Not much news is good news

I can't believe I've been at my new job for almost a month now.

I'm starting to get to know the different people in my groups and have come up with some good (and not so good) topics and activities to work on with them.

Amazingly, each day I have a good chunk of alone time, so I utilize lots of websites, books and just my own brain power to come up with ideas and then I organize stuff to use later.

I also got an old school planner to lesson plan my week.

The lack of stress and continued support for one another continues to astound me.

Yesterday someone bought the entire department lunch as a form of employee appreciation. This stuff has happened on several occasions since I've been there.

HR even sent me a survey to fill out, to ensure my experience as a new employee is going well.

The MAJOR perk is that I receive benefits again after only 30 days of employment, so I should *knock on wood* get out of paying over $1600 a month for Cobra. (Who the hell has that kind of $$$$????!!!!!!!)

I think things are going SO WELL in fact, that I have no motivation to do anything else but relax on my weekends and evenings.

Which is making me feel that I probably need to give up this P/T stuff I've been doing on the side.

A major reason for this (besides my own lack of moto) is there's also been a lot of changes in a short amount of time going on with those programs, so completing the work is not as easy as it once was for me. Some of the changes (usually staff/bureaucracy related) anger me so much that I have said fuck it on some occasions, letting the work just sit there, not caring if I get paid.

I also have this strong belief in not mixing the two in any kind of way, which limits my ability to follow up on things when I am at work during the day.

My new supervisor knows I am still doing work for them, and I don't think she cares one way or another, but even though I do have down time to make a phone call or follow up on a form, I just feel unprofessional about it.

I actually had a conversation with her in supervision last week that I am aiming towards giving it up once I finish the major stuff I am working on right now.

I still don't need to make a decision for a little bit so we shall see what happens.

How are things going in your neck of the social work woods?

Have you ever struggled with a similar issue when it came to P/T work, even though the extra cash would be nice?

And week #2 down

I absolutely STILL LOVE my new position.

The woman retired yesterday who was formerly in the role, so I am looking forward to being on my own this week, even if it's a little anxiety-producing.

This weekend, I have to sit down and plan out each of my groups.

I also have to tackle some work for my P/T gig through the old place.

NOT looking forward to that, but I can't frown on the extra cash when it's done (and the work is not difficult---just writing up plans. Getting started is the hardest thing!!).

In between I need to find time for yoga (summer challenge starts today; I signed up for 30 classes---wanted to aim realistically, if I complete more, that's even better).

We have a family birthday tonight.

Other than that, just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather.

What are your weekend plans?

Also still looking for fun group ideas if you have any.