(no subject)
the children's hospital went good. here goes: (if you care to venture on;)
Day Two: Tuesday, August 24th, 2004
Place: Janet Weis Children’s Hospital
Time: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Today marks the second day that I went to the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. And this time, I actually went, after the few weeks
of things just not working out as planned. My day started off eleven-thirty when my mother picked me up in front of the house. Again, I
wasn’t supposed to arrive at the hospital until one-thirty, but because of the miles we’d have to travel (and the construction that’s always
going on in Danville), we’d have to start out extra early.
This ride up was better than the last. I wasn’t nervous at all, actually. Well, a bit..but I guess that even the most confident of
people can be a bit nervous sometimes. And even though I’m not exactly a confident person, I was doing just fine. I was hoping that the
visit would be just as good as the last one (because I thought that the visit last time was practically perfect), but only time could tell. My
mother and I stopped for a quick lunch at the local McDonald’s (since we had time to spare), and then we traveled about a mile down the
road to the children’s hospital.
On the phone earlier, I had told the coordinator I would meet her upstairs in the craft room, so up to the third floor we went. I
spotted her in the room already, so I nervously peeked in the room and tiptoed in. She instantly saw me and said, ‘Hey Steph. Look, you
already got your first visitor!’ or something of the sort. Then I saw the girl who would soon come to be one of the most darling children I
have ever met, Madeline. She was sitting there in her wheelchair and smiled shyly at me as I strolled over and began to put my stuff on
the table. Again, there was way too much stuff I had brought this time, but I guess that too many stuff is a lot better than barely any
stuff and supplies, right? I finished up unpacking by placing the rest of my arts-and-crafts on the adjoining countertop and turned
around, the nervousness starting to become familiar with myself once again. Now, where do I start?
I instantly felt awkward, and scared. More and more scared, actually, as children began piling into the room. Well, not exactly
piling, there was only about four or five, but that was just the way my mind exaggerated as I grew more nervous and nauseous. This time
would soon out to be the total opposite of the last visit-gender wise. Last time, I had all boys, and this time, it was completely girls.
The girls grew seated and looked up at me anxiously, as their parents sat and smiled. I opened up one of my various craft bags
(I felt like Barney with his ‘Barney Bag’) and began rambling on to the kids, the many projects and ideas that I had broughten along with
me. Last but not least, I mentioned, was the pillows, and that got the greatest response out of all of them. While I was speaking, they
seemed a bit timid and only murmured, but once I mentioned the pillows, they quickly began to come out of their shells.
There was four girls that I began with initially. Seated at the table were Madeline, Bianca, Aliyah, and Donna. I showed them the
wide assortment of fabrics that I had brought along with me (things ranging from Blue’s Clue’s, Shrek, the Powderpuff Girls, to
astronauts, frogs and stars, plus a lot more.) Six-year-old Madeline chose a kitten fabric, while Bianca chose the Powderpuff Girl one.
Six-year-old Aliyah chose the Strawberry Shortcake fabric, while Donna chose the Blue’s Clue’s fabric piece.
The girls went crazy stuffing the pillows with the bags and bags of stuffing I had brought in, and I felt enthralled. They actually
did enjoy me..maybe this time would go as smoothly as last. Not long after they began stuffing did another small girl come in-her name
was Tristin, and she was about two or three. She came over shyly with her mom and picked out the Shrek fabric, and had fun stuffing it. I
think her pillow turned out the best in the end-it wasn’t overstuffed and looked just like an old pillow that a grandmother would make-well,
aside from the Shrek characters.
As the girls grew finished with stuffing their pillows, I grew scared. Now what would I do to occupy them while I sewed? Thanks
to the help of two watching mothers, I didn’t have to sew that much. I sewed Tristin’s, Madeline’s, and Bianca’s pillow as the two mothers
sewed Aliyah’s and Donna’s. While I sewed, Aliyah, Donna and Bianca colored pictures of Hello Kitty and Bear in the Big Blue House,
while Madeline just sat there and watched me-she was enjoying it. She was sooo cute as she sat there and kept questioning me as to
what I was going to do next. Unfortunately, Tristin had to leave as soon as she finished, so she left with her Shrek pillow, and then I was
left with the four original girls that I started out with.
The pillow-making had taken longer than I had expected, but my endless supply of crafts had, thankfully, keepen them
entertained. Madeline began diligently working on the Spongebob character dolls (the ones that had become such a hit the previous
visit) while Bianca began assembling together the Hello Kitty doll I had carefully cut out of the templates. An unfortunate ring to the
happiness I was receiving, though, was that Aliyah wasn’t participating in really anything I had out..she was just playing by herself on top
of the table, looking sad. I tried to brighten her up but she just insisted on playing with her toys for the time being. That was alright
though, I supposed.
Madeline’s mom came over and started to help her put together the Spongebob doll, as Bianca colored and glued buttons on
Hello Kitty. I was happy with the Hello Kitty turnout-I had thought that the Hello Kitty paper dolls were the least exciting things that I had
come up with; while Spongebob, assuming from the time before, I knew they were going to be a big success. I guess the hour and a half
preparation it took to put everything that Spongebob needed together had been worth the time. Definitely.
Bianca grew interested again in what we were doing, and started putting together the Blue’s Clues doll. She started coloring
paw print clues, also, but shortly after, Bianca and Aliyah (they were sisters), had to leave. As I said goodbye, I heard Bianca say that she
wanted to take some beads back to the room to make a beaded snake friend. ‘Of course,’ I replied. I gave her a bag of beads, string and
a snake as an example. I then realized that Madeline was the only one left. And wow, was she excited about everything. ‘I’m not going to
leave until I do everything’, is what she stated. I was thrilled-amazing, I had good enough things to entertain a six-year old child for
almost two hours!
‘Now,’ Madeline stated, ‘I want to make an alligator’. I helped her put the beads on the string, following the example as I was
telling her to, even though I knew perfectly well how to make an alligator. Those are the easiest ones to make, I’ve been doing them for
years. I just thought I’d try to let her do some of it herself as I did the main job.
As we quickly grew close to finishing, I realized it was very close to the time we were supposed to leave. We promptly finished,
and I put a keyring on the end of the tail-that was where Madeline wanted it. Madeline started getting ready to leave as I walked over to
the computer-the coordinator was having trouble with this picture file, and I’m amazing at doing things that have to do with picture files
on the computer; that is why she had called me over. As Madeline finally opened the door to leave, she kept saying ‘thank you’ and I kept
smiling. I actually felt proud, and good, about doing something for once. I thanked her for coming up, and she left.
My mom started packing things up as I helped the coordinator solve some of the dilemma; and then we left.
As we went back to the car, I was pretty much silent. I didn’t know what I was thinking-had it gone well or hadn’t it? Inside, I
knew it had gone really well, but a part of me was insisting it hadn’t gone well enough. I don’t know, next time (I’m going back in three
days), I’ll try to be more vocal and teacher-like. I think kids like that.
Anyways, again, I’m glad that I went. I hope I continue this ‘streak’ of good times!
so yes, if you were enough of a loser to read that, that's how my visit went for today. i'm going back friday (this time i'll be up to three times)-and when's this thing due? like, the first week of september. or the second week. whatever. h'fully, i'll have at least five times under my belt by the time the due date rolls around.
whatever. i had a good time. :)
what else..hmm. i miss eric. i definitely do. i also miss talking to nikki. and meliss. and charles. and tom. and jeannette. and jeff!. :x blah. what a bummer. life sucks. then you die. why did i just say that? i don't know. whatever, yet again.
i miss eric. i definitely do. i just realized again today (well, i always know, but i realized the freakin' humongous impact) just how much he has an importance on my life. i love him more than anything. awww.
something else happened..i can't remember what though..whatever. if i remember, i'll put it in this trusty ol' bitch. if not, forgetaboutit.
later.
Day Two: Tuesday, August 24th, 2004
Place: Janet Weis Children’s Hospital
Time: 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Today marks the second day that I went to the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. And this time, I actually went, after the few weeks
of things just not working out as planned. My day started off eleven-thirty when my mother picked me up in front of the house. Again, I
wasn’t supposed to arrive at the hospital until one-thirty, but because of the miles we’d have to travel (and the construction that’s always
going on in Danville), we’d have to start out extra early.
This ride up was better than the last. I wasn’t nervous at all, actually. Well, a bit..but I guess that even the most confident of
people can be a bit nervous sometimes. And even though I’m not exactly a confident person, I was doing just fine. I was hoping that the
visit would be just as good as the last one (because I thought that the visit last time was practically perfect), but only time could tell. My
mother and I stopped for a quick lunch at the local McDonald’s (since we had time to spare), and then we traveled about a mile down the
road to the children’s hospital.
On the phone earlier, I had told the coordinator I would meet her upstairs in the craft room, so up to the third floor we went. I
spotted her in the room already, so I nervously peeked in the room and tiptoed in. She instantly saw me and said, ‘Hey Steph. Look, you
already got your first visitor!’ or something of the sort. Then I saw the girl who would soon come to be one of the most darling children I
have ever met, Madeline. She was sitting there in her wheelchair and smiled shyly at me as I strolled over and began to put my stuff on
the table. Again, there was way too much stuff I had brought this time, but I guess that too many stuff is a lot better than barely any
stuff and supplies, right? I finished up unpacking by placing the rest of my arts-and-crafts on the adjoining countertop and turned
around, the nervousness starting to become familiar with myself once again. Now, where do I start?
I instantly felt awkward, and scared. More and more scared, actually, as children began piling into the room. Well, not exactly
piling, there was only about four or five, but that was just the way my mind exaggerated as I grew more nervous and nauseous. This time
would soon out to be the total opposite of the last visit-gender wise. Last time, I had all boys, and this time, it was completely girls.
The girls grew seated and looked up at me anxiously, as their parents sat and smiled. I opened up one of my various craft bags
(I felt like Barney with his ‘Barney Bag’) and began rambling on to the kids, the many projects and ideas that I had broughten along with
me. Last but not least, I mentioned, was the pillows, and that got the greatest response out of all of them. While I was speaking, they
seemed a bit timid and only murmured, but once I mentioned the pillows, they quickly began to come out of their shells.
There was four girls that I began with initially. Seated at the table were Madeline, Bianca, Aliyah, and Donna. I showed them the
wide assortment of fabrics that I had brought along with me (things ranging from Blue’s Clue’s, Shrek, the Powderpuff Girls, to
astronauts, frogs and stars, plus a lot more.) Six-year-old Madeline chose a kitten fabric, while Bianca chose the Powderpuff Girl one.
Six-year-old Aliyah chose the Strawberry Shortcake fabric, while Donna chose the Blue’s Clue’s fabric piece.
The girls went crazy stuffing the pillows with the bags and bags of stuffing I had brought in, and I felt enthralled. They actually
did enjoy me..maybe this time would go as smoothly as last. Not long after they began stuffing did another small girl come in-her name
was Tristin, and she was about two or three. She came over shyly with her mom and picked out the Shrek fabric, and had fun stuffing it. I
think her pillow turned out the best in the end-it wasn’t overstuffed and looked just like an old pillow that a grandmother would make-well,
aside from the Shrek characters.
As the girls grew finished with stuffing their pillows, I grew scared. Now what would I do to occupy them while I sewed? Thanks
to the help of two watching mothers, I didn’t have to sew that much. I sewed Tristin’s, Madeline’s, and Bianca’s pillow as the two mothers
sewed Aliyah’s and Donna’s. While I sewed, Aliyah, Donna and Bianca colored pictures of Hello Kitty and Bear in the Big Blue House,
while Madeline just sat there and watched me-she was enjoying it. She was sooo cute as she sat there and kept questioning me as to
what I was going to do next. Unfortunately, Tristin had to leave as soon as she finished, so she left with her Shrek pillow, and then I was
left with the four original girls that I started out with.
The pillow-making had taken longer than I had expected, but my endless supply of crafts had, thankfully, keepen them
entertained. Madeline began diligently working on the Spongebob character dolls (the ones that had become such a hit the previous
visit) while Bianca began assembling together the Hello Kitty doll I had carefully cut out of the templates. An unfortunate ring to the
happiness I was receiving, though, was that Aliyah wasn’t participating in really anything I had out..she was just playing by herself on top
of the table, looking sad. I tried to brighten her up but she just insisted on playing with her toys for the time being. That was alright
though, I supposed.
Madeline’s mom came over and started to help her put together the Spongebob doll, as Bianca colored and glued buttons on
Hello Kitty. I was happy with the Hello Kitty turnout-I had thought that the Hello Kitty paper dolls were the least exciting things that I had
come up with; while Spongebob, assuming from the time before, I knew they were going to be a big success. I guess the hour and a half
preparation it took to put everything that Spongebob needed together had been worth the time. Definitely.
Bianca grew interested again in what we were doing, and started putting together the Blue’s Clues doll. She started coloring
paw print clues, also, but shortly after, Bianca and Aliyah (they were sisters), had to leave. As I said goodbye, I heard Bianca say that she
wanted to take some beads back to the room to make a beaded snake friend. ‘Of course,’ I replied. I gave her a bag of beads, string and
a snake as an example. I then realized that Madeline was the only one left. And wow, was she excited about everything. ‘I’m not going to
leave until I do everything’, is what she stated. I was thrilled-amazing, I had good enough things to entertain a six-year old child for
almost two hours!
‘Now,’ Madeline stated, ‘I want to make an alligator’. I helped her put the beads on the string, following the example as I was
telling her to, even though I knew perfectly well how to make an alligator. Those are the easiest ones to make, I’ve been doing them for
years. I just thought I’d try to let her do some of it herself as I did the main job.
As we quickly grew close to finishing, I realized it was very close to the time we were supposed to leave. We promptly finished,
and I put a keyring on the end of the tail-that was where Madeline wanted it. Madeline started getting ready to leave as I walked over to
the computer-the coordinator was having trouble with this picture file, and I’m amazing at doing things that have to do with picture files
on the computer; that is why she had called me over. As Madeline finally opened the door to leave, she kept saying ‘thank you’ and I kept
smiling. I actually felt proud, and good, about doing something for once. I thanked her for coming up, and she left.
My mom started packing things up as I helped the coordinator solve some of the dilemma; and then we left.
As we went back to the car, I was pretty much silent. I didn’t know what I was thinking-had it gone well or hadn’t it? Inside, I
knew it had gone really well, but a part of me was insisting it hadn’t gone well enough. I don’t know, next time (I’m going back in three
days), I’ll try to be more vocal and teacher-like. I think kids like that.
Anyways, again, I’m glad that I went. I hope I continue this ‘streak’ of good times!
so yes, if you were enough of a loser to read that, that's how my visit went for today. i'm going back friday (this time i'll be up to three times)-and when's this thing due? like, the first week of september. or the second week. whatever. h'fully, i'll have at least five times under my belt by the time the due date rolls around.
whatever. i had a good time. :)
what else..hmm. i miss eric. i definitely do. i also miss talking to nikki. and meliss. and charles. and tom. and jeannette. and jeff!. :x blah. what a bummer. life sucks. then you die. why did i just say that? i don't know. whatever, yet again.
i miss eric. i definitely do. i just realized again today (well, i always know, but i realized the freakin' humongous impact) just how much he has an importance on my life. i love him more than anything. awww.
something else happened..i can't remember what though..whatever. if i remember, i'll put it in this trusty ol' bitch. if not, forgetaboutit.
later.