Thursday, December 31, 2009

two excuses

I have been a bad blogger. (Which reminds me, I should tell you about the crazy socks I got from my mother-in-law. They say "naughty and nice" on them, and feature a picture of a decapitated gingerbread boy. Love it.)

Here are my two excuses:
(1) I have been overwhelmed by the holidays and working, two words that should not be in the same sentence ... but that is my sentence, because I work in a residential program.
(2) Our (neighbor's) internet at home has not been working reliably. Sometimes. So that's a bad excuse.
But your holiday gift to me can be to cut me some slack, because I had to work on Christmas. (Is it selfish if I think of that as one more reason for all you kids out there to practice safe sex? Use condoms, and put me out of a job on Christmas!)

And here is a story about how God gives you what you need when you need it.

I have a resident who is mildly retarded and bipolar. Let's call her Princess, but don't feel sorry for her! She is a bully, and I blame her for the fact that I was compelled to top off my coffee with a little Baileys yesterday (morning at 10:00). The past few days, she has been giving me way more than I know how to handle, and with the holidays, there aren't other staff members in the building for me to lean on (or send her to harass). Yesterday two of my sweetest clients were in the lounge watching television, and I got there fast when I saw Princess walk in and heard her start cursing. She was pitching a small fit, and quickly moved to the television and begin changing the channel. She continued to flip through the channels as she argued with me -- she hasn't really accepted that the lounge is a community area, and she has to share it with other people. The other girls avoid it, since Princess resides there almost constantly, and she's not exactly a peach. I told her if she couldn't socialize appropriately, she would have to leave, and living in community means blah blah blah. She argued, she cursed, she continued to change the channel, she refused to leave, she yelled... while the other ladies in the room looked at me wide-eyed. I came closer than I ever have to losing it. So I seized an opportunity to walk away, and happened to check my email.

On behalf the Professionalism Committee we would like to congratulate Karen K. for being selected staff for the December Character trait of Patience- The quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

Maybe there's a little Holy Ghost in me after all. Thank goodness I wasn't the only one working over the holiday.

2 comments:

  1. What a fantastic story! I'm glad you're back to blogging because I missed you. Especially while at work doing nothing! Because holidays at my work are dead, but for some reason I have to be here anyways!

    PS I read a news story that reminded me of you:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/garden/31yurt.html?pagewanted=1&8dpc&_r=1

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  2. Good article! I hope the part that reminded you of me wasn't that "We do have lower standards than a lot of people about how clean things have to be.”

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