Sigh....

I love Sundays. Being lazy, reading Postsecret while drinking a good cup of coffee. Right now, the weather is cool, with a nice little breeze to make the curtains flutter. A perfect fall day. Later I will take the dogs outside and play fetch with them while they find some horribly bad smelling ick to roll in.

And as I sit here, reading, drinking, and typing, I reflect on the past few weeks at my job. There have been ups and downs. And I've learned a few things:

1. Girls need way more attention than boys ever did. As soon as I walk in the door at work, I have eight teen girls vying for my attention. And it doesn't stop until I walk out, eight hours later.

2. Girls forget NOTHING. If you tell a teen girl that they can make a phone call later with you, it doesn't matter if the roof caves in and everyone has to be life flighted to the big city, they want to know(over and over) when they get to make that call.

3. Girls notice EVERYTHING. Forget to bleach your mustache just once and they all point it out to you. Or if you had onions on your burger at lunch, they feel comfortable enough to let you know yo breff be kickin'.

4. Girls lie much better than boys. You can catch them in the act, and they will lie straight-faced and then be oh so offended when you call them on it.

5. Girls have no shame. If a girl thinks her menstrual blood looks odd, they think nothing of pulling off the pad, shoving it your face to ask your opinion. (yes, that right, day four on the hall, this really happened.)

6. Girls have an opinion on everything. They think nothing about telling you that your outfit makes you look fat. (um, hello....I am fat, it's not the outfit.)

7. Girls love bling. They will find anything that they can make look like jewelry. Rubber band rings, paper braid bracelets, dried glue earrings. What the hell?!?

8. Girls love to talk baby talk. This is self explanatory. And it drives me crazy.

9. Girls have no respect for anyone. Regardless of who it is, staff, mothers, each other, they will roll their eyes, cluck their tongues, and ignore you 'til the cows come home.

But if you can connect with just one of them, they will defend you to the death. Or until you tell them NO, then all bets are off.

Cheeseburger Festival

Yep, I went again this year...and had the time of my life! Here's a few pics from my weekend away!
Sunset my first night.

Could this kid be any cuter! He was just walking by at the festival, couldn't resist!
Here are the girls enjoying the beach! Notice the big bucket of frozen margaritas....one of MANY!
My friend, Char, being a nut. She is the funniest person I know.

Week in review

Ahhh...my first week of orientation is finally over. It was interesting, but still surreal. I haven't seemed to fathom that I am not going to be going back to my old office. I'm sure it will hit me eventually.

My first day, Monday, was interesting. First, we had to be there at 8:30 in the morning and since I wasn't sure how long it would actually take me, I left at 7:00am. Which means I had to get up at 5:30. Killer, I tell you. But it's a beautiful drive and I didn't mind it. The photo is one of the neat things I see on the way to work. I stopped and took a picture one morning as the sun was rising.

There are six of us in orientation, and I stand out for several reasons. First, I'm the only one who had been employed in state service before, everyone else is brand spankin' new. So a lot of what they went over didn't apply to me, like how to fill out your time sheet, basic polices, etc. Second, I'm the only therapist in the group. Everyone else is a direct line worker, working with the girls for their whole shift, no therapy work. On Monday afternoon, the director and deputy director came into our training to introduce themselves. As they were talking to the group, the deputy director notices me, and starts gushing about how wonderfully I did in my interview and they were so excited for me to start. He actually went on and on until everyone in the orientation was staring at me. Just a little bit flattering and a lot embarrassing.

On Tuesday, our trainer was responsible for a golf outing for the girls. We ended up going as well. In the rain. And still they golfed. I met my group and they watched me like a hawk, trying to figure out what I was like. We were introduced to several of the managers and other therapists at the golf course, and every one of them made comments about the wonderful things they had heard about me. I was a little uncomfortable.

On Wednesday and Thursday we had some physical intervention training as the staff are responsible for restraining the girls if they get out of control. We had training with a team from one of the halls and it was very physical. I'm very glad that I will not be responsible for this as much as the direct line staff. Though it could happen. I will try like hell to de-escalate the situation before I have to get my fat ass on the ground wrestling with some teen girl that looks like a fucking lumberjack!

By this time, I had started hearing the murmurings and complaints about the director. She's pretty new, and took over just about two years ago. There was a huge scandal prior to that with the old administration not knowing that a staff was having sex regularly with about six of the girls on that staff's hall. He's in prison for the next fifteen years, but it still shook things up. There was some serious talk about closing the center, but they decided to change administrations and give the place a chance. And that's when this director came in, started firing people left and right and changing things up. Now, it's common with state employment to have old-timers who are still working past their prime. They get complacent, don't want change, and complain about anything new. The new director brought in cameras on every hall, new policies about what staff can and can't do, and what the girls can and can't do. There appears to be a LOT of animosity toward the new admin.

After running into the deputy director a few more times, listening to him boast and brag about me, I finally went to his office and asked him to stop. It's hard enough being the newbie, an outsider who came from another center(where the director used to work), and not get a hard time from the staff. For the staff to think that I am aligned with the administration that they hate, will put a target on my back. He listened, and agreed. He apologized, and went on to say that there were actually five other staff on campus that applied for my job and they were pissed that they didn't get it. He indicated that they interviewed fifty-five others and they hired me. Talk about that target getting bigger and bigger. He told me that there were lots of problems with the way therapy was being conducted and he expected me to make some changes. His exact words were: "You have a green light, whatever you want or need, I'll make it happen". He wants the energy and ideas I showed in the interview to be the way all of the therapists do things. That target can now be seen several miles away. I asked him to give me time to get acclimated, and accepted by my team before he expected anything. I need time for them to learn to trust me. I told him I would make my mark when the time was right. He agreed. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I have the young offenders at the center, girls who are 12-15. All of the girls come from abusive/neglectful homes. A lot of the were sexually abused and it appears they are all "gay for the stay". None of them had any kind of childhood that anyone can call normal.

I definitely have my work cut out for me. Next week, I get to shadow the man that's been working with my group. He indicated that the girls have already told him they don't like me. Not because of who I am, but because I represent more change. I will be the third therapist they have had in as many months. The old therapist is on a medical leave and is facing termination when he returns. These girls trust no one. I will have to tread lightly and yet be firm with them.

Egads.