Hey Mom..Look At Me Now!!!

I am doing it~!!! I am working as a chemical dependency counselor. My new boss is very pleased with my rapid progress. I should be running my own groups by the end of this month...meaning I should be getting a pay check too. I have been working on a volunteer basis...which explains why they always laugh at me when I ask "Would it be alright if I went to lunch?" or "Could I possibly take off a half hour early?"..they laugh because I am not on the payroll, nor am I an employee so what i do, and when I do it is my call, not theirs. But in my head, I am an employee and I should ask permission to go home early. However, it shows that I have great respect for my superiors and that when I am on the payroll, they can expect professional behavior from me.

I love this work. It is getting much easier as time progresses. I am pooped on days off however. I slept late yesterday and had very little energy to do much of anything. It felt so good to be lying on my couch, watching TV and NOT feeling guilty for not job hunting. Also, the NOT worrying about what am I going to do when my trust fund runs out because I cannot find a job...I don't have to worry about that anymore. I WILL have a retirement like my mother had planned. I don't have to keep taking money out of that instead of putting money back into it. That is going to become my IRA or my 401K. I don't know if I will have one of those at this job. Here's how badly I wanted it. I DIDN'T EVEN ASK WHAT THE PAY WAS OR IF THEY OFFERED BENEFITS!!!! I just wanted to go to work so badly, those things weren't important to me.

I know once I start getting paid, it will be quite nice. One of my co-workers explained to me why we don't have fancy office supplies. She said, 'Susie doesn't spend any extra money on frills which is why she can afford to give us awesome paychecks." I didn't ask her what she was making, but I have paid attention to this field on line and the pay offered to beginners is always over $15 per hour. I HAVE NEVER MADE MORE THAN $12 AN HOUR AT ANY JOB IN MY LIFE. I had just been given my 'raise' the day before I was fired at Celebrations Catering. I never even got to see it on my paycheck. I am so excited to start getting paid.

The training I am receiving is pricless to me. I feel like I didn't even go to college because NOTHING I learned in there is being used here. NOTHING. Not one thing that we paid to be taught is being used causing me to wonder who it is that puts together the cirriculum. We were only giving one day, one credit for "Assesments and Evaluations"...THAT IS ALL WE DO, ALL DAY LONG!! It is the most important thing we could have been taught and instead of getting an entire quarter on it, we got 8 hours. I have no idea whose brilliance is responsible for that, but I am going to write a letter to Edmonds Comm. College to give them my opinion of what I was taught and how useless it has been for me in the field.

For any of you who don't know me, my saying that I am going to write a letter means nothing to you. For those of you that do know me...you know how serious I take my letter writing. I have been writing letters to express myself all my life. In High School I wrote what i called 'Not quite letters". They were written when I was upset, excited, in love, in hate...when ever I was having a serious feeling and didn't know what to do with it. I had learned by experience to not write those letters and actually give them to the people they were written about. I had made that mistake and it cost me greatly. I had a counselor that suggested I write my letters but just put them in a box and then enjoy the feeling of release while not hurting anyone. That box I used was decorated and very full by the time I left my moms house and took it with me.

Since then I have found a new hobby which is writing letters to the Editor of my local newspaper The Herald. To date, I have had 38 letters published since 1986 when I wrote my first one on how upset I was with the new law making it illegal to ride in the back of a pick up truck. I have some of my best childhood memories that were in the back of my dad's variety of pick up trucks.

Now I am just rambling. I do write letters, I write them for my friends when they need a good letter written to their...oh let's say their boss, x boyfriend, soon to be x boyfriend/girlfriend....ramdon businesses that displeased them in some way...it is a hobby of mine. I Love seeing my letters published in the newspaper. I keep hoping the Herald will offer me a column...with this name 'As Susan Sees It" or.."The World According to Susan"....I'll keep ya posted on the results of that. According to my new best friend (aka Annonymous) I cant interest anyone and my writing sucks..so...we'll see.

Back to my subject. I have been too busy to write in here much but now that I have a few hours...I love my new job. I was having doubts as to whether or not I had made a bad choice...but I didn't. I Love what I have chosen to do with the rest of my life. I actually think I will be good at this. People are already telling my new boss that they like me and can't wait for me to start my own groups, that they want to be in them. Now, that's a great idea I hope she listens to.

OK friends...I am going to go grocery shopping now. I'll talk with ya later