There's a New Sheriff in Town

 Hello y'all!

I apologize for this post being so late. I meant to post after my first week but I got busy with work stuff and getting settled into a groove down here.

Well, everything is going great with work! I really like it so far and everyone I work with is nice and helpful. I can't help it that not everyone is as friendly and outgoing as myself so I have to curb myself a bit to not scare these people.
I spend most of the time at the clinic, which is less than 10 mins from my apartment. I am the only OTR and have 3 COTA's to supervise, 2 of whom do just home visits. It's nice to be the HBIC for OT and make some solid decisions. The OT dept has kind of been in a mess since there has been some turnover. And since that turnover blew through, all of these goals are shit and need major updating. Now that there's a new sheriff in town, shit is going to change. I just don't think the goals have been updated in a long time (they can be updated much more regularly than IEP goals) and there just needs to be a new direction. The evaluation process is not difficult, just tedious as they all are. That being said, there is far less redundancy and that is wonderful. I'm working with kids from about 18 months to 14 years old.
I'll try to stay off my OT soapbox after this: Here are goals I hate:

• puzzles and shape-sorting- these are ACTIVITIES, not goals. 
• shoe tying- i'm just going to leave it at that
• grasping "pellets"- pulled straight from the PDMS-2
• sensory goals
• anything that is not somewhat developmentally appropriate for the child

OK, moving on. So I've been doing some driving for supervisory visits with the home COTA's and evals. 

The purple lines indicate towns I've been to (so far) from Tyler. The line near Longview is for Hallsville. 

Bucolic scene in Jacksonville, TX

They are lovely scenic drives for the most part. I drove through Big Sandy TX yesterday and stopped at a cutesy lil store called Nannie's Porch. Probably just the kind of place you can see me at. 

Anyway, let me talk about something. That something is country dogs. I love all dogs and want to save them all. However, this girl is not used to unleashed dogs out and about. Twice now on these visits, when pulling into a driveway, I've been told "don't worry! they'll move!" or "keep going, you won't hit them!" And while they likely right, what if I am that one time where someone actually hits the dog? I pulled into the wrong driveway last week on going to a re-eval and their dogs did not want me to get into their driveway. The owner told me that the dogs would probably chase the car down the road. And they did. One the way back out to the main road I passed this house again and the female pitbull (looked like she'd recently had puppies) ran after my car for probably almost a quarter mile and then stopped in the middle of the road looking at me drive away. I feel like if she could talk she'd say "and don't come back again!" Also, my first home visit the grandma offered me some tea and how could I refuse? 

Mirrored Wayfarer glasses are LIFE. 

Faulkner Park

So my daily routine is me coming home after work (imagine that) and taking Bella out for a walk after I change. We've usually been going to the Rose Rudman trail because it is nice and not secluded. This week we tried out Faulkner Park; more of a nature trail. And of course I'm freaking out any time Bella goes near anything that resembles poison ivy or the like because that's the last thing I need. 

Rose Rudman Trail

Faulkner Park 

I don't have too much else to say at the moment. I'm enjoying myself and starting to find new things to explore. I went to the apartment pool today and heard my damn dog barking the whole time because who knows why. I live next door to the pool. It was a nice day out though and I think I'm going to do it tomorrow again. 

That's all for now. Here's a picture of the sunset a couple days ago. 

Peace, love, and SPF,

LMJ

God Bless Texas

🌟🤠🐄🌳🔴♡🔵⛈

Greetings from Texas! 

Mom and I made it to Tyler TX Friday afternoon after a time of joyous fellowship and conversation (did you know she doesn't like ranch houses?) in the car with our third party member, Bella Jean Louise. She is not too fond of Grandma keeping her away from me when I am driving.

"I'm only this relaxed because I'm sitting with Mom"

We left Thursday afternoon and stopped in Searcy AR for the night. (Trip to Tyler from STL is about 10 hrs, give or take). 

Beautiful sunset sponsored by the Lord

We were on the road for roughly 6 hrs and only drove through heavier rain coming closer to Texas, which then started up again upon Dad's arrival with all of my stuff. I will take the humidity and storms over cold and snow any day. We had a pretty heavy thunderstorm Friday night. My parents stayed in a hotel Friday night and took off Saturday afternoon, after everything had been assembled and set up as needed. I got this FABULOUS mattress from Amazon that was vacuum-sealed and inflated once opened to a 12 inch mattress. Amazing technological and mechanical advances we have yet I still manage to destroy a package of Peperridge (sp.) Farm Goldfish or Milanos EVERY time I open them. Anyway, we had some good ol Texas BBQ for dinner and it was dyn-o-mite. 

Everything is set up and my folks are back home in the cold, drizzly STL weather. I am SO thankful for their assistance and support. It is beautiful here and everything is nice and green... a color we aren't seeing too much on St. Louis landscapes. Bella and I went on a nice walk yesterday afternoon to the cement plant down the road. The apartments I:m staying in are really nice and kind of isolated from the main roads so it is more quiet. There is a pool here that is basically at my doorstep and a great park not far for walking and potential rollerblading!

Happy and rolling around in the grass.

That's all she wrote for now. Just wanted to get up and running here. Hello to everyone in St. Louis, Virginia, and elsewhere and much love!

Work starts tomorrow! 

Peace, love, and BBQ

LMJ

Heave a Sigh, Say Goodbye

Here I am!
I apologize for the delay between posts things have been movin' and shakin' for me. I'm back in St. Louis for a brief stop before journeying onward to greener pastures. I made it in time for Easter! Pics then the scoop.

The Family

The Most Annoying, Beautiful, and Exasperating Dog  

Bella and I were going to home this week anyway but now we are NOT going back to ol' Virginia.  I've been waiting on saying anything until my next plans were finalized.  I found out end of February that my contract was going to end early due to low census at my SNF so I had to scramble to find what to do next. My contract requires I get a month's notice before leaving so I just got settled and then found this out. While I absolutely LOVED my co-workers, I'm was a bit relieved to find this out merely for the stress of productivity and the paperwork that comes with being an OTR (and the only one).

So I am here for a brief stop in STL to get my shit together and move on.... ⭐🌵🤠🐄🐎

Y'ALL, I'M GOING TO TEXAS! 

My TX license just posted yesterday. Some states are quicker to get OT licenses than others and TX is one of them. I'm going back to peds! I'm going to be doing pediatric home health and clinic-based therapy. I do like working in SNFs but pediatrics is my home and I've missed it.  I'll be staying and working in Tyler TX- a hop, skip, and a jump away from relatives. Which is good because I'll be visiting to do laundry! 

But I want to re-cap Virginia. It's been a great experience and I'm really glad it was my first travel experience. 

PLACES WE'VE BEEN

• Hungry Mother State Park
• Dismal Falls
• Natural Bridge State Park
• Shenandoah National Park
• Claytor Lake State Park
• Big Walker Mountain Lookout
• The Smallest Church in Wytheville
• The New River Gorge National River
• Sandstone Falls (from the lookout point)
• Amish Market 
• Bluestone Dam (New River)
• Louisville Outlet Mall
• Mercer Mall (WV)

THINGS I'LL MISS

• First and foremost: my co-workers! You all are hilarious and great to work with! I will miss you all dearly. Certain patients-that-will-remain-nameless can kiss my grits. Anyway, you'll have to keep my posted of the happenings there! 
• My quaint little cabin and the tiny town of Bland.
• Good water pressure
• The bathtub
• Nice drivers
• Scenic drives on the way to work
• The mountains
• I've met some really nice people

THINGS I'VE LEARNED

• What flat-footing is 
• The definitions of a pannus and cowboy catheter
• Where drug activity is in Southwest Virginia (Pulaski, Bluefield)
• The prostitution scene and set-up down here (hint: soda bottles)
• How FABULOUS a rehab tech is to have around (Melissa is a true gem)
• People actually eat gopher and squirrel 'round here 
• Productivity is still a bitch and unrealistic for an OTR

Melting snow flooding the creek (one of our favorite walking spots)

Coming into Charleston, WV (capital building to L)

Again, I apologize for the delay in blog posts. In STL for a couple days then on the road to TX.

Peace, love, and bluebells,

LMJ