when is enough, enough?

I went to Brooklyn about September to pick up a girl we have custody. That was after working all day, from 7 am; we got home about midnight-1am. She AWOL'd from a local group home. She is 16 and in no way ready to be on her own. She had hopes of going to an independent living program but was not doing what she needed to do. She had agreed to go back and get her shit together and do what she needed. Well, she didn't, so I had to look for another placement for her which meant a higher level of care to a facility in Buffalo which is 4-5 hours away-one way. She AWOL'd again in November, and has been gone since. In the mean time, she turned 17 in December. I think the mother knows and has known where she is the whole time. I was figuring she would resurface about the time of her birthday or Christmas; she didn't. Then I figured we'd hear from her this week because her 14 year old sister is due to have a baby this week. Great parenting in that house. I had just conferenced with my supervisor early this afternoon about what to do with the matter since we have court next week to review the arrest warrant that was issued on her back in November. The boss said cut her loose; the county attorney and the judge will say she's going to be 18 at the end of the year and what will they do with her-if they find her? Haven't we spent enough money on this kid, who just doesn't get it or want our help. We have had custody of her for 2 years and she hasn't changed in 2 years, why would she in 10 months? I have this bad feeling that if she turns herself in, she will be telling me that she is pregnant.
Guess what.....there was a message from her on my voicemail today saying she was going to turn herself in next week when we go to court. I was shocked. I was about to close the case, and now I will have to deal with her.
I hate to think that we waste our money on kids or that we give up on them, but I al also a realist...and I hardly ever see progress. I found out yesterday that another girl on my caseload, who isn't doing what she needs, is pregnant; she is 17. I used to cry when I found out these kids were pregnant; I felt like they were my own kids and I wanted to shake them and tell them you could have made something of yourself; we took you out of a bad situation and gave you an opportunity. I felt like I couldn't save them.
Makes me wonder why I get up and go to work everyday.

old

I feel like I am getting old. I picked up my new glasses today. I had a gift card for $150 to get new glasses. I needed contacts. So a gift card + another $170 and I have new glasses that I can't see out of and no contacts. Not to mention I paid $250 for frames that you can't see! All out of pocket. Everything is sharper and clearer, but I see way too much out of my peripheral vision and these frames are about the same size as my old ones. I have to look down to see what is right in front of me and I get kinda dizzy...no, I am not blonde-no offense Rima! The old ones were about 6-7 years old and so scratched up. A contact exam is higher than an exam for glasses. And I still have to order my contacts. I knew I should have just spent the money and did the laser, which I have been thinking about for awhile. Now I will have to go back to the place and pick new frames and be inconvenienced. It's not on the way to anything.
Someone won the Powerball of 240 million and it wasn't us. But we did win $7, woo hoo. I asked everyone if they wanted to play the NY Lottery or take their 70 cents and run. Turns out we're gonna parlay our winnings!

happenings

One of my co-workers' mother passed away Friday night. The girl and I used to be friends but I pulled away from the situation; there was always so much drama. She got married in October and I was invited to the wedding, which really surprised me. Her mother really suffered. She had cancer. She also was diabetic and had a problem with her leg/ankle. She had so many surgeries on it to try and save it. She had been in a wheel chair for years, unable to use the leg. When she got cancer, she had to decided which to deal with; deal with the leg and skip the chemo, or do the chemo and skip the leg. She eventually lost the leg at the knee. At one point she was able to use a prothesis and walk across the room which made them all happy. She was a fighter. I am sorry to hear of their loss but happy that she is no longer is so much pain. I have been trying not to think of it so much this weekend because I think my mother and losing her. I am not looking forward to the wake and funeral. No one ever looks forward to those, but it is something you have to do.
On a positive note, the quilts have been coming in and I have been busy. Of course, beaus there is something else I need to get done. I really want to get a quilt done for my priest who will be turning 60 in a few weeks. He won't say exactly when, but I know it is before Valentine's Day. I think it is actually in the 1st few days of February. He'll get the quilt sometime in February!
No one has won the Powerball which gives me hope! A local group won 2nd prize of 200 grand this week; they bought their ticket at the same place I do. 12 of them will share the money. My friend Mary Jane knows them; she used to work at the same place. She told of each person individually; how this will will drink it away and how that one doesn't need the money but so and so really needs it.
I need to go look for opportunity....I'll explain that another time.

happenings

One of my co-workers' mother passed away Friday night. The girl and I used to be friends but I pulled away from the situation; there was always so much drama. She got married in October and I was invited to the wedding, which really surprised me. Her mother really suffered. She had cancer. She also was diabetic and had a problem with her leg/ankle. She had so many surgeries on it to try and save it. She had been in a wheel chair for years, unable to use the leg. When she got cancer, she had to decided which to deal with; deal with the leg and skip the chemo, or do the chemo and skip the leg. She eventually lost the leg at the knee. At one point she was able to use a prothesis and walk across the room which made them all happy. She was a fighter. I am sorry to hear of their loss but happy that she is no longer is so much pain. I have been trying not to think of it so much this weekend because I think my mother and losing her. I am not looking forward to the wake and funeral. No one ever looks forward to those, but it is something you have to do.
On a positive note, the quilts have been coming in and I have been busy. Of course, beaus there is something else I need to get done. I really want to get a quilt done for my priest who will be turning 60 in a few weeks. He won't say exactly when, but I know it is before Valentine's Day. I think it is actually in the 1st few days of February. He'll get the quilt sometime in February!
No one has won the Powerball which gives me hope! A local group won 2nd prize of 200 grand this week; they bought their ticket at the same place I do. 12 of them will share the money. My friend Mary Jane knows them; she used to work at the same place. She told of each person individually; how this will will drink it away and how that one doesn't need the money but so and so really needs it.
I need to go look for opportunity....I'll explain that another time.

happenings

One of my co-workers' mother passed away Friday night. The girl and I used to be friends but I pulled away from the situation; there was always so much drama. She got married in October and I was invited to the wedding, which really surprised me. Her mother really suffered. She had cancer. She also was diabetic and had a problem with her leg/ankle. She had so many surgeries on it to try and save it. She had been in a wheel chair for years, unable to use the leg. When she got cancer, she had to decided which to deal with; deal with the leg and skip the chemo, or do the chemo and skip the leg. She eventually lost the leg at the knee. At one point she was able to use a prothesis and walk across the room which made them all happy. She was a fighter. I am sorry to hear of their loss but happy that she is no longer is so much pain. I have been trying not to think of it so much this weekend because I think my mother and losing her. I am not looking forward to the wake and funeral. No one ever looks forward to those, but it is something you have to do.
On a positive note, the quilts have been coming in and I have been busy. Of course, beaus there is something else I need to get done. I really want to get a quilt done for my priest who will be turning 60 in a few weeks. He won't say exactly when, but I know it is before Valentine's Day. I think it is actually in the 1st few days of February. He'll get the quilt sometime in February!
No one has won the Powerball which gives me hope! A local group won 2nd prize of 200 grand this week; they bought their ticket at the same place I do. 12 of them will share the money. My friend Mary Jane knows them; she used to work at the same place. She told of each person individually; how this will will drink it away and how that one doesn't need the money but so and so really needs it.
I need to go look for opportunity....I'll explain that another time.

winner

Tonight is Powerball and it is over 100 million dollars, and I am going to win it.

could have gone

I could have been in Las Vegas this afternoon. My friend is going there for business and asked me if I wanted to go with them. But 'them' was 4 of his managers. Now this would have been the ideal situation since he will be busy with business and I'd be there on my own. There have been many times I has said I wished I could just take off and disappear for awhile. So why didn't I take him up on his offer? The pool isn't open this time of year so there goes my day. I tend to lose most self control when I go to Las Vegas so I need to keep busy in the day and out of the casino. And since Tina wouldn't be there, I didn't think I could keep busy enough and I would have lost a lot of money! Of course with the crappy week it's been, I wish I had gone. I settled for going to Texas in March. My friend said it is closer to fly into Shreveport, LA than Dallas, then asked if I wanted to go to Mardi Gras since we'd be in Louisiana. I think I am a little old for the partying and hate big crowds like that....what a fuddy duddy I am! Of course it snowed last night and finally got cold-it is winter after all- but that makes me want warmer weather already. Well I can't change it, can't get on the plane today. I just have to look forward to a vacation in March.

did you break them?

Well here we are, a week into the new year. I wonder how many people broke the resolutions they made? I didn't do so good this week myself. Catherine and I went to Weggie's (Wegman's) after going to the quilt store today. There were a million people there...yes, really. I went to putter. That's not something you do at a grocery store. Well I bought apples and bananas, oatmeal and dried fruit and a quilt magazine. Ya know, this healthier eating thing. It's funny to watch the people. I think it looks like rush hour traffic, and then there's the people reading all the labels. So I try the dried fruit, yuk. And Catherine tells me it's higher in carbs and has more sugar in it cuz it's dried. I thought it sounded good and I bought 2 bags. What am I gonna do with 2 bags of something I don't like? My first clue was the smell. It did not smell appealing at all. I think I am just destined to be fat.