A new semester?

So it’s been almost a month since my last real post, so I figure it’s about time to do a little update.

For the most part, life in LVC and at LPCS continues the same as of my last post. Things are different now, but we’re continuing to adapt to our new roles. I’m slowly but surely getting the hang of things. Mostly, I still feel overwhelmed. I don’t know nearly enough about the procedures and the routines of regular in-depth case management. Nor do I know about a lot of th resources. But in time right? My confidence lately has come from the reassurance of my boss (thanks Betsy!) and her patient support in the transition. It’s nice to have a boss you can be honest with and say hey, actually, I am overwhelmed and nervous! However the past week has been good, ridiculously busy, but when I am not worrying myself over not knowing things, I’ve actually felt more the opposite. Now I really feel like a full member of LPCS staff. The guests seem to really like me a lot and trust me a lot more. I’ve always been shy, so I feel great that I can just walk out into the community room and just say hey “Frank, how’s it going” and it’s just natural. I feel like my guests on my caseload trust me too. So that has been good.

This week I am gaining a few more clients, bringing my total up to 6 (would have been 7, but one guy didn’t show up last night!). The other ones are people who have settled in at LPCS and have been working with Laura, since much of the work with guests comes in their first few weeks at the shelter.

In other news, Laura is leaving LPCS. Which is incredibly sad, for several reasons. Her boyfriend, Richard, accepted a job in Portland and she is moving wth him.  Which is awesome. Sad though, because Laura is awesome, and we’ll miss her. Sad also, because AHHH, what will I do without her at work? We’ll be hiring someone new soon though, hopefully before Laura leaves!

Not much else has happened lately, I’ve met some more of Ian’s friends who are all wonderful people, so that has been fun. The roommates are all back now, which is also awesome. I’m jealous of their much longer breaks though!

The only remaining thought I have is in relation to the title of the post. People have been asking me lately, so what’s it like being back after break? And my response is normally, well, I didn’t really have much of a break. I mean, the week of Christmas I worked only two days. That was nice. But last week I still worked 4 days! So that’s practically normal. The thing is, I have found that I mentally am just like, oh, ok, so it’s the end of the semester, what’s next??? But, it may be the end of the semester for some, not me anymore (for the first time ever!). So that’s a new thing to get used to. And it’s funny, because I really do like my job, so it’s not that…but it does still affect you. So, I’ll be trying to get over the fact that I feel like it’s time for something new. Since I have 7.5 more months of this left!  But I am planning on enjoying it.

So anyway, I am off now to continue to enjoy our new wonderful internet (we finally bought a new router) and relax. Work will be long and busy tomorrow!