It actually started snowing last night that has stuck to the ground. I have to admit that I LOVE the snow! There is something about it that seems to "quiet" the world around and makes you just want to have a cup of hot chocolate (which I had this morning). It also help make it feel that Christmas is really coming up. I have to admit that I've been secretly been listening to Christmas music off and on since shortly after Halloween. My husband says that Thanksgiving gets overlooked because all the stores bring out Christmas even before Halloween is over. It is very true!
Even though the snow storm last night and this morning didn't "produce" much, it still makes me excited and want more. I love going sledding, building a snowman, and I am silly because I love to shovel snow from the sidewalk and driveway. Even with all this love of snow, I will admit that there are times that I don't appreciate it as much when I'm driving. There are some crazy people who drive way to insanely fast for the road conditions. I am a careful driver and give myself lots of room and go under the speed limit. I barely missed being in an accident this morning coming back from court. The truck in front of me started sliding trying to stop at a stoplight and I did the same thing too. I ended up changing lanes and sliding through a VERY red stoplight. There was this dumb car trying to turn left because it needed to get out of the intersection because of it turning red. I guess it didn't see me gracefully sliding through the intersection and tried turning into me. I frantically honked and honked and they stopped about a foot away from hitting me. Needless to say that sure got my heart going! So for all you crazy drivers out there...go slower!!!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
The dreaded Monday
Today is the dreaded Monday of having to return to work after a nice long break from work. I will admit though that this morning wasn't as bad as I thought that it would be. I thought that I would have tons of messages on my phone. But I only had one message on my office phone and no messages on my work cell. I do hate having to turn on my phone early every morning since I have a kid on the run for the past week and a half and I never know when he will be picked up and when I will have to attend a detention hearing. (Stupid delinquents!)
Even though my morning hasn't been as bad as I thought that it would be, I still don't want to be at work and am having a hard time motivating myself to get some work done. I have all but 2 home visits left to do this month and I don't have much on my work schedule this week. So, unfortunately I know that it will be a paperwork week (even though it does need to be caught up). Happy Monday!
Even though my morning hasn't been as bad as I thought that it would be, I still don't want to be at work and am having a hard time motivating myself to get some work done. I have all but 2 home visits left to do this month and I don't have much on my work schedule this week. So, unfortunately I know that it will be a paperwork week (even though it does need to be caught up). Happy Monday!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Heading into the 2nd Thanksgiving
Well, in a little bit Mike and I will be going to our second Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun being with my family on Thanksgiving day and stuffing our faces with them. So now we are on to the stuffing the faces with the Readings. I love Thanksgiving dinners, but more importantly the pies. I don't think that I could ever get enough of pumpkin pies until I see what it does to my thighs. And of course it just isn't complete unless you have ice cream with the pies. Sadly, we didn't have ice cream with my family, so we will have to see with the Readings.
Another reason I love Thanksgiving is because of all the time off from work. It's nice to have a break from work, but then it makes the following Monday even harder to return. (I think that this week at work is going to be a LONG one!)
On the day after Thanksgiving (also known as Black Friday), I was busy sleeping in and catching up on some needed rest while everyone else went frantically shopping at insane times in the morning. I will admit that I did get up early last year to get one of the good deals for a Christmas gift for my honey (which he figured out what I was going for before Christmas even came). But I will NEVER get up early, fight the crowds, and go shopping so early in the morning!!! It seriously caused me so much anxiety and stress that I would rather pay a little bit more and go at a different time. So, you will be seeing me out and about shopping these next few weeks since I didn't get it all done on one day like so many other crazy people!
Another reason I love Thanksgiving is because of all the time off from work. It's nice to have a break from work, but then it makes the following Monday even harder to return. (I think that this week at work is going to be a LONG one!)
On the day after Thanksgiving (also known as Black Friday), I was busy sleeping in and catching up on some needed rest while everyone else went frantically shopping at insane times in the morning. I will admit that I did get up early last year to get one of the good deals for a Christmas gift for my honey (which he figured out what I was going for before Christmas even came). But I will NEVER get up early, fight the crowds, and go shopping so early in the morning!!! It seriously caused me so much anxiety and stress that I would rather pay a little bit more and go at a different time. So, you will be seeing me out and about shopping these next few weeks since I didn't get it all done on one day like so many other crazy people!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
What do you do?
I just found out yesterday that one of my coworkers is quitting and changing agencies. She has worked for DCFS for 11 years. Part of me is sad to see her go because she is such a good caseworker and knows a lot and is always happy and willing to help. But then part of me wishes the best for her because DCFS has been dumb for the past few years in turning her down when she applies for a supervisor position. She is more than qualified to be a supervisor (in my opinion) than some of the people they hire who have only worked for DCFS for a year or two. This coworker and her sense of humor will be greatly missed.
When people ask me "What do you do?" it is always an interesting conversation after that. My coworker (who is quitting) tells people that she's a 'butcher' when she is asked. Seriously, she says, "I'm a butcher." and the conversation basically ends at that. The truth is that when I do tell people what I do, it ALWAYS changes the mood of the conversation and people get a serious look on their face. What do I really do? Well, I'm a caseworker for the State (of Utah) for the Division of Child and Family Services. I work with kids in foster care and am on a specialty team that has kids with developmental delays, mental or medical issues, or are just plain tough (think kids that have been in and out of a few 'failed' adoptive homes, or learned very early on to steal, lie, and run away). That's when the stories start and people start talking about how they know someone they know that they are concerned about and start asking questions or ask about the parents I deal with who abuse their kids (in reality most of my parents are good parents and that it is more of the kids being delinquent). My favorite phrases to tell people is that "They hatch them and we (DCFS) snatch them" because people think that kids are in DCFS custody because they were abused and don't understand the full gamut of reasons kids are in custody.
Aside from all of that... what do I actually DO? Well, I have 15 kids on my caseload. All 15 have to be visited in the home at least once a month and are in placements that range from Bountiful to St. George. I attend most school meetings, some doctor appointments, and court hearings. Every case is in front of a judge as little as twice a year or as often as once a week (yeah for juvenile delinquents), most of them go once every 3 months. I complete quarterly court reports, twice yearly service plans, Child and Family Assessments, updated every three months, and I have to log EVERYTHING! Emails, phone calls, incident reports, medical paperwork. "If you didn't log it, it didn't happen" is the motto of DCFS. That's the stuff that I can plan for. The rest of my hours and days are full of things that I didn't plan for. Like when kids don't have a placement, they run and I have to do a pick-up order (yes, that's a warrant for arrest), or search through binder after binder of their case file looking for a medical report from 6 years ago. Every once in a while, when I don't owe anyone a phone call, all of my kids have a home at night, and I'm not overdue on 5 or more service plans... I think that I'm a pretty good caseworker.
It wasn't anything that I dreamed about as a kid (I want to grow up and be the legal guardian for a dozen or more kids who don't have a family to live with) but there are some perks (other than monetary perks - I mean I work for the state and don't get paid enough for what I have to deal with). But I work on an AWESOME team! We don't get a lot of support from anyone else in the division, department, or state offices on up, but we have a GREAT supportive supervisor and team members. I know its the ONLY reason that I'm still here at times. There are also some of my kids that have worked their way into my heart and I truly care for them. And also, every once in a while, you get to hear some much appreciated praise from foster parents, attorneys, teachers and medical professionals. That doesn't happen too often and are few and far in between. It is only after a productive and good day that I feel that it just might be worth returning to work for another day.
When people ask me "What do you do?" it is always an interesting conversation after that. My coworker (who is quitting) tells people that she's a 'butcher' when she is asked. Seriously, she says, "I'm a butcher." and the conversation basically ends at that. The truth is that when I do tell people what I do, it ALWAYS changes the mood of the conversation and people get a serious look on their face. What do I really do? Well, I'm a caseworker for the State (of Utah) for the Division of Child and Family Services. I work with kids in foster care and am on a specialty team that has kids with developmental delays, mental or medical issues, or are just plain tough (think kids that have been in and out of a few 'failed' adoptive homes, or learned very early on to steal, lie, and run away). That's when the stories start and people start talking about how they know someone they know that they are concerned about and start asking questions or ask about the parents I deal with who abuse their kids (in reality most of my parents are good parents and that it is more of the kids being delinquent). My favorite phrases to tell people is that "They hatch them and we (DCFS) snatch them" because people think that kids are in DCFS custody because they were abused and don't understand the full gamut of reasons kids are in custody.
Aside from all of that... what do I actually DO? Well, I have 15 kids on my caseload. All 15 have to be visited in the home at least once a month and are in placements that range from Bountiful to St. George. I attend most school meetings, some doctor appointments, and court hearings. Every case is in front of a judge as little as twice a year or as often as once a week (yeah for juvenile delinquents), most of them go once every 3 months. I complete quarterly court reports, twice yearly service plans, Child and Family Assessments, updated every three months, and I have to log EVERYTHING! Emails, phone calls, incident reports, medical paperwork. "If you didn't log it, it didn't happen" is the motto of DCFS. That's the stuff that I can plan for. The rest of my hours and days are full of things that I didn't plan for. Like when kids don't have a placement, they run and I have to do a pick-up order (yes, that's a warrant for arrest), or search through binder after binder of their case file looking for a medical report from 6 years ago. Every once in a while, when I don't owe anyone a phone call, all of my kids have a home at night, and I'm not overdue on 5 or more service plans... I think that I'm a pretty good caseworker.
It wasn't anything that I dreamed about as a kid (I want to grow up and be the legal guardian for a dozen or more kids who don't have a family to live with) but there are some perks (other than monetary perks - I mean I work for the state and don't get paid enough for what I have to deal with). But I work on an AWESOME team! We don't get a lot of support from anyone else in the division, department, or state offices on up, but we have a GREAT supportive supervisor and team members. I know its the ONLY reason that I'm still here at times. There are also some of my kids that have worked their way into my heart and I truly care for them. And also, every once in a while, you get to hear some much appreciated praise from foster parents, attorneys, teachers and medical professionals. That doesn't happen too often and are few and far in between. It is only after a productive and good day that I feel that it just might be worth returning to work for another day.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Getting with the times
Well, I guess I'm just a little slow in joining the trend of blogging. Now don't get me wrong, I love to read some of my friends' blogs and see what's going on in their lives, but I guess I didn't think that anything happened to our family that was important enough to start blogging. I think that the biggest motivator to start my own blog was when I realized today that my own mother has been blogging for a while. I guess this is the modern version of a journal. I've been pretty good keeping a journal off and on throughout my life up until I got married. So I've slacked for the last 3 years in journaling. But that does not mean that I have not had any adventures within the married life (it's quite the contrary infact!). So, here goes it to blogging!
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