What a week...

So Friday October 1st I officially graduated from training. The graduation ceremony is supposed to be a thing where your unit shows up and yells for you and now you're a caseworker. Two people out of the 9 in my unit showed. My supervisor was at court, my mentor is still on maternity leave, the girl in the office next door left on vacation, and I dunno where the rest were. The mentor i'll excuse. She's the only one out of the whole bunch that was always nice to me and included me, plus she pushed a human being out of her body only a month ago.

My peer trainer showed up that I really connected with and when she asked where my whole unit was she looked sad that no one bothered to come. I got a super huge lecture from my supervisor because she says she's gotten several complaints about me that i'm not willing to help out and me saying "I sure wish I had my own caseload to work on" translated into "WTF I don't wanna do your work!" instead of "i'm excited to finally be a fully functioning member of the unit and ready to do what I was hired for". Working in an office full of chicks is the pits!

So my supervisor was telling me that I need to build positive relationships with these people and go out of my way to do things for them. How I worked for almost 10 years in ambulances and offices roughly the size of a large closet with people that i'd rather strangle that be locked in a confined space with and still able to successfully get the job done is beyond me. From the way it sounded in my brain, I need to suck up to these people to get them to help me instead of people just helping one another because of the bigger picture, because it's not about them!

FYI people, I don't suck up. Like me or don't it's up to you, because if you don't like me you are totally missing out on a ton of awesomeness.

Man...

I haven't been on the computer in a week! This weekend it seems that everyone wants to hang out with me...it's because they realize how truly awesome I am. So last night was low key, me, mom, and two girls from work drank a few beers, played some cards, and ate pizza. Totally fun. Tonight I think we are going to a club, I haven't been out to a club in years. Tomorrow might be a movie or a date I dunno. Monday may be something else...crazy! So I got my second case all closed and going back for my last week of class this coming week. I'm fitting in better with my unit and graduate training on October 1st. When it's not raining we go to the hill of death park with the dogs and the Reebok runtone shoes and sweat! I really need to go back to the gym, really really really. I have been too chicken to go to this Tuesday night yoga class but I need to go! OK so that's all I really have to say, nothing deep, heartfelt, just me being tired and washing clothes :)

New Shoes!!!

Oh yeah I forgot! I got new shoes! I'm not really a trendy girl, I think it was all the commercials with butts in them that urged me to buy them, I want my butt to look like the cute butts!

The Nike Shox did me well for a year now, and they are still good, but it was time.

The Reebok Runtone, specifically for walking and running...OK I know I can't get a super hot butt and legs without actually doing the work, but. The first day I had them I wore them at the hill of death park mom and I walk at with her dogs. They are super comfy and walking up the hill of death I could feel it more in the backs of my legs and butt. Maybe it's psychological, I dunno BUT I'm still a little sore in the back of my legs, butt, and abs. I love them.

I also did a Zumba class which I am going to on Thursdays with two friends from work. I have absolutely no coordination. Dancing is not a skill I posses, but Zumba was fun and I sweated my ass off. Tomorrow I go again. I feel better being active again.

I'm Totally Over All This Rain...

So yeah, this hurricane needs to move on. I realize it has, but the aftereffects and tropical weather it left behind can go ahead and split! This row of houses I live on floods way too easily to get almost 8 inches of rain in such a short amount of time, like 2 days I think. For the last 2 nights we have been awake and watching the street to see how fast the water rises. Last night had the gates not been opened by us and the neighbors, we would have flooded again around 2 AM. DONE!!! I want a full night of sleep, like tonight would be good. All the wind yesterday took out a big portion of the back fence, some large dead limb from the overgrown creek property behind us crushed the poor fence. Poor fence!

My new peer trainer called my office this morning, seriously no bullshit. I tend to exaggerate things but when I say this I'm SERIOUS...I could hear the excessive saliva. Over. The. Phone. I'm sure she is a great investigator, for crying out loud she's 3 levels above me, I'm sure she has wonderful qualities, but I have quirks. I don't get along well with people that butt in constantly or talk at ear shattering levels. Certainly, after all my time on the ambulance I am NOT a fan of bodily fluids.

Oh yeah, and this week was supposed to be my second case. It's the end of Wednesday and still, no CASE! There has not been one to assign to me, or a friend of mine too so I don't feel completely picked on. I am on a time limit people. I need to have my second case done (ideally) by next Friday and my portfolio of all my work completed ready to turn in the following Monday. I'm feeling a little stress waiting on other people. I don't like waiting on other people. Control freak? OK, maybe a little...

Wow...sorry :(

It's been a minute since I've posted anything, but truthfully nothing is happening (which is good, don't get me wrong). I was in class all week, Tuesday was physical abuse day. Watching a nanny cam of some creep using an 18 month old kid as a punching bag can kinda make your week start with a thud! The good news about that video is the child survived with only a few bruises and the creep got 10 years in jail (only served 5 years but people convicted of crimes against children do not fare well in prison). Wednesday was neglect day, Thursday was sexual abuse day...whew, glad that's over! I'm finally feeling better after whatever that virus is, as soon as I get over the coughing I'll be awesome! Friday I did get some cruddy news, the peer trainer I was with for my last case got reassigned. My new peer trainer is rumored to be older, 10 minutes from retirement, and spits when she talks. If you know me at all you're aware of my issues with bodily fluids. I'm pretty sure working with this woman will force me into caseworker independence.

I am struggling with a decision though. There is an investigator position opening up in the town I used to work in about the same distance from me. My friend I'm in class with is also an investigator in that town and that position is actually what I applied for first. I know the ins and outs of working with the police and sheriff's office and know the town. I'm thinking it sounds like a better deal to me than the way I've been feeling with my unit lately. My supervisor is nice but you're under the nose of the program director who has been stalking my unit lately. The other people in my unit are so close knit and I'm so unwilling to bend over backwards to fit in. The admin tech is always complaining about how she does too much work but she's always up smoking and gossiping. It's way too much drama for me, my drama tolerance is almost none. Plus, being in the rural area I'd get a good mix of all types of investigation. I don't want to hurt people's feelings, but I don't want to feel like an outsider. Not to mention the fact that working with small town cops where I know all the constables and judges already would be easier than working with SAPD...decisions decisions.

In the mean time, how do I tell my trainer to back away 5 feet before speaking to me? I think I need a raincoat.

Viruses and Ickyness

Since Tuesday I've been feeling less than myself, going to sleep early, waaay less peppy, etc. Last night around midnight I was restless and sweaty and it came to me that I'm running a fever. I never run fevers, like hardy ever. So I get up and take some Tylenol and wake up every 2 hours after that, UGH! So I get dressed for work this morning knowing that I need to submit my case for closure and finish other odds and ends before I'm back in class all next week. By 10 AM I'm almost down for the count. The wonderful thing about not doing shift work anymore is that I don't have to almost throw up on some one's shoes to impress upon them the urgency of needing to go home. It was just that bad at my last place of employment. I actually had to go to work with pneumonia at one time. I, still being on probation, talk to my boss today and all she says is "send me an email and go home, I hope you feel better" *stunned* but not questioning. So I get home and sleep most of the afternoon away.

The Nurse calls this afternoon and I explain my symptoms to her because I'm totally unable to put my finger on just what is ailing me. It's almost cold-like and almost flu-like, so she's telling me about this virus that people are having the same symptoms and fevers with. TA-DA! I must have got it on my last trip to Dallas and the virus was incubating because my sister has the same exact thing. As of now I'm still tired but the fever is gone. I was starting to wonder if it was kid germs because me being a single woman with little contact with kids outside of work have no immune system for kid germs. So mom was talking to my sister earlier and it turns out that grandma was feeling poorly for a few days earlier in the month. It wasn't kid germs at all, it's old lady germs! Thanks Gma, sheesh! Although I still have awesomeness seeping out of my skin I'm still not back to my old self, but I'm getting closer with each dose of ibuprofen and decongestants!

No one likes a crabby Anastasia...

I've got it figured out...mom gave me 50 mgs of Benadryl tonight to keep me docile. As you may or may not know by now, I'm not completely as sweet as I appear to be. I am slightly opinionated and have few problems offending people. I am quite possibly the WORST patient ever, and I have medical knowledge so that just compounds it all. This morning I woke up and my allergies are in full swing, therefore I wake up feeling cruddy. It's not like full blown ugh I'm gonna die cruddy, it's like the back of my nasal cavity is rebelling against the rest of my body and histamines are totally against me. So I go to work, sit through a unit meeting for 3 hours and then lock myself in my office and work on my case and getting it closed. On my way home I'm feeling worse, not to mention this lady in the car behind me in traffic that I swear I felt her breathing down the back of my neck. Really lady, back off! But I digress...I'm talking to mom on the way home and I'm flat out cranky I walk in the door and she immediately doses me up with 50 mgs of Benadryl. For me, Benadryl does wonders with allergy problems and consciousness. So, now I'm halfway awake, witty but very sleepies and I'm giving in at 9:45 pm and going to bed.