All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. or jane in this case.

In just a little over 2 weeks I'll be celebrating my one year anniversary at my job. In those 12 months I've had no increase in pay, I've been given more responsibility, and I can honestly say I enjoy my job more today than I did my first month there. Pretty great huh? That doesn't mean I don't need to take a vacation from my great job every now and then. In the next month, I'll be traveling to an unlikely vacation destination. Central Pennsylvania!

I'm hoping to catch the peak, or perhaps just past the peak, of the fall foliage in Pennsylvania. Fall foliage + a week away from the job, typical routine, stress = a good vacation. Plus, I'll get to see two of my favorite people on the east coast: my Aunt Kathie and Uncle Steve a.k.a. my east coast parents. :)

I plan to not do much for that week, except read, take pics of fall foliage, visit old friends, and explore some sweet small towns.

Speaking of work:

A confused Croatian man told me the other day I look like a young Nancy Reagan.

A very upset patient told me the other day "You are SO annoying me right now!"

Last week, I encountered a grumpy old man. He was recovering from an abdominal surgery and wasn't doing much moving. In the middle of our first session, as he was walking backwards (his choice) to his chair (a whole 5 feet), he said, "whaddya do that for, dingbat?" I wasn't in the mood, so I replied, "Are you talking to yourself again? Why'd you call yourself a dingbat?" He said "I called YOU a dingbat for moving that chair backwards." I am not above moving a chair so a patient will have to walk farther, however I always tell the patient what I'm doing. The man accused me of lying and called me a dingbat again. 5 minutes later, after a firm talking to, with me laying out the ground-rules for physical therapy (i.e. no name calling, no lying, etc...) I got three apologies from him and from then on we've gotten along great. except for his annoying "high tech nursery rhymes" he insists on telling me... don't ask...

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I can't write a blog post without honorable mention to my friends Erin and Chris who are planning their upcoming nuptials. They've been dating for over five years and it's been wonderful to see their relationship mature to this point.