I know, I know...

I know it's been forever since I've posted but I've been super busy at work and stuff.  soon, I promise, I will post again...

I just thought this was super funny!

change is good...

and oh so much has changed for me in the last two weeks.  first of all, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted.  wow.  time flies.  secondly, my life is crazy.  for those of you who don't know...I accepted a new position at Family Abuse Center so as of this Saturday, I will be the Shelter Coordinator!  I'm super excited about the change but nervous as well.  I have so much going on right now and so many things changing so a better update will follow soon...promise!

(and for those of you who can't wait...one of the "changes" has to do with my love life!)

gross

so here I am sitting at home on the couch feeling like poo. I did try to go to work today though but was sent home! out of 35 kids at the shelter only 5 were healthy today! wow. the flu is rampant around here. the only good thing is that it's storming outside! such a great time to be home and sleeping, which is exactly what I'm about to do. but real quick...

if these dogs beds weren't so expensive, I would love to have one for my boys!

and these are hilarious!

this butterfly is amazing!

ok, that's all for now, I'm off to bed :)

it's been a great week but...

I'm so glad it's over!!

the best part of the whole week was yesterday when Taryn called! it was so great to chat with her for a bit - I definitely miss her! now I'm ready for the weekend and some relaxing :)

what a monday!

wow. today was super crazy at work, but I got a lot done...met with some new clients, lead group, did intakes with new clients, and lots of paperwork and giving guidance. as much as my job can be uber stressful at times, I love it :)

in other news, I got a hand-written letter in the mail today! from Taryn in London! it was in my box when I got to work - what a great way to start the day! thanks Taryn!!! I miss you!

now it's time to catch up on some tv shows and go to bed as earlier as I can! gotta do it all over again tomorrow...

i still have time for me!

it's been a super busy, crazy week at work, but thank goodness, I still have time for me- even if it's just a little :) I love to go home from a busy day at work, sit on my couch, catch up on my recorded shows and paint! it's so relaxing for me. so, this week, this is what I've done...

I've done a few other random things too but I'm most proud of the two above. anyhow, have a good weekend :)

i seriously cannot wait for this week to be over...

This has been one crazy week for me. It all started out when I woke up Monday morning. I had put a cream on my face the night before (that I'm pretty sure I've used before) and apparently my face did not like it. For the whole day Monday, I had a red, swollen, burning, itching face. It was not pretty. But I still managed to go to work and make it through the day. Then, Tuesday, my little monthly friend decided to stop by for a visit. At this point my face was much better though. And then...when I got home from work Wednesday evening I could barely talk let alone swallow. I'm feeling better now but not 100%. I went to HEB before work this morning and stocked up on Sprite, couch drops, Tylenol and throat spray. I am not letting this get to me!

My mom is on her way to Waco though and I'm so excited to see her and hang out with her! She will make me feel better!!!

great weekend...

i had a great weekend...

i was off (sorta) Friday, Saturday and Sunday! my niece, Sydney came to town to visit and we had lots of fun! Friday we watched THREE movies (He's Just Not That Into You, What Happens in Vegas, and Bride Wars) and crafted.

we woke up early Saturday to go to Glen Rose, TX to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. it was awesome...we had a zebra follow my car for more food, a bill goat gruff looking thing get upset because we quit feeding him and he decided to gnaw at my car door handle and lots of other animals. i would totally recommend this place to anyone!

then i had to go to work at 7 pm...just until 10 pm though!

and Sunday morning i got a phone call from work (i was on-call all weekend) and someone didn't show up for their shift so at 7 am i headed to work...only until 9:15 am, thank goodness!

then we headed to Practically Pikasso. again, i have never been to this place before either, but it was so cool. we both painted two pieces and i can pick them up Thursday. so fun!

i had a long, great weekend with my niece and i look forward to doing it again :)

social worker = mehanic

i love my job. really i do. and today was no different.

my day started off like it normally does. meetings with clients, running errands, blah blah blah. as the day went on, i began to look forward to my last few hours at work, since i would be basically by myself at work. i had a lot to do and an article i wanted to read. apparently i thought too soon. right after my co-workers got back to work with dinner and i was almost done with my cheeseburger, i got a phone call. it was a client. a client who's car died on the freeway.

so, after sitting there quietly starring at my co-worker, kari, for about 10 seconds (trying to come up with the best way to break the news to her), i told what the call was about. i stuffed a few more fries into my mouth and grabbed my stuff to go.

we drove to the scene and i parked in front of the client's car. but it needed to be jumped and we were on the freeway. but guess what? my car battery is in the trunk! haha! just perfect. so i backed up til i was close enough to the client's car. kari got everything hooked up.

the client's car still wouldn't start. it wasn't the battery.

so now, here we are, at 7-something pm on the side of the freeway. the client made some phone calls and eventually a truck load of her friends came to the rescue. but the car still wouldn't start. after hanging out on the shoulder of the freeway for close to two hours, i made it back to work.

days like this make my work (and life) more interesting. gotta love it :)

it's been a great week...

i had a great week this week. work was good. interesting to say the least. we had lots going on and i was pretty busy but i did get a lot done. i even got my hair cut today! it's above my shoulders...i know i tried really hard to grow it out for soooo long but i wanted a change! and i love it :)

maybe i'll have some pictures soon...

it's another rannndommm day!

i was looking through the posts on dlisted and saw this...

i just think it is absolutely hilarious!

and in other news...i got my very own Rolodex today! i've been here for almost three years and just never saw the need for one until now. i feel like a real grown-up professional now :)

the funniest thing a client has ever said to me...

so for a little background...

i have a client, who we will call Jenny, who i've worked with for quite a while. i work in a shelter for victims of domestic violence and she's stayed here before. now she lives on her own in an apartment but i still help her out with case management and counseling. she has experienced abuse (physical, verbal and sexual) her whole entire life, beginning when she was just a young girl. she was very sheltered, to say the least, from the world. therefore, she really doesn't have much common sense, experience, sound judgment, or reasoning skills. it's definitely a challenge everyday with her.

but recently she met her neighbor (a twenty-something male) who helps her out a lot, as does his mother. we'll call him Mr. Mark. and no, nothing sexual or relationship here. just a good citizen. she's been wanting me to meet him for a long time and when i took her home the other day he was outside. i stayed in the car but she still introduced us so i waived hi from the car, drove off and went back to work. well, the next day she was at the shelter taking care of some business and i was going to take her home again. on the way out to the car this is what she said to me...

Jenny: "Miss Ashley, yesterday after you left, Mr. Mark told me you were hot. I told him you had the AC on in your car though. And he just laughed at me. I don't know why!?!?!"

Me: "Ohhhh Jenny, he probably just misunderstood what you said. Don't worry about it!"

the end :)

zoo day!

yesterday Taryn (the children's services coordinator) and i took the kids at the shelter to the zoo (it's their spring break this week). they had so much fun and it was great for Taryn and i to actually get out of the office for a little while. here's a couple pics from the zoo...

the zoo definitely doesn't compare to what you would see is San Diego or anywhere else, but it has the essential animals and is well kept. i enjoyed it (for the second time!)

afterwards, we went to Cameron Park to hang out on the playground and eat lunch. the following picture is of the bee that was feasting on my drink. i'm kinda surprised there weren't more bees on my sugary drink since there were bees everywhere...

and if yesterday with 8 kids at the zoo wasn't enough, we took the same 8 plus 2 more to the museum today! i'd been there before and nothing much had changed since then, but it was still fun and again a nice way to get out of the office for a little while :)

tomorrow we're just taking the kids to a local church's gym to hang out and play so no more big outings until next vacation...i can't wait...

eye opener...

so at my job, i lead groups with the adult (women) clients. usually they are just general support group but sometimes they are about some kind of social support or an activity. tonight i chose to have the group make time lines of their lives. i instructed the group members to make a timeline of their lives, including good or bad or whatever, but at least include things from the past, present and future. i think the ladies actually got into this activity, as some were excited to raise their hand to volunteer to show their timeline to the group. i was completely caught off guard as one of the ladies explained her life.

her mother died at birth and she was adopted. at age 13 she entered into an arranged marriage. also during 13, she gave birth to quadruplets! and the story goes on...

i know every person's life is very different and people still practice arranged marriages and people do actually have quadruplets and more at one time, but to experience both of these things around the same time absolutely amazes me. 13 years old. quadruplets. i can't even begin to think about that might feel to experience those things together, let alone just one or the other.

simply amazing.

it's Christmas time!

i had a wonderful Christmas today and Christmas Eve last night. I worked until 5 pm yesterday and had to work at 1 pm today, so my parents came to waco yesterday evening and spent Christmas here! it was so nice to have my parents at my place. the rest of my family was going to come here as well but decided they would stay home and saturday, when i get to houston, we will have a mini-Christmas with all of us.

but, my parents got here around 4 pm yesterday and met me at my work. at 5 pm, we left and came back to my place and began cooking for dinner. i made (yes i cooked!) chicken tortilla soup and a spicy chipotle dip with crackers for us. and guess what?? i didn't burn anything! then we sat down to watch tv and hang out. that didn't last long. we were all too excited to be together that we couldn't wait til Christmas morning to open gifts. we had all the gifts open by 8 pm! it was super exciting and fun! i got some really nice things for Christmas and i think my parents were excited and really liked the things i got for them.

afterwards, we actually decided that opening the gifts that night was a great idea so we could sleep in the next morning. and we did. we were all actually not up til about 11 am. so we had some pigs n a blanket that i had made the night before and just sat around watching tv and playing with the dogs until i had to leave for work and my parents for home. and did i mention that i had FOUR dogs in my apartment this whole time??? yes, my parents brought their two dogs, tiny and buddy. rex and bo were in heaven though because they all love to play with each other.

then came 1 pm and it was time to leave. i already miss my parents and the rest of my family, but i will see them saturday and then spend a whole week stuck on a cruise boat with all of them! and actually i'm really excited about going on the cruise.

i hope everyone had a Merry Christmas too!

i have a hole...

i was going to write about something totally different today until i experienced what i am about to share. i met a lady just a little while ago that not only reminded me that i should be happy i am fairly young and healthy, but who also made me laugh and made me disgusted.

as soon as i met this captivating lady, she began to tell me about all her medical needs. they included, and this is probably not the whole list...emphysema, spinal arthritis, 'a hole in my stomach,' muscle dystrophy, and a colostomy bag. these medical problems were repeated to me i don't know how many times. and it got worse...

i get the lady sorta headed in the right direction, when out of the blue, she stops to tell me details about her colostomy. she now wears diapers because of the colostomy, and (this is a great idea!) to save money on the diapers, she stuffs them full of paper towels and just changes the paper towels out on occasion. awesome! now, at this point, any 'normal' person would be grossed out and freaked out to say the least. but i wasn't quite there yet. i've seen and heard a lot worse. it was when she began to show me the paper towel roll she carries around and the bag of diapers that i began to get a little quessy. i immediately attempted to leave the whole situation but the lady would not quit talking. she asked for a restroom, holding up the paper towel roll high in the air, so i showed her, quickly, where it was and told her i would see her around later. i wasnt willing to wait around the restroom for her.

so that's basically how my day went. lots of shit talk. oh. and. i have a huge hole in my sock that started this morning as a tiny tiny hole. as of now, it's the size of a quarter (at least) and my whole big toe is hanging out in my shoe all alone. very uncomfortable.

the studying never ends

i graduated with a master's degree a year and a half ago, and was super excited to be done with studying for the rest of my life. but, no. here i am, taking a break from studying. i'm studying for the lmsw (licensed master social worker) exam. i take it at 10:30 tomorrow morning and i'm extremely anxious and nervous about it. i've been studying fairly regularly for the past three weeks, and i feel confident about what i studied, but God knows i suck at taking tests. so, tomorrow, i'm sure i'll be even more nervous and just about as bad as a train wreck after i'm done taking the exam, as i have to wait about two weeks for the results. pray for me!