Hi everybody!
Well, I finally have a few minutes to catch everyone up on what has been happening in my little life. Here goes... (hold on, it's going to be a long, wild ride!) (Well, okay, probably just long...)
SO, here is the dirt for the last week or so. Things have been super, super busy at work. But, let's try to take this last week in some semblance of order.
Last Monday-
If the decision to move to New Zealand had not already been made, it would have been made today. There was an officer involved shooting right in front of the condo on this day. Apparently, the Portland PD caught up with a bank robber right in front of the park where I walk Buddy every day. Luckily, it was the middle of the morning... Buddy was at daycare, and Franz and I both were at work. Thank God. I heard that the bank robber pulled a knife, and was apparently walking towards the police officers that were telling him to stop. They killed him. They shot him four times and they killed him.
New Zealand... here I come!
Last Tuesday-
*Well, this was a silly crazy day. We had a mandatory "team building" training. Apparently, team building entails using stick horses (broom handles with stuffed toy horse heads at the top-with little microchips in their ears that you press to have them make whinying noises) to hop around abandoned offices. All while blindfolded, trusting only your guide (a fellow co-worker) to guide you around the course using only their voice. While they take pictures.
*Also, team building is accomplished by stuffing large quantities of marshmallows into your mouth... competing to see who can stuff the most. Not blindfolded this time.
*In addition, you can help to build a team by having everyone do Mad Libs with a piece of DVRC literature. A glowing commentary on the virtues of the agency is transformed into raucous, hilarious and sometimes coyly embarrassing couple of paragraphs that everyone laughs at when you read out loud.
* In short a good time was had by all. That's what we're calling it... a good time. Not one person rolled their eyes or said "Geez louise...". Not even once. And no one was thinking that "at least the folks in Abu Ghirab weren't expected to think their torture was funny." And no one even considered the homoerotic symbolism involved in having other women blindfold you while you prepare to run around the room with a fake stick beast between your legs. None of us.
Okay, so it wasn't that bad... I joke. I joke because I love. Actually they got a few pictures of me laughing my ass off, so I really did have a good time. I just felt vaguely used at the end of it. :)
Last Wednesday-
I was busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest on this day. I saw clients back to back to back all damn day. I watched one client's kids for her... for 45 minutes... because when she had come into the DHS office she was so frazzled by their behavior (screaming their heads off, running around the office unchecked, etc.) that she couldn't complete her application with the caseworker. Unfortunately, she got one of the all time worst case workers that office had to offer. This person had her in tears by the time she left. She called me telling me that she was ready to go back to her abuser. It was just too hard to get help. I arranged for her to get an appointment with another caseworker, and found out that if you separate the Mom from the kids, that they both calm down immensely. Frazzled for this woman was not hard... it was about half a step away from where she has been living inside her head for the last few months. So, her set point was a little lower than some people. She desperately needed someone to take some of the burden off of her. So, I did.
And I had a little conversation with the first caseworker's supervisor at the end of the day.
But I also lost a client on this day. There was a woman that I couldn't convince to leave her abuser. She said that she knows he could kill her someday. She just isn't ready to go, yet. She is pregnant, and he has beaten her when she was pregnant before. I told her that if she stays, and he beats her, and she loses the baby... that it would be a decision she would regret for the rest of her life. I told her that I didn't want to see her suffer that kind of pain. I told her that we would be here for her, whenever she was ready. She just sort of floated away from me. I could see her closing away my words as she got ready to leave. She put me away somewhere in the compartment in her mind where Never Never Land really exists. "It will never, never happen to me." I have intentionally tried to forget her name. When I see it in the paper or on the news someday, though, I am afraid I will remember.
Last Thursday-
Thanksgiving. I went to Franz's sister's house. Franz cooked the turkey. I made an apple cake. The others made all kinds of goodies. I fell asleep on their couch after dinner. I didn't help out with the dishes as much as I should have. I felt kind of bad, because I reminded myself of my own father at my graduation party at their house. He fell asleep in the same room. I tried to make up for it by helping with the dishes that were left at the end. I hope that they still like me after all that.
Last Friday-
This was the deadest day I have ever worked at DHS. There was only about 1/4 of the staff that there usually is. It sucked. I was still busy, but it was just the leftovers from crazy Wednesday.
Last Saturday-
Hell day!! I went and worked out with my trainer. Who I now hate with a fiery, white hot passion. Well, okay, not hate. Just dislike for causing me so much soreness-that didn't go away until yesterday. That's Tuesday for anyone who is keeping track. The really cool thing about this day was that Franz and I got to go to a hockey game with his brother, his nephew and his nephew's girlfriend. (They were so cute together, by the way.) The people who were sitting in front of were kind of assholes, but we got to see the "Teddy Bear Toss". This is a thing that they do at a particular game each year. When the Hawks get their first goal of the night, everyone in the audience brings a teddy bear to toss on to the ice. The bears get donated to local law enforcement, fire fighters, DV shelters, and children's hospitals to give to kids when they are going through bad times. It was the most amazing thing to see. The goal happened, kind of unexpectedly, and then there was just this huge mass of stuff flying through the air. It was like snow, only bigger and furry. And people didn't just bring in cheapie little bears, I saw some that were as large as I am. Those took several people to get them over the barrier and onto the ice. It was amazing. I was so happy to live in such a generous city. In the end, there were over 7400 bears donated by Winterhawks fans. Portland is such a great place. (Except when cops shoot people in front of your building.) The point is, though, that people here are by and large kind and generous.
Last Sunday-
We went to brunch at Mother's (which was very good) and we went to Powell's Books. I got the Lonely Planet Guide to New Zealand. We cleaned up the condo a bit and just had a lazy day in general. Except for doing a ton of laundry. I remember I stayed up late to finish the laundry.
Monday-
I was pretty bored on this day. The sad part was that I got a call before I even got into work from a client who I had talked to about two weeks ago. She told me that she hadn't followed my advice about getting a restraining order on her ex, and that he had kidnapped their child over the Thanksgiving weekend. She asked me what I thought she should do. I told her to get the RO. I wasn't upset with her. I felt bad that I hadn't been more persuasive, but I wasn't mad at her for not listening to me. It bothered me the whole day, though. I kept wondering what I could have done differently. My supervisor is out of town for a few weeks, so there was no one I could really talk with about it. At least, not in person. Someone wonderful stepped up later in the day to say she would be there for me on the phone... which, I have to tell you, was very comforting. I just can't call her from work, because there are always people listening. That's the kind of sucky thing about cubicles... there isn't a whole lot of privacy. I wish they could afford to give me a more private space.
Tuesday-
Another sort of nothing day. I attended a bunch of meetings and followed up with a few clients. Nothing really big.
Today-
See, I told you it was going to be long. Well, this was another super busy day. Some unusual clients, but their stories are distinctive enough that there is a chance someone could identify them. I am almost positive I read something about one of them in the newspaper. So, I'm not going to take any chances and disclose anything here. But it was a busy and productive day, overall. And I worked out again tonight. I just did cardio, so I am not too terribly sore, now.
Well, Franz has been waiting patiently for me for about an hour now. I hope you guys enjoyed catching up with my week.
Love to all,
Sherry
