SCHOOL'S
OUT
FOR
SUMMER!
i've been singing that since friday!!!!

it was a hectic but great day, too! a senior speech therapist came out to "see what my schedule was really like" since i've been writing them letters since september. after showing her my caseload and schedule and talking to her for 2 hours, she said, "yeah, you're going to need at least an extra day at each school next year. this is a 7-day-a-week job that you've been doing in 5 days." i feel so vindicated and relieved!!! now i don't feel like such a bad speech therapist-- i just couldn't physically do it all. and now i'm getting some help. this either means i will get an assistant (SLPA) who will help me at each school one day/week OR they will change the allocation of the schools (3 days for one, 4 days for the other) and i will have to choose one or the other and pick up and extra day or two at another school. either way, i don't care, i'm just relieved.

so after school on friday a couple of us ladies decided to go to happy hour at this new wine bar in ocean beach called "the vine". it was such a nice little place and it was a great way to end the school year! matt showed up at the end of our evening and we went out to ortega's, our favorite mexican restaurant, which was right across the street. then we came home and got in the hot tub and just relaxed. one of the most perfect days ever....

sunday we went up to see ryan in pasadena! he was staying at the ritz-carlton--it was sooooo nice! i've never stayed in a place that nice before! everyone was so nice and friendly and there were so many extra touches that i just felt rich! ha! ry and i had a great time together, too. while he was in his workshops all day monday, i went for a run (the concierge had a little laminated card that had routes and distances! and when i got back there was a huge silver chalice/bowl filled with ice and gatorade/water in the entryway, along with towels and a sign that said, "welcome back runners"!!!), got some snacks at the store, then hung out by the pool all day. it was pretty hot (maybe 90?) but it was nice under my umbrella. i just read magazines like "people" and "in touch", you know, silly ones that i would never read/believe in real life! and i hopped in the pool and swam around every half hour or so because it felt so good! ryan and his two friends joined me around 3:30 and we hung out for a couple hours. then we went to dinner with his work people (who, i think, were a little bit overwhelmed by me. they didn't quite know how to take me. a response i get usuallly in public places in the midwest.) for example, just making what i consider to be normal conversation, "are you all excited to be here?" or "oh my gosh, this place is so great, isn't it?" was evoking stares and confused silences from his crew. anyway, ryan and i were cracking up!

by the way, has anyone ever eaten "cake batter" ice cream from coldstone? well, if you love yellow/vanilla cake batter, you should--because it tastes EXACTLY like it!!! so yummy!

anyhoo, now i'm back and i've been enjoying the beautiful weather and the ocean.
oh yeah! i also got that job to do speech therapy with babies and toddlers! i had a really good interview (where the guy tried to recruit me to be full time-ha!). he said, "not only can we compete with the school system, i think we're better than the school system!" i said, "well, we shall find out..." and he said, "yes, we will!". it was fun banter--this was the first time i've ever walked into an interview feeling confident (probably because of 6 years of experience now but also because i don't NEED the job). i even asked for more money and he gave me $5 per hour more! i was already more than happy with the amount he was offering, but thought, what can i lose? this place just opened in san diego in march, got its first families about a month ago, so i feel pretty fortunate to be on the ground level. anyhoo, i'll only be working 5-10 hours/week, so it will keep me going this summer. when school starts, i'll go down to no more 5 hours/week.

welp, i really must get my day started!
have fun, africans!
have fun, alaskans!
have fun, ohioans!
what do you call people from kentucky? kentuckians? no, that doesn't sound right.
how about have fun, hillbillies! ha!

tracey :)