Come December we will be going to…
County Fair
The BoCo Fair is in town this week, so Noah and decided to go there for lunch today after church. Having never been to the BoCo Fair I wanted to see what it was like. Let’s just say I was glad it was free.
No fun junk food vendors
No long-horn steer
No sheep
No horses
No pig races
Only 1 exhibit building
No big name bands
It was a fun way to spend lunch and part of the afternoon but it was no Ventura County Fair, that’s for sure!
So remember that horse ranch I mentioned…
I got an email back from the volunteer coordinator on the 22nd who was “very impressed with [my] spirit of volunteerism and diverse background!” Yay! Here is the volunteer position:
Lesson volunteers help prepare horses for and act as horse leaders and/or side-walkers during therapeutic riding lessons and hippotherapy sessions. Lesson volunteers commit to a minimum of two hours for the same class each with of the 10-week session with the same horse and rider. It is possible to sign-up for multiple classes, as well. Volunteers must be at least 16 years of age (with minimal horse experience) or 14 years of age (with significant horse handling experience) and generally come from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and levels of horse experience!
I go to training on September 12th in preparation for the next session, which starts on September 14th! I am very excited!!!
Kimmy comes to Colorado
This past week my friend Kimmy (from Ventura by way of Houston) came to the Springs with her boyfriend as he had an annual work conference to attend. They chose to (more like Kimmy forced her boyfriend) extend their stay so we could come down for a visit. Yesterday morning we departed bright and early to meet them at their hotel. From there we all conquered our first 14er (mountain over 14,000-feet in elevation) and had an incident with an Audi, then we strolled around Garden of the Gods where I nearly got in trouble for throwing a “rock” at Kimmy and she and Chad were subjected to park “ranger” paparazzi. Then it was off to their new hotel, dinner and we returned home.
We had a blast and now it’s our turn to visit them down in Texas.
Pictures (more on Facebook until I get a chance to apply modifications).
Five, Cinq, Cinco, Cinque
Yesterday was our 5th wedding anniversary! Wow! Has it really been five years already? July 17th also is the 3rd anniversary of living in Colorado and in our house! Neither one of us took the day off from work but we did celebrate by going out for a steak dinner at Magnolia in Lafayette. Delicious! We then went to Wal-Mart…partly to be a joke and partly because we’re too cheap to actually go to the theatre and would rather buy a DVD. And to top off the red-neck status, we grabbed dessert at DQ!
Disappointed in how we celebrated 5 years of being married? Perhaps you should know that we’re going to Ireland in December, when I have 2 weeks off paid from work. 😀 Better? Thought so!
Life at Laradon
So far I have been at my job for a little over two months but it seems like I’ve always been there. I love my job and the training that comes with it!
Other than going through orientation I have also completed the following training/certifications:
- First Aid
- CPR (with use of defibrillator)
- MANE (Mistreatment, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation)
- Incident reporting
- Safety Care behavioral response (methods for pro-actively and re-actively dealing with behaviors)
- QMAP (Qualified Medication Administration Personnel) – not everyone goes through this training 🙂
It took me 2 months to get the Safety Care training under my belt. I couldn’t do it when I first started because I was on crutches and it’s physically demanding. When it was offered in June I had jury duty so I was finally able to complete it this month.
I also have applied to a local horse ranch for volunteer work. Keep your fingers crossed on that one!
Puppy Pals
Lava has invited her friend Maya to stay for a few days. Here are a couple of pictures of the puppy pals:
Personalizing
Last week the Executive Director came into my office to say “Hi” and told me that I need to personalize my office, make it look like I’m permanent. I already know of one poster to hang on my wall…if I can ever find it at my house. A plant would also be nice, but since the only light it would get is florescent I’m thinking about buying a plastic vase (can’t be breakable), some pretty (realistic) looking flowers and some fake water (gel) to set atop my file cabinet or book shelf. I also have this rather large white board behind me on the wall that generally serves no real purpose for me. So, in the act of making my office my own I’ve decided to write weekly quotes upon it.
This week’s quotes are:
“Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools, because they have to say something.”
~ Plato
“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”
~ Mark Twain (love him, that man was a genius!)
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that the ability to perform it has improved.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Job Opening: Bodyguard
Requirements:
- Must be able to carry subject up and down stairs
- Must be willing to jump in front of line-drive softballs
- Must be able to run for subject when the need arises
- Must carry Advil on person at all times
So I’m not being hounded by stalkers adoring fans, but as my cousin so eloquently stated on facebook, “I think you need a full time body guard-to protect you from yourself! Holy peejeebees!” I had a great weekend that was a lot of fun and inflicted many injuries.
Saturday – I played softball, had a grounder bad-hop into my face and shoulder.
Sunday – I practiced softball and took a ball to my shin (my fault — apparently getting hit in the face makes me a little gun shy at first). Then yesterday evening I missed the last step going down into my den and re-injured my already damaged foot. I’m now back to wearing my cast and am determined to avoid needing crutches!
Jokingly it was stated that my work will think Noah abuses me since I started working at Laradon while on crutches and now, a little over a month later, I come in bruised and limping. It’s not true. I’m also not as accident prone as I look. I blame falling down the stairs on the Pepsi I was bringing Noah…at least Lava’s bed broke my fall and I managed to keep the cup of juice I was holding in an upright position. See, when I fall I do it gracefully and with skill! I should get points for that!
What a week it has been!
And it’s still not over! This week there have been tornadoes “near” my house on two separate days, and so far I have only been to work only 2 1/2 days. The reason why? Jury duty. Last week I attended my first jury summons for Colorado only to learn that I was in a pool for a very high profile case. So I had JD on Thursday, Monday, yesterday and today. Today the panel was finally selected, and although I was one of the 44 in the box since yesterday, I was not chosen to help determine the defendant’s fate. Being on that particular jury would have definitely been one heck of an experience, but I know tomorrow morning my boss will be jumping up and down celebrating the fact I will not be away from my job for the next 5 weeks. At least now I can go back to following the local papers on Twitter and watching the news on TV.