Hectic Days

As you might guess, the last several days have been hectic, to say the least regarding them. You know the routine. You move boxes, open boxes, take a couple ibuprofen, unpack boxes, move furniture, put beds together, take more ibuprofen, try to find a “home” for everything, remove empty boxes, take out trash, take still more ibuprofen, and wonder why you moved as much stuff as you did.
We also have been learning what it means to be a houseparent here. We’ve attended meetings, met at least some of the children (some are at summer camp), and run errands for the home. We’ve studied policies and handbooks, filled out countless forms regarding insurance and employment, and visited often with our supervisor (Randy).
Tonight, Pat is staying in another cottage in preparation for staying with the girls there for the weekend. This cottage is a life skills cottage, and the girls who live there are older and pretty much on their own in the daytime. But at night, they still need some gentle supervision and Pat will provide that for a few days.
I’ll be here continuing to put things away and get the office in order. I’ll also work on getting addresses changed on things like insurance, credit cards, bills, etc. This is a hassle, this tie we have to society and our way of life. Time was when you could move and not tell anyone…it didn’t really matter. Now, you can’t do anything unless other people have all your numbers, your address, and a photo ID. Then they’re not sure they really believe you.
We have to get our TB skin tests read tomorrow afternoon at the health department. Hope we don’t forget it, because if we do, we have to repeat the test. We also have a team meeting and some other things going on tomorrow. It should be an interesting day.