I then accepted a full time position at my school therapist job starting on 4/6. Although working graveyard shifts at my residential job were some of the easiest money I've ever made, I didn't get my grad degree to take 1-2 Adult Protective Services reports, take out trash, replenish juice, etc, and then read a book the rest of the night (in yoga pants and a hoodie no less!).
Before I finished, though, I did get to enjoy working a 12.5 hour exhausting non-stop APS shift on Cesar Chavez day (a holiday in 3 states, including CA), making over $300 in one shift, lol.
I got a few really fun days like when I drove 250 miles to 2 jobs and worked 13 hours in a 24 hour period. Another time I did 308 miles and 6.5 hours of driving to 2 jobs in a 26 hour period. It's been entertaining.
So I finally started working full time as a therapist at 2 schools in 2 districts in rural CA (Ramona and Julian). I got my own small caseload of 12 clients to start me off, which I was comfy with, but then the lady I was taking over for at 1 site left on maternity leave a little early and I was slammed with 14 more clients. I was pretty freaked out and it took a little bit of finesse and a lot of just throwing myself into my work to make it work, but I've got it down better now.
some of the junk bought for therapy, more books and games have been added since
my office in Ramona
my office in Julian
Never thought I'd be doing therapy sessions in Spanish but I've been doing individual and family sessions, as well as assessments in Spanish/sometimes Spanglish. Grateful I had the opportunity to learn Spanish on my mission, even if only for 1 year and stateside (read: not full immersion). ^^ I continue to demonstrate my ability to recall lots of random vocabulary (like spider web and ice skating) but my inability to conjugate in common tenses (like simple past). I see a grammar book in my future (this summer!).
I've spent a lot of energy working toward eventual expertise in DBT, which has landed me extra work as the resident expert at several of my jobs. I was asked to do a crash course presentation/training at my job on DBT. As the most green therapist on staff, I felt pretty intimidated even though almost none of them have any training in DBT and there's only 8 of em, but it was a great success. They were engaged and asked tons of questions and what I formatted to be as short as 20 min and as long as they wanted ended up going 1.5 hours when staff meeting ended. A few asked me to do a follow up training too. ^^ Glad my hard work learning will in turn help a handful of clinicians help hundreds of kids.
We got to do a hike finally at the end of March. We did 3.4 miles of Fisherman's Camp Trail, San Mateo Canyon in the Santa Anas. It was fine for us, but Nova couldn't handle the heat so we turned back early to avoid puppy heat stroke.
Spent several weekends meeting and hanging out with Jed's grandparents, sister and fam, and aunts and uncles. This is their hub so it's fun jumping in on the fun when people come to town.
My phone's camera had been broken for over a month so I hadn't taken many photos (only ones when I stole Jed's phone), so there aren't many pix this post, but will be more next post as I got it fixed! ;)
the Volvo had a "birthday"!
Easter peeps wars
morning snuggles
Books! I was only able to finish one book over these 2 months.. it was 520 pages long though, you guys.
Love that wood paneling. I mean, I already knew most of the stuff. But the wood paneling, awesome. Your work is lucky to have you.
ReplyDeleteLove that wood paneling. I mean, I already knew most of the stuff. But the wood paneling, awesome. Your work is lucky to have you.
ReplyDelete