May

31

Taylors’ wedding

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Here are some pictures from Tim and Melanie Taylor’s wedding. Mel (the one on this blog) was matron of honor, which meant that I could take lots of pictures. It was quite a raucous crew, but that made it more fun.

Dr. & Mrs. Barton give advice
Flowers at the rehearsal dinner
Kami the coordinator

Rehearsing?
The groom waits expectantly
How much do we get to practice here?

Carnations in the lobby
Photos
Awww

Hiking for outside photos
Hmm. Looks like fun.
The girls

Another photo of the girls
The guys
The couple

Mel and Sarah
Mel and Mel
Happily married

Mike Reem, brother of the bride
Cake
The spread

Showered with roses
Mrs. Taylor
Preparing for escape


May

30

Summer school class

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I finished a three week course today. It was Audiologic Rehabilitation. It was my third audiology course in a row. The other two were undergraduate courses, but this graduate course was almost as bad. The teacher, a very nice man, was so dry that it was hard to pay attention 3 hours a day. Of course, halfway through the course he started letting us out an hour or two early. We didn’t mind, but I was paying for all that time.

We had three projects in the class. For the first one, we had to wear ear plugs for 4 hours and be in public one of those hours. This was to show us what it was like to have a hearing loss. The second project was to watch a TV show or video without sound on to see how much we understood. And we couldn’t use closed-captioning. This was to show us what it was like to not be able to hear. The third (and worst) project was to pretend to be deaf for 4 hours and be in public one of those hours. We could not communicate verbally. This was to show us what it was like to be deaf. After each of these projects we discussed them in class. It was interested how many people made comments like “it was so depressing” and “it really opened my eyes to what it’s like for a deaf person.” I didn’t feel that way at all, especially when I was pretending to be deaf. It’s really hard to pretend you can’t hear anything when you really can. I don’t care much for simulation projects.

Our final exam was today. It was open-book and open-notes. That sounds good, right? Well, my notes were 30 pages at 10pt font. The book was over 300 pages. It was also on videos, articles, guest lectures, group presentations, etc. We got a vague study guide (with the disclaimer that there could be questions on the test that aren’t on the study guide) and every time we tried to ask the teacher a question about a topic on the test or what to study we got a vague, “There might be a question about that.” It was 115 questions in 120 minutes. Now, most of us were unsure of what to study. I was afraid I would study the wrong things if I picked what seemed important, so I just went through my notes a few times and looked through the book. Some of the test questions were easy. Some I found in the notes or book. Some I remembered from my previous audiology classes (although I don’t remember them being mentioned in this class). Others I had no clue about (as did some of the others I talked to). For instance, one question asked how many hair cells we are born with in the cochlea. Another asked how many fibers are in the VIII cranial nerve. Even if this information had been provided in class (I’m not sure it was) and I had been paying attention (which I probably wasn’t), I wouldn’t have written it down. To me, that is extra tidbits, not something important for a speech pathologist to know. Another question none of us remembered in class (about a study on birds), but the teacher of our other class talked about it this morning! Hopefully we guessed right. The exam (and notes) was also full of spelling and grammar mistakes. That made it a little difficult to understand the question. I wish I had had enough time to count them up.

So, today was the end of my audiology class career (I hope!). I must say I am very glad. It was definitely not my favorite subject and the teachers I had were less than spectacular. Next week begins planning for clinic….

May

7

Abby and Lincoln’s wedding

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Yesterday was Lincoln and Abby Mullen’s wedding. Melanie and I were both attendants.

I’m going to try the new gallery function in WordPress 2.5. Hopefully it will work. I think these are the first pictures from the wedding available online.

If you click on the picture, you will be directed to a full-sized version of the photo in the lightbox. If you click the caption, you’ll be directed to a page with the photo and a place to comment on it. From that page you can click on the photo again for a full-sized, downloadable photo.

Floral arrangment at the rehearsal dinner
Scott, Kellen, Lincoln, and Abby
Dad and Lincoln

Abby and Lincoln
Kami Carr
Giving her up

Abby and Lincoln
Lincoln and Abby
The wedding cake

Melanie, Auria, Deb, and Abby
Melanie, Auria, Deb, and Abby
Mel, Auria, Deb, Abby, Mo, Emmy

Grandma Q, Lincoln, Abby
Aunt Kathy, Grandpa Turner, Abby, John Barnett
Dad, Mom, Abby, Lincoln

Mom, Abby, Grandma Q
Abby and Lincoln
Kami, Abby, and Lincoln

Abby, Lincoln, John
Cake closeup
The Miller Activities Center for the reception

Abby and Lincoln sample their cake
Abby throws her flowers
A bit sheepish perhaps

Abby and Lincoln head to the car
Abby and Lincoln begin to enjoy married life

May

1

The End of Second Semester

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Well, I have finished up my classes for second semester. It is amazing how little you can learn in some classes, and how much you can learn in other classes. For instance, I began Motor Speech Disorders not even knowing how many types of dysarthria there were let alone what the names were. Now, I can tell you the names, where in the brain is affected, how to determine what type of dysarthria it is, what possible etiologies are, and how to treat it. I’m pretty sure I got A’s in three of the four classes. I guess I’ll have to wait a few more days to find out for sure.

I have a week off, and then summer school starts. The summer will probably be my busiest and hardest semester. I’m working 20 hours a week, taking 2 classes, and beginning clinic. It will end up being about 20 hours of class a week. (And that just includes in class time!)

During my week off Andrew and I will head to Greenville. Abby is getting married on Tuesday, and the rest of the time will be filled with visiting various people and doing various activities. It sure doesn’t look like it will be very relaxing!