All in a day's work.....and then some

Life is so busy anymore, the longer I stay away from my blog, the easier is becomes. I think about it often and all the nice people and all the good stuff to read. Then I come to the blog and start reading and pretty soon several hours have gone and I haven't even shared what I came to share. Do I remember what it was I came to write about........no. I get so wrapped up in what everyone else is blogging about. The wedding , the end of the school year, the new business that is struggling, the little ones miss behaving, the little one going away for the summer, even the jobs that are a bore or just not measuring up.

After reading about all that for several nights in a row, do I really have anything interesting to write about? Perhaps not. So I put off blogging yet another night.

I went on a business trip, mentoring with someone who is doing the same job I have been doing for the past several months. The set up wasn't exactly like mine, nor was her situation, however, the experience was a good one.

The lady I mentored with(Amanda) was a young mother on three year old twins. How she managed all that she did, I'm sure I don't know. At her job she wear several hats as well as agreeing to mentor two us us at the same time. She seemed to have all her ducks in a row. Their program ran like clock work. Weather or not that was because they had visitors or just a regular day, no one will really ever know.

The purpose for the trip was to experience a program in place and to learn the ins and out of the massive paper work required on a daily basis. As well as managing the scheduling and scheduling of a staff of 15-20 doing 24 hour care for memory impaired seniors. Amanda was able to keep it real without any choosing of her own. She actually had to get to work sometimes two hours before we arrived at 9 am each morning in order to get her own work done, or at least the most pressing.

Did I come away with all that I needed, not exactly.

I learned that staffing will always be an issue for all the communities. Take it one day at a time, one schedule at a time. And that unexpected stuff will happen regardless of the planning (that part I already knew). I learned that her community didn't really model our program. They were much smaller, but the needs for memory impaired people were the same. A little assistance with ADL, a little food and a lot of TLC.

I learned that there are several new forms coming out and I have much more to do than I first thought. I learn to pace myself and take one day at a time. I learned that I knew a lot more than I thought I knew but that I still have an awful lot to learn.

I thought it would be a time that I could relax and enjoy Minnesota in the evenings but that didn't happen. Most evenings I was bored and lonely. I had a car and went exploring three out of five of the evenings but not knowing the town, and being by myself, after about an hour or two of that, it was back to the hotel and the cable TV. My computer would have been nice. (I need to get busy on looking for that upgrade, a lap top. I'm long over due.)

I felt bad, my cat "Charlie" wouldn't come out for my granddaughter or my daughter when they went to visit (he's a mama's boy) because he was mad I left him or didn't take him along. The first day I was back, he kept me in his view but kept his distance. He's back to his old self, laying up here on the desk beside me while I play in the computer.


The first day back at work was crazy, just as I had expected it would be, but it was all good. I am blessed to have a job.

Quote for the day: Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life!