More summer fun... stache bash

This summer has been filled with many opportunities to hang out with family and friends. One way that I have found to instantly click with my relatives and friends (and have a fun time) has been to bust out a sharpie marker and give everyone fake mustaches.




What you need...

1) A finger (preferably the index finger)
2) a sharpie (or other marker that will not rub off easily)
3) A willing spirit to have fun (obvious and necessary)

Directions: Apply the sharpie to the outside of the finger in the shape of the mustache that you would like to see. There are many options, so be creative and have a good time.


The best part is when you pass it along for 1st time stache-ers (I just made that name up as you can probably figure out) and my cousin wasn't too pleased that I taught her daughter this little trick. Either way my family and friends have busted out the fake mustaches at pre-wedding activities, wedding activities and the family reunion and it has always been a hit. It makes any gathering into an event thus the 'Stache Bash.

So if you are still reading, which I am sure that you are, thanks for reading and I hope that you incorporate the 'stache bash into your next gathering.

OTS thoughts: So besides that fact that I love to have a good time with others, you might be wondering how I could tie this into OT. Well, as a future OT, I will be dealing with many diverse populations. OTs work with all ages, and races, and people from many different backgrounds. We work in schools, hospitals, and in the community (to name a few.) Now, will I be using the 'stache bash in the hospital, or in therapy... probably not...However, I believe as a practicing OT practitioner I must be innovative to keep therapy interesting as well as find ways to connect with my patients to make them feel at ease to regain their quality of life that they had before therapy. This idea is simple, it modifies the situation, and its brings everyone to instantly have something in common- a fake mustache (or a real mustache if they already have one).

weddings and school and weddings

SOO this summer has been pretty fast and furious. My wife and I got married at the end of May, we have been to Minnesota, Chicago, and had several weddings and trips along the way.  Class has been busy and I have learned a lot about Neuromanagement, but the summer time is always hard to focus on school with so much going on.  The picture tothe left is of myself and my lovely wife at her cousin's wedding reception.  The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun. 

The picture on the right is of my new brothers and father-in-law.  The reception was right across the street from Millenium Park in Downtown Chicago and they had wines and beers from all around the world.  It was a very cool idea and well done.

Since we were in Chicago- I have wanted to stop by THE BEAN, but for some reason we never make time when we go to see my family.  So I did the typical tourist thing and took a picture by the bean (left).  It is a pretty unbelievable site and always something fun for people that are visiting Chicago to take picture besides. It is about maybe a story or two high and is shaped like a giant lima bean.  It is a 'must see' if you are on Michigan Avenue and near Millenium Park in downtown Chicago, IL.

OTS thoughts:  Since occupational balance is part of life- I am finding it more and more difficult as I get older to find the energy and enough hours in the day to complete all the things that I want to accomplish.  Class is going well, but the travel and fun is hard to mix in with the hard work necessary to complete this master's degree.  So for now I am working to focus hard to learn about neuromanagement and balancing fun/friends/etc with hard work to be an OT someday.  

Back to school- Honeymoon Cook Islands

Here is a picture of our honeymoon destination. We were fortunate enough to go to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. There are several islands and we were told through tripadvisor.com that Aitutaki was the prettiest and least touristy of them. The lagoon surrounds the islands and its smaller islands (picture left) the dark spots are the reef and the island lived up to its expectations of being less touristy with great people and overall beautiful.






We decided to roam around the island for a day as all of the island cruises were booked. So my wife and I tried to see all that the island had to offer via moped. The main road was one giant circle/oval with many roads intersecting it. The picture (left) is of myself enjoying some ice cream. The prices for food etc are a bit higher than the US, the NZD or New Zealand Dollar is a little bit less in exchange rate- but the island has to import many of its goods from New Zealand, Australia, and other locations.

We had a great time and I will be putting up more posts about the beautiful islands and our adventures.


OTS Thoughts: It was hard to leave such a beautiful place, but my wife and I did take note of the possibility of coming back to work with the local population. Their lives are much different from our in the states. They live very simplistically with tourism and local crafts being their main income. If I had more time I would have loved to see what the hospital had to offer as we heard that it was a pretty basic hospital (luckily we didn't need to visit it this trip for health reasons). OT on the island would be much different than what is needed in the states and I had not interviewed enough of the population to see how OT would be used. I would speculate from what I saw that we would deal with energy conservation, hand injuries, and some of the children in the school. The island more or less stabilizes a patient and then flies the patient to nearby New Zealand for more in-depth health coverage. We talked with a massage therapist that was trained in New Zealand for the purpose to come back to the island to work and we talked with our driver from the hotel that said she had never left the island.