Thursday

Tomorrow is Friday!! I'm excited for the weekend, although I am not looking forward to the 3+ hour drive back to the Cities this weekend. It will be nice to see Ross and some friends, but it would be nice to have another weekend up here, too. My week has gone pretty well. The kids were fairly well behaved this week, although we have been having some problems with one little boy. The current theory is his lack of breakfast (he has a tendency to eat candy during the morning instead). He can be a very cooperative boy, and he has made quite a few gains in PT this year, but there is something else going on. On Wednesday morning, I joined the PTA at the junior high. I usually go to two different elementary schools, but I wanted to experience at least one day with the older kids. It's interesting to think about what the current elementary school students will be like when they get to junior high. The junior high kids have some similar physical issues and some of the same treatment strategies are employed. It was fun to see the treatment progression and how interventions are a mix of "adult" exercises and playing games. At the elementary school level, the kids do some mat exercises, but things are more incorporated into play.

On Tuesday evening I had my first cookie baking experience of the season! The PTA and I made thumbprint cookies and some kind of polish bowtie cookie, and they both turned out pretty amazing. I ate my fill of dough as well. :) The polish cookies are topped with poppyseeds, which is actually really good. We made some with red or green sugar sprinkles instead, and also got creative with shapes. Dozens of bowties would be boring, so we made some candy canes or yule logs or wreaths... Now I just need some shadowbox cookies or almond bars and it will truly be Christmas season.

Today I went to a mini lecture at the Duluth YMCA. A local chiropractor gave a talk about running and treating running injuries. (The Y is trying to start a running club and was hoping this would garner some more interest. I enjoy running--and treadmills are not enjoyable--but finding a large group of people interested in running in hilly Duluth at 7AM when winter mornings are below zero before windchill may be a challenge.) As I have previously mentioned, PTs and chiropractors do not always see eye to eye. This guy was good (in my opinion). He discussed the runner's gait and common bad running habits. He gave tips to avoid improper technique and discussed some of the biomechanics behind the bad and good habits. He then discussed the phases of a runners gait and how those tips matched with the gait. He also demonstrated some basic exercises and stretches to curb injuries in the first place and to self-manage injuries already incurred. I found it interesting, and it meshed with what I have been taught. I wish he had given the talk a few weeks ago because he and a PT do gait analyses two evenings a week in Duluth... but my final week is filling up fast.