Lots of Blessings

45 more days now!  The time is slipping away pretty quickly, but I'm getting more and more excited about Ireland.  :)  Yesterday at work, the warehouse manager of my Costco location (his name's Bill) talked to me a little bit about my trip.  He started off by saying, "You sure you don't want to reconsider leaving us?"  I laughed and told him it was too late--I already have my plane ticket.  Then he got serious and said that he was really happy for me.  He told me "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it's going to be totally worth it."  It made me happy to hear him say that.  I then asked him if he could pull me in his office on my last day and yell really loudly, "You're FIRED!"  (even though I know I have to quit)...just to make it all dramatic.  He said he would.  :)  I then talked to another warehouse manager (Mark) who came up to me and said, "So when are you leaving?  I'm getting sick of seeing your smile."  This of course made me smile, because I knew he was joking.  Mark has been one of my favorite managers throughout my time at Costco.  He was especially a huge help during my time in the Deli department.  I hated it there, but Mark helped me out in every way that he could.  Sometimes he took out my trash at night, sometimes he replenished the "case" (where people buy food from) with more food, and sometimes he just came in to ask how I was doing.  I felt comfortable coming to him with questions or concerns, and I think that's what makes him a really great manager.  Anyway, I told him that I was leaving for Ireland in September, and he said he'd make sure to work me really hard for the next month or so until I leave.  :)  I told him what Bill was going to do ("fire" me) on my last day, and he said, "Oh no, we're going to do it out here.  In front of everyone."  :)  Ohhh...I can't wait to see what happens on my last day.


These last few days have been really awesome, but also really busy.  On Monday I babysat all day for my little cousins (ages 5 and 6).  At first it was hard for me to be awake that early in the morning (7am), but I made it through the day and ended up having a lot of fun with them.  They're so cute and very well-behaved.  I was very impressed.  :)  Plus I put the money that I got for babysitting toward my GAP year!


On Tuesday I went to DMC (Detroit Medical Center) in Novi to observe a speech language pathologist in the rehabilitation center.  I am planning on going to grad school after my GAP year, and I need 25 observation hours before grad school...so I'm trying to get all my hours in before I leave for Ireland.  I had the most wonderful observation experience I've ever had!  The SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist) I observed was super nice.  She was fairly young, dressed really cute and had a really sweet personality.  Her attitude toward the clients was extremely positive and she seemed to have a great respect for all of them.  I learned so much, too!  I was there from 9:30am-4:30pm, and I got to see her treat 5 different clients.  I asked her a lot of questions and she answered them without making me feel stupid.  :)  She also made me feel very included in her work.  Not only did I get to sit in the room during the speech therapy sessions, but she let me read some information about each client before they came, and then she read me her write-up about each session after the client left. One client in particular struck my heart deeply.  He was only 47 years old and had had a pretty severe stroke which caused him to have a lot of difficulty with swallowing (if you're interested, see http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/dysph.html).  Because of this, he was placed on a strict NPO (none per oral) diet.  He was told he couldn't eat at all--can you imagine?  With his doctor's "ok", he is now eating a puree diet and drinking milk through a straw.  His wife sat in on the therapy session with him, and her smile and positive attitude overwhelmed me.  I mean, this guy was in a wheelchair with a belt around his waist to help him sit up straight.  He had trouble keeping his tongue in his mouth, and his speech was hardly comprehensible.  That has to be hard for her.  But despite the difficult circumstances, she put a smile on her face and was even laughing a little bit during the session.  The SLP did some really interesting exercises with this man during the session...some of which I've learned and even practiced in classes at Eastern.  At one point she put on a pair of gloves and physically held his jaw up and his lips closed to try and get him to swallow with his mouth closed.  It was hard for me to watch him struggle with this, but rewarding to see him swallow correctly and hear the SLP cheer for him.  :)  I could go on and on about this observation experience, but I just want to say that it was really a confirmation for me.  I think the Lord was trying to tell me that I'm going into the right profession and that it's going to be a very rewarding career.


I babysat my little cousins again yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by their good nature.  I enjoyed spending time with them and I think they had fun with me too.  Here's some pictures I took while we were playing outside yesterday:

I made them a little kiddie pool :)

Julian (age 6)

Nolan (age 5)

That's all I have for today.  I praise the Lord for blessing these last few days and giving me such joy.  


Some updates real quick on my fundraising:
1.  Tomorrow is my Mocktail Party fundraiser, so I am hoping and praying for a good turnout for that.  :)  
2.  I just added up the total sales for my flower pens so far and I've made about $160 (including a pretty big order from my wonderful friend Tricia from Wisconsin...thanks Tricia!)


Please keep me in your prayers.  :)