Awake and Dreaming - Other blogs - Social Work Blog

sleeeeep

Volunteering tonight was exhausting. We had a great youth group in from out of town to help us, but they of course needed direction. One semi good conversation with a guest though. Also, Olay Daily Facials Express are great for "sponge" baths...

Published 26 Sep 2009 6:09 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: me, sleep, street ministry

falling

So get this. I fell down my apartment stairs this morning on my way to work. I've complained on here before about feeling like I have ear problems, well, this doesn't make me feel any better. Thankfully, I caught myself, and my coffee mug fell...

Published 24 Sep 2009 4:31 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: counseling, employment, me, social work, work

decisions, decisions.

My thought for today is that I either need to go back to Yoga or back to therapy. Maybe both. I'm not making a decision till after my holiday though. stay tuned tomorrow for why I'm pissed off about the material I learned in my food handlers course...

Published 23 Sep 2009 3:39 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: attitudes, counseling, homelessness, me, pet peeves, yoga

Popcorn

I love popcorn. Seriously. I love it. I'm eating some right now and it makes me incredibly satisfied. It can't fix all my problems, but it makes things temporarily right in my world. Hmmm what else can I say. This trying to blog every day thing...

Published 21 Sep 2009 3:32 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: family, friends, life, me, Oliver

Blue sky

Today was a gorgeous day. I ignored all the calls from the shelter asking me to do a shift and enjoyed the sunshine. Our church put on a free family fun day for the neighbourhood and so I hung out at that, playing with the kids, cooking up some hotdogs...

Published 20 Sep 2009 5:01 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: church, me, street ministry

so blessed

I recieved a letter from my sponsor child today. They (she and her family) thanked me for the picture of Sophie and I and said my cat looked very healthy. Then they said that they prayed for me each day and night. I almost cried. I am sure that they do...

Published 19 Sep 2009 5:48 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: me

Life goes on and on

So, inspired by the Anti Social Social Worker, who was inspired by someone or another, I'm going to try and write at least a sentance everyday. In all truth, I've been too anhedonic/apathetic to write. Having depression sucks, and September is...

Published 18 Sep 2009 4:57 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: life, me, Oliver, student

craaaaaay week

It is amazing to me, that one of my clients could ingest more than 200 pills, wind up at the hospital in an ambulance, be treated in emergency and be released with no admission, not even a follow up. The day before that they refused to admit her to psych...

Published 22 Aug 2009 5:53 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: me, mental health, Oliver, suicide, whining, work

It's SUMMER (almost)

You know, it's a big stereotype that Canada is cold all year round. However, my city has certainly lived up to that this spring. It has been so, so, so cold. Snow in May! So not fair. Anyway though, today was gorgeous. It was our church picnic and...

Published 15 Jun 2009 2:14 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: church, detox, life, me, shelter, summer, work

cleaning (gulp)

So, things you may not know about the dreamer. I am VERY messy. Very, very, very messy. My apartment was definitely turning into a fire hazard (although some claim it was turning into a bio hazard). So, naturally, instead of cleaning it myself, I exercised...

Published 8 Jun 2009 3:58 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: life, me, sophie, whining

Spiritual Direction

So this evening, I went for my first session of spiritual direction. Or maybe that's too clinical. Perhaps I'll say, this evening I met with a spiritual director for the first time. It's something a mentor of mine suggested to me when I was...

Published 6 May 2009 3:23 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: counseling, life, me, spiritual direction

the investigation is over!

I wish I could do this to Mr. boss man at the shelter, unfortunatly, that would definitly get me in worse trouble then I was in. Some of you may recall that I was being formally investigated for unprofessional conduct...two months ago. Well, I finally...

Published 1 May 2009 12:16 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: attitudes, crying, me, staff relations, whining, work

Fire Yoga

The next person who says to me "well, isn't yoga just like stretching or something" is going to get a smack (at least inside my head). If yoga was "just like stretching or something" I wouldn't have such sore arm muscles right...

Published 29 Apr 2009 3:20 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: life, me, pet peeves, thoughts, yoga

CBT

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. When I first read about it, it confused me more then anything else. I remember looking at my professor and saying "I just don't get it", I also remember...

Published 23 Apr 2009 1:32 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: counseling, me

antibiotics and yuck

I don't like antibiotics. I think they're a wonderful invention, I totally agree that their lifesaving. I also think they're over prescribed, and generally, they don't make me the world's healthiest person (I tend to get stomach side...

Published 20 Apr 2009 12:00 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: intake, life, me, sick, staff relations, supervision, whining, work, workshop

My Office

As promised, here are the pictures of my office, complete with my favourite Sophie Cat picture. You'll also notice her as my desktop background... if nothing else she's a coworker conversation starter "is that your cat?", "yes,...

Published 12 Apr 2009 12:42 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: me, office, sophie, work

update on me

I've been off most of this week in between my two jobs, so naturally, I didn't bother to use any of my free time to write. So, I'll try and make up for that with an update about how things are going. 1. The Sophie cat seems just fine. I have...

Published 4 Apr 2009 8:31 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: life, me, mental health, sick, sophie, thoughts, work

nightmares...

I said earlier this week that I was feeling this need to purge myself of bad stories as my job was coming to an end. Well, Saturday night was the last night of my fulltime job, and I spun in circles on the pavement outside. I was exhausted, and had one...

Published 31 Mar 2009 3:09 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: me, sleep, work

laughable

When I interviewed for my job at the work placement team (yay for new job) I really did NOT think I had done well. I knew I had gotten some of the questions bang on, some of them half on, and only completely made up one answer (oh how I wished I'd...

Published 26 Mar 2009 10:42 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: death, intentions, intoxication, IPDA, learning, life, me, suicide, work

thank you

Thank you guys all for your support. It really does mean a lot to me. I think I'm a bit calmed down now, I'm trying to see the big picture, to look at this from the outside instead of from my heart. Watching Sophie cat drink water with her paw...

Published 22 Mar 2009 7:18 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: church, crying, friends, me, mental health, work

not what I expected

I arrived at work tonight to find one of our managers waiting for a coworker and I. Into the office we were dragged. I am now under "formal investigation" for an incident which occured two nights ago, a third coworker is as well. This is being...

Published 22 Mar 2009 1:10 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: crying, me, work

getting out and doing things...update on my "care plan"

This past two weeks I've been focusing on getting out and doing things. It's been hard, but worth it. I've managed to spend time with most of my good friends (although best friend and I have played quite a bit of telephone tag...maybe I'll...

Published 21 Mar 2009 11:28 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: life, me, mental health, sleep

the end of it all

I didn't post about looking/applying for a new job because I didn't want to have to write about failure. I just find it easier not to tell people about my job prospects so I don't have to answer awkward questions later. Of couse, these means...

Published 20 Mar 2009 10:45 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: happy, life, me, social work, staff relations, the enforcer, thoughts, work

darkness and light

There's something powerful about darkness. Darkness can provide a cover for dangerous or forbidden things. Darkness can provide a blanket. Darkness can be scary. People do things in the darkness they won't do in the light. Darkness can be overwhelming...

Published 8 Mar 2009 7:26 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, me

it's almost spring

I can't believe I haven't posted in a week. Things are not going well in dreamerville, and writing just seems like too much, that and I just haven't seemed to find anything I really want to write about, I know I'll feel better if I write...

Published 8 Mar 2009 7:45 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: IPDA, life, me, mental health, sick, sleep, social work, the enforcer, thoughts, whining, winter, work

Strep Throat...again (sigh)

Sorry for the lack of posts since vacation. As I'm sure you can tell by the title of this, I've been sick. I went to the doctor after church yesterday, because for the second time in three months, I've got strep throat. Ick. That chemical...

Published 3 Mar 2009 7:03 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: life, me, sick

duldrums

If you ask me, there's always a let down when you come back from vacation. Sometimes I'm home sick, but not this time. This time I just wanted my holiday to go on forever. I missed Sophie cat, and my church, but really, I was soooooo happy to...

Published 27 Feb 2009 4:45 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: coffee, holiday, life, me, thoughts, work

Oh how I miss Social Work supervision aka all the things I wish there’d been time to say

For the most part, I’ve been doing pretty well working without any proper supervision. As I’ve said before, it’s nice not to have to over analyze every single little thing I do. Most of the people I work with are completely uninterested in debrief and...

Published 25 Feb 2009 12:08 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: first aid, learning, life, me, social work, thoughts, whining, work

reflections on who I am

Today during yoga I was reflecting on things and I started thinking a lot about how shy I am. Reading that may surprise some of you who read my blog, because I'm fairly sure that I don't come across as shy... or maybe I do, who knows. The thing...

Published 8 Feb 2009 4:53 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: me

crazy dream

I have always had really vivid dreams. It sort of goes in cycles for me. I'll have crazy dreams for a few weeks and then not remember a thing for months, then come to a dream cycle again. I also have dreams when I hit the snooze button, and that's...

Published 4 Feb 2009 4:32 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: church, life, me, sleep

Quick Update

This is how we play cards at my work... wearing nitrile gloves; who knows what's on those cards! This was one booooooring night in the drunk tank. On the left you can see our "ghetto" crib board - a plank of wood, holes pounded with a nail...

Published 30 Jan 2009 8:09 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, links, me, sleep, sophie, work

i'm sorry I can't be perfect...or not

I've had to shift manage quite a few times lately, and twice in the last week. I honestly don't mind, but it's also not something I want to do everyday. Definitely not everyday. It's really easy, until something goes wrong and then everything...

Published 24 Jan 2009 8:30 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: me, policy, staff relations, thoughts, work

things I love...part two

The last time I wrote about the things I love I wrote about specific clients who really touched me. I think today however I'll just make a list, because I need a reminder of some of those great things in love, those things that make life special,...

Published 23 Jan 2009 8:20 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: emotions, life, me, thoughts

digging deeper - treating people as people

I'm not entirely sure why, but this photo evokes really powerful emotions in me. Tonight was my night off, and I spent some time working on a project for church. I was looking for photos which so a variety of different people from a variety of different...

Published 5 Jan 2009 12:38 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: attitudes, church, intentions, intoxication, IPDA, me, thoughts, work

examining evil aka examining my biases

There's one client who for a long time I was scared of, petrified of even. Ever since I started working on the side of the tracks where he makes his home, I've been scared of him. He's the kind of person who has a reputation in the neighbourhood...

Published 2 Jan 2009 10:04 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: attitudes, intoxication, me, mental health, thoughts, work

that new years post

It's a new year and in a way I feel obligated to write a new year's post. I've been debating it for the past few days as I realize I'm only doing it because I feel like I should and I try to avoid doing things for that reason. However...

Published 1 Jan 2009 10:27 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: christians, life, me, meme, social work, work

it's almost over

Well, Christmas is over now, and my five in a row work week is almost over. That may sound pretty normal to most people, but because of the nature of my job, we almost never work more then four in a row. I can't remember the last time I worked a five...

Published 28 Dec 2008 2:19 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: detox, IPDA, me, shelter, sleep, work

overwhelmed - or something

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed these past few days. The enormity of the problems I see on a daily basis can be kind of consuming. For the most part, I'm quite good at maintaining a healthy distance, putting things in perspective and staying...

Published 16 Dec 2008 1:24 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: church, crying, emotions, first aid, firsts, homelessness, intoxication, IPDA, me, nights, social work, winter, work

ants in my pants

I'm starting to get really antsy these days. I'm not quite sure what it is. I need adventure, or excitement, or something, anything! Realistically, this is the longest I've ever had one job. I've been at other places longer, but never...

Published 5 Dec 2008 10:12 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: me, thoughts, work

the pressures of sick days

I'm feeling MUCH better today, certainly not 100%, but the antibiotics have really done their job, and it no longer feels like daggers are stabbing me in the throat each time I swallow. Hurray for that! I work tonight, and then I have two days off...

Published 3 Dec 2008 4:50 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: me, sick, thoughts, whining, work

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