Monday was my 3yr surgiversary

Thanks Susan . I miss you too . I had intentions of going & then I didn't want to go anywhere .
xoxox Kathy

Congrats, Kathy ! Yeah, Life happens... and of course, a new lease on life! I totally agree.

Well, I hadn't been on OH much either until just a little visit on a windy and rainy day!  I'm also doing good... and guess what? I'm going back to school! That thought had not entered my head for a long time because of my health... now possibilities are everywhere. Feels great. We're feeling much better than we were years ago, right?  Keep plugging away... (winks)

Kelly

Thanks Kelly . How exciting , that you're going back to school . What will you be studying ? I'm happy for you . Kathy

Still undecided, but leaning towards accounting or engineering -- two totally separate programs... I still have credits from 14 years ago (omg, has it been that long?). I'll know more in a week or two. But everything's in the works and I would be registering for classes in November for Winter Quarter in January. Yikes, I'm nervous and excited at the same time.

I was going to going to go to school to be an accountant , at one time . I always enjoyed bookeeping & accounting . I do my own taxes , as well as some of my friends . Not to say i've never made a mistake . lol . Now I kind of wish i'd done it . It's not looking good where I work . I've worked there almost 25 years & may be unemployed in the next couple of years . I'll be too young to retire (according to my plan) & way too young to get Social security . Really scary . Keep me posted . Kathy

I've been hearing that all over --- about people being unemployed or getting close to...  I'll pray for you.  About school --- that's getting really scary (the kind that "it's getting exciting and looking forward to the future"). My financial aid is all set up. I've decided to have a math major -- by the looks of it, I'll finish the AA degree in Spring 2011 or Winter 2011.  Classes that I'm gonna take in Winter 2010 will be Calculus II and Physics 201.  It's like jumping in an icy cold lake after being away from school so long!   I sure hope to "swim" -- oy!   Wish me luck.  Kelly

I'm sure you'll do great . How do you do lectures , with your hearing impairment ? Do you rely on lip reading ? You seem to lip read well .

I don't know what i'm going to do if they close Rainier school . I better get busy doing some speed dating . lol . Thank goodness I don't have a lot of debt .

Either they would provide ASL interpreters or real time captioning at the school.  You've seen the ASL interpreters at the OH event in Bellevue, remember? But unfortunately, they didn't have ASL interpreters for the evening - the "fashion" show and all that -- I was not able to get anything --- informationwise --- they fell on deaf ears, literally. But I did have a kick out of everyone having a good time, smiling and laughing, celebrating our new lives.  I'm one of the few people who do lip-read well --- it's not the usual standard for every deaf/hard of hearing person to be a good lip-reader... I still goof up once in a while. For example, my mom said she wanted some red wine -- I was mistaken --- thought she said white wine   (try looking at the mirror   saying   white   and red (with no sound and picture that  about 8 feet away---the futher away, the harder to tell)--  you'll see they look the same, unless if you put an emphasis on whiiiiiite--then it's sorta obvious) Long story short, got a little exercise going back and forth to get the "red" wine -- I didn't mind.    Gotta get my bod to bed---had a long day...  Kelly

I do remember the interpreters . I know I would suck at lip reading (i'm near sighted) lol  . I try to do it when things get too noisy in my office & i'm trying to concentrate on what a particular person is saying . It doesn't usually go well  . I have some hearing loss . Mainly I have a hard time with deeper voices , people who don't enunciate (sp) , people who speak in a monotone or mumble , & I can't tell which direction a sound is coming from . I try to sit as close to a speaker as possible & away from people who tend to make comments under their breath . I'm also easily distracted . lol . Obviously not nearly as complicated as your challenges . I was just curious about how they do lectures for the deaf . Where I work (an institution for the DD) , we have quite a few hearing impaired or speech impaired people . So , there is alot of very simple signing . IE- toilet , eat , etc.... There is a female client who is really good at signing , that I have a great rapport with . She can hear normally , but can't speak . If I want to know a sign I will ask her . Later I often ask our speech path to show me the sign . The client is usually pretty accurate . I do have a book , but you don't always have time to look words up . I know the signing they use at Rainier is a little different than the general public . Kind of like school Spanish as opposed to home spoken Spanish . Keep me posted , Kelly .