New Job!

I have been meaning to update about my new job, but its been such a crazy ride that I haven't yet had time to blog about it. The quick version of the story is that I woke up one day in January and decided that I was sick of working weekends in a germ infested hosptal, and I dearly missed my family time with Dave and Livy. Dave is at RIT 1-2 nites a week and combined with me working 16-18 hours a weekend, it left little family time. So I woke up on a cold January morning and said to God, "I'm done working weekends, what else have you got for me?" I jumped out of bed and proclaimed that I was done working weekends. Within a few hours my friend Deb emailed me that her agency was hiring. Coincidence? Maybe, but the timing was something to note. Whatever happened in the universe that day happened for a reason, and I started my whirlwind new job 4 weeks ago. I call it a whirlwind becuase I have felt like a fish out of water for the 1st time since graduating from college. I am working for a private agency that provides Early Intervention Services. I was hired as a family therapist 15 hours a week, working in the homes of families of children with special needs. My office is at home, and I travel house to house. I work on teams of 4-6 other service providers who are also in the home.
Counseling people in their homes is fascinating for me. People are so comfortable there, and so are their kids, which means that behaviors and issues tend to show themselves pretty quickly. I left one home tonite where I was following mom around the house as she was trying to get her developementally delayed tot to brush his teeth. The battle of the wills was on, and this tot was screaming his poor head off and running up the couches and tables to escape. I was along side mom addressing the behaviors, and making suggestions to empower her in her parenting. She was about to break down but the team was there to encourage her in the intervention. Many times I'll see parents when the kids are napping becuase they just need to vent and discuss the difficult issues going on with their child, but I always make a plan to come back when the kiddo is wide awake and ready for action.
The kids have multiple medical, emotional, and behavioral issues. My eyes start to well up during at least one point in every visit, not becuase I'm sad, but because of the love parents have for their kids, and the lengths that they go to. They don't know my eyes are tearing, but I can feel the moment that my heart is tugging as they're telling me what they live with. I see the other therapists have these moments too, and we often have it when we're talking to each other about something that happened in the home. We're dealing with families who are trully on a pilgrimage, and trying to survive and thrive in their lives, yet living with a mountain of pain right now.
Adjusting to this job has been absolutely crazy. I'm out on visits and trying to learn the lingo of the interventions, treatments, team members, and a whole new part of Social Work. Its a new expierience for me, and one that I will need if I want to have my own practice someday. But the adjustment to this agency hasn't been easy. Because none of the staff go to a central office things can be very confusing for a new person like me. I told my boss the other day that I feel "so green." I'll get through it, and I'm pretty thrown off, but thats life sometimes and as Ethel says, this too shall pass!

Pictures

Quick funny story. Olivia and I headed out to shovel today, and I had just finished the back breaking job when Olivia looked at me and said " Looks like you have a ways to go yet!" ha! I thought that I had done an amazing job of shoveling the entire driveway, but she took one look at it and felt differently.

My friends

Along the way I have made many wonderful friends. Some have come and gone, but they all have a special place in my heart. I think of people that I met years ago, preschool even, and the way they touched my life, and I appreciate them for being a part of my life. Friendships are so important to me becuase during my childhood I had to say goodbye to most of my friends before the relationships even blossomed. We relocated constantly, and moved almost every year of my school career, except high school, where I finally stayed in one place for 4 years. Too make up for craziness of moving so much during my youth, I always dreamed about growing up and having lifelong friends, taking trips together, and making awesome memories together. I finally have those friends, and I appreciate them more than they'll ever know. I can't put it into words often because its so dear to me that even the thought of it chokes me up. I have a wonderful group of friends from many walks of my adult life, and I love having them in my life.

The reflection today happened because my dear friend Jen Labella came to town. Seeing her beautiful face today, and her sweet husband Chris, reminded me of how blessed I am. Hearing their beautiful news today, and sharing that joy with them felt so perfect! I truly love my friends, and sitting with them, and Ethel today, made me pause and thank God for my blessings. My friends are true amazing souls, who are kind and living great lives. I'm in awe of each of them for their gifts to this earth, and I am so happy that I got to spend time with my them today. Love you guys!

Time for Tea

I recently wrote this article for the Holistic Moms Newsletter. See below.

The power of tea. Tea has the ability to calm, excite, focus, provide peace, and encourage a personal single moment of bliss. This bliss is what I experienced for the first time during a Holistic Moms Leaders meeting. Deborah welcomed us into her home, and put on a simple pot of Rooibus tea. Prior to this meeting I drank green tea because I knew that it was said to be good for me, but I didn’t enjoy a single cup of tea until I drank it with wise women. We sat around and drank endless cups of tea while planning 2008 meetings, and ended our meeting with story telling from our youth that had us roaring in laughter while we clutched our tea. The tea was offered as a drink to bring us together, and it provided a space between all of us that helped weave together our stories and our lives. With our tea in hand we made intentions for the coming year, circling in the visions of our heart for our local Holistic Moms Network.

Since that meeting I have drank and enjoyed tea with many friends, and on my own. I make tea while I’m in the midst of cooking dinner, with my toddler underfoot and my husband busily telling me stories of his workday. The secret that my husband and toddler don’t know is that even while my kitchen is bustling, the tea in my cup is offering me a quiet calm that sustains my womanhood. I wish I had known about the power of tea to be so enchanting, and deliver me peace starting at the very sound of the water hitting my mug, but until I drank it with women, I might have never known the power it can offer.

What did I drink before tea? Coffee in the form of 2 cups of day for much need pick me ups. I’ve met friends for coffee and enjoyed coffee most of my life since age 18, yet it never offered me the power of peace. Now as I drink my tea, I feel as though my cup contains life energy, sustaining me and offering a possibility that coffee may have lacked. I enter tea rooms and tea aisles in stores as a child might enter a candy shop, full of possibility, hope, and wonderment. Tea has changed me and brought something to my life by its very essence, and the essence came alive through the women that I drank it with. A few days ago I drank tea in a circle at work, with women I had just met, and each sip gave me a moment of calm that brought focus to my mind and sparked ideas that led the way for a project I am working on. Tea is a journey, a mystery, and a new path for me to discover more about who I am. It started with the power of women joining together for a common goal, and has now entered my life forever. My daughter and I share tea together in the afternoon, and I watch her while we drink, and together we share a silent space that is joyous and peaceful for both of us. Tea and womanhood together are a combination extroadinaire! I am currently reading the book “Three cups of tea” and am learning that I am joining into a habit that has been enjoyed for thousands of years, and its power can only be measured by the peace in our heart.