I am Rachel from Friends

A big pushover. Yep, that's what I am. I gave my two week notice at work today and ended up feeling so bad that I agreed to stay another two weeks working part-time. Even though I'll be working full-time at another job. Yep, I'm a pushover. And now I'm going to be very tired over the next month. But at least I get two weeks of Christmas break after that. Wahoo!

Back to school

Except for this time I get paid to go. I've accepted a job working in schools and will no longer have my Fridays off (sniff, cry, sob) but I will get spring break. Wahoo! It's going to be weird working in an elementary school. I'm already excited to see what they have for school lunch, cause here in the big city, you actually get CHOICES. We didn't have that in Manila.

The reasons I'm leaving my job (the edited version):

1. Right now I have to work with adults instead of just kids. The adults I see are very sad. I recently evaluated a patient who had just sustained a neck injury from a fall. Completely paralyzed. He can move his eyes and blink and that's basically it. The worst part about it? Minimal to no brain damage. So he is completely aware of everything going on around him and he cries every time I work with him. It makes me want to cry with him. I like working with kids where you can see progress.

2. I'm tired of feeling like an incompetent clinician. I have no other therapists to consult with when I get challenging kids and have no idea what to do with them. So I just wing it and feel like an idiot, especially when their parents are watching me. I feel great about myself and my job 90% of the time (when I'm working with kids), but that other 10% really bothers me.

And two other reasons that I decided to delete just in case someone I don't want to find my blog reads this.

At my new job, I already know my boss is nice. And I will be given a list phone numbers for several other therapists. And I will only work with kids. And they will be cute and fun. See? It's better already.

I've been tagged

By a Gnome in DC. So here are seven random things about myself.

1. I never remember to close drawers or cupboard doors. You can trace my steps throughout our apartment based on which doors are left open. I lived in one house that had tons of drawers in my bedroom dresser. Twelve at least and they were all open, all the time.

2. I have to read a book in it's entirety the day that I start it. I can't sleep until it's finished. Even book seven of Harry Potter was finished within hours.

3. Cereal is my favorite food. Every kind of cereal. I eat it every morning for breakfast (unless it's fast Sunday) and most days I have it for dinner as well. Right now I'm hooked on Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds.

4. I've never seen Goonies or Monte Python and the Holy Grail (?). Apparently this is unusual, judging by the reactions I get when I share this information.

5. My favorite after-work activity is checking the mail.

6. I like to recycle and I'm making my husband learn to like it as well. Why? Because I LIKE NATURE :)

7. I have the cutest feet. Ever. Just ask Gnomie and Josh. Gnomie used to get so jealous she couldn't even look at them. True story.

Four job interviews=Four job offers

Seriously, I chose the best profession ever. If anyone is considering a career move, I highly recommend speech therapy. Even Josh has talked about it.

Mine vs. Ours

After getting married, things that were once considered mine are now "ours." This is fine with most things, such as money, food, etc. But there are some things that you do not share after marriage. Toothbrushes and and underwear are two obvious examples. Since being married, I have also discovered other items that I am unwilling to share:

1. My socks. I would have assumed this one would be just as obvious as underwear, since Josh's feet are about two times the size of mine. But apparently it's not that obvious, since I soon found all of my socks so stretched out there was no elastic left at all! Besides that, feet are gross and I don't want to share my socks!

2. My pillow. I don't like new pillows. They're too fluffy and I feel like I'm suffocating in them. My pillow is probably older than I am and it is finally at the perfect flatness. And it's MINE. Josh tries to trick me and switch it with another one, but I know. I always know.

I remember I had a roommate who was this way with her hairbrush. Now I completely understand.

The Cankle Returns!!

So on Thursday Josh "tripped" and sprained his ankle. Bad. He was still walking on it that night, but on Friday morning he could barely move at all.




Here it is on Sunday-totally bruised and swollen:
Poor guy. He says he sprains it almost every year. Hey Heathbar, remember when you had your cankle? Did it ever get back to normal?

I heard Christmas music playing at a store on Thursday. At first I was upset. They have no right to play Christmas music two week before Thanksgiving! And then I found myself singing along to it. And how can you be mad at anything when you're singing Christmas music?

Arizona State Fair

Before the State Fair, it was time for yet another ASU football game. Lucky for me, this was not a home game, so we went over to a friend's house to watch the Sundevils lose to the Oregon Ducks. A very sad night for ASU. But the Oregon fans weren't sad:



Even though he was sad about the game, Josh managed to not talk about it the entire night and still had fun at the state fair. I haven't been to a fair for years and I can't believe how nothing has changed.

There are still the biggest animals ever:


The demolition derby:



The knock-over-the-bottles game:

(Josh came so close to winning. Everyone was cheering for him, but there was one that just would not fall down.)

And finally, the classic Skee Ball. I'm no better at this game than I was when I was twelve:



Even though the fair is in the middle of a huge city, I was happy to see plenty of mullets, suspenders, and wrangler butts. What a great State Fair. The only thing missing was me winning purple ribbons for my lamb, my cookies, and my home-sewn dress.