Friday, February 21, 2014

Winter blues

Winter has been interesting. Beautiful at times, very cold, dreary, cozy, and fun. Not living in snow for 30+ years I have mostly enjoyed it. Heck i got a 5 day weekend out of the deal! I have watched way too much Olympics, movies and eaten and drunk too much too. Can really understand those poor russians. Got to say the cost of heat is prohibitive. I am currently on hold with the power company trying to figure out how i could possibly have a $360 energy bill for 3 weeks when I keep the house between 60-65 degrees, it s just me and I don't have a big footprint. Crazy. I turned off the hot tub and drained it as soon as the bill came in, very sad as that was one of the big plusses of the house, bbut hey, I gotta eat!
Work is good, i still really like my team and the agency is really awesome. Wish i were busier, but beware what you ask for. I do have 3 centers I am mentoring for quality improvement, and am just getting up to speed on those. I am getting mentor training, 3 all day sessions in Richmond. They are interesting and mostly helpful. My favorite part is that i get to have dinner with my nephew and his wife, Ben and Laura, and they are so fun to hang out with, lots of laughs.
For some reason this site is not allowing me to correct my spelling mistakes except id i delete the whole mess. Iwill try to go back and edit after i post. It is behaving funny and I am not sure why. I am writing from my office as i am the only one in my dept today and I really have very little to do. Spending quite a bit of time watching Pharrell "I'm Happy" videos and have to admit to being addicted!
Charlottesville has an abundance of great food. It is really amazing how many extraordinary restaurants there are. I thought we were so spoiled in N. Cal, but believe me you would all be very impressed with the quality of food here and the restaurant scene. I have gained 10 # since I moved here! EEKs!
I am on facebook again, and am enjoying it more this time round. Staying in touch is important to me, I do miss all of you.
Spring is just around the corner and i am very much looking forward to the warm weather. My neighborhood is great for walking, lots of loops to do and fun houses to check out! Very friendly. As some of you might have read on facebook I have met a childhood friend who lives around the corner! We are walking and getting to know each other again. Amazing. What I will say is that people here don't share nas much. Two people knew that she lived here and knew that we had known each other from childhood, one of them my own sister, and neither person connected us or shared that info with either of us! That is weird to me, and i doubt that would happen in California.
Well that is it for today. xx

Sunday, January 19, 2014

New news 1/20/14

I don't think many of you are actually following this, but nevertheless it is my way of staying current and documenting my east coast adventure.
 My new job with Children Youth and family Services is wonderful. I really like my coworkers and my supervisor. They are very smart, funny, engaged thoughtful women who are truly dedicated to early education. My supervisor is a LCSW, one of my coworkers is an Infant Toddler Specialist and the other was a director and teacher for a long time like myself, with a BA. I am the only one of the team with an MA.

My job title is Child Care Quality Educator and as such I will eventually be assigned to some number of child care programs to coach, mentor and train staff working on their quality improvement plan. The centers join the program voluntarily and receive an initial star rating based on scores using the CLASS tool and ECERS (environmental raring scale). They are rated on various aspects of the program including policies, classroom environment, staff qualifications, materials, teacher child interactions, routines, and curriculum. Probably more areas also, I am just learning!

In February I will be going to a 3 day mentor training to learn what that looks like here in Virginia. This is all part of the Virginia Star Quality Initiative, a state wide program for improvement of early childhood programs, licensed and family based. In march i will go to a 3 week training to become a Star Quality Rater so i can go into centers and rate them. I will not rate the centers I will be mentoring, but rating other centers. This is paid for by my agency with hotel and food! I will be an independent contractor and get paid separately for rating.

For my own centers I will take the ratings and help the program develop a quality improvement plan and then mentor them in meeting their goals for improvement. This is a 5 star scale, and there are very few 5 star rated programs here.

It is an amazing agency as well. The ED is a very professional and smart woman as are every other employee I have met so far. The agency has many different programs for children and families, I will attach a link so you can check it out if you want.

www.cyfs.org

What I really like is the dedication, the integrity, transparency, and positive climate of the office, and agency as a whole. People are smiling, working, interacting, sharing, and they all go home at 4:30. It is a very family friendly agency and employees are respected and treated as professionals. YES! My work day is 8:30-4:30 with some evening staff trainings I will do, but that time is comped later so I can leave early or take a long lunch (which is paid hour btw)! Love that. The office is very quiet on Fridays as many folks work a 30 hr week and others seem to find a way to take the day at home working or otherwise off!

People have commented on how quickly I have built my life here. Reflecting on that I remind them that I have been crafting this for 5 years with very clear intentions and a vision of what i wanted for this next stage of my life. The universe clearly was paying attention and when i made the leap of faith, there it all was just waiting for me. Not to say it is all perfect!

Financially I have taken a hit, I broke my wrist and it is still sore after a lot of typing, but getting stronger. I moved again from a sweet little tidy apartment to a house which was filthy when I arrived. It is now sorted, but it is weird to be living in someone else's house with their stuff. I have put away a lot, but much remains and my style is very different. Regardless, my animals now have easy access to the outside, I am only 5 mins from work and grocery, and have a lovely neighborhood with lots of trees to walk in! Not complaining. It is cold, but I like it, it has snowed, but no blizzards, it has rained a lot and I am grateful.

Beginning to make friends, have a regular Saturday walk partner, Robbie, who is a friend of my sisters I have know for years. Went to an hilarious play with my supervisor, Dirty barbie and other Girlhood Tales. A one woman show about growing up with an alcoholic mother in the south during the late 70's-80's, in a family of four. Very familiar material to say the least! Crazy funny, tragic, and poignant. Miss going out dancing and listening to music, but that too is very available once I have some funds!

All in all I am happy and content and feeling very lucky.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Holiday update

Home for the holidays, what a concept. It seems like I left a long time ago, but it has only been not quite 3 months! Seeing my girls is without a doubt the best! I really was feeling so hungry for their presence and to hug and kiss them up!!

Alli and I are staying at our friends Amy, Cary and Asa Bush's house while they are in New Orleans with family. It a perfect cabin in the woods for Christmas. We have been visiting friends, eating too much, and sleeping deeply in a huge bed! It is lovely!

Hannah is working her new job and also still waitressing, burning it both ends, but happy and beautiful as always. We will spend Christmas day with her and Matt at his Mom's with the family!

Taking walks with my friends, drinking wine, the usual. kathleen keeps wondering "is this normal now"? It is the new normal for now!

I accepted a full time salaried with benefits position just before I came away. I am very excited about it. I will be a Child Care Quality Educator, funny title, isn't that what I already was? This position is similar to the work I was doing for the Behavior Consultation Project, except in this position I am working with the teachers and the whole program to support and coach their achievement of the their quality improvement goals, not specifically tied to a particular child in the program. In Virginia there is a program called the Virginia Star Quality Improvement Plan that preschool/child care programs get funding from and have to meet specific quality standards, thus the quality improvement plan. I will be in the role of mentor, coach, trainer to help them meet their goals.

Just realized my title for this blog is quite fitting! My first job was with New Beginnings and I thought that was pretty magical. It was a lovely job, with lovely people, but not enough hours, no benefits, and the work was within my skill set, but not what I was really passionate about. It was also starting up a new program, and I am really looking for established. So this is a better fit all around. I may still consult with them for some parenting support, but not a lot.

I am moving to a house in January in a great neighborhood with walking trails very close by! It is closer to my sister, my job and most of where I go in Cville. My animals will be most thrilled! They will have outdoor access all the time now, and won't be cooped up in a little apt! We are happy.

Happy New Year to you all and know I am out here thinking of you, adjusting to the new normal, but never forgetting the old normal!!
xxoxx


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Virginia is for wimps!! They have cancelled school and events twice now for weather and all we got was some flurries! Ridiculous! We did get a beautiful ice storm one night and it melted away by mid morning. They say they cancel because in the mountains it is worse, but here in town the weather is very mild. Cold believe me, but most everyone thinks the closures are a joke and a pain as kids don't go to school, parents can't get care so miss work! New Englanders would laugh, Chicago howl, and most other northern locales scoff at what they call winter here!

I am moving to a house in January. A friend of my sisters is going on sabbatical to Italy for 8 months and I am moving in to their home. Kind of a combo caretaking/housesitting/rental deal. It will be great for my pets who are most displeased with apartment living. I have adjusted, but the noise, trash, dog poop everywhere has begun to get under my skin.

The trash is crazy, every end of the month there are discarded mattresses filling up the huge dumpsters, people are lazy and just leave their bags of garbage on the side of the dumpster instead of throwing it in or finding another with some room for more.

The worst is the dog poop everywhere, worse than Paris or NYC! Thing is they have bag dispenser all over the complex and receptacles too! I pick up other dog poop because I step in it at night when I can't see that well! YUCK! Bad enough if it your dogs, but others is just gross. Nicely in the winter is is frozen in the morning so easy to get with a bag! TMI???? Sorry!

My wrist is healed mostly, still wearing a cast but it is removable! Not much range of motion, but that will come. It is very stiff and achy if I try to do too much. So what else is new?

Looking forward very much to my quick trip to Sonoma County for Christmas with my girls. This is the hardest bit and getting harder. I miss them terribly. A benefit has been we are in touch more often than when we lived closer. We text daily and talk every few days. I am so proud of them both, they are growing and evolving into the most amazing women!! Hoping to catch a bit of time with some of you, but know my priority is with the girls. I would love to see you all and stay longer but I am committed here for work and need to stay focused on my year away!

I am so grateful for all the support, love and connection I am receiving from everyone. I too am growing and evolving into someone stronger and more self aware!

Happy Holidays to everyone, be thankful for what we have!


Search the Darkness

Sit with your friends, don't go back to sleep.

Don't sink like a fish to the bottom of the sea.

Surge like an ocean, don't scatter yourself like a storm.

Life's waters flow from darkness. Search the darkness, don't run from it.

Night travelers are full of light, and you are too: don't leave this companionship.

Be a wakeful candle in a golden dish, don't slip into the dirt like quicksilver.

The moon appears for night travelers, be watchful when the moon is full.

Rumi


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

November 27, 2013
Time really flies! I've been meaning to post for awhile, but time just gets away from me. Busy with new job, pets, and family.

So let's see, I've pretty much got the lay of the land here and hadn't gotten lost for weeks until today! Went to get my cast off after three weeks and felt sure I knew where to go, been there before, etc. WRONG! Completely got turned around went back and again, finally stopped to google map, thought I had it, wrong again! Called to say I would be late, would I still be able to see the Dr., yes! Thank you!!! Finally followed the correct directions and made it just 15 mins late. They cut off the cast, x-rayed wrist again and it is healing but one part needs a bit more time, so, I have a new cast, this one is removable however so I can shower easier.

On the way home I got on the freeway so I could run an errand, and went the wrong direction again, really am challenged with directionality, finally realized, but got to see the snow in the mountains, so not all was lost! They called off county schools on Tuesday due to weather! What weather I was wondering, a little rain, it was cold, but really? It was snowing in the Northern part of the county so if they call school there the rest of the county schools get closed. Everyone I spoke with that day and today, ended the conversation with "weather permitting" !! I am just so confused! It is not even that cold, a bit blustery, some rain, a few flurries, but nothing to call school or cancel appointments for!
This from a California girl mind you! I meanNew England would just laugh at this and maybe put on a jacket! Here people are getting hats, gloves, and snow boots on!

My pets are starting to go loopy with having to be inside so much. Skye gets walks and can go hang with the dogs at my sisters property. The cat is gaining weight and showing me he is none too happy about his confinement by occasionally not using his "box" and clawing me in the middle of the night! I feel bad and decided to look for a better housing situation in January. He really deserves to be able to go out, but it is not safe here. He ran away from me one night I had him out on a lead, freaked me out completely that I had lost him. I had visions of him showing up at Laguna rd a year from now! That book about the dog and cat from my youth that found there way home must have had a big influence on me!

I am feeling very grateful for this opportunity to spread my wings, for my darling daughters support and hard work, my dear friends connecting with me, and my generous extended family. Also thankful to my home team who are keeping Childkind alive and well! May you all be well and thankful for what you have and those who love you, count me in! Happy Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Its getting very wintry here. There are still beautiful fall leaves, and lots of bare trees. No heat this morning in my apt, feels pretty cold! Apt living is interesting. Hearing neighbors banging around, kids running up and down stairs, music in the entry way coming from one apt. It's all good and part of life and I like being surrounded by a diverse community. Of course the downside is people all the time, garbage left around, dog poop left by irresponsible pet owners, handymen coming and going in your apt to repair broken pipes or whatever!

That was last week, a broken sewage down pipe was split behind the wall in my bathroom! So I came home to two big guys in my bathroom cutting holes in the wall! They were very nice and apologetic, but had to happen as the girl downstairs had the leak in her apt! They cleaned up and left the wall open. The cat, used to being an outdoor cat, found the hole, looked back at me and was gone! I was freaked! Called and called, rattled the food dish, ignored for awhile and back he came! relief. Closed the bathroom door and promptly forgot.  

Bernard, my new best friend, is the handyman my property manager uses. He has been here repairing cracks in the walls and replaced my kitchen faucet. He called to say he was coming to fix the wall, great! Just before he arrived I left the bathroom door open, saw the cats tail just as he went in the hole again! Shit! So Bernard came and repaired the bigger patches and left the small bottom hole open. Of course as soon as he left the cat came out! I blocked the hole with a piece of drywall, but he was determined and tried to knock it away! I managed to secure it, Bernard was back the next day and we are solid again, no holes in my wall!

Now this morning no heat in my apt! Also I had put down some runners as Skye was struggling with the steps up to the apt. I used double sided tape to secure and my neighbors were all cool with it. It was an awesome fix for Skye, she went up and down easily. Yesterday I came home and they were gone, ripped up and a little pile of tape left behind! So bummed! Have no idea if it was a neighbor who wanted the runners, or maintenance, or ?? Poor Skye!

So big news is my wrist is broken and in a cast for 3 weeks! First broken bone for me! Lets hope it is not the start of something! Everything healing well.

Next big news is I have a job! Working with a group of therapists, New Beginnings! So poetic, no? Steve Greenstein Phd, has a very interesting history and perspective. He and his wife Francis, a therapist, run this group, and have various programs they are trying to build. They had a much larger organization which got too big for them. Also I gather Medicare didn't like how big they were and funding got cut. So I am working on getting a Therapeutic Day Treatment program up and running for them in the schools. I will also be part of a team that goes out to schools and works with kids. I am participating in trainings to become a trainer for Ages and Stages Questionaire (ASQ) and for the Center on Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL), both of which I have been using for 5 years in Sonoma County! Now I will be a trainer! My work as an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant (ECMHC) is very new here, they are just getting trainings going and setting up a consortium here for Early Childhood Mental Health. So it is a very good time to be here!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

My lovely cousin Jane in England posted this on her blog and I wanted to share with my friends!
http://www.changingpeople.co.uk/2013/older-women-be-proud-and-very-loud/

Sometimes I feel like I am too old to have taken this crazy turn in my life, but then I get a message like this that just encourages me that I did the right thing. I am really happy and loving the expansion I feel in myself. I also get a little freaked sometimes when I realize the enormity of what I have done. I also get sad when I feel how much I miss my friends. Its an adjustment. The range of emotions is gratifying in that I was not really accessing that when I was in Ca. Just guess I was in a rut.

I am in almost daily contact with one person or another and have been receiving lots of texts and emails from everyone. Thank you for that it keeps me feeling connected. My beautiful, amazing, fabulous, loving daughters have also been a source of strength and wisdom. They are so supportive of my breaking out. It is awesome to see the resilience, confidence and competence they have, and to know I had a bit to do with it. Of course, they have taught me well about love, life, happiness, and rolling with the punches. We are each on our own boat, and we are in the river together going with the flow! Life is an adventure, and I am grateful to be able to be present and accounted for.

On a more concrete subject, I have been offered an opportunity to join a small counseling therapy group called New Beginnings. It's a foot in the door for me, not entirely sure how they will use my experience, but am confident that I have something to share and that I will learn a lot too! I am now a Qualified Mental health Practitioner in the state of Va.!! Amazing how just tweaking your resume can open doors! Everyone here has been very generous with contacts, information, referrals, and more contacts. Once I started reaching out, it started to come back, and it keeps coming. of course to hedge my bet I also applied to Whole Foods!! I will substitute at a few preschools also to supplement and continue to make contacts.

I continue to realize how lucky I am and am touched by how warm and gracious everyone has been. I enjoy meeting new people and finding out new things. I am reading Temple Grandin's book Animals in Translation which has reminded me of the uniqueness of our brains. Her observations and conclusions are so obvious and yet we can be so blind to what is right in front of us. My animals continue to be a source of comfort and remind me daily of how flexible we can be.