Update

I'm long overdue for an update - but I am low on energy and will keep this brief for now.

I have a dog - Maddie, my new little corgi, has been mine for about three weeks now.

I have a job - I am working a contract position in a rehab hospital in Cheyenne. So for 13 weeks this is my home.

I am living alone for the first time - ever. It is a strange combination of comfortable and uncomfortable. I have to get used to being around only me. The dog helps. I decided not to get tv. There are so many things that I've said I'd do "when I have the time." So far, I've been unpacking boxes....but presumably I'll do some of those things soon.

And I am still searching for what I will do once these 13 weeks are over.

I'll fill in details later, but for now at least there is something!

How much?!

I have seen the most recent numbers for the total amount that I now owe to the federal government for my student loans.

Part of me wonders now, had I known when I started college that this would be the total (growing total) that I now owe, would I have still done college?...grad school?

So at my current monthly payment, I should have the loans paid off by the year 2019.

.........sigh. Tara, maybe I'll be taking that $75/hr job in Alaska now.

craft-cocaine

I was in a discount store and saw discounted blank scrapbooks, and discounted papers, and discounted stickers and so on. For a very reasonable price I was able to purchase a book, papers, and a few embellishments - all coordinated to eliminate the need to buy more later.

I have come to learn two things:

* Scrapbooking takes FOREVER
* There is always something more that you think you might need to make the perfect page.

I am sticking to the discounted items....but let me confess that the checkers at the craft store know my name.

I've been tagged!

My friend, Tara, tagged me! Here are the rules as well as my responses:



1. I love to read. I really enjoy starting a book and being completely wrapped up in it. But I am terrible about finishing a book. Perhaps part of my problem is that I don't want an enjoyable book to end! So I have a bookshelf filled with books I've read - most of the way through!

2. I start a new job in a few weeks and am terribly nervous about being on my own. I am afraid that I will end up walking the halls of the hospital without a clue as to what I should do with my patients. I know this won't happen, but it is still my fear.

3. My most silly pet-peeves are drivers who drive with their blinker on, but don't turn or change lanes; and drivers who like to declare how big of a fan they are by placing a team logo sticker on their car - but are not fan enough to know how to put it on straight.

4. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. One reason is because many of my family members have November or early December birthdays. So Thanksgiving becomes a mini reunion as well as a great meal! Also, while many other holidays have become commercialized and involve the potential for gift-giving-stress, it seems that Thanksgiving is still about reflecting on all that there is to be thankful for and spending time with friends and family.

5. My friends are amazing. We all used to live reasonably close to each other, but the past few years have found us geographically scattered. Michigan, Utah, Hawaii, Louisiana, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota....it is weird to think that most of my friends don't live near me anymore but thanks to cell phones (I love the Verizon in-network calling!) we are still involved in each others' lives!

6. I have a fear of bears/mountain lions that has no real cause. I know it is good to have a healthy respect for natural predators, but I have never seen a bear or lion. I love camping and backpacking - so when I am in my tent at night listening to the sounds of the forest, I convince myself that it is a bear lurking.

7. I started knitting a baby blanket for a friend of mine when I found out she was pregnant. Her baby is now 7 months old. When I had another friend become pregnant, I thought I'd finish the blanket and give it to her. Her baby is now 4 months old. I have another friend who has carried and birthed her baby. Still no blanket. Knitting a baby blanket on size 7 needles takes a long time! I might not be fast, but I am persistent!

I am tagging: Bob, Megan, Andrea, Kami

Headhunters

Within 2 hours of posting my resume online I received my first call. By noon the following day I had received 20 calls. Now, still only one week later, I am constantly hearing the ring of my own cell phone.

I have begun keeping a spreadsheet to track each contact, with each company, what jobs they have to offer, the pay, the location....and so on. With all of the jobs out there, it seems that Colorado is apparently all stocked up on OTs. I've heard many reasons including no required licensure, great environment, close to OT program...and so on. No one is optimistic that I will find a job in the area.

It is kind of fun to talk about different locations with these recruiters. So far I've leared where Farmington, NM...Gallipolis, OH...Zanesville, OH...are located as well as considered the coast of Maine, Portland, Tennessee, Nevada, Utah...even now I am on the phone with a recruiter who just called....They may have toll-free numbers, but I still have to keep an eye on my cell phone minutes.

So I am hoping to stay in this area and at the same time find a job that will be a good fit for me personally and in terms of career development.

Fall, Bugling, and Silly Questions

Last weekend Rob and I drove to Rocky Mt. National Park to see the leaves and hear the elk. It was a wonderful day, nicely timed to see the beginning of the leaves changing. Even the drive up the canyon was prettier than I remembered.

In the park we enjoyed the expected clumps of tourists gawking at some elk standing near the side of the road. There was one woman in particular who was not shy or quiet with her wildlife comments - about and to the animals! A few days later I saw a bit on the local news with an interview of a park ranger. This ranger said he'd been overwhelmed with the silly nature of some of the questions tourists would ask. "How old are the deer when they turn into elk?" Or similarly, "At what elevation do deer become elk?" While there might not be any stupid questions, I still think there are definitely silly ones!

And yes, there were many elk. While I had been into the park several times before, this was the first time that I'd heard the elk bugle! It was amazing to sit watching a bull with his cows and hear him call to another bull out of sight and hear that bull call back.

The last thing we did was hike to Cub Lake. I had done this hike with my dad about 10 years ago and have wanted to go back from the moment we left. It was a short hike, still longer than I remembered, and well worth the effort to reach the lake again!

October

It is October 1, and that means it is time to add another goal to the list!

I talked to Connie (my friend and teammate in monthly goals) and mentioned that I would like to expand the scope of my goals beyond just exercise and food related ones for a few reasons. First off, life is more than food and exercise. Secondly, I feel like I would be better able to incorporate goals without burn-out if they all don't center around food. Spacing those food/exercise goals out among ones of other areas might allow me more time to incorporate them as habits rather than rushing onto another facet of food consumption.

So, my goal for October is to be a daily flosser. I know, exciting!

Love - It's what makes a Subaru a Subaru

I got a call this morning from my mechanic saying my car was done and working as intended! Better yet, I was also told that the total cost of repairs and parts came in at $200 less than the lower end of the estimate range. This is not the first time that my mechanic has provided quality repairs at a price below the initial estimate. It feels great to have a place to take my car and not have to worry that I will be taken advantage of! So thanks to Wayne and Joe for taking such good care of me and my car! Now I very well may have enough money left over from the accident to repair the damage to my car door!

Looking for a good mechanic near you? Check out the Mechanics Files to find one near you!

The Job Search

So I have been job-hunting lately. It seems that many of the "promising" leads early on have fizzled out. Today I started up my profile on a networking site (www.linkedin.com) in hopes of revealing potential job connections. While I am still looking for some local options, it appears there are many occupational therapy themed groups. It is a place to start!

Don's Towing Service

Yesterday I watched Don, a bearded man with a long, white ponytail, cart my car away. He laughed at me for being sad, but I really was.

I was sad for the inconvenience of being without my car for a week or two. Sad for the bill that will come at the end of that time. But mostly sad to see my car out of commission, ratcheted down on a flatbed truck...a giant paper weight...or small storage locker...but not the lively vehicle that has taken me to many places over the past few years. It is the first car that I felt safe driving in the snow - we easily went snowshoeing, Christmas tree cutting, and the car brought me safely between Laramie and Loveland and Glenwood Springs and Loveland in many terrible snow storms. This is the car that Emily and Aidan and I drove to Oregon to visit Megan. So seeing my car, unable to be driven, I was sad as Don towed it away.

The "T word"

My car started having some troubles staying in 5th gear, and after some research online I decided to take the car into my mechanic to see what might be the issue. I had some small hopes that instead of a giant, costly repair it would be a simple fix. Unfortunately my mechanic used the "T word"....transmission.

Despite assurances that I had time, my transmission has given up the ghost. It really couldn't be much more convenient...considering. I was pulling into a friend's driveway when it ceased working altogether, and I do have some funds from an earlier accident that will now be allocated to new repairs. (Who would have ever thought that a minor accident would be such a blessing now!?)

So now I will get to juggle commitments with borrowing vehicles and getting more exercise by biking to nearby errands! (silver lining!) Hopefully the next few weeks will continue to go smoothly with speedy repairs and such!

Not in shape

When I was doing an internship in Laramie I found myself with loads of free time. I'd go for walks every day after work mostly to pass the time. Soon I had a regular habit of an hour or more of brisk walking most days of the week. And it showed too! I dropped a quick 10lbs.

My next internship was in Glenwood Springs over the winter where we saw 13 feet of snow over the winter months. That combined with my need to have my nose in a book left me in a more sedentary state. And that too showed. Back came the 10lbs plus more. Time for some change!

Over the past several years I've come to learn about what motivates me. It is time to use some of these lessons to help me stick to my plan to get back into shape. For example:

* I used to have free access to the university rec center with top of the line equipment, yet I rarely used it.

* I have a limited income and don't like to waste my money.

* I like to measure and track information.

Together, I can use all of these to help me adhere to my fitness goals! I happened across a very cheap gym membership. Being financially invested, even a little bit, encourages me to hit the gym on the way home from work rather than stopping home for dinner and never again stepping out of the house! Even though the monthy fee is small, I'd prefer not to pay a gym for me not to use it. So I figured I should use it, at minimum, frequently enought to make it cheaper on average visit than a pay-per-visit fee at a community rec center. So far so good. I feel better actually moving and making my body work in ways it was intended to (not just flipping TV stations or internet surfing...).

So I will have to check in here occasionally to prove that my investment has really been a good one!

Intent

I have recently been in a season of transition. I am leaving the world of being a student and preparing to enter that of a young professional. I feel that I must be getting closer to the latter, but I can't say how long until that happens. I have decided to take advantage of this undefined period of time to organize my life, to establish some good habits, etc.

This blog is to be used as a tool for me to do so. That said, it will probably be a random compilation of the things I am trying to simultaneously work through. Take from it what you will...and I hope you enjoy my ramblings and peeks into my life these days!