This is the Life!

I am staying in Sioux Falls all day today as I had "class" about my upcoming surgery and have a doctor's appointment later. I am sitting in a Culver's I have a table in the corner next to an outlet facing a well decorated Christmas tree. I have internet access and good food (I think Culver's fries are awesome and their mushroom swiss burgers are to die for). It just doesn't get much better than this.

I was planning on working on lots of email during this break but everyone out there in CPS world must be caught in that deer-in-the-headlights I can't believe I'm back to work deal with only emergencies that came up over Christmas mode, because I only got in about 10 emails this whole morning. (Some days it is closer to 100 by now). So, since I have a couple hours free, I can eat slowly and blog about yesterday's taxing day. In addition, I hope to blog about my class this morning on my "shrinking slob" blog as well.

As I mentioned, the first part of the day was going to an IEP meeting to set up Mike's schooling. (Just a reminder -- if you don't know which kid is which our family website is linked on the side and it will tell you more than you need to know, although some of it isn't updated as of the past few weeks. Anyway, Mike and I picked up the school psychologist at 8 and drove the hour to the new school program. When we got there, we found out that the person we were meeting with had left an hour earlier and headed to our town for the meeting. Not my lack of communication, by the way (I didn't set up the meeting).

So, Mike saw the place and we headed back. Bottom line, he leaves at 7 a.m. stays until 5 p.m. and the school psychologist mentioned during the trip that she was thinking of transitioning Mike back to public school in 3 or 4 weeks (after he has been institutionalized for most of the last 18 months). Now he has his hopes up.

Then I went to a meeting about John's school situation and because this is a small town, I can't tell you what happened, but most people would have sued over a statement that was made. Anyway, the result was that they aren't paying for transportation, as I said yesterday.

Anyway, i came home from all that stress, and got a phone call from the birthmom I translated for last summer. We had told her that by law we could help with rent, but only for a month or two. She tried to tell me on the phone that had she known it wasn't six months or a year she would never have "given her baby away." I was ALL over her, stopped her dead in her tracks. Reminded her that we didn't share this information until AFTER she signed the papers as not to influence her, reminder her that since I translated I know we made it VERY clear that it was short term (the idea is post-partum when she couldn't work) and told her that she made an adoption plan for the BABY to have a better life, not for rent assistance. I was horribly annoyed at her statement, but I have to keep reminding myself that she is only 16 and stuck in a nasty, don't have time to explain it all, situation.

Following this conversation I had some urgent emails, many phone calls to return and just general stress. Then I realized that I had only watched 1/2 of a movie I rented that was due at 5, so I tried to finish it on my computer and was only interrupted I would think maybe 120 times during that hour.

I then took some time to talk with John and it slipped out that maybe he would be able to come back to public school at some point, at which time he went from being totally fine with being at McCrossan for school to HAVING to go to public school NOW. He kept arguing with me and I told him I was happy to just have him home, which led to him saying "Being home is nothing" which hurt my feelings since we worked so hard to get him this far. Thus, he stormed downstairs, refused to eat with the family, yada yada yada.

I then took Mike to meet a friend, finished the dishes from supper, and helped Jimmy and Salinda study for a science vocab/spelling test with words like Haploid and Diploid (which I'd like to call people some days). Then it was time to try to get everyone in bed, which did not go well as I decided I needed to deal with Tony when he told me to do something vulgar and obscene to my own mother.

By the time I fell asleep, I realized that it had been quite an exhausting and demanding day. It's kind of nice today not to be responsible for that kind of thing and switch gears to think about my suffering. I'm now going to go blog about the classes today.