Busy

I feel like I have been neglecting my blog. I am so busy at work and stressed with work that when I do have down time, I can't think of anything I want to blog about. My supervisor keeps telling me that things are going to get better. Of course, she usually tells me this right before assigning me another case or otherwise needing me to do something. I was feeling so stressed earlier this month, that I felt like I was about to have a melt down. But I have some wonderful friends who helped me through it. You know who you are, guys. Now, nothing has lessened at work, but I've decided that I do what I can and the rest will still be there tomorrow. I've got to take care of myself also.

Being Flexible

I am a flexible person and that really comes in handy in my work. There are five workers in my unit, although a sixth is being added and interviews are being held next week. Yaaayyyy. Out of the five we have, one is on three month family medical leave for adopting a baby. Because of the specialized work we do, the other four of us are absorbing her caseload instead of parcelling it out to other workers in the building. Another worker was off all this week because her father passed away. It seems like every crisis possible hit this week while we were short handed. I was asked to fly to Dallas to pick up a child that had to be out of his placement on Friday. We had no placement for him when I flew out at 1:50 Friday afternoon. The plan was to meet him at DFW(a staff member from his placement in Fort Worth was bringing him to the airport) and bring him back to Lubbock. We should have been home by 6:00. I get to DFW and they aren't there. Come to find out, because DFW is so big, we were at different gates. My supervisor called and said we had found a placement in Fort Worth, very near to where he had been placed. When I finally found the child, rented a car and transported him to his new placement, it was too late to get a flight back to Lubbock. The last flight was booked. I found a hotel that only charged me four dollars over the state rate. There was a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom (heaven) and a business center. Unfortunately the business center was closed, so I couldn't access the Internet. Man, I've got to get a laptop. My good friend, Ron, told me to pack my toothbrush as I've been stranded in Tyler overnight before. But, me being me, I didn't listen. Thank goodness, the hotel gave me a toothbrush, toothpaste and deoderant. All turned out well and after only an hour delay coming back, I did make it home by noon Saturday. I love my job.

Mixed feelings

As most of you know, I have a son stationed in Korea. We were talking via instant messaging last night about his future. He told me that he wants to be deployed to Iraq. As a mother, I don't want him in Iraq, but he has some very valid reasons for wanting to go. He is a LT in the Army. He has a chance to make the military his career and said that he wants to see what the Army is like in war before he makes a long term decision. He also has had classmates and good friends killed in Iraq. He feels that he should serve a turn there just as others have. The third reason he gives is that with a war going on, he needs to have a combat patch to really advance a career in the military. He could get a combat patch by being deployed to Kuwait/Qatr, but he feels that is the easy way out. He told me that he knew what he was getting into when he signed his contract. He knows that Iraq is very dangerous and that he could be killed. He said he doesn't want to die, but he's willing to take that risk to serve the country. Right now, he won't be deployed to Iraq because of the field he's in. He's probably going to be going to Ft. Bragg in May. Knowing my son, he will find a way to be deployed. I am proud of him and I support his decisions. I don't know many 24 year olds who compare to my child. But, I also worry.

Friends

The greatest wealth in the world is to have friends. I don't mean people who say, "Oh yeah. You're my friend. See ya sometime." I mean friends that call you because they can see that you are in a crappy mood and want to make sure that you are allright. Or friends that call you at 3:00 AM because they are in pain and want someone to take them to the ER. That has happened to me and I'm still planning on an appropriate way to get back at him. Which is okay, because friends are allowed to reciprocate. Friends can yell at each other and be back to normal in hours because friends know more about each other than family ever will.
I treasure the few people that I can really call a friend because those few people know things about me that could get me in big trouble but, because they are my friends, will never use the information against me. Of course, this works inversely as well.