Fun Times with FRIENDS

I hope everyone will be happy to know I HAVE FRIENDS!!! After three and half years here I have finally made friends. Ok, so maybe it hasnt taken that long, but I finally feel like VA is our home and we here for a reason. I admit I never meet a stranger, but it very hard for me to make friends. ESP, here. People just arent has hospitable and easy to get to know. Plus, I" talk wierd" as I am told frequently. I feel so blessed, b/c for so long the only things I had to look forward to were Will and MAson and coming home to see my freinds and family in MS. Part of that was my fault since I AM married to my best friend and we only have each other up here and b/c I already have great friends in MS, why make new friends. It feels very good to be able to have a support system here, to call people and make plans and do things. I thought I would share with everyone things about some of them and why I think they are so great. Of course, there are more great friends, I just dont have pictures of them right now.

Me, Pam and Stacel

Pam is my BESTIE at the Berryville campus. She is fantastic!!! I have many kids in her room which is great except one day this summer, she was the only one in the room b/c the teacher had called out and we were short staffed. I rearranged my schedule and stayed in the room to help her out for the morning. We were so stressed by the end of the day. Behaviorally, challenged ten and eleven year old boys, can really ware you out. :) So anyway, we have been really close since then and because of that day we decided we needed a happy hour. Yes, our kids make us drink!!! Well, this has become a once monthy routine that we all look forward too. We are constatly trying to find excuses to do happy hour (bithdays, ppl getting new jobs, ect. YAY happy hour. We have so much fun!!!


Trish, Stacel, Pam, me and Erinn.
Us at our November happy hour Erinn's going away happy hour. She is our OT. She is a hurricane Katrina refuge. So she knows what it like to have to move away from everything you know. She is a great listener and has definatly taught me to be a better therapist. This girl has more passion for her job than anyone I know! She also works PRN with me at the nursing home which is great. We love to collaborate on pts (yeah we'er nerds) Her and her husband Jeremy are so good to me. And love Mason (what's not to love?) They live close by which is wonderful b/c they often feed me. However, Erinn has gotton me drinking and needing coffee on a daily, which is something I never thought I would do.

Terry, Janell, Cindy, Aimee, Chris, Crysal and Me at the Staff Excellence Banquet

Terry has a big family and is always giving me parenting and maritial advise. Ok not ALWAYS, but sometimes. She always makes me laugh and is so thoughtful. I appreciate her b/c she always invites us to do things with her family, when WIll is at market, so I am not alone.

Janell is great beacuse not only is she a great teacher, and crafty, she has a baby who is a month older than Mason, BUT about a size or two bigger. We get ALL of Broden's hand-me-downs, which I absolutly love. She and I sit around and constantly discuss our kids and make sure they are developing right. You get a certin paranoa working with special needs kids. We keep each other in line with develpmental milestones.

Cindy- Cindy is like the best SPED teacher ever. I have learned so much from her professionally. She always colaborates with me and is always intrested in whats new with speech pathology. The woman reads my Advace magazines for gosh sakes!! She is also so good to our family and to Mason.

Aimee...georgous and smart..I actually hate her. J/K. Aimee and I bonded when I was pregnant with Mason b/c she had super nasty awful morning sickness like me. Shes the one who really told me what to expect while I was expecting:) SHe is probably the nicest person I have ever met. She has two adorable girls Autum and Ayla and has the best heart and strength of anyone I know.

Chris is my friend I've known the longest. Not only do we share an office, we live in the same neighborhood! She feeds me too. I got lucky befrinding great cooks. Chris is an OT and looks pretty good for bein 41. yes I know, it makes me sick too. People think we are the same age. We have been through a lot together. She threw me a baby shower visited me in the hospital and cooked me dinner the first night a came home from the hospial after having Mason. She dog sits Max for us and before I got lazy, we would exercise together:) She is a wonderful friend and person. She made pumpkin pie the other night, yummy.

Crystal is one of the funniest people I know. And I don't mean silly funny, I mean dry humor, sarcastic funny. She is alos the most organized person I know. I'm not sure why she's friends with me (guess opposites attract) HAHA. She is a very strong woman and a great mom. She also makes me feel good b/c she doesn't cook. I am so jealous of all you people who can just go home an fix dinner. BAFFELS my MIND. She and I are also going to be on the amazing race together one day (our dream anyway)