Olympics and more!

Please be aware that I have been having html glitches with the cutting post feature, so if you start reading an entry and it doesn't fully make sense or looks too short, you may want to click through to make sure you get all the awesomeness (or subscribe with google reader and never miss an update). anyway, time to click through

One of the things about having an OT blog is that I do try to keep it OT-focused, but while there is a whole lot of OT in my life, there's a lot of other things too. So sometimes, that needs to leach in.

I made it through my (sprint distance) triathlon! I achieved my goals: no injury, no crying, and beat my anticipated time by 10 minutes. I'm really happy to be able to finish and feel well throughout the whole event. My running skills are basically nil at this point though, and I am starting the couch to 5K program over again and seeking out some professional PT help to fix my knee. I don't know that I'll be able to do another event this year, but I hope to work up to an Olympic distance triathlon and running a half marathon... maybe by next year.

Speaking of Olympics... I am a huge fan and am currently watching as many events as possible. I thought it was cool to see more representation of persons with disabilities in the opening ceremony. The children's choir featured Signing of "God Save the Queen" which was wonderful... signing can bring so much to more to songs, I love when an interpreter is included in a band or choir. The featured percussionist was also Deaf. There were a contingent of wheelchair dancers in the crazy multi-decade dance number and several individuals with physical disabilities in the cast and with the parade of nations. The best part was that this was a mostly seamless inclusion, not identified as anything out of the ordinary, just a normal thing.

The opening ceremony also featured the British National Health System and the children's hospital. This was interesting for me since in the U.S. we have been fighting over healthcare in a very extreme fashion, including people fighting for the right to not have insurance. Additionally, some of the twitter folks that I follow are service users for the NHS and it seems like while it may not be as heated as our current debate, I didn't expect it to be such a source of pride to be included in the ceremony. UK readers, feel free to let me know how you felt about that.

So that should give you an idea of how my free time will be spent in the coming weeks... Also we've had out of town visits for old friends and my brother is getting married, so I will be pretty busy. Will probably have to avoid twitter to a degree so that I avoid spoilers to the events (my husband already revealed some swimming results too early). Hope you all have a lovely day and that the feats of strength inspire many people to physical activity!

Life moves pretty fast sometimes...

So as I was driving back from a job today and struck by an interesting reflection, that in an introspective way snowballed into a larger reflection.

Way back in early 2007 as part of my management class, we had to do a project where we outlined how to start a clinic or business. Any field of OT, any location, but needed to be very thorough. I tried to make mine as realistic as was feasible. I chose to focus on the area where I would be living after graduation, chose to have an outpatient clinic specializing in spinal cord injury and back injury (because there was no specialty clinic anywhere near the location and it was a personal interest), and picked out the office building to rent. It was an interesting project (as interesting as anything in your final semester can be), got a B, no biggie. Though I thought it was a great idea, I didn't seriously entertain that I would ever attempt to start my own business.

I am a person who feels compelled to immediately repay $1 borrowed from a friend, so the idea of applying for a hundreds of thousands of dollars loan (or more) is absolutely terrifying. I don't know that I could have the guts to "go for it" in the way needed to have a real business start up.

I think it was a couple of years ago that I was at an NBCOT volunteer meeting, chatting with some of the most awesome OT people in the country, that I was griping about my situation in the hospital. There was a lot to be frustrated about, who can really remember what specific complaint it would have been, but I think it must have been about reaching the pediatric population effectively. The response I got was "start your own business" and you probably could have knocked me over with a finger. How could I do that? I don't have enough experience or funds or or or or... I didn't see that as a feasible possibility.

So I drove by the office building that I had picked out over 5 years ago as my SCI clinic (Spine Care Institute: Back to Life TM) and noticed that it is now a cafe. Will that business succeed? What were their thoughts and fears when they started? I know not. However, in those same 5 years, I have sort of become a small business owner by becoming an independent EI practitioner. Got my own little cutesy business cards, a business address (itty bitty PO box), fill out my own bills, that kind of thing. It doesn't quite feel _real_ yet, but it is essentially true. I didn't really imagine that I would be _here_ maybe ever, an certainly not now. But that's how these things happen, I suppose.

I'm still waiting to find out what is possible in the coming year. For awhile, we thought we might be abroad for 2 months (?!!!) which would have been both crazy and cool, but it looks like that has fallen through. Being unsettled in this area is frustrating. I know that I'm in a holding pattern, and it was making me very stressed and worrisome. It's been getting better, and in a current study an applicable word came up. "Hupomone" means patience in situations, and get translated as perseverance and endurance. The root word is that for "hope." So I continue to hope and for now, that's working.

A day in the life

I should do a day of work sometime... probably a couple to better capture the oddness that is my life. But here's a Saturday. Not typical, but still part of the tapestry of life.

To Do Today:
-11.5 mile bike ride, to scope the course for the triathlon (check)
-shower/lunch/recovery time (check, doing now)
-write 2 early intervention evals
-send out continuing education credits to the legislative bill review committee
-foam roller! (must not forget this!)
-laundry (approx 6-10 loads)
-dishes
-clean up post-vacation mess
-review some blog moments and outline good OT stories for (semi-secret?) interview
-email Awesome Abby
-blog post? (unlikely, unless this counts, which it doesn't really)
-comment on a stixyboard for my dad
-OT dinner party (plus cannolis? a girl can dream...)