Life is a Cookie....

..... I'm taking one bite at a time.

Props to warm chocolate chip cookies in the oven, freshly brewed coffee, and a stack of movies waiting to occupy the remainder of my Friday night! I got a coupon in the mail for $1.99 rentals all month at Blockbuster. I know, I know....I can rent movies for $1.00 at Walmart or Publix, BUT I only get to keep them for a day if I do that. I like renting them in bulk because 1.) I am indecisive and can't pick just one at a time, 2.) sometimes I find shows on that I would prefer not to miss in the evenings, and 3.) I hate late fees and have plenty of time to remember to return them on time. I love how I just had to justify spending a buck. Kinda ridiculous, I know.

Props to Arnie for his progress in potty training. I took a friend's advice and bought a bell. He was doing well without it, but that's because I was literally taking him outside every 30 minutes to avoid accidents. I wanted a way for him to let me know when he needs to go out, so I bought some holiday bells and hung them by the door. He was scared and confused at first by them, but I consistently ring them before taking him out. I've slowly started to "nudge" the bells with his tail, nose, or paws before going out to show him that he can ring the bell too! haha....this sounds completely cheesy. BUT -it is, thus far, a success!!! Now, every time I ring the bell, Arnie comes darting across the apartment -straight to the door. He sits there & waits for me to put his leash on him and take him out. What a cutie! This evening, he walked straight up to the bell. Then, low & behold, "ring-a-ling-a-ling!" He might have rang the bell by accident, I'm not sure, but I'm gonna think otherwise and say that he totally did it on purpose! :)

Don't worry....I didn't forget about the cookies in the oven!!!!

I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with family. Initially, I wasn't going to go home because after the weddings and 3 trips in the past couple of months, I couldn't afford another flight. The more I thought about spending the holiday here, the more upset I got. So, of course, I am going home! My dad booked a flight down here on Friday the 20th, so he will spend the weekend here with me in Florida. He is gonna ride to WV with me on Monday evening after work. I am taking Tuesday off. I won't have to drive back until Sunday, yay! My dad, sister, hopefully brother, and I are going to Columbus to spend Turkey Day with some cousins on my mom's side of the family. I'm very excited about that. I plan to spend Friday and Saturday with friends in Huntington. I need them.

Work has been a lot more hectic than usual lately. I knew that the schools required a lot of paperwork, but GEEZ -I feel like I am spending more time on IEPs & the 10,000 forms that have to be filled out & sent out (10x each). Okay, I am exaggerating slightly, LOL. No, but really. The IEPs are all computer based... mostly clicking the mouse & checking boxes. Very little writing. The eval forms are literally one page (a chart) that don't leave much space for interpretation. So, why should it seem that I am spending more time on paperwork than treatment? Well, because I am! Hello real world. The paperwork is not hard. I will say that. And, to be honest, I really don't mind doing it. Some days I enjoy it. But now I am feeling like I don't have time to pull all of my kids because I have to meet deadlines. That is the biggest thing in the schools -deadlines. Yikes. EVERYTHING has a due date. With red tape. Keep in mind that I am only at my middle school twice a week, so some days I have to schedule IEP meetings or work on reports instead of pulling kids. I only have access to the IEP program at work -I can't complete reports at home or anywhere else other than at work. Now I understand why kids are in middle school or high school and still in speech. On a better note -I just ordered $350 worth of Super Duper therapy materials today!!! Oh, yay! I am so excited to have stuff that isn't printed & laminated by me, haha. My company will give me reimbursement for the materials, but I securely had to wait until I had the extra money to order and pay for them myself first. I hope it will be delivered sometime next week.

I haven't been doing much lately in terms of fun activities. Instead, I've really been enjoying quiet time at home with my pooch. I did go to the fair with Erin & her little girl which was fun. My favorite part was the animals. Oh, and the extremely unhealthy fair food & cotton candy!

I also went to Orlando a couple of weeks ago with my supervisor Stacie. We drove down on Saturday and got a hotel. We sun bathed by the pool during the day and then went to City Walk at Universal that evening and met up with some of my MU buddies. We went to an awesome karaoke bar there that had live backup singers/dancers & a band to sing with. VERY COOL in my book! It was a blast. We went to Bob Marly's and to a piano bar too & just shopped around. It was Halloween, so there was a lot going on that night. Fun! We both decided to drive back on Sunday though because I wasn't feeling well (had a head cold), and the MU/UCF game didn't start til 8 p.m. when we both had to work in the a.m. It was a wise decision, however, because the game didn't end so well. I hope tomorrow's game turns out the opposite. Fingers crossed. Go Herd!