Sunday, February 22, 2009

Now This Just Pisses Me Off!!

Remember I mentioned that I was currently working with someone I felt to be quite incompetent? Well, I just received this email from her. And I would say that I am so angry that I can't see straight. But that wouldn't be a good indicator seeing as I couldn't see straight before getting the email. So let's just say I am so fucking pissed I can't even respond to the email because I will say things that I know for certain I will regret in 2 hours time.

Here's what angers me:
1. I took over some of her case load because she couldn't manage to see the kids cause she was so overwhelmed. Yet, she can manage to work a 3 DAY workshop into her schedule. (I have never taken more than a day for a workshop.)
2. When I take time off for a workshop, sick time, whatever, I make sure that I tell the teams I am working with in advance. Not the day before. And regardless of whether or not I am in the building, I make damn sure to make myself accessible to them either via email or phone during that time. As an example, I had double vision and was gone from work for 2 days because of he flu, on Friday when I saw some of my teams, they didn't even realize I wasn't there or was ill. Because I was still available to them when they needed me to be.
3. How dare she just assume that I have time in my schedule to manage any problems that her teams may encounter for these 3 days. What if I got sick, or Caitlyn got sick??? Or, imagine this, I have my own teams and their shit to be concerned with????
4. Telling me the night before you are leaving for 3 days and pushing your work off on me, is certainly not the advanced warning that I would have preferred. Had you told me this at some point last week, I may have been able to arrange my schedule to at least be available should I need to be. Now I can't. And now I won't.

Here is the email that she sent to me and about 10 other teachers:

Hello!

I will be out of district at a workshop Mon 2/23-Wed 2/25. I don't know if I will be able to check my email during the day, but will be checking it in the evenings. If you have major AT problems and need help before Thur, email Nancy W. at email.

Take care,
Danielle


Really? Just another indication that this person sucks at her job.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Oh Where Have I Been?

I have been to the eye doctor, to the penthouse suite at a resort, to the emergency room, to the neurologist, and back again. The last week has been littered with crazy goings on for me.

I will recap for those of you who haven't followed my facebook saga.

Last Friday (the 13th) I was driving home from work. I was on the phone with Matt and mentioned to him that I was going to take a nap when I got home because I was so tired that my eyes were crossing. There were points on the drive home that things looked fuzzy to me or just a little bit wonky. So I came home, crawled into bed, and proceeded to watch 2 hours of really bad reality shows. And didn't nap at all.

I got a call from a friend asking me to go to the movies with her and a couple of other people. I told her I would go provided I didn't have to drive, cause my eyes were still being weird and I was really tired. While I was on the phone with her, I noticed that I would occasionally see double on the TV screen. Again, figuring I was just reeeeeally tired, I got dressed and went with them.

When I woke up on Saturday, there was no question that I was seeing double. It would come and go, but it was definitely obvious that something was quite off with my vision. So I called the eye doctor and made an appointment to go in. Thinking that I just needed a vision test and some glasses and all would be right with my vision again.

No such luck. It turns out I have 20/20 vision. And while this is fantastic news, it doesn't clear up the issue of why I was seeing double. The eye doc put a good scare in me by saying that the double vision could be the result of anything from extreme stress/fatigue (which I have from work) to the onset of a stroke. That's quite a spectrum if you ask me. So I chalked it up to being stressed and tired from work.

Matt and I had reservations at a resort for Valentine's Day. So we went there on Saturday, figuring the rest would do me, and my eyes, some good. The hotel screwed up our reservation, so they upgraded our room. To the penthouse suite. Which was the most outstanding room I have ever been in. Fireplace, jacuzzi, deck, and an insanely comfortable bed with loads of pillows. By the time Saturday night rolled around, there was no escaping the double vision. It was there constantly, and I was well rested at this point, and convinced there was something seriously wrong with me.

On Sunday, we decided that once we checked out, we would just head straight to the ER and have them do a CT scan to see what, if anything, was going on neurologically. After the CT scan and an entire host of blood tests, it was determined that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. At least nothing they could find. So they sent me n my way with an appointment to see the neurologist on Monday morning.

In the meantime, I can barely walk without holding onto Matt, I certainly can't drive, and I manage to get nauseous every time I am a passenger in the car. Good times.

The neurologist performed an entire host of tests. Some of which, I must admit, I found truly amazing. He also poked me again for more blood.

I decided to buy an eye patch, suck it up, and go to work on Tuesday. On the drive home, I felt sick again, and called Matt to pick up Cate because I could no longer be in the car. I barely had the car in park in front of the house before I was running in and throwing all of my crap on the floor. I ran up the stairs to the bathroom where I proceeded to.....well I don't have to go into detail about that. Let's just say that I spiked a fever, kept a pot next to the bed, and stayed in bed until Tuesday morning. I officially had the flu. Which I have not had since, I can't remember when, certainly before Caitlyn was born.

I have spoken to the neurologist and he has confirmed that there is nothing life threatening going on based on the results of my blood work. Thank God! But he believes that I have a condition called vasculitis. Simply stated, not enough blood to the eye for one reason or another. I have been instructed to take some aspirin daily and to return to him on March 3rd.

As of today, my vision is actually a little bit better. I was able to stop spewing long enough to go to work today. And I am feeling, overall, pretty good. Hopefully, the vision is on the up and up and will return soon. You can't imagine the looks I get when I am driving around with a pirate patch on my eye!!

Will keep you all updated as to what is going on!

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Crazy Week

What an insane week it has been! We have come to annual review and transition time at work. That is always the busiest point of the year for me. It means that my days are always longer than usual, that I don't eat lunch until at least 1:00 (which isn't horrible, but is a long ways off from eating breakfast at 7:00), and that by the time I get home I am so completely wiped out that I don't want to do anything else but sleep. Which is proven by the amount of laundry that awaits me upstairs.

Besides the point in the school year that we are in, there have been some staff changes. The person who helps me with assistive tech left on maternity leave in November (silly babies!). Which meant I was working with someone new. And I am all for that. That is, when the person is actually competent. And I don't just mean being competent in the area of AT. When you are in an itinerant position, which we are, you really have to have a handle on social and communication skills. You have to be able to walk into a classroom with a teacher and paraprofessionals and just know how to jump in and help as well as when to step aside and let the teacher handle the situation. You have to know how to prioritize your time and things on your to do list in order to be the most effective collaborator that a team needs at that moment in time. I think these are the most essential skills for an itinerant. The person I received as a replacement has none of these skills. And because of that, she has made my life a living hell. You see, because she does not have the aforementioned skills, not only do I get multiple complaints from people, but I have now had to take over one of her classrooms. She just can't seem to find the time in her day to fill the needs of the students in there. All two of them. Because we are more than half way through the year, my schedule and routine are fairly set. Trying to find the time to fit in observations of students I don't know and meeting time with the teacher in order to determine her AT needs has proven to be very difficult while still maintaining the classes that I have had all year. Add to that the mess that she has made with the parents, and it makes for a very unhappy Nancy.

In addition to the craziness at work, there are also the 2 graduate classes I am taking. Which aren't terribly demanding, but it's just another thing on my "to do" list during the week.

On top of all that Caitlyn has her extra curricular activities. Which consist of Girl Scouts on Monday, Hip Hop on Wednesday, CCD on Saturday. Matt and I also have to attend a number of meetings from now until May in order to prepare for her communion.

So needless to say, I am wiped out these days and can not wait for summer vacation. Which is really sad that I am already thinking about that. Typically the countdown does not begin until at least after spring break. But with the added stress of this new person at work, it just can't come fast enough.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

25 Random Things About Me

This has been floating around facebook and I enjoyed doing it. I saw that Kari posted it to her blog, so I copied and figured I would do the same.


1. I am only doing this because I keep getting tagged and I think I have to complete it in order to stop the tagging madness.

2. I once lived in a residential school for the blind, with fantastic girls I might add. It was one of the craziest times of my life.

3. I sleep on my stomach, with my arms at my side. If I sleep in any other position, I wake up miserable.

4. I am a night owl by nature. I loathe waking up in the wee hours of the morning, but if I am awake until those same hours, I am happy as a clam.

5. I have a tendency to cry at the simplest things that Caitlyn does. It seems every time I see her accomplish something the doctors said she never would, I get teary eyed and a lump in my throat.

6. I am married to the most amazing man in the world.

7. Matt has the most incredible work ethic I have ever seen in a person.

8. I learned quickly that I am not immortal in the 10 hours prior to Caitlyn's birth.

9. I have the best set of friends from college that a girl could ever ask for. When I am with them, I laugh harder than I ever have.

10. My mom is quite possibly the most caring person on the planet. She has a deep seeded desire to take care of everyone around her, sometimes to her own detriment, but it makes her the incredible person that she is.

11. Two and a half years ago, I came to the conclusion that God mean for me to be only Caitlyn's mom. Now that I understand that, I am truly at peace with the cards that I was dealt in the child bearing arena.

12. My job is exhausting. Even though it is exhausting, and sometimes the rewards of it are hard to identify, when I do see the rewards, they are amazing. There is nothing like seeing a child do something independently for the first time in their life.

13. I never really believed that old saying about a mom feeling her heart burst with love until I brought my fragile girlie home from the hospital and watched her sleep peacefully. I came to realize that the feeling is one that can not be described in any words.

14. Despite hating my brother for the first 18 years of my life, I now realize that I love him with all of my heart and that we are more alike than I think even he realizes.

15. I miss my grandma and grandpa every day.

16. When Caitlyn was born, I learned that the strength of a person's spirit, no matter how small, is far more strong than any doctor or medical procedure.

17. I find myself criticizing other parent's style of parenting far too often. Matt often tells me that it must be hard to be as perfect a parent as I am. I need to be more understanding of individual differences in how people raise their children.

18. I wish with all of my heart that Caitlyn would have had the opportunity to meet her grandfather. I know Matt would have loved to see her sitting on his lap snuggling with him.

19. I am terrified of loud noises. Almost to the point of making me cry. If I her a motorcycle outside, I have brief moments of heart palpatations and get shaky.

20. I am fascinated by children who have Autism. If there was anything I could do for one day, it would be to change places with a child with Autism. Just to see what goes on in their head.

21. I worry that Caitlyn is going to struggle with some type of eating disorder when she is older.

22. I hate cooking.

23. If there was one thing I could hire someone to do one thing everyday for the rest of my life, I would hire a dentist to clean and floss my teeth everyday. There is nothing better than the feeling of a completely clean mouth when you leave the dentist.

24. I have never believed that parenting is the hardest job one will ever do. I believe most of it is common sense. However, I do believe that the emotional side of parenting is the most difficult part of parenting.

25. I eventually want to teach at the college level. You know, to impart all of the wisdom I have acquired ;)