I am sitting on the sofa with tissue paper glued to my face with egg white, praying that Mike doesn't walk in the door earlier than he said he would. I found this face mask on Pinterest, and am waiting to see if it actually does all the things it promises. I will report back.
Yes, I haven't written in forever. No, I don't really have an excuse. I thought about all the events I did not document the other day - Father's Day, a beach trip and a wedding, MY BIRTHDAY....maybe I will be able to go back and repost.
SO - here's where we are. Mike's LAST YEAR OF SCHOOL is about to start! We (I) am so excited. He is super stressed with having to write his dissertation and teach a class. I am continuing to enjoy work and just wrapped up the longest four days I can remember. I took Friday off for my own mental health, knowing that I had to back on the job at 9 this morning. I napped a lot today. :-)
Recently, I have been comparing working with children in difficult situations to working with adults.I may have noted in a different post that I worked with kids in foster care oh so long ago, and truly loved that job. Here's the thing about kids - it's hard to blame them for the things they are going through. It's hard to say, "Hey four year old - I am really disappointed in the choices your mom made, but you should have to suffer the consequences." Adults are a whole new ballgame.
For the most part, we don't run into a lot of issues because they people we are serving are so sick, and they are grateful just to have somewhere to be and someone who cares about what happens to them. Once in a while, you get a bad apple- an entitled apple, and you have to walk away to keep yourself from lecturing this person on how lucky he/she is to be in an environment where others WANT to help them. It can be trying. We had three clients move out of our facility (where cable tv, three meals, air conditioning and a private room are provided) because they were tired of abiding by our rules. They were tired of being told they had to be home by 10 pm and that they had to tell someone where they were going. It was really upsetting for me, because I have a feeling these individuals may be knocking on our door in a few years, looking for a place to die comfortably. (Yes, my job is kind of dark.)
On the other side, there are people who genuinely appreciate what we do everyday. I went to pick a man up on Wednesday, planning to bring him our little Cottage. When I knocked on the door, I waited...and waited...and begin panicking that maybe we had not gotten to him in time. I realized I had his number and called him, only to see a ghost of a man hobble to the door. He told me he was so glad I was there because he was feeling weak. I ended up calling 911 because he was making me nervous, and because as much as I may try to pretend, I have no "M.D" after my name. The paramedics told me his vitals were good but took him to the ER as a precautionary measure. He ended up moving into our little house that night.
Since he came, he has been put on Hospice, and looks worse than when I picked him up. The only thing I can be thankful for is that he will most likely spend his final days with us, rather than alone in an apartment. While we were waiting for the ambulance to pick him up, this man asked me to gather up his medicines which were "by his bed." I walked to the room he was pointing at, but saw only a couch. It took me a minute to recognize that his "bed' was a pillow and some blankets on the floor. A hospital type toilet was sitting in the room and hadn't been emptied in days (from what I could smell.) The floor was piled with dirty dishes, clothes and just junk. The cold water was not working, so he had been drinking hot water out of the faucet. I am still waiting to speak to the roommates he told us about. No one seems to be very concerned that he suddenly disappeared.
While that is a pretty depressing story, it is what keeps me going. This man knows that he is a place where he no longer has to sleep on the floor and where people are caring for him. Hopefully, that is enough.
I am sorry to be so depressing, but this is what has been going on! We are looking forward to seeing some fun people next weekend for the AL game, and are headed to spend some time at the beach with my parents in a few weeks.
To conclude, the egg mask did not work. While my skin does feel somewhat softer, the blackheads are still staring at me from my chin, not on the mask. You can try it yourself here:
http://beautydivaindia.blogspot.com/2010/12/diy-peel-off-mask-blackhead-removal.html
Let me know if you get different results!
