A 36.78 Pounder

Saturday was a glorious autumn day here in Charlottesville. Luckily there weren't any sick people at the hospital so Rojelio had the day off.

We went on an old adventure, but at a new place. We usually called them cider mills in Michigan, here in Virginia this was just a plain old orchard. The two names could be synonyms if it weren't for the whole production of cider aspect. Carter Mountian Orchard. The name explains it all. The orchard is perched on the very top of a mountain over looking Charlottesville. The view was astounding. It was even more incredible to see how small downtown Charlottesville really is; especially when comparing it to our previous city of Grand Rapids. The biggest building in town seems to be the white one in the middle of the picture . . . which is actually the hospital.

As tradition goes we had to have cider and doughnuts. FRESH HOT doughnuts right off the . . . oil!?

Here's the view from the doughnut cam.

After we indulged, Rojelio spotted a few people carrying long poles with small cages on one end. Interesting. We stalked these carriers and found their destination was the apple picking check-in booth. As soon as those poles were brought back other consumers seized them. It didn't take long for us to figure out these poles were a hot item and hard to come by.

We were up for the challenge. We decided to hang out and shark our prey. Rojelio spotted him. An eight-year-old boy. The pole was bigger than he was. What an easy target. As the boy neared the check-in counter Rojelio swam in his current, being careful not to trip over the pole drowning in the dirt as the boy dragged it behind. SNATCH! A successful hunt.

Now that we had a pole and bag for our apples we were ready to hit the orchard.Yeah sure there were some apples within an arms reach, but what's the fun in that. We were so eager to have a pole to use; that was the primary reason we went out in the orchard. We got to try our hand at pole-picking.

This was a state-of-the-art facility, a doughnut AND pole cam. Who could believe it!?

For the grand finale, Rojelio walked away with a 36.78 lb pumpkin.

What do you call an over-weight pumpkin?

A plumpkin.

We had a doughnut-eatin', cider-drinkin', pole-pickin', pumpkin-haulin' good time!

It's What I Do

It's What I Do
by Annie F. Hokett, MA, CCC-SLP

These kids come to speech-language therapy,
I teach them everyday,
To learn to talk,
And know what to say.

I help kids practice the /r/ sound,
The /s/ and /th/ too,
If they already knew how to say these sounds,
I wouldn't have anything to do.

Some need help with vocabulary,
Some need help following rules,
This girl needs help with oral motor,
Because she always drools.

Many kids have trouble with grammar,
Pronouns, adjectives, and verbs,
Formulating sentences can be hairy,
They say, "I don't know what to do with all these words."

I've heard him scream, whisper and holler,
This boy sounds very hoarse to me,
He's been unable to phonate at times,
That's why he gets voice therapy.

Some kids have apraxia,
Speaking is not hard for me or you,
But these kids have trouble forming words,
They really really do.

The new kid has trouble with articulation,
An IEP is the way to go,
I will give him intervention,
Unless the State regulations say NO.

Whether it be articulation, language, voice, or fluency,
I'm here everyday,
I do the best job I can,
To get these kids on their way.

While you were out . . . kinda

Rojelio had an overnight on-call shift; meaning he'd be gone all day, night, and not back until the following afternoon. Annie's plan was to surprise him by painting the downstairs bathroom. Even though she had never painted before, she thought how long could it possibly take, it's a small room. They do redecorating projects on TV all the time within a day or two.

Well her project became a little more elaborate than expected. She worked all through the night, not even stopping to sleep. At this point she realized a one-man project team is a lot different than a whole crew like on TV.

Rojelio arrived home the following afternoon and unfortunately the room was not complete. But the first coats were on so he was able to get a feel of his new "thrown." Throughout the week finishing touches were added. There are still a few things that need to be incorporated and the idea of tiling the countertop is being toyed with.

Downstairs bathroom BEFORE


Downstairs bathroom AFTER

Even though it's just paint and some accessories it really feels like a whole new room, even bigger. The difference is amazing! One room down, three more to go.

A Special Concentration Puzzle

is


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Use #64

Empty cardboard tube use #64:
Hide dog treats in it . . . YUM!YUM!