Putting Words in Your Mouth

A place for all things speech and language...with a Cajun twist

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About Me

Well, hello!!
If you’re reading this you’re either…a regular reader (wow, I never thought I would have those) or you’ve clicked on a link that led you right here to my little blog.
In any case, I’m glad you’re here.

Let me introduce myself …  I’m a proud and passionate Speech-Language Pathologist! I was a school SLP for 24 years, and now I am working in private practice.

I live a happy little life in south Louisiana with my high school sweetheart/husband of 30 years, my 2 sons, and my assortment of pets 🙂  They make everyday an adventure!  We love books, food, coffee, & God.

We are serious about living by the golden rule (do unto others….) and about keeping our Cajun culture alive.
I started blogging as the clock turned midnight in 2013. It was my New Year’s resolution. I’m so very happy I did!!  Want to know a little bit more about me?

 

I AM……

Like most SLPs, I am bookish! I’m a big reader and word nerd (if you doubt me, just read this nerdy wordy post). I’ve completely shunned eReaders of all kinds; I’m hopelessly devoted to the real-deal-paper-pages-between-2-covers. In our home, there are books everywhere you look.

Don’t even get me started on the whole subject of Harry Potter.  If you follow me on Pinterest you know I’m a little bonkers over everything HP! Although I love libraries, I can’t stand to part with a book I’ve fallen in love with after reading it.  So…I am a book hoarder.  My “sciencey” hubby humors me and hangs out with me late at night at bookstores.  I have successfully managed to bring my two sons, however, to the “book side” with me.

My oldest son, Ferris, was a journalist who quickly jumped ship from that profession to get a grad degree in creative writing and a life as a novelist.  My “baby,” Riley, also chases dreams of writing and much to my surprise, he just got a degree in Communication Disorders in addition to English and is off to grad school to get an masters in speech pathology in th fall. My little bookworms; they fill my heart. We are all so easy to please—all we need is our blankies, our books, and something to sip on.
I AM ALSO A….
Born and raised in the heart of Cajun country (on the very same block as my husband), I’m all about our culture, music, language, and FOOD.  My husband and I travel far and wide basically just to eat at cool places, but I swear there’s NO food on Earth like Louisiana.  In fact, I’ll soon be adding a section to my blog about our old school Cajun cooking and our eating adventures.  If you follow me on instagram you already know I’m a food fanatic (and one of those annoying people who won’t let anyone eat until I’ve taken pictures of the food). Oh, and I love to post photos of our travels, too – especially our neighboring beauty, New Orleans!

AND I AM A….

CRAFTER/CROCHETER!

I basically have TOO MANY HOBBIES! I sew a little, scrapbook a bit, and I crochet during winter. My husband gets on the crafty bandwagon with me, too.  There’s nothing he won’t paint, refurb, or reinvent if I get a crazy idea. We love taking junk from zero to hero, and we love traveling to hunt for unique pieces of trash to turn into treasure. These days, though, most of my creative juices flow into creating TpT activities for myself and for YOU.

 

 

 

 

If you haven’t figured it out already, I’M ALSO AN….

I don’t ever remember not having an animal to love, and I don’t think I could live without one. I’ve always had cats and dogs living alongside me, and currently we live with Lola the lhasa apso, Juni the siamese cat, and Scout out rescue kitty. Juni, our kitty, was found under our porch where a feral cat had her litter.  Our pup, Lola, was evacuated from Hurricane Katrina at 2 days old!  I aspire to be the person my dog. Lola, believes I am 🙂  Since we live next to a pasture (where, sadly, many people come to “dump” their unwanted animals) we’ve had to place or rescue animals.  They are such innocent little creatures who crave companionship above all else, love unconditionally and totally have their priorites straight!
Us humans could learn a lot from them!
People think I’m all…
Uhh….no way.  I might appear that to have my act together at first glance. My cutesy therapy activities might make you think I’ve got it under control, but here’s the truth…..I’m really more like….
However, blogging is a huge stress reliever for me, and it helps to give all of the thoughts swimming around in my brain a place to rest.  I hope you enjoy my ramblings. Thanks for reading!

Comments

  1. You have a zillion followers, and in my mind, you're famous. I'm going out on a limb here and I'm going to introduce myself right back. I'm Kari (on the web I'm slpkfast, which my mom thought was for slow-poke Kari Fast when I first gave her my email address 10 years or so ago when I finished grad school), a Metairie born, SLU graduate. I'm also a traveler. I work different school contracts all over the country. I don't remember when I first found your blog, but I can tell you it was a Pinterest link about coarticulation, which I had learned a lot about from a fellow SLU grad who did her undergrad and LSU. As I travel all over the country, I can always count on your blog to give me little bites of home, and I LOVE IT! I am also terribly grateful for your generous TpT store and your inspiring Instagrams. I tp ghost bowled with real pumpkins in two different PPCD classrooms today. Children who had never vocalized to me before were howling with laughter! It was amazing. I just stopped in to say thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for taking the time to share your ideas and your thoughts, and to model them with photos. On contracts where I feel more like a secretary than a clinician, I'm so grateful for fun ideas to brighten my days. Thank you, again! – Kari

    • KARI!! I just saw this comment!! This totally made my day!! First of all, thank YOU for the kind words- I'm so humbled that I remind you of home and that you could ever be inspired by me. I'm just a regular chick doing the best I can and trying to have some fun while doing the VERY tough job of being an SLP. I'm so pumped you ghost bowled and that it brought happiness to your students! I know EXACTLY who you are since we've since bonded on IG, but I am so happy you introduced yourself "officially". I think your choice of practice is fascinating; if you ever want to settle down around Baton Rouge, we could work together! WOW, your message will stay with me for a very long time. Thanks for sharing and brightening MY day! XO!

  3. Just found your materials about the PAIS and bought your TPT word lists–Thanks! Is there any way to track down more info in the PAIS? There seems to be nothing online about it…but that is probably due to the 90's being in the early days of the internet 🙂 I remember those days when articles where in bound books on the stacks in the library…

  4. Hi Mia
    I am the creator of 5-Minute Kids (thank you for your wonderful comments!) I am doing some presentations in the near future, as "near" as next week, and I am looking for ideas for therapy that I can add to my slides. I am very impressed with your products and would like your permission to include them in my presentation. Can we talk? Please E mail me at speechlady@charter.net. Thanks. Keep up the great work! Sue

    • Hi Sue. I JUST saw this comment tonight and I'm so thrilled you contacted me. I love your work. Yes, I would be honored if you choose to include my products and ideas. I will email you as well, and thank you for the compliments.

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