Anna’s Blog

September 8th-12th has been designated as National Direct Support Professionals Recognition week.

Do you know a fabulous direct support staff member that you would like to recognize? I’d love to share their awesomeness on my Therap blog site.

You will need to send me an email describing the work that they do and why you think they are so amazing. If you have a picture send that along too.

My email?….its my first name at Therapservices.net

Looking forward to getting your feedback!

Ciao

The sunflowers in bloom were a sure sign that I was back home as I drove into Kansas after a long flight from Portland to Tulsa.

My homecoming, after a week away from the boys, was awesome. Its good to be loved!

I did find a few surprises upon my return. The bathroom remodel was COMPLETELY finished (see remodel blog coming soon) Thanks Brian!, The house was spot-less, and upon my desk were two extra special treats…Wait…I thought I was the one that was supposed to bring home the surprises?!

An excited 11-year old (that would be Connor) led me into my office where I was handed a really cool M&M’s dispenser and guess what it was filled with? HALLOWEEN M&M’s!

Did you know that the Halloween M&M’s have a FAR higher percentage of Orange M&M’s than the regular bags? Wow! As if I need any enabling for my addiction.

The other surprise…

This is BIG…I think the boys have started a possible marketing phenomenon here (look out Beanie Babies).

Oh, YES! I have now aquired the one-and-only “Ther-Bear” in the entire world! Isn’t he ADORABLE?!!!!

Okay…okay…I admit it, I am totally spoiled! Enjoy the pics. Gotta get back to work.

Ciao!

My first thought was, “They are going to get so tired of me.” The truth is, I haven’t ever stayed with friends longer than a couple days, so spending nearly 5 days with the Turner family had me worried that I would be killing their peaceful holiday weekend because they would have to be in “guest-mode”.

As it has turned out, we’ve have had a lot of fun and tons laughter (anyone interested in some salmon?). Life at the Turner house is a whole lot like being at home. There’s housework, emailing, phone calls, Therap work that has to get done, and then there’s the kid stuff. Its just like being with my own boys; the kids play, giggle, tease, fight, and at the end of the day they kiss me goodnight and go off to bed…the Turners don’t know it but I have felt exactly like I’m at home!

Yesterday we woke up and spent a bit of time in the hot tub with coffee and low 40 degree temperatures (at home it was in the high 90’s, my family was unamused by my weather report). By noon (only 2 hours later than Brett’s schedule…but Molly and I had very important things to discuss) we were in the car and heading over the mountain to spend the day in Sisters, Oregon.

Sisters is one of the most quaint and adorable places that I have gotten to play at for a long time. We went from shop to shop checking out the area galleries and specialty gifts that each place had to offer anxious shoppers.

Olivia and I had a lot of fun in the sunglasses section of one shop.

As Connor tells me often…good times!

Ciao

I know…words just can’t describe it

The kids “think” this is Kansas

It’s true…he does relax!

Olivia works the catwoman shades

It was an “interesting” experience to be without cell phone coverage and the internet for the last few days. Miraculously I recovered from the cold-turkey experience.

So, where was I and what was I doing Thursday and Friday? I was at the Ka-nee-ta Resort with the Adult Learning Systems staff for their annual retreat.

I got to Ka-nee-ta late Wednesday afternoon to very comfortable temperatures in the 60’s. Wow, I had no idea how beautiful this part of our country is. Can you believe the view from my hotel room (see above)?!

I need to give big kudos to the ALSO staff. I had about 25 team members that I was given to train. These folks are just some of the best people I could choose to work with, and they LOVE Therap! It was an amazing couple of days and these guys are set to go.

What’s this Therapite doing over the holiday? Hummmm… well, I’m joining Brett, Molly, Grant and Olivia for a weekend in La Pine, OR. then a visit to the mountains and the city of Sisters, followed by a day in Portland catching up on some Therap work before the ANCOR trip next week. Should be a restful and wonderful experience with some very special friends of mine.

Check out the pics from the retreat. I had a Therap blast!

Wow, did these past few months go by fast! My first summer as a Therapite was completely AMAZING! I saw a whole lot of Texas, Delaware, Indiana, Washington DC, Connecticut, Oregon, South Dakota, Missouri, New York, a bit of Kentucky and a little piece of Iowa. Best of all, I’ve met so many fantastic people and have built a fun group of friends that call, email, and follow me around the nation living vicariously as a Therapite through my blog.

To those of you that keep in touch and send me emails , IM’s, and blog comments, you inspire me! Thanks for being so terrific! A note to one of my dear girlfriends, Deb, a Delawarian Therapite, thanks for your most recent inspirational email. I read it regularly. You are a truly an angel!

As Fall sets in, there are a lot of Therap activities that I’m privileged to be a part of. Want to know what those are? Well, let me share just a couple (I wouldn’t want to make you too jealous). Okay, its a tough job but someone has to do it …and why not let it be this Therapite? Soooo, Wednesday I have to fly all the way to Oregon and force myself to work at the beautiful Kahneeta Resort with one of my best friends and my Leadership Institute brother, Brett Turner, and his Adult Learning Center of Oregon management team for their annual retreat. Geez! (Are you feeling my pain?…Okay, you’re right, there is absloutely NO pain. I’m giddy with excitement!)

What is the topic this year? I’ll give you one guess…EXACTLY, those ALSO Therapites will be learning all about Therap applications, the website, and how to benefit from the many reports that our incredibly fabulous system creates.

I’ll be back from Oregon around the 2nd of September for a couple days, then I’m off to ANCOR’s National Governmental Activities Seminar in Washington, DC. to meet up with “the wand master himself, Warren Gifford and Sir Richard Robbins for lots of ANCOR excitement. It will be just like a family reunion!

Until I get to Warm Springs, Oregon…. Ciao!

Its my own fault, his dad and I have spoiled the child all of his life…actually “spoiled” isn’t a fair word to use. Sure, Andrew has rarely ever had to go without most anything he asked for, but he was always one of those kids that had the job at 16, worked really hard, made all “A’s” in school, never put his parents through a second of grief, got the scholarships to college, and has always appreciated what he has. So, when “the list” came via email last week I could only sit back and think to myself…”This is Your Fault”.

My mind rolled back to the that time 18 years ago when the child was three and had to have the Ninja Turtle toy that I refused to buy, but as the end of the shopping trip guess who was holding the little creature in his happy little hands?” Yep… “the list” was totally my fault.

Let me share with you what was on “The List”… The spare hide-a-bed (oh, yeah, that was fun to load on top of the Trailblazer, thank heaven Brian and Hunter have a lot of patience); winter clothes (ummm, the kid is a clothes horse, you have NO idea); the 22” television; a floor lamp; bedside table, microwave (not the little one in the garage…no, he has to cook you know); 3
stackable drawers with 5,000 lbs. of books (it’s in his DNA, he can’t help it); his vast movie collection (he’s a theater major); the “system” (this equates to his CD player, a sub woofer, speakers, receiver and DVD player…for the above mentioned vast movie collection; computer printer; wall art…complete with Hunter S. Thompson portrait, Kramer poster, and a few other odds and ends, including the Bamboo plant (which I had to promise not to injure in the move).

Finally, any food we don’t plan to eat in the pantry because he has nothing in his cabinets and was forced to dine on Twizzlers for dinner… and, if I had time, “a couple dozen of those really awesome Buffalo Chip cookies”(the final batch came out of the oven around 10pm last night). Ahhh, the life of a VERY LOVED… and very special… college kid.

So, at 8:00am, the Trailblazer loaded to the max, a hide-a-bed securely fastened atop, and two tired brothers in the back seat, we were on our way to see Andrew and deliver “the list” to his new apartment in Columbia, Missouri where he will begin his junior year at Stephens College.

We got to Columbia a little after 1pm. After “the list” was unloaded (did I mention that he lives on the 2nd floor?) it was time for a well earned lunch and the traditional visit to Target. At the end of the day, and many hugs and kisses, we were back on the road for the 4 hour trip back to Kansas.

We pulled into the driveway around 10pm, the wallet empty, the trailblazer cleaned out, the hide-a-bed gone, and two sleeping brothers needing to get to bed so that they were rested for school on Monday. In the silence of the car, for a brief moment, I was taken back to the end of summer many years ago when all four of the boys still lived at home and at night they would light up our home court for a slightly friendly (they are brothers) game of H-O-R-S-E. Connor was just starting kindergarten, Hunter a third grader, Elliot in middle school and Andrew in high school. I could see the all kids laughing and playing together just as if it was going on in front of me. Hunter’s snoring brought me back to reality.

At times like these there is a quote that I am always reminded of, it goes, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

I can tell you that I have been blessed with many moments in my 41 years. A word of wisdom from a seasoned Mom, savor every moment no matter how significant, they are gone in what seems like an instant.

Ciao

I’m privileged to have a “lifestyle” (its true…Therap is NOT a job…it is a lifestyle) that allows me to travel the nation, seeing beautiful cities, and visiting truly incredible disability agencies.

Yet, it doesn’t matter where I roam, I am often asked abut how “flat” Kansas is. Let’s just have an agreement that we no longer use the word “flat” but instead I’d like to appeal to your sense of fairness and consider the word “spacious”.

Take a look at the pictures I snapped just outside of my quaint little city. I’d say those are hills. Beautiful, green, spacious hills. Its a sight to behold when one travels through the southeast part of Kansas. It’s rather breath-taking. True, its not the oceans of the East or the mountains of the West, but it does have a beauty all its own.

Enjoy the view from the passenger’s seat.

Ciao!

What’s the coolest thing about being a Kansas Therapite? Well, its hanging out with amazing agencies like Futures Unlimited, located in Wellington, KS.

Futures is one of our oldest and most active Kansas users. The agency serves both adults and children. It is the home of both Early Head Start and Head Start programs as well as infant services. Futures is also a full-service agency for adults, including case management, residential and day supports, as well as supported employment opportunities.

I had the pleasure of spending my Friday morning with Christy and Jodi this week. What a fabulous Provider Administrator team!

The agency will roll-out their final phase of electronic documentation in the form of Behavior Event Reporting mid-September. WOW! It is so awesome to see this agency fully utilizing Therap!!!

Christy and Jodi, you two get a gold star for your Therapite efforts to bring Futures into the paperless world of documentation. Way to Go!

I’ve been working closely with Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation over the past month. The organization is located in Wichita, Kansas, just a short 90 minute drive from my home.

CPRF has been excited to build on their knowledge of Therap and I am happy to spend the day with them as they venture into new Therapite territory.

This week…da-ta-da…Individual Support Plans…or as Kansans call it - Person-Centered Support Plans (PCSP’s).

To get the group up and running I spent the first part of the morning with Provider Administrators getting them more familiar with the inner-workings of Therap. The afternoon was spent with the case management team playing around in fictitious PCSP’s…oops…ISP’s. The later part of the afternoon was spent with the Direct Support Professionals learning about Incident Reporting and the GER and then a bit of Health Tracking/Seizure Reporting.

At the end of the day, CPRF was ready to roll out ISP planning, GER’s and Health Tracking. Yea!!!! We’re getting them a little bit farther down the road to full Therap Implementation.

Way to go Sue Elmer, Chrysa, Tara, and the CPRF staff. You gals are awesome!

Are you ready for yet another cool bit of SE Kansas site-seeing? Well, you’re here so I’m guessing you are dying to know more.

About 20 minutes from my house is a turn-off into what looks like a huge field. About a mile up the road is a piece of property where the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder sits. That’s right, the official historic site of the Little House on the Prairie.

I don’t know about you but I grew up on Laura Ingalls books and didn’t miss a single episode of Michael Landon’s show. It’s too bad that Laura grew up. I loved that series…it was good television!

Now, time for the history lesson….

(The next time you think you live in a small place…think again)

The Little House on the Prairie, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1935, had peaked the imagination and interest of readers for decades when Margaret Clement and Eilene Charbo of the Kansas State Historical Society set out to locate the Little House location. Years of painstaking research work culminated in 1977 with the discovery of the actual foundation of the Ingalls family’s original cabin site and the well Pa Ingalls dug with help from a neighbor.

Research of the 1870 census of Montgomery County, Kansas, located the “Ingles” family in the eighty-ninth residence in Rutland Township.  C.P. Ingles was cited as a 34-year-old carpenter along with his wife, Caroline, and three daughters, Mary, Laura, and Carrie. This 1870 census and the Ingalls’ family Bible record that Carrie was born on this site on August 3, 1870. The family lived here only a short while as they mistakenly settled on the Osage Indian Diminished Reserve. After hearing that they were to be moved, the family decided to return to Wisconsin. The Ingalls didn’t know it, but six months later, the Osage Indians were moved to Oklahoma and the family would have been able to homestead the land.

In 1977 local volunteers reproduced the Little House with special efforts to build the cabin according to descriptions in Laura’s book.