DTH - The Royal Wedding



The Royal Couple



Who woke up early to watch the royal wedding? MovieGuy said he watched the wedding this morning but missed the exchanged of vows. AvatarAng arrived this morning, excited to report that he watched the wedding this morning before coming to work.

Many of us at DTH saw the recap of the wedding and the live report from Buckingham Palace but did not catch the live exchange of vows at Westminster Abbey. We saw the kiss outside the palace and there were mix feelings about the kiss. Some thought it was too quick; some thought it was intimate and appropriate.

Staff G and Staff S said Prince William should have fought for Kate’s hand in marriage--Gladiator Style. The consumers and staff agreed, that would have been more entertaining.

Even with no gladiator fights, it was still entertaining to watch the wedding. If you miss it, you can watch more clips at http://www.msn.com/ 

Voc- Changes 4-27-11

Changes happen around us everyday, but it’s how we handle them that make them stressful or not. We have had several changes going on at PAI this spring. With new consumers arriving and old friends leaving, along with staff changes the Voc consumers have had to deal with a little stress. Add to that the changing around of our work areas. The Voc floor expanded to include the shredding room to our work space which has increased our production area. A discussion about changes and how we handle them was the main topic of our social skills class this week.

Golfer said she thought change was a good thing and not something we should worry about. She said that fighting change makes it harder accept change. Webkins says he likes to “just go with the flow as it makes everything easier” and “don’t sweat the small stuff” was his advice. Ms. Pacman and Sassy said they don’t like change and want things to stay the same. The changes they dislike the most is changes in their houses- new staff or roommates, changing plans after they are made is also difficult to accept. We all agreed that while change isn’t always easy, it is a part of life. If we follow Webkin’s advice and “don’t sweat the small stuff” change will be easier to accept.

VOC- April is National Listening Month

With April being the national listening month we’re asking “How good of a listener are you?” While expressing our wants, feelings, thoughts and opinions clearly and effectively are important to communication; it is only half of the process. Listening is the other half and just as important while communicating. 

 This was a very hot topic to be discussed in our group. While all involved thought they were good listeners we discovered we didn’t listen as good as we thought. When we talked about what made a good listener we all found we lacked some of the important skills.

Sassy expressed that part of good listening skills is to speak up so everyone can hear you, while Madam X added we need to speak clearly as well. Zerox stated that if you give too many unimportant details the listener will lose interest in what is being said. Star Gazer talked about how body language is also a part of listening as is eye contact. Webkin stated he likes when people look at him when he is talking because he feels they are listening to him. Princess Nor and Ms. Pacman both agreed that it’s very important for us to feel that the people we are talking to are listening.  Listening exercises were practiced in our social skills class with success.  With a little practice we can all learn new listening skills.

So here are some tips to being a good listener:

Use eye contact and body language; avoid looking around at other people or activities around the room.

Face to face communications is best with the listener nodding their head with what is being said.

Repeating what we think the other person said helps both parties know the point they are getting across is what we really wanted to say.

Let the person finish say what they needed to say before inputting your own ideas or comments.

So the big question is, “How good of a listener are you?” 

DTH – Twilight: Breaking Dawn

Feeling under the weather lately? Several of us at DTH have the fever, Twilight fever that is. Taking a break from the MN Twins, AvatarAng and many others are eagerly awaiting the November 18 release of Breaking Dawn, the forth installment to the Twilight saga. Since we can’t wait to find out what happens in the movie, we are reading Breaking Dawn in our Book Club. 

An informal survey was conducted at DTH to determine which team we are cheering for. Team Edward or Team Jacob? Like Bella Swan, we have had difficulty making a decision. Seven individuals cheered for Edward, five rooted for Jacob, two have no clue who Jacob and Edward are and one has a hard time making up her mind.

Vampire or Werewolf? AvatarAng sides with vampires for their immortality and coolness factor.  Staff G chose Edward for his old world charm and valiant nature. Who do you choose, Edward or Jacob, and why?

VOC- Allergy Season is here!!

With allergy season right around the corner it time to start preparing ourselves against them: as experts say this year will particularly hard. With trees starting to bud and the winds blowing allergens all around it's time to be prepared. First it starts with an itch of the nose, itchy eyes, then stuffy/ runny nose and headaches. Allergy suffers are encourage to take a few preventive actions to help survive.

Here are a few helpful hints to lessen the attacks:

1- Minimize outdoor activity when pollen counts are high. Peek pollen times are usually between 7:00 am and 10:00am .

2- Shut the windows in your house on days when pollen counts are high. Use your air conditioner for temperature control instead.

3- If you are gardening or mowing use a filter mask.

4- If you travel shut the windows of your car and at home.

5- When you are done outside change your clothes and wash your hands and face to remove all the allergens.

6- MOST importantly shower and wash your hair at night before you go to bed to remove excessive pollen and potential allergens that could cause irritation.

If allergies symptoms continue to be a problem speak to your doctor who can prescribe allergy medication and/ or suggest nasal washer or spays.

Summer activities can be fun with allergies if the right precautions are taken. Madam X is excited for spring and warmer weather. She can't wait to start walking. SF and Hersey both are swimmers and are looking forward to going to the lake. Fan Lady is preparing for all her summer sports, volleyball, bowling and softball. Princess Nor and Ms. Pacman are looking forward to having picnics and watching all the pretty flower grow. They are both looking forward to visiting Como Zoo and the Conservatory. Webkin says he is most looking forward to  mowing his grass and doing yard work.

Whatever you are looking forward to this spring and summer we hope if you have allergies you take precautions and enjoy the weather.



DTH – MN Severe Weather Awareness Week

Tornado

Contrary to forecasted flurries to 2” of snow for this coming weekend, it is spring. Spring showers bring summer thunderstorms and tornados, among other fabulous Minnesota weather. In preparation for what’s to come, April 11-15 was Severe Weather Awareness week in Minnesota. A state wide testing of Tornado Sirens was heard at 1:45 PM and 6:55 PM Thursday, April 14, 2011.  For further information, please visit the Minnesota Department of Public Safety webpage at http://www.severeweather.state.mn.us/ 

Stay Safe.

Twins Catcher Joe Mauer

In keeping up with the Minnesota Twins, some of our consumers were surprised to hear the news that Joe Mauer was placed on the 15-day Disability List (DL) for weakness in his leg. What will this mean for the Twins? On happier news, our very own Twins fan D gladly reported that the Twins won their home opener game against the Oakland A’s 2-1 on Friday, April 8, 2011!  Hopefully the Twins will find a way to keep winning despite Joe Mauer’s absence.

DTH MN Twins

The Minnesota Twins’ first home game is tonight, April 8, 2011 at Target Field. They will be playing the Oakland Athletics (AKA Oakland A’s) without their second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He fractured his lower left leg during Thursday’s game at Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately the Twins lost the game 4-3. If you want to learn more about the Twins, check out their website. There is neat information about the new stadium, stats and other Twins related news on the website.  http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=min 

In keeping with this month’s weather theme, we wanted to let you know tonight’s forecast for the Twins game.  The weather is forecasted to be 61° and partly cloudy this afternoon during the game. For all who will be attending, enjoy this weather. Rain is in the forecast for this weekend, but at least it’s not snow! We hope you all enjoy the weekend.

For weather related information, visit http://weather.minnesota.cbslocal.com/US/MN/Minneapolis.html

April Is National Autism Awareness Month

I'm sure we have all heard a version of the following fact on the news,

"In December 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued their ADDM autism prevalence report. The report concluded that the prevalence of autism had risen to 1 in every 110 births in the United States and almost 1 in 70 boys." Autism Society - About Autism." Autism Society - Homepage. 21 Jan. 2008. Web. 05 Apr. 2011. 

It's pretty safe to say that almost everyone personally knows or is aware of a person who has been impacted by Autism.  Speaking personally, I have had many challenging and deeply rewarding experiences working with individuals who are on the Autism spectrum. 
In honor of National Autism Awareness Month I would like to give a shout out to some professional organizations who promote Autism Awareness.  This is by no means an all encompassing list.  If you know of another organization who works with Autistic Individuals, please feel free to add their webpage in the comments section. 
Thanks, CD

http://www.autism-society.org/about-autism/- Autism Society

http://www.ausm.org/index.asp - Autism Society of Minnesota

http://tinyurl.com/AutismSpeaksMN - Minnesota Walk Now For Autism Speaks, Sept 24th, 2011

VOC - SEVERE WEATHER

Severe Weather Awareness Week is next week, April 11^th, 3011 to April 15^th, 2011, see http://www.severeweather.state.mn.us/ for details.

On Thursday April 14, 2011 simulated tornado watches and warnings will be issued to test the statewide warning and communications systems. There will be an afternoon Tornado Drill at 1:45 p.m. and an evening drill at 6:55 pm. Schools, businesses and other facilities are encouraged to conduct a tornado drill at this time to practice their tornado sheltering plans.

Sassy, Princess Nor and The fan lady all stated their families and homes practice severe weather/ fire drills monthly.

Star gazer told us the difference between a warning and a watch. A watch means that conditions are good for a storm whereas a warning means severe weather has been detected and we should seek shelter. When the siren sounds everyone is encouraged to seek shelter in the basement away from windows.   Ms. Pac-man stated that her family has a severe weather bag filled with a radio, water, blankets and flashlights along with snack bars. This is a great idea that every one should think about starting at home. 

Did you know that approximately two thirds of average annual precipitation falls during the warm months of May through September? So, with all the crazy weather changes we have in Minnesota we decided to ask our followers “What do you do to prepare for severe weather?”

Join us @ MN Arts Count!

Hey Everyone,

Check this out! 

There’s one month to go in MN Arts Count, the statewide census of anyone who personally or professionally expresses themselves creatively. The MN Arts Count is also for any organizations or group that engages in or supports creative endeavors. THIS MEANS YOU! Do you sing? Act? Dance? Write? Draw? Paint? Sculpt? Photograph? Knit? Play an instrument? Compose? Clog? No matter how well or how publicly you share your talents, be proud and be counted.

Go to www.MNArtscount.com or call 800-748-3222 ext. 225 for a paper survey.

A $750 Visa gift card will be given away to one respondent who can most accurately guess the total number of Minnesotans who participate in various forms of creative expression. Two runners-up will each receive a $150 Visa gift card.

We know there are a lot more people, groups, troupes, choirs, clubs, orchestras, bands, etc., yet to be counted. You can help by:

1.      Taking the survey today

2.      Telling others about the survey: forward this message and post an invitation to participate on your Facebook page or on Twitter

3.      Downloading a few of the MN Arts Count posters and hanging them on a bulletin board at your local coffee shop, community center, or house of worship

4.      Posting an “I’ve been counted” logo on your blog, Facebook, or website

MN Arts Count will end on April 30, so don’t please delay. The Minnesota State Arts Board and the regional arts councils thank you for your participation and support.

MN Arts Count 2011

From ballet to bottle caps, your art counts!

VOC- Final Four Basketball Tournament

Hi, welcome to the PAI blog. This month we will be discussing the Final Four Basketball tournaments, severe weather and “Listening” month.

Today we are going to discuss the NCAA Final Four Basketball tournaments. The Four college teams that are playing the Men’s tournament are Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) vs. Butler and University of Kentucky (UK) vs. University of Connecticut (UCONN).   Talk around the Voc floor has the Men’s Championship game pitting Butler against UCONN. This is sure to be an exciting match up.

In the women’s division we have University of Connecticut (UCONN) vs. Notre Dame and Texas A&M vs. Stanford.  The men’s Final four games will be held on Saturday, 4-2-11 and the Woman’s final game will be held on Sunday, 4-3-11

In the women’s division playing in Indianapolis, IN the talk is that Championship game will have Stanford playing against UCONN. UCONN is defending their championship from the last few years.

How exciting would it be to have both your Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams in the Final Four? Good Luck to all the teams involved. Next week we will be talking about severe weather.

DTH - Severe weather and how it affects us

SNOW-M-G!

We recently experienced another one of Minnesota’s wonderful snow falls. Though beautiful, the snow left many of us stranded at home and in ditches. In fact, All PAI Sites were closed on Monday February 21st AND Wednesday March 23rd due to the snow.  Many of us cannot even remember the last time PAI closed because of the snow; and this year we were closed TWICE!
The inconvenience of the snow forced us to alter our plans. Some of us used the snow day to go out, run errands, or simply stayed home and enjoyed a snow day. MovieGuy reported he stayed home and spent time in his Lazy Boy recliner. AvatarAng said he played games on his Playstation 3 (PS3) and watched movies. One of the movies he watched was The Last Air Bender on his PS3.
On other severe weather related note, in light of the disaster in Japan, we discussed tsunamis and earthquakes in our What, When, How class. This subject brought on a discussion regarding summer related weather and emergencies such as thunder storms, tornados, and just hot, hot weather. So here’s what you should do: drink lots of water on hot days and follow precautions and warnings for storms and tornados.
MovieGuy commented on flooding. This comment led to a discussion about flooding in Minnesota and what is being done to prevent harm such as road closings, sand bagging, and evacuations. Again, this is a topic we will be continuing to discuss as warmer weather approaches.

Welcome to PAI Commerce Blog!

The Defination of a Blog is: noun; a web site containing the writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other Web sites.  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blog

Commerce site decided to embrace technology and the future and start a blog of our own.  We decided that each side of the building (VOC & DTH) will create weekly blog posts about a variety of topics.  The topics will be reported on by a various consumers who attend PAI during the week.  We are very excited about this new endeavor! Please tune in on Wednesday's and Friday to read our new posts.  We will have some interesting stuff to talk about and the consumers are excited to share their opinions and knowledge with the rest of the world.