I am BACK baby! With Clinic I under my belt, it's actually very nice to be back in the classroom and swapping experiences with my peers. I can't really express how different I felt in terms of confidence from Week 0 to Week 4 to Week 8! I know I've just gotten the tip of the iceberg of learning and knowledge, but at least now I have to tools to climb (descend?) the iceberg! Fort Drum broke me in a bit - and now I'm ready to take on the next year and a half of class/Clinics 2,3,and 4. My classes right now are not too intense, but very interesting: Acquired Conditions (orthotics, prosthetics, and spinal cord injuries) and Teaching. It's pretty amazing to be in these classes right now - I was starting to get a little too used to "higher functioning" patients at Fort Drum (think super active army guys with shin splints). At the first SCI (spinal cord injury) class of this shortened semester, I got a little freaked out talking about patients who didn't have any sensory or motor function below their biceps! Within the space of an hour or so, I remembered why I found physical therapy so exciting in the
first place. Many people with spinal cord injuries learn to find THEIR optimal function, they push themselves to challenge their bodies as much as possible in order to participate in their homes and communities to the best of their abilities - how many of us do that on any given day? And in a couple years, I will be able to facilitate that process :) I TOLD you it was exciting!So, yes! I am home! On the house front, we have two ado
rable new trees! They are itty bitty now (a crabapple and a maple) but as long as they survive this first winter, they should be good to go. We even had a little help from our friends to plant them :) It was lovely to comme
morate putting down "roots" (awwwwwww we are ridiculous) with Damie
n (and Mustard!), Lauren, and Dan. The tree-planting was about as ambitious as we got all weekend - we spent the rest playing Beatles Rock Band! Finally some songs I knew the words to . . . .On a mushy romantic note, Jess and I celebrated our 2-year anniversary a couple weeks ago :) As most of you know, our anniversary is October 13th, but since on the morning of the 13th I was driving BACK up to Fort Drum for my last week of Clinic 1, we decided to post-pone the festivities til the weekend. We spent Saturday night at one of our favorit
e B&B's in Spencer, NY: Slice of Home owned by Bea and Sterling. The morning spread is generous and home-cooked, the owners relaxed and knowledgeable, and the view from the outdoor hottub ("suits optional" as Sterling always says!) of Finger Lake hills fringing an open field is one of our favorites. A bit of wine tasting and a hike (a new anniversary tradition, 2 years running!) through Treman Park near Ithaca and we were happy campers.Stay tuned soon
for our weekend in Philly and my first ever baby shower. Plus, we'll see if I pull off the Halloween costumes for tomorrow - I always have lofty ambi
tions that ra
rely pan out :)
