We're Off to See the Wizard!

Or rather, we went to see the Wizard!

My hometown high school now has a huge and impressive "Performing Arts Center" that was built 5-10 years ago. (I was thinking five years at first but time goes so quickly that it may have been longer than that)! It is humbling...and a tad bit disconcerting...to realize that my experiences on a high school stage -- in the much smaller and far less impressive auditorium that has since been converted to a couple of lecture halls -- were more than 20 years ago. How did I get to be old enough to reminisce and vividly remember an experience more than two decades ago. Gulp.

Anyway...I had heard that the high school was going to put on a Wizard of Oz production and figured it would be a great way to introduce my girls to the Oz experience (since they have been resistant to watching the evil witch on the small screen). I called my mom and told her that I wanted to bring the two older girls down to see the show and asked if she and my dad wanted to join us. She said "sure" and even offered to buy the tickets for us. Great!

Saturday morning I loaded up the car and drove down to my parents' house with R and A (not being much of a fan of musicals, Rick chose to stay home with E who I felt was not up for seeing the witch in action just yet). We arrived at lunch time and hung out with Grandma and Papa until it was time to go to the high school. On the way we grabbed a quick pizza dinner and arrived more than an hour before the show to get in line. We had heard the lines would be insane and we were glad we got there early. Being close to the front of the line and waiting a full hour meant we got great seats!

That is, most of us had great seats. We were seated in the center about 10 rows from the orchestra and no one was seated in front of us when we sat down. A short time later a young couple chose the seats in front of us and boy was I wishing I had brought along a pair of loppers...



It was like sitting behind the Statue of Liberty...



But at least he was polite enough to keep his arm down and his torch at home.

The show was as impressive as I had expected. The same director/drama teacher I had is still there and still performing his special brand of 'magic.' He is amazingly talented not only in the coaching of the students but also in the creation of backdrops, props and special effects. The playbill also indicated that all costumes were hand made by various students, parents and faculty. The results of all their efforts was a sight to behold. I took some pictures to post here because could not adequately describe in words what we saw:

Dorothy and Toto meeting Glinda for the first time.

The drama teacher (center, dressed in purple as the"Coroner") and all the munchkins thanking Dorothy for dropping the house on the witch. I love when the director does cameos in his productions!

Not that easy to see, but this is the 'poppies' scene and the huge stage is FULL of little and big kids - from preschool on up - dressed as a huge field of poppies!! That's a lot of costumes to make!

The director driving the carriage being pulled by an honest-to-goodness REAL horse who was somehow dyed green! This will be the drama teacher's last production of The Wizard of Oz and he promised to make it his best one yet - he wasn't kidding!


Another example of amazing artwork/set design. I loved this scene! I don't know what they are called but the eyes of the wizard are actually large glass orbs with blue lights that crackled inside like lightning! So cool!

A close-up of the main cast when they were in front of the stage during the final scene. These students were all outstanding singers and actors. They truly captured the characters as we all know and love them from the MGM version of this great musical.

Hats off to the great cast and crew for a fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable production!!! There may be "no place like home" but for great theater at a great price there's no place like my old high school! Rock on, BHS!

Re-entry, Phase 2 - The 'interview'!

You might be scratching your head thinking "Interview? Didn't you already get the job?"

Yes. Yes, I did.

And I guess it could have been called an 'employment meeting' or 'salary negotiations' or even just simply a 'formality'. But, there was a definite feeling of 'interview' in the one (yep. one.) question she asked: something along the lines of "What experiences have you had that make you qualified for the position and what makes you want to work with the assistive technology center?"

Since she had my resume open in front of her I knew she was aware of my job history and she indicated that she had already "heard many great things" about me from my co-workers. So, I gave her a brief retelling of my history in the world of assistive technology (which largely consists of learning from and working with the assistive technology team I'm working for again). She seemed marginally interested and we moved immediately on to the question of salary. Thus, I'm guessing the whole "interview" facade was to satisfy some administrative need in the hiring process. Either that, or boy howdy! am I good at answering interview questions! (If anyone believes that I've got a bridge to sell ya).

The salary question had not come up at all until that moment. I was a bit apprehensive given my three years away from any kind of work environment. After all, I've been wiping bottoms and noses, singing nursery rhymes, and dancing along with The Wiggles for the past few years. And my continuing education has been marginal at best. Enough to allow me, in good conscience, to sign my name on the dotted line and pay the insane membership and renewal fees so I can continue to say that I'm a certified SLP and professional member of ASHA. The last time I worked for the team I was considered an outside 'consultant' and given an hourly rate for my per diem hours. In the intervening years the state has gotten a little squeamish over the hiring of 'consultants' whose salary is not taxed among other piddly little reasons. It is now standard practice for them to hire anyone working for their company as an honest-to-goodness employee. Last week I had filled out my name and address ad nauseum on a multitude of forms (someone seriously needs to make that process a little easier) and got the ball rolling. In one box on the application form I filled out it asked me for my "expected salary". I left it blank. I have no idea what an SLP currently makes out in the real world of education. I know that there is a salary difference in education as compared to those who work in rehab centers and hospitals but I didn't even know where the floor or the ceiling lay for the average SLP, let alone one who hasn't worked for the last three years. And the job I am doing now isn't even a normal 'School-based SLP' position but one in which I will be working towards a specialty in AAC (augmentative and alternative communcation). I only had my previous per diem rate to go by. I basically felt that given the amount of 'training' I'd need to get up to speed that I would be satisfied to make the same hourly rate as I was given last time. I was prepared to insist upon that amount because I recalled the conversation last time where it seemed like I had to push a bit to get that rate. So, I sat across from the SPED administrator worried that my "interview" was not good enough and that I was going to have to work harder on 'selling' myself to get the rate I was hoping for (and if you think I am good at selling myself you are the same person who needs me to sell them that bridge).

As luck would have it, the SPED administrator knows a warm body capable person when she sees one. She explained that they looked for my old paperwork but since the office moved last fall they were having trouble locating any file on my employment (so apparently my resume wasn't the only thing lost in the great 'office relocation project'). She went on to explain that she preferred to give me a rate that commiserated with my experience. I noticed that she had attempted to tally up the various jobs on my resume into a number that equaled "years of work experience" (not a quick or straightforward task given my work history which consists of quite a few part-time employment scenarios). In the end she had determined that I had the equivalent of 4 years work experience as an SLP (sounded about right to me) and that I fit into the "Level 5" category for company employees. I held my breath as she calculated down from a yearly rate (based on a 185-day school year) to a daily rate to an hourly rate. I'm not sure if the complete and utter shock registered in my face when she announced the hourly rate but a second later I made sure my jaw was off the floor, dragged my eyebrows back to neutral, and tried to refrain from doing a happy dance as I indicated that an $8/hour raise from my previous rate of pay would be 'fine'.

Fine?

More like YEEHAW!

We finished our meeting and she apologized to me again for the delay in getting me started. She blamed the lack of communication on the fact that they are in the midst of 'blah, blah, blah' ...which is all I registered as I thanked her for her time and told her how excited I was to be working with the team again. My mind was still on that part in the conversation moments before when I realized that I managed to get a significant raise after three years of domestic goddess duty. I was also mentally preparing myself to live up to whatever "great things" my co-workers were saying about me behind my back!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the fact that the SPED administrator asked me what they can do to help me get back up to speed on the world of AAC. I told her that I have been working on some self-directed study and attending a few workshops at the center recently. I also told her that a large part of the relearning process will be just getting a chance to "play around" with the systems. I was advised later by a co-worker that the reason I was asked that question was because it is likely that any professional development I feel I need will be approved and paid for by the company. I will certainly be keeping eyes and ears open for such opportunities and won't be shy about asking if I find anything!

The same co-worker also told me that I have the opportunity to gain expertise in other related areas. They have an SLP on staff who does most of the evaluations that deal with higher-level students who need the help of computer-based programs to formulate written language. I don't have any experience with this population but it is great knowing that the opportunity to grow in that direction exists as well. The company would like to essentially 'grow' a team of professionals who can cover a wider range of services in the realm of assistive technology.

I am excited about the possibilities while at the same time a bit apprehensive about the process. For now my time is somewhat limited and I am not ready to jump back into full-time employment. That is certainly something to consider as the girls get older but for now I want to try and remain firmly a part-time employee. With so many opportunities for growth I am going to have to think hard about where I am going professionally and how I plan to get there without sacrificing too much of my time while the girls are still so young.

Easter Eggstravaganza!

Just a few pics from Easter to share.

Saturday, we did our traditional egg dyeing project. E obviously needed a lot of help this year but the older two are getting more skilled in their egg handling. The day before we dyed the eggs A asked why we needed to bother boiling them first. I explained that it made it easier to handle them and that we would get to eat them later. She was less than thrilled with the prospect of eating eggs of any kind but agreed to help dye eggs for other people to eat.



One of the egg artisans at work.



E and her cheesy grin that appears whenever there is a camera nearby.



The glorious eggs.



On Easter morning the girls woke up at their regular time which surprised me. They rushed into our room and asked if they could see their baskets. I told them to go see if the bunny had filled them and I'd be along shortly to get a few photos.

They could not wait to get started on the candy...









I helped organize the Easter Egg Hunt Mad Dash this year. It usually takes about 6 people at least 20 minutes to get all the eggs thrown out on the lawn each year...and about 45 seconds for the kids to descend upon the common and make a clean sweep. This is one of the easiest events to sign up for because there is literally NOTHING to clean up! The kids do it all for you - and without a single complaint!

E needed much prodding this year to actually collect eggs. I had to keep pointing out eggs and prompting her to pick them up. She was far too interested in the sight of all the big kids running from one end of the common to the other. I think she wondered what the big rush was all about! After all, the little kids get their own little space full of eggs that is cordoned off by cones and orange string (which you can see in the top left corner of this picture)...



R and her bag of loot. She is now officially one of the "big kids" who can run far and fast and can get quite a lot of eggs along the way.



A also managed very well for herself. In fact, she did so well that she took the advice given by the Christian Ed. Director very much to heart and shared some of her bounty with a child who wasn't nearly as fortunate.



After the hunt we were off to grandma and grandad's house for a yummy ham dinner with all the fixin's. I offered to bring along dessert and decided to make a cake. Do you think I maybe had a bit too much fun with the frosting?

Re-entry, Phase 1 - Complete!

I survived the first day back to work - unscathed, no less. And feeling pretty good overall.

Rick was left in charge of the morning "launch" of the girls - R and A to school and E to grandma's for the day. I headed out about 7:45am and got to work just after 8:00am. I was the first to arrive so I had to sit on my hands for a few minutes and try to quell the feelings of inadequacy and angst that tend to surface on moments such as this - returning to work in an area of the field in which I really WANT to be an expert but feel completely lacking...particularly after a three-year hiatus from working in the real world.

The team PT arrived on the scene not long after I did and we started the day by reviewing the student file for the morning's evaluation. The SLP and the team's administrative assistant showed up a short while later and we got to work prepping for the evaluation. This team has worked together for the last 15 or so years and so I'm sure it can be hard to integrate a new member into the group. But, to their credit, I felt completely welcomed and embraced by all of them. The fact that I wasn't a complete stranger helped, I'm sure. After all, I had worked with them for about six months while I was pregnant with E. So, they threw me immediately into the mix and allowed me to feel like I was a productive part of the team while at the same time never leaving me to feel like I was "out on a limb" unprepared. I certainly hit the ground running. I got to set up some of the equipment - including the TechSpeak voiced output device and the new (and way cool!) DynaVox voiced output device - and even did a quick laminating job (...for this they pay me the big bucks!). We were under the gun to get the evaluation materials prepped for a 10:30am evaluation and managed to do so by the skin of our teeth. I have a feeling that much of this team's operations are handled in this way (go! go! go!) so I'm going to have to get used to it.

The evaluation lasted for almost two hours and after all the prep we ended up having to shift gears shortly into the evaluation. He was much more capable than we anticipated from reading the scant information in the file. However, I think we were able to give the family some good short-term recommendations as well as some thoughts on his future needs as his symbolic language skills develop. My primary job on this evaluation was the watch and take copious notes so that we could write up the report once it was over.

We finished up and sent the family on their way with notes and various suggestions and got to work on writing up the report. The team is given one day of work for each evaluation - from preparation and evaluation to report-writing and editing. It can be done but it's another example of how the atmosphere is just Go! Go! Go!

The SLP had to leave almost immediately to get to an appointment at the regional hospital for a chemotherapy treatment. Unorthodox as it might seem, I was asked if I would be willing to (although it was made clear that I absolutely did not have to) meet the SLP at the hospital where we could set up her laptop and write our 'communication' portion of the report. She generally sits there for two or so hours receiving the drugs and she really just felt she could get the report done at the same time. Talk about dedication! So, that's what I did. I drove the 20 minutes south to the cancer center (my biggest fear being that I would get lost and I had neglected to bring my cell phone along with me...) and we spent a couple of hours writing up the report. Talk about an unusual first day on the job!

On my way back through town I dropped my employment paperwork off and finally got to meet the SPED Administrator who never seemed to be in the office or able to return phone calls. She apologized for her lack of contact and promised that she was not trying to avoid me. We made an appointment to meet to "discuss employment" - whatever that means...heck I'd just had my first day, right? Although, I suppose I still do not quite know what my employment status will be. It could be that I will be an employee of the company or, because I'm essentially going to work per diem, it might be that they hire me under the guise of "consultant" which is how they paid me for my last gig. Hopefully, I'll get some clear answers next Thursday.

I got home about 4:45pm and grandma was here with the two younger girls. R was off at art class and Rick was scheduled to pick her up at 5:30 and bring her home in time for dinner. The next order of business was to figure out that eternal question: "What's for dinner?" I enlisted A to be my kitchen helper and after scrounging through the fridge we decided on chicken and broccoli alfredo over penne pasta (except that I had to put the cheese sauce on the side and serve A's dinner with spaghetti sauce instead).

I'm scheduled to go back for another evaluation next Thursday and there is the chance that I can follow along with the SLP on one or more of her consults next week - I'm waiting to hear back from her on that so I can arrange childcare. She sent me a nice note this morning thanking me for hanging out with her at the hospital and helping to get the report written. And she expressed how happy she is to have me on board and helping me to become another AAC consultant.

I'd have to say the feeling is mutual.

MA, CCC-SLP

Those are the letters I will be writing after my name again.

Masters of Arts, Certificate of Clinical Competence-Speech-Language Pathology

Just in case you were wondering.

Tomorrow I start back to work. I am approaching it with a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

If my brain survives the re-entry process I'll try to post something coherent here about how things went.

In the meantime, keep me in your prayers, cross your fingers and toes, or just send me some extra brains cells. Whatever floats your boat. I'm gonna need all of it.

Happy (Belated!) 8th Birthday to R...

Alternative Title: I Have an 8-year-old and I'm Feelin' Old

Due to a host of mundane but relevant reasons we had postponed R's birthday party by a couple of weeks. We had celebrated with family, given her our gifts and made her a special dinner, but we decided to wait on having a birthday party with some of her friends until March 8th. In the wee hours of the morning of March 8th E woke up and puked in her bed. Needless to say, the delayed celebration needed to be postponed yet another week. R was very disappointed but took the news as well as could be expected.

Yesterday was the much awaited and anticipated birthday party with her friends and they all had a great time. All her friends are great kids and had me laughing over one thing or another during the course of the afternoon. They ate pizza, sculpted with Fimo clay, goofed off together, visited the rats, ate cake and ice cream and then R opened her gifts. A fun afternoon! Here are a few pics from the day:


Although we had no consistent "theme" to the party this year, R decided that she wanted reptiles on her cake. So, I made frosting grass (I'm thinking SPRING!) and put the little plastic guys on top.


R and A working with clay. All told they made three trays worth of little pieces of art that I baked and sent home with the kids in their goody bags. It was a huge hit!


Sculpting aftermath....


E had fun with all the big kids.


Pig pile!!!


Waiting patiently for cake.


Mom and the birthday girl.


Good cake...


...and ice cream!


R has matured so much in the last year. She is a book worm who loves nature and science and her reading interests of late have been adventure stories (Deltora Quest series, Andrew Lost books, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Spiderwick, etc...) as well as nonfiction books about a variety of subjects from the human body to the solar system to frogs and amphibians. Her classroom this year is heavily math-focused and she is proving to be up to the task even if it is not her most favorite subject. She can be a bit of a hot-head at times but she is beginning to get more of a handle on her feelings and expressing herself in a more constructive way. She is artistic and creative and loves to do anything crafty from making jewelry to drawing to creating objects out clay, paper, yarn, or anything else we have hanging around the house. She is a collector of rocks, sticks, and just about anything bright and shiny! Although she is quiet and tends to be shy in certain situations she has made some great friends is school this year.

It is hard to believe that it was more than 8 years ago that we brought home our sweet little bundle called R. She is not such a small bundle anymore (and growing taller by the minute!) but she continues to bring pride and joy into our lives and will forever be our little girl! Happy Birthday, R. We love you!

Best Laid Plans and The Unexpected Doctor Visit...

***Update at end of entry***

I finally got a phone call from the folks at the AAC center and was told that a contract was being drawn up for me and got some specific dates that they were hoping I could work. They had expected to do an eval today and I was thinking I might be going in today so I had set up childcare for both E (all day) and A (after school). When I got the phone call yesterday they told me that the eval for today was canceled. I figured I'd keep the childcare arrangements and have a "mental health day" for myself. But, you know the old adage about 'best laid plans', right?

This morning I went on my walk at 6am with my neighbor. When I got home at 7am I found out that A was having some leg pain and refusing to walk! She had complained earlier in the week of some pain but I dismissed it because it didn't seem to be impacting her activity level and because she only mentioned it when I suggested we take a nature walk (she can be hard to motivate for such things even though she has fun once we get out and do it). She had originally complained on Monday and on Tuesday morning she thought she might not want to go to gymnastics because of her leg. Again, it sounded like an excuse for no real reason and she actually went to gymnastics and did just fine.

She has been acting out of late and I have been wondering in the back of my mind if she is bothered by the thought of me returning to work - it's been a regular topic of conversation around here of late (as if you couldn't have figured that out given my recent blog fodder). Today Rick was going to drop her off at preK on his way to work and I wondered if she was reacting to that change in schedule. She was so adamant about the pain that I could not doing anything but keep her home. I was a bit annoyed thinking that maybe she was overreacting or faking it...

After we'd been home together for a few hours and she was literally refusing to move off the couch I knew she wasn't faking it. I called the pedi and they suggested bringing her in. Two hours later we left the office having had x-rays of her hip and leg done and blood work taken! I thought he'd say it was a muscle strain or something similarly innocuous. No such luck.

The suggestions of possibilities ranged from relatively innocuous (viral infection that moved into the hip called 'toxic or transient synovitis') to rather serious ('aseptic necrosis'...which was rather unsettling considering the fact that my own father had that when he was a boy and was in a hospital in traction for most of two years to fix it!!!). As well a few other possibilities of varying degree. The doctor was taking things seriously and ordered a battery of tests that would allow for a differential diagnosis one way or the other.

The doctor called a short while ago to let us know that the x-ray results were normal (phew!) which ruled out the more serious bone related possibilities ('aseptic necrosis' and some other equally evil sounding disease involving the hip joint). We are still looking at a viral or bacterial cause and the blood work should give us a better idea of what is going on. We'll know more later tonight and again in about 48 hours when the cultures come back. I'm leaning towards viral at this point since Andrea seems to be doing a bit better tonight after resting all day. The treatment for a viral infection is just to rest and give ibuprofen as needed. If I'm right she should be back to normal in under a week.

So, that was my day-off-turned-stressful-and-worrisome-day today! One thing I firmly believe is that everything happens for a reason (not always know to us right away...if ever). And today I was expecting to be at the eval that got canceled. Seems as if there was some divine intervention that meant I was home and was able to get Andrea to the doctor and get her the necessary tests. And because I kept the daycare slot for Eliza, it meant she didn't have to hang with us for two hours DURING lunchtime/nap time at the doctor's office! That would have just added stress and complications to the day.

I'm in the process of finishing off my second glass of wine for the evening and saying a prayer of thanks that A is doing much better and that the more serious causes have been ruled out. Sometimes I find that I take for granted the immense blessings of a healthy family.

**Update 3/14***
The doctor just called again to report that the blood work results have come back normal! So, the diagnosis (given lack of evidence pointing to anything else) is a viral infection of some sort which should clear up on its own. We are to check back in if things don't improve but so far A is doing much better today so I am confident that she will continue to improve.

March 12 of 12

Be sure to check out Chad Darnell for the low down on the "12 of 12" -- it's a cool concept and fun to do (if you can remember when it actually is the 12th of the month)! I seem to forget most months until I see other bloggers pictures. Bad Jeanne. But, this month...I remembered! You can give me a virtual head pat for that. Thanks.

I did remember to do my 12 of 12 but it wasn't until after lunch! In the morning I dropped A off at preschool and then E and I headed to church for a meeting of the "Crafty Ladies" (a group of women who meet throughout the year to create items for the November church fair). I was tasked with bringing snacks for all the ladies this week.


12:30PM - The remainder of my sour cream coffee cake and some chocolate Easter eggs.


12:33PM - A view of our street as we are leaving to pick up A from preschool. Notice that my front yard (foreground) still has a frozen tundra and the neighbors across the street still have grass...this is the usual state of affairs in late winter and it's so unfair! Our house faces north and our backyard has similar snow cover due to very tall trees. I want SPRING!)



1:08PM - Home from preschool pick-up and my budding artist created this lovely piece of work that we got to take home!



2:13 PM - FINALLY got a call back about the job (see the last few blog entries for details on this communication nightmare). I took note of the dates I am needed so I can start working on childcare arrangements. They want me - they really do!



2:48PM - Wednesday is early release day in our school district so R came home about 1:45. The girls asked to play some games on the computer. In our house, screen time is a special treat so when one plays a game the others want to sit and spectate.


2:50PM - Time to get some laundry done seeing as our basket is overflowing. We have a laundry chute in the bathroom so I dragged the basket out of my bedroom and was preparing to dump in all down into the basement via the laundry chute.


3:26PM - While I was downstairs dealing with laundry I got a picture of the forts the girls had created in the basement playroom.


3:32PM - I figured that the girls were well occupied with their computer games so I decided to try to get in a workout with "Tony". It worked reasonably well until they came down to check out what I was doing and started to antagonize each other. Sigh...it reminded me why I can't do an effective workout while they are in the same room.


4:00PM - I've done this workout more than a few times and today was the first time I noticed the typo. It made me giggle and I had to get a screen shot of it. What is kness and how I do I manage to get it over my ankle?


4:13PM - Post workout 'glow'. Actually, my Irish complexion means I just look like I have a bad sunburn.


7:01PM - Story time with Dad before bed. They are reading the Deltora Quest series of books together.


10:26PM - My current read. Not exactly light bedtime reading and I actually didn't read any before bed today. But it was on the dresser in my bedroom so I took it as my last picture before bed. I am trying to finish it in preparation for returning to work (and to collect 11 hours of continuing education/professional development credit).


So, that's my March 12 of 12. I'm dedicating this one to Lauri since she harassed me (in a nice way, of course) about missing the last few months of 12 of 12. I told her on our walk this morning that my 12 of 12 would be going up on my blog at some point today and she seemed pleased. (Hi, Lauri! Hope E is being a good girl over there for you today!)

Pollyanna and the Great Cosmos

I'm beginning to wonder if the Great Cosmos is trying to send me a message. If so, I'm choosing to ignore it and am forging ignorantly ahead. (And who is it that has been so annoyed by others' lack of communication of late? Yeah. That would be me.)

Yesterday, after I dropping A off at preschool and going to the grocery shopping, I came home hoping to find a message from the SPED director. No such luck - or so I thought. I went through the day feeling once again annoyed that my attempts at communication were being ignored.

Fast forward to 3:20pm. R is getting off the bus and the phone rings. I am hopeful but as soon as I look at the caller ID I realize it is not the call I am expecting. I take the call and get an update on a church member who is ill in the hospital so I decide to call Lauri next door and give her an update in case she hadn't heard the latest. After pressing the "off" button on the phone I notice that the display screen is indicating that I have voice mail. Voice mail? When did that happen. I had been obsessively consistently checking for messages throughout the day! And there had been no 'beep' to indicate that a caller was trying to reach me while I was on the phone. I am also supposed to get an email each time I get a voice mail, but I had received no such email alert all day (and never did, by the way). I checked my voice mail and, sure as shootin', there's a voice mail from the SPED director that she had left at 9:20am. NINE-TWENTY A. M.! Argh!

The silver lining here is that the message itself was extremely positive. She is "very interested" in meeting with me and she has heard "very many great things" about me. How's that for giving a gal a swelled head! But oh, the pressure! I just hope I live up to the expectations of all those "great things" she's heard.

It was time to get the girls to swim class when I got the message so I got them loaded into the car and quickly called her back. As luck would have it we ended up playing yet another round of phone tag. I left her a message letting her know that I would be unreachable while at swim class but that I would be home after 9:30 the next morning. That's today! It's now 10am and no phone call yet but I am once again seeing a glass that is half full. Maybe even more than half! Just call me Pollyanna. I can take it. I've certainly heard worse. Just don't tell the Great Cosmos that I'm ignoring it.

My Exciting Life...

Forgive me as I blather on and on about this job situation. Life is so exciting at the moment that I feel the need to write about the mundane (look for the sarcasm).

Last Friday I called and left a message for the SPED Director. She was out of the office at a conference all day so I knew I would not hear back until this week. The secretary I spoke with on Friday suggested I email a copy of my resume to her to get the ball rolling. So, last night I sent her my resume and a quick cover letter. When I spoke with D at the workshop last week she let me know that an evaluation is scheduled for this Thursday and was hoping I could be "on board" by that time. I'm not holding my breath. I have childcare arranged for the whole day, just in case, but it might just end up being a very nice mental health day for me if things are not lined up by then. I have done all I can possibly do at this point and if they want to hire me it has to be their move. The ball's in their court. I'll be sure to update if I hear anything.

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This weekend pretty much sucked. E woke up at 3am on Saturday morning and puked all over her bed. She also had a fever of 101. Her hot, sick little bod spend all of Saturday laying on some towels on the floor with a bucket nearby. It was a relatively mild stomach bug all things considered but it had the audacity to arrive on the morning of what was supposed to be R's 8th birthday party with her friends (we had a family celebration on her birthday back in February). R was so excited when she woke up and then had her happiness dashed against the rocks when she found out about E's illness. She actually handled it as well as could be expected and I ended up taking the two older girls out to lunch and to the bookstore (R's favorite kind of store) for a little outing to make up for the lack of festivities.

The next night it was time to change the clocks and "spring ahead an hour" - this loss of an hour of sleep and E's continued illness and crabbiness compounded the sleep deprivation of the night before. She woke up almost every hour that night - at 3am I even moved into her room to try to comfort her but she kept crying out at random intervals. Sunday morning was not exactly welcomed with a smiling face. I did manage to get the older two off to church on time but it was not what I wanted to be doing. I knew they had to get to choir practice after church otherwise I think we would have probably skipped it this week.

This morning I got A off to preschool but realized when we got to the parking lot that I had left her lunch and her sneakers at home. Sigh. I got A into school and drove back to get her stuff. I was feeling annoyed with myself for forgetting the backpack which was sitting right by the back door. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I am the one that has to remember everything. And if anything gets forgotten it's MY fault. I think the sleep deprivation is getting to me. Whine, whine. Just tell me to shut up.

After dropping off A's backpack I took E to the grocery store (whee.) and we got a bunch of exciting stuff like eggs and bread and milk and blueberries (actually, I really was a little bit excited about the blueberries...). It's all put away now and almost time to go back and pick up A from school. But first I must get some lunch made for E and myself. No plans for the afternoon but I am hoping that E will take a nap and catch up on some sleep. Once R gets home we'll be heading off to the Y for swim class and Rick will hopefully have dinner ready soon after we get home (Note to Rick if he reads this: I bought ground beef at the store - are you up for making tacos or quesadillas tonight?).

See? Did I not say how exciting life is right now? Groceries. Drop-off/Pick-up from preschool. Swim class. The excitement really needs to slow down a bit so I can catch my breath. Phew.

Job Update

Yesterday I attended the workshop at the AAC center. The workshop was mostly hands-on and we spent most of the time making a few low-tech devices that can be used to provide additional visual aids in the classroom. They are very useful for SPED kids but they can be used in many ways to keep all kids in the classroom on task and focused. It was a good workshop and it was great to reconnect with other professionals. I joked with the presenter (D, the woman I used to work with) that it was like spending a day doing SPED Scrapbooking because we spent a lot of time cutting, pasting, taping, and assembling pages! LOL

I got to spend a little time re-acquainting myself with some software that I haven't used in a while. It was nice to know that I could still navigate my way around some of the programs after just a bit of help getting started. I also spent some time browsing the internet and finding useful information on some websites that were provided in our packet. All in all, it was a good day and a good reintroduction to the world of AAC and Speech-Language Pathology.

While I was there I was able to talk to two of the three members of the current AAC team and get more information about the possibility of working for them. Right now things are a bit chaotic and uncertain and the two women who are doing the evaluations are solidly booked and they have had to turn clients away because they don't have the manpower. The structure of the center has changed since I left and it appears that the center has moved from being more autonomous with their own director to being a part of the SPED department and having no true leadership. The three of them are pretty much running things on their own and have very little time for prep and organization. I am actually amazed by what they do get done given their situation. And the additional stress of having one of the team members going through chemotherapy just makes things that much more difficult.

I do wonder if I want to dig any deeper into this job opportunity or not but at the same time I know that I would be working with a few of the very best AAC professionals in the area. It was also a bit more encouraging to hear them say that they want to take me on and "mentor" me so that I can learn the protocols and processes from the ground up. They do not plan to just take me on and overwhelm me by throwing me out there and expecting me to figure it out on my own.

The current stumbling block is in actually getting me hired. With no true "Director" in their center they have to go to the SPED Director for hiring and budgetary decisions. So, the next step is to contact her. It was suggested that *I* contact her about this issue which, honestly, feels a bit odd to me. But, I've decided to forge ahead and make the call at some point today. I will just initiate contact and see where it goes from there. I am going to keep my mind open and see if this is something that I really want to do right now or not. There are plenty of obvious negatives that I can see (disorganization and leadership being the biggest and most challenging), but if I want to get into AAC as a specialty I feel this is the place to get the experience and these are the women to be my mentors because they really know what they are doing and they have been doing it together for about 15 years. So, there are many potentially very positive aspects for me professionally -- if I can survive a bit of chaos in the (hopefully) short term.

For now I am going to move forward with plans to work for them and have already arranged for childcare on Thursdays (which also just happens to be the day they do all their evaluations). I just need to find out if the SPED Director will approve hiring another team member - it seems crazy to me that they would not approve it because the team so desperately needs some additional help but it's all related to budgetary issues (grrrr). For the last few years they have been operating with a 2-person evaluation team. Hiring (and training) me would mean that for the short-term they will be paying for a 3-person evaluation team which will significantly affect their bottom line until I was trained enough to be more on my own and able to work as part of a 2-person evaluation team.

There is a lot more that I could go into but it's all so very confusing and convoluted (as if this whole mess hasn't been confusing enough for those of you reading out there!). So, just know that I'm still moving forward on the job front issue and I'm not giving up hope just yet.

As an aside I will say that I was rather disappointed that I didn't even get a "sorry for not returning your calls" from K when I saw her at the center yesterday. She seemed very surprised and happy to see me but there was no mention of the fact that she IGNORED me for the last three weeks. I get that she is busy. I do. But I also find her lack of communication very unprofessional - mainly because she was the one who initiated contact and then didn't even have the courtesy to direct me to the right person or even send me a brief note to let me know that my messages were received. I obviously won't be working with or for her now that she is not a part of the AAC team so I am not going to let that experience deter me from pursuing this job opportunity.

Coming Up Empty

This is getting to the point of ridiculous!

It is now 10 days since I left the first message for K. regarding the job she called to offer me. I have since sent her an email (5 days ago) and left her another voice mail earlier today. I took things a step further and called the main office and spoke with the receptionist. I wanted to know if she was out for some unavoidable reason and therefore unable to respond to my message (i.e., illness, conference, etc...). I found out that she is often "working in the field" which does make it hard to contact her but that she was actually in the office today and in a meeting that was going to last until about 3PM. OK. I figured that I might actually hear back from her this afternoon and said as much to the receptionist who merely said, "maybe." How reassuring.

Can anyone guess whether or not I heard back from her today? I think you only need one guess...

In other news, I did get an honest-to-goodness response from D. today. However, it was not exactly reassuring. She basically said that she doesn't know what K. is doing these days because she is no longer works with the AAC group. She is working for another division of the company that deals with DYS and Title 1 issues. OK. That is interesting. I'm now trying to figure out why K. called to offer me this position when she no longer even works with this particular group. The plot thickens.

D. did give me the contact information for the coordinator for "Specialties Services" as well as for the individual who coordinates the scheduling for the center. But, I'm sort of hoping to hear back from K. before I call these other people and sound foolish saying "so, I want to work for you because an individual who doesn't work with you anymore offered me a job!"

In the meantime, I was perusing the company's website and found out that they are offering an all-day AAC workshop this week for 5 hours of professional continuing education credit. It is being led by D. and another woman and looks to be a very functional workshop. It will certainly provide me with more useful information about AAC that I can use me no matter where I end up working. I called this afternoon and verified that there were still openings in the workshop and decided to just sign up, pay up, and show up. Maybe I can get more answers in person this Thursday.

Wish me luck. I'm usually a "glass is half-full" kind of person, but in this situation I'm finding the glass is coming up empty.

Confused

I am not quite sure what to think at this point.

I got the phone call from K. (the old boss who called to ask me to come back to work to help them out) during the week of February school vacation. I think she called me on that Tuesday which would have been February 19th. Since then I have been trying to work out some childcare arrangements for E as well as for A in the afternoons. My mother-in-law is available (with the exception of about 10-12 days in March when she and my father-in-law will be away on a trip) and is waiting in the wings for me to tell her when I might need her. My next-door neighbor who runs a daycare is also going to be able to take E for me when she has openings. She is waiting on another child's family's work schedule before she can give me dates. And then there may (or may not) be issues with getting childcare for A in the afternoon. It won't be a problem when my MIL is available, but during their vacation I will need to find either alternate childcare (I have a few friends I might be able to call on for a short-term solution) or Rick may just take some time off on those days.

However, after spending a fair bit of time and energy on this childcare issue I've begun to doubt whether this job is going to pan out or not!

And the reason is this - after the initial phone call from K. I have not heard one single word from her. I left a voice mail message for her on Friday the 22nd. Granted, Friday was a rather snowy day and there is a strong possibility that she was not in the office that day due to the weather. But, then I waited patiently (or as patiently as is possible for yours truly - patience is not one of my own personal virtues) and expected to hear something from her the following week. When Monday turned to Tuesday and then Tuesday turned to Wednesday I got a bit concerned - or at the very least I was curious - and so I sent her an email basically stating that I hoped she had received my voice mail and gave her a couple of days that I would be available in the coming week. Keep in mind, my mother-in-law is still waiting to find out what days I might need her to babysit and she also has a scheduled dentist appointment that she is more than willing to reschedule, if necessary. But, I have not been able to tell her a thing because I haven't heard ANYTHING from K. So, then we arrive at Friday the 29th and I still have not heard back on my voice mail or my email. I decided to be a bit more proactive and sent an email off to another member of the team (D). I had actually run into D. a day or two after my phone call with K. - we were both at a local museum to see a play put on by some local HS kids and her son happened to be one of them. Anyway, seeing as I had had a recent conversation with this coworker and I also happened to have her email address I decided to send her an email to see if I could get more information. I sent that email early on Friday afternoon. Seeing as it was sent Friday afternoon I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt that she might not have been in the office or might not have had a chance to respond before the end of the day. So, I am still waiting to hear from either K. or D.

I've tried to be very patient, but in some ways I am also very frustrated and concerned. I did not initiate contact about this job. She called me. I'm working hard trying to get childcare arrangements so that I can help them out. But, I can't arrange anything if I don't know when or if they need me! I have done my part to contact her and let her know what my intentions are but she hasn't called me back or emailed me. I would even be relatively happy with a quick "sorry, things are really busy but I'll be in touch very soon"- kind of email. At least I'd know she received my messages and that I'm on her radar. At this point I honestly don't know what to think and I'm a bit apprehensive to work 'out in the field' for someone who is not capable of returning my calls or emails. I am beginning to wonder if it would be best to wait until the fall and find a job that is in one school or district and where I have a good support base. It is going to be hard enough to re-enter the work force without the added stress of feeling "out of the loop."

Perhaps I'm just too much of a planner. I don't know. I just know that I'm very frustrated and confused right now.