A Day In My Life- January 14 (written on Jan 15th!)
It started out like all other winter days, dark. It was dark when we left the house after eating a breakfast of Cheerios and milk and putting a yogurt in my bag for lunch. I had time to make a pot of coffee so that went into the travel mug and into the bag along with the sock in progress and mp3 player. It's dark when I come home most evenings, too. This is when I really miss the light. I feel like a mushroom.
Pk and I ride the train together in the morning. We started this when gas got to be over 4 dollars a gallon and have continued just because we like it. It means no music or knitting on the train in the morning but hand holding and kisses goodbye. A good trade off!
I got into work and proceeded to do the progress notes from the Tuesday clinic and have supervision with my boss. She's really great and is supportive and understanding. We tried to figure out a way to use less paper with our new system but I think we'll have to wait until they make some system changes for that to happen.
Lunch time and the phone is ringing off the hook. People who need new appointments, or prescriptions faxed to their pharmacies or who just to talk about what's going on in their lives. I think if some of the women I have as clients weren't clients, I would like to have them as friends. As it is, it's hard to remember sometimes that they are NOT my friends and to observe professional boundaries. By nature, I am a friendly person and tend to think everyone likes me and wants to be my friend. This makes me good at my job but makes me vulnerable to making huge mistakes in judgement. I try to keep a good reign on this.
After lunch, it was off to see the dentist. She tried to "tap" the crown out. No way. It was on there so tight she had to drill it into pieces and then clean off the extra cement. It's root canaled so it didn't hurt. My gums are sore but that's about it. The hard part was biting into the trays of goo and having to hold them in my mouth until they hardened. The first two weren't too bad but the third one made me gag repeatedly. I was glad I had only eaten the yogurt. The dentist is going to submit this to the insurance company with an explanation and we'll see if they'll pay for it. I hope so. And on Feb. 5th, the new crown will be cemented in. I'll be due for my cleaning two weeks after that but we cannot combine them into one appointment because the insurance company will not pay for the cleaning unless it's 6 months TO THE DAY after the last one. That means I have to go back to the dentist at the end of Feb to get the cleaning done.
I went to the department store to score some dress pants for work at 75 percent off (!) and then picked Pk up at the station. We got home and decided to get some take out chicken for dinner.
We spent the evening quietly. He doing some programming work on the computer and I was trying to work on my Leaves of Whimsy socks.(I'd like to link the pattern but I got it off a Knit a Day calendar I got last year). I say 'trying' because around 7:30 I couldn't keep my eyes open and fell asleep for about an hour with the knitting in my hand. I woke up and stayed awake until 10 and then fell soundly asleep and slept till morning. I don't know why I was so sleepy but I think your body knows what it needs and mine obviously needed sleep.
Today, Thursday, I am tackling some more notes and then we have a staff meeting. This should be good as everyone complains about how slow the new system is making things. Sometimes we spend so much time arguing against things we have no control over and we just make ourselves more upset. Sometimes, you just have to accept the situation and make the best of it. This is one of those times. We have no control over this new system and just have to go along. It's a case of 'choose your battles'.
The 
artic freeze has finally hit here. It's cold enough for me to wear a hat. That has to be really cold because I hate hats. They make my head itch. It's a "code blue" in the city and our Homeless Outreach Teams spend the night scouring the city looking for homeless folks and trying to coax them to come into shelters out of the cold. Sometimes, they're successful and sometimes the individuals choose to stay outside. They have the right to make the choice and whether we agree with it or not, we have to respect it. It's a tough call. I don't think I could be an outreach worker. It's a tough job. We have a great team. They know all the spots where people congregate and how to coax them in.
artic freeze has finally hit here. It's cold enough for me to wear a hat. That has to be really cold because I hate hats. They make my head itch. It's a "code blue" in the city and our Homeless Outreach Teams spend the night scouring the city looking for homeless folks and trying to coax them to come into shelters out of the cold. Sometimes, they're successful and sometimes the individuals choose to stay outside. They have the right to make the choice and whether we agree with it or not, we have to respect it. It's a tough call. I don't think I could be an outreach worker. It's a tough job. We have a great team. They know all the spots where people congregate and how to coax them in.I hope where you are is warm and comfortable and safe.
12 comments:
I just weeded thru my Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar 08 and I think I saved that Leaves of Whimsy pattern!
It's cold here too, but not too bad. 21 degrees--and snowing! Finally! Real winter!
I pray so hard for the homeless folks during these bitter cold spells. Living on the street is a different reality and people in that reality make decisions that look crazy to us. I couldn't be a field worker either.
The tale of your tooth is horrifying! If insurance tries to deny it, fight them!! Having to pay for this would add the final insult to the multiple injuries.
Hand-holding on the train. What a great way to start your day! Give him a kiss for me, too. He's a good man.
I'm glad you have a team out helping the homeless during this extreme cold snap. Here in Arizona they help people with the extreme heat of our summers.
My son's school closed today because of the danger posed by extreme cold. BRRRR
I'll keep a good thought for your tooth. I agree with Roxie about continuing to fight if insurance denies you. Good luck.
Sometimes when you write about your job, I think it would crush me. It's not easy being in social services, any aspect of it. Even just working with inner-city kids but not in the social services aspect of it regularly crushed me.
Those goo-filled trays are the worst. I'm usually in tears by the time they're pried out of my mouth.
I hope that the homeless people here are being found and aided. Since the roads aren't even sanded yet, I wonder about the allocation of resources -
Much sympathy for the tray of goo - yuck! I have the same gag reflex as you. Icky.
Thanks for sharing your day - husby and I catch the train together in the morning too - it's a really nice time of day.
You know, when Sean and I get the bus together, he reads and I knit and sometimes we both listen to our ipods! I sometimes wonder if that's odd but we're happy enough doing it, not always being up for talking early in the morning. I still get the kiss goodbye though!
And 75% off is fantastic!
It's cold here, too. I usually wear the hood of my coat if it's cold, but right now I wear a hat with the hood over it. The wind can blow my hood off if I don't tie it, but it would have to blow a lot harder to get my hat off!
Your train rides together sounds like a nice way to start the day. Kam and I will sometimes each read our own books when we're on the bus together, sometimes talk. Sadly he never likes to hold hands, just not his thing. Sometimes I will teasingly grab his hand while we're walking - it might last a minute or so!
Commuting together must be really nice. Stay warm this weekend!
I was with you until the dentist part. Then I got a bit woozy and needed to take lots of deep breaths. I'm OK now, though!
It's been pretty cold here, although we had a little treat today: double digit temps! Yup. It was 17 degrees! Woot!!!
Stay warm!
Wow-- we're still obscenely warm... and you have a lovely routine. I love the fact that you ride the train together. Mate often calls me on his way home from work, and we'll talk during his entire commute home. (And I hate it when they take molds to give to the insurance company--it hurts, it uses resources, and I wish they'd just take the dentists word on it!)
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