New Job Stuff and Other Updates

Hey, peeps. I mentioned earlier I got an awesome new job, so I'll explain a little more in this post.

I work for two organizations- Respite Works and Behavior Respite in Action (BRIA). They are sister companies (with two others- California Psych Care and Autism Response Team). It's possible for me to work with all the companies, but right now I'm just sticking with two of them and may eventually join ART. CPC requires higher education, so that may be in the future.

BRIA focuses mostly on children with autism and other similar developmental disabilities with moderate to severe aggressive behavior, while RW focuses mostly on those who are less aggressive and more highly functional.

My job specifically is to provide in-home respite care with mild behavioral consulting (ABA). I help teach them day to day skills and constantly keep them interested in learning and growing. It's not like babysitting where we can just watch a movie and kick back while I pull out a book. It requires constant interaction. Most of the time the parents are away taking a break (which is what respite care is all about), while sometimes the parents are home and joining in. But usually they're gone, or if home, working or taking a break somewhere else in the house.


I love it. There's been a lot of training, test-taking and certifications, but it's good. Right now I don't have a set schedule and am mostly on call- this is because I'm new and my supervisor is working on establishing a set schedule with the families, which I'm looking forward to. These kids are awesome and the experience so far has been great, even if a little challenging at times. What's also great is they work similar to the school system- so holidays are off, even the days after holidays. The only difference is weekends and summer work. I don't work Sundays, though, and they are very respectful about it, which is awesome. They never just give you a case- they are always willing to work around your schedule. Most of my cases are in Santa Clarita, and the only reason I would work in the San Fernando Valley is if the hours are long enough to make up for the commute. But mostly I'm here. They provide services in Santa Clarita, San Fernando Valley, Antelope Valley, and are opening up services soon in Kern County.

But, that's the update on work. I am so blessed to have this job.

Everything else here at home is going well. Dexter had some sort of panic attack last night out of nowhere. Gary grabbed Lila to pick her up, and I guess it startled her and she let out a squeak-meow and suddenly, Dexter came flying across the room and grabbed onto her with all fours, biting her. I jumped up and pushed him away and he actually started hissing and growling. It shocked both of us. He kept trying to get to her while showing aggressive behavior. It took a few minutes for him to calm down while we separated them. I was told later that Lila's startled response startled Dexter, and he panicked and possibly thought Lila wasn't Lila- either that, or he thought she was in danger and reacted the way he did. It freaked us out. Dexter's the goofiest, dopiest, lazy sweet cat. But, everything's good now. Guess Gary better be careful next time, haha.

Gary is doing great, as usual. He totally rocks at everything he does. I am so proud of him.

Anyway, that's our update! Time to be a video game nerd. I had a case tonight, but it was canceled, so I'm spending the evening geeking out with the husband. Later!

Due for Updates

 Yeah, we're a bit overdue. There isn't TOO much to update, so I'll just toss in a few things:

 Gary and I are about to renew our lease for 8 months. We passed on signing for a year- because our rent went up- like 7%. Renewing for only 8 months though means we'll only be paying an extra $75, compared to more. Ridiculous. Our first thought was just finding a new place all together; but most apartments in this area are all about the same in rent; and we're not going to pay new deposits on a place that will save us only like $50. Plus, I do want to stay in our ward. If we went a little out of the area, we could have saved on rent. However, I'm not ready to start over and do that again. I know buying a home in this market will definitely save us money, but we're still building a savings. I know there are FHA loans and all, but we still want a hefty down payment. Plus, we haven't made the decision of staying in this city. It's gorgeous, we love it, but Gary's still new in his job field since graduation and is continuously growing and we just haven't found our place just yet.

In other news, our rats our dying. They're both about 2.5 years old. They both have tumors (in the same location; isn't that strange?). Jahiera's fur is falling out- she has the largest tumor (malignant). Mazzy's is still small- and it feels benign. It makes me sick seeing them like this and knowing there's nothing much I can do but make them comfortable. Jahiera's beyond surgery at this point (and even if I did catch it earlier, surgery would have just made that one go away until another grew), and Mazzy's age means she may not make the anesthesia. There's treatment for Mazzy, but all it does is slow the growth of the tumor and extend her life a little. My poor rats. I wish I could have spent more time paying attention to them and taking them out more like when I was a kid. All I can do now is make sure they have a good life until it's over. This means more playpen time and more handling.

Okay, off that sad, depressing topic. I had a week just a few weeks ago where I was pretty much having a nightmare every night. Often times I just wasn't wanting to go to sleep. But, of course, I'd snuggle with husband and sleep anyway, only to toss and turn with bad dreams. Every now and then I'll just have a week like that. As I've made clear from other posts, I have many strange experiences while sleeping or in the night. The scariest experience by far in the past couple of months (that actually had me crying out and sobbing until Gary grabbed me and hugged me until I awoke), went like this: I had woken up (or so I thought), and saw the clock read 4:24am. I wanted to go for a run. Gary had sat up in bed and asked if I was on my way to work out, and I told him yes, I would be back soon. We chatted for just a bit while I put my shoes on. I then made a kiss noise to him (like I do when I leave for a few), and headed toward the bedroom door. I reached the floor fan and suddenly stopped. I tried to move forward, but couldn't. Gary asked me what was wrong and I told him I wasn't sure. Suddenly, I bent down to touch my toes, but couldn't force myself to stand up. I then, in a bit of a panic, told Gary something was wrong. And this point, my body lifted up into the air and began spinning, in that same position. I could hear Gary in the background cry out something like, "What's happening?" I started screaming out for help at this point as Gary flew out of bed and was trying to shout to me and help me. I then realized Gary calling my name in real life at this point because I was beginning to wake up. He was holding me and I was still crying out. Eventually I realized where I was and it took me a minute to calm down. I looked over at the clock, which read 4:30. It freaked me out because it felt so REAL. There was nothing dream-like about it (you know, like a usual blur). I didn't go back to sleep that night. Seriously, what's wrong with me?? My life is not all that stressful.

And, on to a happier, better note. I got a new job. I was hired Thursday. It's through a behavioral therapy program that focuses on special needs children from mild to severe. Obviously I'm not a behavioral therapist (I kind of lack the PhD), but I'm an aide who focuses on respite work for these children. I'm excited to get started this week. I'll give more details later, but I can say my weekend has been crazy getting everything together. I had to get several things taken care of so I can start this week. This included CPR and first aid certifications, letters of recommendation, tests, paperwork, etc. Thankfully I got everything done as soon as I had the chance. All I can say is, I love my doctor. Since I had a positive PPD during my last TB test 4 years ago, I no longer need a skin test- and go straight to an x-ray. I called my doctor's office and explained how I needed one soon. So, my doctor wrote me a referral and I was able to get it done that day- at no charge. Oh how I love her and all the staff. I also had several invitations and cards/flyers I had to make for Relief Society since I was called to serve on the RS board. Oh, what a week. But I'm excited.

Okay, that was all the updates (and I said there wasn't much to update). Time to end this long blog. Happy Mothers Day!