COASTNESS!

Y’all see the way I link all that nifty stuff in my posts? I am the awesome! Okay, finished with that. Although I do want to point something out, I was reading over my first post and saw that it says I posted that it at 7:48 am, wha?-NO, that’s a lie. I love you all, but I don’t 7:48 am love you. I think that’s some wacky west coastness time. Anyway, going to continue to be laaaazy and post my most recent letter to home which is chalk full of juicy tid bits and was just written like June 23rd! Monday! Not a month or two ago. So it’s breaking news, or something. I’m also going to find something to link in my post , because linking owns! Can you believe my spellchecker didn’t know the word coastness? What is wrong with the people at Microsoft?

Hello Everyone!

So the world is starting to fall into place for me. I certainly hope all is going well for all of you. I moved into my new apartment 2 weeks ago, and things are coming together nicely. I have a lot of news, where to start… For various reasons Grant will now not be joining me until the first week of September, might as well get the bad news out of the way. It is necessary, for him to finish up his work in Oklahoma , but never-the-less living without your heart doesn’t get easier no matter how long you do it. I have applied to a Masters distance learning program at Hunter College in New York City , there I can continue/complete my degree, focusing more on the field I’m working in now. I will hopefully hear this week whether or not I am accepted. For a week in August the Carroll Center is closed, and I’m coming to Oklahoma for 9 days! You only thought you were rid of me. ;)

I spent last night in the company of one very talented Mr. Stevie Wonder, courtesy of the Carroll Center , who received very nice seats at his concert and treated the staff and clients. What an amazing experience, honestly I’m still speechless about that so ask me in a week or so. Hmm, my commute isn’t bad, I have no furniture really, but it will come. My co-workers are great and I have developed good friendships outside of work with some of them.

Oh? Did I mention my work? Were you wondering if the honeymoon period my work and I were having is over? The answer would be a definite NO, some days are hard, sometimes I’m tired and days are long, but I absolutely love what I do. I consider myself lucky; I have a job where I get to make a difference. Sometimes I tear up in class, the obstacles they overcome, although they may seem small to outsiders, they make me so fiercely proud. I could go on about my students for a long time, I’ll spare you all. Although I will also mention, my first class, the girls that started the same day I did working here-March 3rd-are graduating on July 3rd. sniff sniff, okay, I miss you all! I’m sorry if I haven’t called you all, I will! Oh and thank you, thank you, thank you, for all of you who helped out with the Vision 5K, it was a great success! Alright work to be done and all that, call me, write me, whatever you can do, I love hearing from you.

Love always and forever,

Let's play a bit of catch up

I'm going to post a few of the letters i wrote to everyone when i first moved here--mostly because I'm lazy--and don't want to re-write about what i do and bla bla bla. So reread them! Act interested! Also I'm going to put some links in the midst of text, cause I'm sneaky like that, and the addresses and phone number have been taken out of the letter, because I currently live a stalker free life and would like to continue with that. Oh yeah? What I said about this being a family show? well that excludes me, because I totally know when it's appropriate to use explicit language, my Mama taught me that!
To the left is my work.

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to drop you all a line and say hello. I’ve been at work about a month now and I’m finally starting to catch my breath and learn the ropes. To give you all a little back ground of where I work and what I do, I work at the Carroll Center for the Blind (), I am a rehabilitation teacher. I teach personal grooming, some cooking (scary), Braille, adaptive technology on computers, and interpersonal social skills. It sounds like a lot, but it, well, it isJ We have a rolling enrollment here, so we get new students every 2 weeks, they stay for a two week diagnostic period, and then the team(that’s us the teachers) and the student decides what program if any would be best for them. We have programs ranging from 2 to 16 weeks all with different focus’s, some being basic living skills for the elderly and others focusing on job preparation/college prep and or independent living. Our clients/students range from the ages of 18 on, accept in the summer when we run some younger kid programs focusing exclusively on college and transitioning from the parental home.I love it love it, love it! It is truly an awesome experience to work here, I’ve met some amazing people so far and worked with an 80 year old woman who’s been blind her entire life, and 18 year olds who lost their sight in the last 6 months, and so so so many others. The Boston area is beautiful; there is so much history here. My coworkers are nice and helpful. If only all of you were near, I miss you all, especially Grant, he’s coming to visit in 10 days and I’ve been telling my coworkers so much they are probably tired of me counting down the days. I love the access to public transportation; I can just walk outside my work at any time of day and catch a FREE bus to Starbux, CVS, and any number of pizza places, Subway, or anywhere else I want to go. No more begging for rides, or paying top dollar for cabs, I live in a place where I can finally be as independent as I have always dreamed of being. Okay well, I have rambled on, I miss you all and write me back anytime, I’m attaching my address here, and my phone number, and my work email.
Love

Hello Again Everyone, So many of you asked me questions in reply, and many of them the same I thought I’d draft a quick note to tell you all what you want to know and maybe more! Yes, I am coming to Oklahoma on May 9th and 10th for Grant’s graduation (CONGRATULATIONS GRANT!), we are trying to get a celebration dinner together in Edmond so if you’d like to join our families and Grant and me, that’d be awesome, just call me, or call Grant. Grant is moving up at the end of July, he has a 2 credit hour class to finish after he walks in May, then he’ll be up here with me and the idea is that we’re starting our lives as young working married people in New England….(yes, this means this is not temporary). My place of work is a residential center and they have been kind enough to let me stay here while Grant is in Oklahoma so it will make the transition much easier, I have already started apartment hunting and am shooting for June 1 for a moving date. This is 2 months before Grant is free to move, but my Mom and Mother-in-Law want to come visit and I don’t think they’ll let me get bored or lonely. Hmm, lets see, yes yes, its tough, yes yes, we miss each other, thank you for all the sympathy, Grant and I are hanging in there and he is coming to visit tomorrow!!! OMG, let me just jump around my office again! Still hanging in here, still loving my job! And yes yes yes, to everyone who wants to come visit us once we get a place, New England is beautiful! Amazing! You’re all welcome once we get a place, although I do recommend coming in the summer, my small taste of winter I got in Feb. when I first got here was none to great. Love you all Rachel BP.S. did I mention I have my own office?? And my own computer and my own extension?? Man this growing up thing kicks all kinds of ass!

In the beginning

I started a blog! This happened for a few reasons, 1. Everyone kept saying, why don’t you start a blog?-You could keep everyone informed of what’s going on in your life without sending out mass emails (and getting on our nerves, see with a blog we don’t really feel obligated to read about your life)--well not really—because I’m egocentric enough to believe you all care! 2. I have wanted to start a blog for a while to be like my hero Amalah, I lovelovelovelove her blog and read it all the time, and you should too, well probably. I’ll be updating this page now and then; my goal right now is twice a week, but no promises. Check back and drop a comment if you feel like, but keep it calm, this is a family show. I’ll also be putting up some pictures and other random stuff and hopefully after a week or two of working on this it will start looking bloggy, bloggie? There will be no, and I mean nooooooo comments about my grammar/use of commas/spelling. I know it stinks! I know I need to work on it! FLAW IDENTIFIED, let’s move on.