Busy Busy Busy

Hey Doll-face,

So right now I'm in pre-service, which is what they call the training period of my job.  I spend about half of my day in a class room, and the second half in a home working with people.  It's intense.  I mean, it's like going back to when I had to go to school and work every day kind of intense.  We're talking 8 to 9 hours a day of learning and working... and it's hard stuff.

Only this time, what I'm learning in school actually applies.

I've only got a few minutes to spare here, but right now I'm all bundled up because today we are going to be outside and learning about vehicle maintenance this morning.  There's frost on the ground still.  I've got to be at location at 9 this morning.

I'm not going to lie it's nice just to have something to do every day again.

Anyway, yesterday I did my first shower with an individual  this was the thing I was dreading most, because I am so shy about these sorts of things.  It was fine.  The person I was with happened to love cats, so I told her about our cats to try and keep distracted and ease tension.  Now I'm more worried about my over night shift next Friday, because there is a resident who uses a feeding tube, and we'll have to administer it.

I think my biggest challenge so far is getting used to the people first language.  It's easy when the individual is right there in front of you, more tricky when you are trying to ask questions about them and can't remember their names.  For some people, it's easy.  For other's, it's harder.  One person likes to ask me my name a million times a night, and she knows it by now, and then introduces herself as a different person every time to be funny.  She's so sweet though, so it's hard to be annoyed at her.

Thursday we are going to the location where they run the day program.  This is where a lot of people do activities to earn money.  I'm excited about seeing what goes on there, because right now it sounds so vague when my people talk about it.

Everyday gets easier, and now I'm not as tired when I get home as I used to be.  Last night I was super tired, but I was really hands on last night, and I  bounced around a lot to try and learn as much as I could and ask as many questions as I could.

I really miss you, and I can't wait to get through this pre service training so I can have a life again and be able to hopefully talk to you.  But for now I need to hit the road and get across town.  Take care, love you!