Versatile blogger award

If you haven't heard, we got a blog award from NDNspeechMom.




As a requirement to receiving this award, you have to tell 7 things about yourself. Kristin has already listed her seven. So, I guess it's my turn.

1.  My wife and I have three kids with one on the way (Sorry Kristin, we can't name this one after you because it's going to be a boy). My oldest daughter is in kindergarten and goes to work with me in the morning which has been great. We both have enjoyed the morning time we spend together. I have her count and work on her letters on the way to work and then she plays on my iPod Touch while I attempt to get some paperwork done before her class starts. I enjoy spending time with them, they are super cute, all my wife's genes I swear. And my wife is the most wonderful and patient person I know. I always tease her about having to raise the 4 kids (myself included).

2. This is the first year that I've been able bring in my guitar into therapy. During the functional skills groups I have tried to incorporate music, which is a great way to get their attention. I've been playing guitar since I was thirteen, but as of late I've neglected it. So, when I actually played guitar with our song in our large language group, all the kids were focused more than usual. It was great!

3. When I'm not being lazy I create some of my own language Tx material with my own artistic abilities, if you can believe that. I've made several poster board scenes with Velcro dots on them where kids can add little pictures of animals. I haven't created one in a little while. I end up getting obsessed with them and I neglect my family a little too much over them.

4. My job at my local church is to conduct the church choir. I’ve been singing in choirs since 3rd grade, so it’s right up my alley. At some point in college I stopped because I felt like I had to focus on my major (which is true, choir sometimes demands a lot of attention). Luckily before I started getting into my major in college I was able to meet Lindy, my wife. We met in a choir while in college. She has a beautiful alto voice and sometimes we sing solos in church. We’re also finding that our kids are picking up on our love for singing, particularly my five year old. Part of me wants to go back to school and get a second bachelors degree in music with an emphasis on voice and then become a speech language pathologist, voice therapist, for famous singers. /sigh.

5. I’m a geek. Anybody who has follows me at @aoirselvar as well as @speechbob on twitter knows that. I created two twitter accounts to separate my geekiness from my speechiness. I love sci-fi and fantasy. My favorite TV show is Firefly (a sci-fi) and my favorite author is Brandon Sanderson (a fantasy author – whom I’ve had the opportunity to meet twice). I’m just like Kristin in that I normally carry a book around with me everywhere and read a little bit when ever I get a chance. Most of the time those books are in the fantasy genre of course. I didn’t dress up as Gandalf when Lord of the Rings came out, but that’s mostly because I was in college and didn’t have time or money, but I would have. And yes, I have a gaming blog as well which you can see here. However, in the last couple of months I’ve greatly neglected my gaming blog (haven't written since August) do to a new project that I’m working on (this blog). But I mean to throw something up there soon so people don't think I died.

6. My current obsession is my new iPod Touch, which I was going to discuss in my next SLP blog post. I’ve only had it for 3 weeks, but I already have more than 100 apps on it. And I got this nifty skin for it. Just barely put it on last night. I think it makes it look sweet. You can find different artwork to put your your ipod or iphone at Gelaskins.com. Tomorrow, I’ll discuss its usefulness as an educational speech therapist in more detail. But besides its usefulness, it’s heck-a-fun. I’ll admit that I purchased several games on there. And in my defense I’ve also purchased several educational apps for my kids. My kids are obsessed with this. They tend to crowd around, all three fighting for a space on my lap. It gets a little chaotic, but it’s a lot of fun.

7. Originally, I was going into Deaf Education. I have a lot of experience in sign language. I’ve taken more than 8 classes, and I toyed with the idea of becoming an ASL (American Sign Language) teacher for high school students or an interpreter for the Deaf. When I went to Utah State University I had a teacher sway me to becoming a speech therapist, but that’s another story for another day. I still like using sign language, but I don’t get opportunities to practice like I once did. Often times my wife and I will sign to each other when we want a private conversation, but I really should get back with it and practice more.

As for who we’ll pass this award over to, I’m not sure who. Kristin and I will have to figure that out and get back to y’all on that one.