Ever Have a Week Where There's just not Much to Say?
The boys have one more week with me and then they will leave for the summer. They will have time with their dad, time with their grandparents, Tucker has a reservation for a week at a Day Camp that includes such activities as fishing, archery, and horse back riding. And I can only think about how very long and quiet that two months will be.
Three Day Aaaaaaaah -
I know the point of Memorial Day was not to give me a day away from work, but that's how I used it and it has been wonderful. I didn't DO much. I've hung out with the boys, about the most strenuous work I've done is cook and clean the kitchen, and it's been pretty wonderful.
The boys have asked for SIMS 2. And in truth I think the SIMS is a good game for them to play. A lot of the skills we work on in therapy are the same skills that are emphasized in the SIMS. But, I've discovered that my graphics card can't handle it. Oh well. Guess we'll have to stick to the plain old original game.
There are worse things.
The last time they played SIMS, they created a little me, and gave me a little boyfriend, I guess there was a common law marital arrangement because they moved him in from the beginning so little SIM me didn't even get to have a wedding. . Then they kept making me kiss the boyfriend. If you've ever played SIMS, you know what that leads to. Yep. In SIMS you can get pregnant from kissing. SO before long, I was the Momi with 12 kids. Good thing they knew the Rosebud cheat so they could hire us a maid, and build us a huge house.
Anyway, that's what we didn't do today. What we did do was a little light housecleaning, a lot o lying on the couch hanging out with each other, some reading (that was me), some game boy (that was Tucker) and some "huh? I can't hear you I'm listening to my music" (that was Michael).
It's been a cool day with dark clouds overhead to make us content with being indoors, but no rain. Yet.
I hope you all had the kind of Memorial Day you needed whether you participated in Memorial observances, or made it a play day.
Scamper Away!
Do you ever wish you were a footloose, fancy free, scampering kind of person?
Ever wanna excuse yourself from a really boring meeting, climb out the bathroom window, and run giggling across the parking lot? I used to have a co-worker who would lean across and whisper in my ear, "Let's just get in a car and start driving."
Escapist? Well, yeah.
"The usual opponents of escapism are jailers." c s lewis
Wow - Time Flies ...
I have good news and better news. Getting ready to make the move. I got in touch with a case manager from Community Action New Mexico. We figured out that my IDA* won't transfer directly to New Mexico. BUT, I am eligible for an account there that I can start and fund with the money I currently have in my account here. The residency requirement is only six months, so I can expect to be house hunting within a year - and the good news? The match in New Mexico is 4:1 so that will give me an additional $1000 to use for my down payment.
The better news? The case manager and I chatted about my current job and she told me that if I'd send her my resume and samples of the work I've done here, she would introduce me to other people in the nonprofit community and see if we couldn't hook me up with someone who could benefit from my particular skills and ability.
She's offered me other help if I need it on a variety of issues and had suggestions for things I hadn't considered yet. At this point I've dealt with realtors, the Community Action people, school people, employment people ... you get the picture. And I have been made to feel welcome, treated like I'm a valuable person and offered answers to questions I haven't even asked. How COOL is that?
(Okay, I need to make it clear that I have absolutely no complaints about my caseworker here at Pikes Peak Community Action Agency, Sherry has been wonderful and supportive and helpful. But Sherry has been a rare exception to my Colorado experience.)
On the home front, I'm trying to decide when would be the very best time to tell my boss here that I'm leaving. There's been no more discussion of a raise, but we still have a couple days before June 1 so ... nah, I'm definitely not holding my breath.
Things are going well here at work. I'm continuing to grow the program. We have new clients, and good things happening. Sigh. I'm so proud of this program. I am seeing people in the office all the time who's lives are different now because of their involvement with our program, their relationship with our coaches, and the empowerment they've experienced over the past six months. How COOL is that?
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Anybody wanna help me with some research? It would be a matter of 30 minutes to an hour of your time. I need to compare prices on Rent To Own items from different rental centers around the country. I'd need someone to go to the store, and get prices and terms for 1) a television, 2) a computer 3) a refrigerator 4) a washer/dryer and 5) a dining room set. If possible, I'd need the name brands of the merchandise. Could you do it? Let me know.
Hugs and Love
*Individual Development Account - available in most cities across the country. This is a program that uses Federal Funds in combination with state and local resources to provide matching funds for lower income people to help them obtain assets. In most programs the participant saves up to $1000 of his or her money into an account and then the matching funds are made available when the asset is purchased. Participants also attend financial literacy courses, first time home buyer workshops, and other preparatory classes to help them prepare for proper management of the asset.
An IDA can be used to pay for education, business start-up, or as a down payment on a home. The amount of the match depends on the local agency. In Colorado it's 3:1, New Mexico 4:1 and I've heard that in Hawaii it's 9:1. You can find out whether there's a program in your area through the website www.cfed.org.
Monday Monday ...
Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Some days were just made for plugging in the headphones, writing and editing, and listing to folk music. I'm having kind of a Peter, Paul and Mary, Mamas and Papas, Arlo Guthrie kind of day. It's too bad I forgot and left my flash drive at home. But by golly, I look like I'm working ...
I Wanna Thank You
Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Again
What can I say? I seriously love the boys' therapist. Yesterday, Julie had prepared a packet of information for me to use with the school already, and she's getting more together. The assessments used to determine the level of maladjustment Michael demonstrates are all done and scaled and in comparison to the assessments done three years ago, he's not looking good.
So that will be powerful evidence to take to the school this fall and request that he be reinstated in Special Ed with specific accommodations and modifications that Julie is helping me to craft now.
She talked with me about how their week has gone before she brought them back for sessions. And they love her as much as I do. They are relaxed, they have fun, and they learn new things every week. She hands out a lot of praise for the way that we function together as a family. We're still working with Tucker on what it means to live with an Autistic brother. We're working with Michael on things like staying on topic when he starts a conversation and listening skills.
And she has a wonderfully comfy couch in the waiting room where I take a nap while "we're" doing all this work.
I took the boys to see Shrek the 3rd yesterday and now they are marking off the days on the calendar until we can go see Pirates. I'm thrilled that Hollywood is releasing these films early. The last two summers I've missed out because with the boys out of town there's been no point really. Summer movies require a kid in tow to squeal, spill popcorn on me, and need a trip to the bathroom halfway through.
Sigh. Good times.
In Shrek the 3rd the scene where Puss in Boots gets wet, is great. So is the scene with the Princesses throwing Fiona a baby shower. And the villianous Prince Charming ... what can I say. It's not giving anything away to mention that he has been reduced to a career in dinner theater and it gets better from there. John Cleese voicing of the Frog King during the death bed scene is, well ... I think my cheek muscles are still sore from trying to suppress my out loud laughter.
My boss was very positive on the idea of a raise. I'm not sure what his thinking is about the amount that I asked for, but he told me there was no reason he could see that I wouldn't get a raise starting June 1. Now just to be clear, every time in the past that they've said I'll get a raise, either it didn't happen, it was less than half what they promised, or it came a month later than they said. So I'm not holding my breath. But it would be nice if it happened.
Take Another Look ...
Our day started relatively late for us. We dragged ourselves out the door about 10:30 as though its the last week of school and we've lost the last of our motivation to get up early and tackle life. But we did make it out.
1. Everyone got new shoes.
2. We visited Julie for therapy.
3. It was Mom's turn to pick where we'd go after therapy. The kids didn't know it but I sneaked over to the theater yesterday and bought tickets for Shrek the 3rd.
4. We had our dinner out on the patio of a new restaurant at the "New Town Center" where the theater is located. I took pictures.
Red Red Red
My day did not start well. In the first place it started at 4:00 a.m. I don't care anymore, that's just not civilized.
Then I put my favorite gray slacks (along with the whole rest of the load of my nicer work clothes) in the dryer. When I went to get them out a renegade lipstick (Desert Sunset) had melted and made big red splotches on everything.
I threw everything back into the wash with a double dose of All, Small and Mighty, with Stainlifter ... yeah right
Then I got to work where I learned that the phrase "undocumented success" had been elevated to some kind of corporate mantra status that (in my humble but correct opinion) was just a code for "we're gonna LIE about how good we are and see if people will give us money ..."
After some weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, (during which I developed an annoying eye twitch) there was serious revision. The bigg boss sulked. The new and improved document told it like it is and not like he wishes it were. I'd like to say that my eye twitch went away, but it didn't.
However, I worked up the gumption to tell my boss that I need more money. I've taken on a lot of additional respnsibility since Denise left, heck I almost never have time to blog or play computer games at work anymore. I know I'm leaving, but they won't know that for another ... 6-8 weeks? I'm thinking if they give me a raise its a BS-tax I'm imposing until I'm out of there. Plus, it would help defray those moving costs ...
And when I got home, the All, Small and Mighty with Stainlifter had done the trick! My clothes were free of lipstick stains.
Now I'm sending out for pizza and the kids and I are gonna play games and have family time.
I think I'll be RED tonight.
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