Old friends

It's nice to see a friend you haven't seen in a while. I got to see an old friend today and we had a great conversation. I like that even though we hadn't talked in a long time, we picked up and visited just like we had seen each other last week. She'll be in town through Monday and we might go to lunch Monday. Our visit was a highlight on an otherwise pretty blah week.

Don't judge too quickly

I was mad. I sent in paperwork that to continue the level of care for one of my special kids. I do this every three months and it is important so that he continues to receive the services he needs. The envelope was sealed and taped shut. Imagine my surprise when I receive an e-mail that says a determination is unable to be made due to incomplete information. According to this e-mail, they had only received the request page. Of course I e-mailed back that I had mailed the entire packet, but would resend the packet. I couldn't believe that the whole packet was lost except for the request page. This time, I scanned the packet and e-mailed it to the lady who had e-mailed me. The next day I had an e-mail from her that she couldn't accept the e-mail I sent...I had to send it to the help e-mail address. I also received two e-mails from the help addy with the same information that she had e-mailed me the day before. So, being the good worker I am, I forwarded the e-mailed packet to the help addy. I then received an e-mail that they couldn't open my e-mail because it was too large. Anything over 35 pages has to be mailed in. I, in a fit of pique, e-mailed back that I would mail the packet again, but that I was very concerned that an entire packet could be lost. I printed off the scanned papers so that I wouldn't have to copy the originals again and discovered that the packet was actually 74 pages long. Who would have guessed that we had 74 pages of documentation? I ranted and raved to my supervisor that because of someone's incompetence in Arlington (where the packet is sent), my child doesn't have his service level and they don't even care! Imagine my chagrin when my phone rang this afternoon and the foster mother for this child told me she had just received most of the packet in the mail from the Fort Worth post office stating that the papers had been found loose in the Fort Worth mailroom. Apparently, the machinery used in the post office must have torn open the mail. Odd that the request page made it to its destination, but nothing else did. I had been angry with the leveling agency when all along the mail had not been received by them. The upshot is that I didn't rant to them and was fairly civil in my e-mails to them. The packet has been resent and the child should have his level in a couple of days. Next time something like this happens, I'll not be so quick to judge...or will I???