haunted" by Sinead O'Connor and Shane MacGowan (original lead singer of The Pogues).
  

worst blogger ever

I don't know what's happened; I used to be so great at blogging! Sigh. I need some inspiration. Oh well, here are some nuggets:

• A client told me yesterday that she was going to send me to the Obama White House and have me taped to the Christmas tree there. I'm not entirely sure what she meant by that, but I don't think it was good.
• I made the same client cry twice later in the evening because I made her do her laundry. I should feel bad about this, but I don't.
• I have now gotten all of my coworkers but one hooked on Veronica Mars. I've also begun indoctrinating the clients as well. It's a sickness.
• I just bought a Berkshire Fluffie blanket and it's awesome. This is possibly too much information (not that that's ever stopped me before!), but I just want to wrap up in it naked because it feels that amazing. You need to get one.
• My new obsession is buying used movies off of Amazon. I can usually get them for about 4 bucks and since that's about how much it would cost to rent them at Blockbuster, I'm buying stuff I have and haven't seen. None of them fit in my PO box though, so the post office lady has to do her job and hand them off to me. I think she's getting irritated.
• Zack and Miri Make a Porno is on. I love Justin Long in this movie.

That's all I've got for now. Oh, and Cary, I know this will make your day-I've finally found my set of Table Topics, so start looking forward to more Q&A's!

what I've been up to

Um . . . not much. Here are some tidbits; some exciting, most not:

• We're doing a Thanksgiving dinner this weekend for the clients and their families. And when I say "we're doing a Thanksgiving dinner," I mean I'm coming in on my day off and will probably end up cooking most of it.
• The weather here has been crazy. Yesterday morning, I was awoken at 6:30 am by what sounded like someone in my attic. Turns out it was super windy and really warm (relatively speaking), so the snow was sliding off the roof. Then, like two hours later, there were blizzard-like conditions. You could only see a couple feet in front of you. Then it got warm again and most of the snow melted. Then it got super cold and all my car doors and windows froze shut.
• I just read sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling and it was so enjoyable that I read it in one evening whilst ignoring my clients.
• Did you guys watch the Sarah Palin Alaska extravaganza on TLC last Sunday? What were your thoughts? I liked it, other than the fact that I felt like she was turning every single thing she said into a sound bite. Like the part when she was talking about the mama bear fighting for the future generation, or whatever. I think I would have liked the show better if it had just been about Alaska, and not the Palins. :)
• I'm going to Ireland (and possibly England) next summer. I'm more excited for this trip than any other trip I've been on.
  
• I have become obsessed with cereal. It is delicious.
• I had an Aha Moment the other day when watching Oprah. It was the reunion show with the cast of The Color Purple, and as I was watching it I realized that my favorite color is purple and I was like holy crap! O.k., I didn't say it was a good Aha Moment, just that it was one!
• Have you tried the new Suave Rosemary Mint shampoo and conditioner? It's amazing. It was on sale at Smith's the other day for $1.33 and I bought like twelve of them. (In case you were wondering, no, we don't have a Smith's here. I got them when I was in Idaho Falls, which is possibly my least favorite city on earth.)
  

the conference

I spent last week in Laramie with a bunch of the clients where I work, attending MEGA Conference. (I don't know what MEGA stands for, but it's always capitalized, so there you go.) In case you were wondering, the drive to Laramie is awful and ugly, and the city itself is a shit hole. (When I told my parents that description, they were not amused!) I do not like Laramie and I couldn't wait to get home. The conference was really good, though. They do it every year and it's for people with disabilities, as well as their caregivers and family members.

There's a keynote speaker every morning and then breakout sessions. The keynote speaker this year was actually the same guy on both days, but he talked about different topics. Anyway, this guy was awesome (and super hot!). His name is Kevin Connolly and he was born without legs. If you've never heard of him, you can check out his website here, his photography work here, and his YouTube videos here.

I went with the clients to their sessions, so we learned about fire safety, voting (which was good, since sadly I have never voted), how words can hurt, and some other ones I can't remember off the top of my head. My favorite, other than the keynote speaker, was the session on how words can hurt. They had several people with disabilities get up and talk about bullying and how people have treated them in the past. They also then talked about the support that they have received from people around them and how little things can make a difference. It was really touching.

The last night of the conference we went to a banquet and dance. I wanted to avoid the dance because I have an insane fear of public dancing, but I ended up kind of participating. You see, one of the clients has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. It took a while for her to want to get out on the dance floor, but when they finally played some music she liked, she asked me to take her out there. I helped her dance for about an hour and a half and it was amazing. Her favorite person in the whole world is Martina McBride, and when they played "Independence Day", this girl danced her heart out (meaning she moved her arms around 'cause that's pretty much all she can do), and sang every word. The look on her face was one of pure happiness. I will be the first to admit that it made me cry a little. We tend to think of these people as being handicapped and forget that they're people first. It was really awesome to see all of them out there dancing, having a great time, and not worrying for even a second about how they look or if they're doing it "right". Seriously-it was awesome!

So, all in all, I had a great time, despite the conference being in Laramie. It was really eye-opening and a little (actually a lot) humbling to be around so many people with disabilities. During these past couple of months I've learned to see the person first, and not their disability. In the past, if I have ever encountered someone with a disability, I didn't know how to act, so I avoided them. Now I think I would feel comfortable being my normal, friendly self (hahaha!) and interacting with them. I think about the number of people I've met that have been rude or snobby or whatever, compared with the number of people with disabilities that I've met that have been rude (a big, fat zero!) and I wonder who really has the disability. Huh . . . that was really profound! Hopefully you didn't skip this blog post because it was long, 'cause that means you totally missed out on that little nugget of wisdom!

here's what's been going on . . .

• Work, work, work.
  
• And when I'm not working, I've been enjoying these new tv shows:

(Sister Wives on TLC-more on my thoughts about this show later.)

• I've also been watching and rewatching my niece, Sariah, preparing for when she turns 18 and can audition for So You Think You Can Dance.
  

• I've also been obsessively listening to these songs:

• I've also (since last night) been wanting to make this cake.
• I've also been spending a good deal of time avoiding deer in the road. I saw 24 on Saturday and 17 yesterday.
  
• Oh yeah, and I've also been enjoying views like this:

(None of these pictures are my own. So sorry if you are the person I stole them from. Nice picture-taking, though!)

randoms

• It's sad how excited I get on Saturdays when it's time to go pick up our produce basket. Unpacking it is seriously the highlight of my day. This week we got bananas, apples, Asian pears, green plums, peaches, onions, acorn squash, celery, broccoli, romaine lettuce, grapes, and okra. I also ordered the Italian pack and in that we got red onions, garlic, basil, rosemary, flat-leaf parsley, zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms. I can't wait to cook.
• Lorri and I went to Idaho Falls (The Big City) over the weekend to get stuff for the house. The whole time we were there I felt weird, like something was off and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Finally, as we were leaving, I figured out that there were no mountains. It was disconcerting and it's kind of weird that it bothered me so much. I guess the dominant feature in both Orem and Star Valley is the mountains and when you take them away, it's like taking my security blanket away or something.
• It has been unseasonably warm here lately. Not hot, but like 80 degrees. When your morning starts off around 30 degrees, it's weird to be so warm during the day. I'm ready for it to cool off-I want my hoodie weather!
• There's a conference for developmentally disabled people coming up in October that a bunch of the clients are going to, and I get to go with them. It should be fun. Laramie, here I come! I've never been to Laramie, but whenever I mention it to anyone up here, they laugh. That's probably not a good sign!!!
  
• The Special Olympics are also coming up in October. The clients here are doing bowling and are super excited about it. I love how enthusiastic they are about pretty much everything in life. If ever you are depressed and need a quick shot of gratitude or joy, spend some time with someone who is handicapped or developmentally disabled. They definitely have their grumpy moments, but seeing their faces light up over something simple is pretty darn awesome. It's really hard to be in a bad mood after that.
  
• I also love watching them try to figure things out. They have no poker face. You can see the wheels turning and sometimes it takes a little bit, but when they get it, it's like magic.
  

Say what?

So you know how I've been at my job for less than a month? Well, I was just promoted and am now in charge. I'm happy to see that someone (other than myself) realizes just how fabulous I am!