A Hard Day's Work

On Friday, Owen came to work with me. He has been asking to visit for weeks and seeing as I needed to pack up some personal items to empty my office a bit for maternity leave, I thought it was a great chance to show him where I work. He was very excited. All week long he told anyone who would listen that he was coming to work with me. I hoped reality would live up to the hype.


Owen had a hard time picking out a business casual outfit that wasn't too casual and wasn't too business. This outfit of p.j.s and 4 hats worn at once was deemed too dressy.



Some people meditate before greeting the day-- Owen gets his groove on to music only he can hear.


A lizard hat was chosen to top off his look. The obvious choice.




He said it made him look "dangerous." He drives his employees and motivates with fear.



Once we got to the office Owen cracked down and got straight to work. I was impressed by how much he got done. He is a very efficient worker for someone who still sleeps with a diaper on.



He made some calls I have been putting off and terminated with my most difficult patients. For the 3 non-social workers who read this blog, "terminating" refers to letting a patient know that you are leaving, even if it is temporary, to avoid leaving people feeling deserted. Strange that they didn't notice it wasn't me on the phone. I felt quite deserted.




A quick call to daddy's voicemail closed off the cold call portion of the day and we began to wrap up. All my pictures of Owen and Eric were taken from the walls, postcards I have up on my filing cabinets were taken down and all the clinical books that have served as reference points were packed away.


We went to the Atrium where Owen was very impressed by the creepy floating statues hanging on the marble walls. While hanging out in that space he asked me in ernest and about ten times where the train tracks were. There is nothing about the hospital where I work that suggests trains are involved.


Anyone who is a city employee knows that the benefits are great, but there is no such thing as a bonus. No big Christmas checks or quarterly reviews that result in buckets of cash. Owen worked just one day and the man who sells me (sells me mind you, not gives me) my coffee gave Owen a free muffin the size of Texas. This kid is going places!


I have been having mixed feelings about going on leave again. I am very excited to meet our new baby boy and be home with my big boy, but I get great joy from my work and worry that I might get a little stir-crazy. On Friday, however, I realized that there is no place I would rather be than home with my dragon-boy (soon to be boys), finding adventure everywhere.