Friday, 24 June 2016

An update of June

I didn't realize that I hadn't updated this blog since before I got back from my trip. Oops. Not that anything exciting has happened, but still, blogging is good for the soul. So let's catch up shall we?

I turned 27 the day after we got back. It wasn't bad, and I got a sweet backpack out of it for school. I also got a book for the ages, The Bitchy Waiter. I've been following Darron's blog for years and to have his book with some of my favorite stories in it is awesome. I got many other gifts but those were the ones I was most excited about.

June 14 marked the beginning of ESY. Through bargaining I was able to be with the kid I was supposed to be with, and three of her classmates. I'm not going to get into how much our on-site administrator messed up, she wasn't even there for the first week and we weren't even in our original classroom. The first week was rough, with no printer, a teacher who has never taught elementary, let alone autism, and an EA who just wanted to leave early. But I had my kooky pants, so I was happy. This week was better, we got back into our old classroom which has more materials, we have a new administrator who really knows what she's doing, and it's just all around better. Only nine days left.

J turned 26. It was a pretty good birthday for him...let's just leave it at that.

And now, for OT things.

I'm registered to take my CPR class July 1st. Monday I'm going to call my doctor to get my shot record and make sure I'm up to speed. The only foreseeable problem is my name...I know that my name is Kathryn and that there are at least a dozen different ways of spelling it, but it still annoys me when they get it wrong.

So last week I went to get my badge picture taken and after walking over from the OT building to the hospital, I notice that my name is spelled wrong. I had to walk all the way back in the sweltering New Mexican heat to have them fill out a new form and then walk back, hoping that the fact that I sweat like a man won't mess up my hair and makeup. So I get it fixed and the security guard says that my name is already in the system. So I get my picture taken, they print out my badge, and halfway back to my car when I see that my name is spelled wrong, which means that it's spelled wrong in the system...sigh. And my adviser is two steps away from popping out a baby and going on maternity leave. So at some point, I need to email her and see what I need to do to get my name fixed.

Oh, and one more thing. My car. I finally was able to figure out what the problem is, and it isn't the ignition switch. Turns out it is actually the radio. It's malfunctioning, Even though it's turned off there's a part of it that is still on when the car is off which is draining the battery. But I know what it is and I can maybe go somewhere and have them disconnect it until I can figure out what kind of radio I want to replace it.

And that's really it for now. I'm still excited about the comment I got on my last post, woot! Until next time!

Friday, 3 June 2016

From California to Nevada

What a vacation this has been. Let's go by the days.

Saturday: We didn't do much. J and his cousins played games and I played with my Nintendo DS. I was a little restless due to the craziness that has been by life the past year but I'm slowly learning to relax.

Sunday: We wanted to go to lunch and see a movie. And we did. Only we wanted to take my car and I left a light one. Yup, dead battery. As if my car wasn't going through enough problems. We were able to jump it and drive around to where we wanted to go though. We saw the new X-Men movie and I honestly can't understand the bad reviews it's getting because I actually liked it.

Monday: Again, we didn't do much. I got a new straightener and tried it out. It's one of the ones that looks like a brush. It works okay, but I'll know more when I'm in a modern bathroom.

Tuesday: Great day. We went to the water park with J and his cousin. It made me nostalgic for the days when the Beach was still a part of Albuquerque. I had so much fun and the best part was I didn't get sunburned due to winning at sunscreen application. The boys? Not so much. Luckily J's aunt has Aloe Vera plants aplenty. I think the best part was the wave pool for me. Swimming out there against the waves, finding a tube, getting in it, swimming out even further into the heart of the waves and riding them back. I loved it.

Wednesday. More car troubles. My car died yet again so we had to take J's cousin's car to San Diego. It was me, J, his cousin, his cousin's wife, J's mom, and the longest most annoying lawn decoration for two hours. We survived though. And had a great time at the San Diego zoo. I loved it there and even more so that I got to see panda bears for the first time. I got a ton of pictures. We didn't get back until late, but even then J's uncle was willing to take a look at my car. He thinks it might be the ignition switch which makes sense because the ignition was ripped to shreds last July when some assholes decided to try and steal my car. We got it started and charged up the battery overnight.

Thursday: We were going to go to the beach but since the boys got sunburned we went to the brewery and tried out some beers instead. As per usual, I learned that I love the dark chocolate beers and DESPISE IPAs. Afterwards was bowling where I was terrible as usual but did improve my score from a 51 to 69. That night was a party for J's grandmother who's birthday is on Sunday. She has the sweetest little dog that I love playing with. She's very sweet too, and in need of some care, as she only weighs 68 pounds. But she agreed to move in with J's aunt which I'm happy about because that way she will get the care she needs and she can gain some weight. She really is very nice and very sweet and I want to see her again, healthy.

Which brings us today: Spent the morning in a car and dropped J off at Excalibur on the strip in Vegas to have fun with his buddies. Then I drove to my aunt and uncle's house where food and comfort were waiting. J's aunt's house was so hot (they hadn't turned on the swamp cooler yet) and my aunt's house is so nice and cool. I even got to gamble some with them. I lost pretty bad. $40 of my own savings plus a $20 my aunt gave me and I got $3.28 out of it. Yeah not for me. And now I'm showered and ready for bed, sitting in a guest room blogging. I get my own bathroom which is nice. And a humidifier that is nice and loud for white noise.

I miss my house. I miss Albuquerque. This is the longest I've been away from home since before I started college. But it's been fun and I know I won't have a vacation like this until after I finish grad school probably. So I'm enjoying it while it lasts.