theory Y management....maybe the stepford wives had it wrong

My new job involves working in a long-term medical community of ill and elderly people.  I love it.

I first applied for this job the week I got layed off in November.  I interviewed for it the following week.  They contacted me to start the first week of January.

50 beds worth of work had been without a social worker for over a month. 

On my first day, I met my co-social workers Angie and Linda.  Angie laughs at anything.  Linda likes to tell jokes.  Awesome first impression.  "We are SO happy to have you here" they told me over and over again.

On my second day I met the rest of the group.  The recreation department, 3 unit managers, the director of nursing, the administrator, the billing department, the maintenance managers, 3 care-planning managers, the medical office manager, and dietary department.  We all crowd into a room half the size of my bedroom every morning at 9:30 am and review the day's happenings.  They say you have to laugh to keep from crying, and that is as true in medical communities as anywhere else.  My team and I laugh a lot.  "You fit in really well with us, everyone is enjoying you."

Every time I show them that I already know how to do something, or I take care of something that they had gotten used to being behind on in the 30 days they went without a social worker for my hall, they say again "We are so happy to have you here!  Isn't she great?"

I'll be the first person to let you know how great I am, but really, I don't usually elicit a response like this.

I keep wondering if there was a meeting before my first day where they were all told to tell me the same thing.

Acting on the chance that there wasn't such a meeting I keep trying to locate the leader of the kindness committee and see how they positively motivate and reinforce performance so seamlessly.

The whole situation would seem really Stepford if I didn't absolutely love my job as a part of it.  There's usually a hostile take over before a person suddenly feels perfectly content with their situation.  To be honest, if there's a dark secret here, I don't really want to know what it is.

What is your beautiful?

One measure of a person: What is it that you think about when you don't have to think?

If Satan cannot make us sin, he makes us busy.

Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.

These types of quotes are what run through my head when I try to post these days.  I have tried very often.  In the past I have had time to muse and blunder on about happenings that arouse my emotions.  Since settling in this job, I've had no such time.  In the mean time, I've settled for writing about recreational events with my husband and family.

I work for beautiful people.  People made beautiful by smiling through hardship.  When I sit with them, I experience cutting through what is unnecessary about life and feeling what makes us human.

I can't tell you details of the exchanges I have with these people.  It's not my business to share their personal experiences.  But I get to see it.

Communities of the ill and aging are some of the most beautiful places I can imagine.

Baptism Weekend

I live about 30 minutes north of my second oldest brother, Nathan.  This led to 2 awesomenesses this weekend:
1.  Nathan's boy Jonah turned 8 this weekend and made the monumental choice to be baptized! 
2.  My mother came in town from LA to be a part of the event and I got to have her over at my house for a whole weekend! 

As to awesomeness #1: Saturday morning we traveled down to Pleasant Grove and witnessed the main festivities.  It was a very simple service.  After song and prayer, one young man spoke on the importance of baptism, teaching so an 8 year old would understand, we all got to write little letters to Jonah for him to keep on his special day, another fellow spoke on the importance of the Holy Ghost, and more music and singing interspersed throughout.  The best (and most important) parts were my brother getting to baptize his son and then lay his hands on Jonah's head and help him to receive the Holy Ghost.  I tell you it was something special.

Awesomeness #2: You don't think of how great it is to have your mom come visit for a casual weekend when you live at such a distance from  your home town. 

Friday night I got to work with my mom to bake the Baptism cake. (I didn't get a picture of it, but My mom cuts a 9x14 cake into an open book shape, then frosts it like an open book and writes scripture on the top side.  It's pretty dang cute if you ask me!)

Saturday after the service we all went to the Lehi Legacy Center with a pretty sweet indoor pool with a 3rd story slide, a lazy river, a hot tub, and a huge bucket that fills with water and dumps on whoever happens to be under it at random intervals.  Pretty sweet if you ask me!  Dale and I had fun waiting anxiously under the bucket drop, and I got to take my 4-year-old niece down the 3rd story slide for her first time!  She was so brave, and to be honest, she helped me cope with my claustraphobia of going into over 100 feet of dark, enclosed space.

The rest of the time was just the usual family cooking and eating meals, trading foot and leg rubs, chatting, and playing games, but we got to do it all together.

Thanks for coming into town, Mom.  And thanks for scheduling a fun weekend for us all Nathan.  Dale and I really had a great time.