music, therapy, and me

It is a snow day today. I can't see outside yet, so I am not sure how much snow we have at the moment, but it was enough to have the superintendent cancel yesterday afternoon. Everything is closed here, and I am at home. I considered spending the night last night at work in my office so I could have an extra day off at some point, but I also considered my age, my movement ability, and my need for some comfort. I am here at home. I will do my best to get something accomplished today. I got a delivery late last night of poly envelopes for different materials. I have been using these to organize cards and visual aids at work, so I bought some more to help with containing things here at home. I will start the process today. I also have laundry, dishes, and other home chores to pay attention to. There is never an end to all of this. I also have to find stamps so I can send out some paperwork. I am a bit disappointed to have this week interrupted by snow because I was having fun with my ...

I am finally heading back to work today with the promise of low precipitation for the next five days. As long as I can get out of my driveway, I should be able to traverse the highway system with little to no difficulty. At least, that's what the highway website says. I am ready to get back into a work/life routine. Having this past week away from work has made me get ready to be doing something other than wandering my house, and that is a feeling that has been missing from my life for about seven years now - ever since we changed our work schedules significantly to have a week off in the middle of the summer session. We have the same amount of time off but it is arranged in smaller durations which means that I never really get bored with being at home anymore. We used to have enough time that I would finish up chores at home and then get antsy to be back in my music therapy environment, and that no longer happens. This past week has been a gift. When I get to work today, armed wit...

It is official. Today is a second snow day. I am stuck at home because the snow is still very high at my house, and my street does not get plowed. I am not sure if I will get out by tomorrow, if we have a regular day. My car has a low profile, so it is difficult to get out of the garage and street if the snow is this high. I do not want to end up blocking the street with my little car. I've done that before, but in a bigger street area. If I block things on the street that I am on now, I will block off at least three neighbors and keep them from getting where they need to go. I can't do that, so I might have to take personal time this week until the snow is melted down enough. Today is a dually challenging day for my family. My father died on this date four years ago, and my mother has a birthday today. We have grief and celebration on our minds today. I tend to focus more on Dad on January 6th so I can focus on Mom on the 7th, but it can be difficult at times. It is easier whe...

I stayed in my house yesterday, and I did absolutely nothing of note. Today, I am heading back to work because we are finally experiencing above zero temperatures and are having school rather than snow days. The snow starts up again tonight and tomorrow, so we may have more snow days this semester. In fact, I think this might be an eight-day snow day year. We will see. I used to drive in for snow days, and I have an overnight kit at work right now, just in case. I feel guilty that I am not going in for snow days these days, but I know that it is safer for me to stay home than it is to try to drive on ice. This year, I want the alternate days off, but I have to be at work to get them. In the past two weeks, I have not felt like leaving my house to try to drive on the ice, so I have remained home on our three inclement weather days. My rational mind knows that it is a safe plan, but my emotional mind is steeped in guilt that I am not there to provide music therapy for the residents of my...

Back in January of 2020, I was getting ready for something that I never thought I could do - an exhibition table at the Midwestern Regional Conference. I was producing file folders, small books and keychains, digital links, and several copies of my books to take with me to Lincoln, Nebraska for the conference. I was excited to figure out how to do this part of the job of a music therapy creator when BAM! Well, you know what happened in March of 2020, so I won't dwell. Since that time, I have cooled off with my production habits. I have focused on making things that I could use in my clinic, and those things have not often been original files. I have focused on making things from other creators and have not done as much as I would like on my own. Yesterday, I spent about an hour to two (I didn't really keep track) preparing 80 file folders to use to make visual aids. I trimmed off the flaps on the side so the folders will fit in my laminating pouches, and then I affixed stickers...

I have a suspicion that tomorrow will be our first snow day of the season, and I have an intern who needs to finish up hours before graduating on Wednesday. I do not want to extend the internship again, so I am planning on being present during our snow day, even if I have to spend the night in my office rather than driving home. I am currently sitting here, waiting to take my shower and head out because I do not want to get to work too early, especially since I am planning on staying there for the entire night. Right now, there is only one school district in the area we serve that has closed - on one website - all of the others are not registering any closings that affect my clients. I get an incentive to show up on inclement weather days - an additional day off to use when I need it. I will add this upcoming snow day to my sick time so I can have some more of that time. My intern is expected to graduate on Wednesday. We need 26 more hours to reach the 1020 hours needed by AMTA and my ...

 It is snowing outside, and I am hoping for a snow day. It is Wednesday, so my schedule includes six groups and a dyad that will end up being an individual session because one of the partners was horrible yesterday, so no extra music therapy time. There are three weather alerts going on right now, and there are only six closings. I guess I will have to head out into the slick world to go to work. I'm not looking forward to anything about this day. To be honest, I am not sure if I will stay home either way. My head hurts so much right now, and my body is creaking. If we have a regular school day today, then I have physical behavior management training to do, and my body just won't handle it. If we don't have school today, then I can postpone all that for another week.  There are more closings happening right now, which is a good thing, but nothing down by work. Five of our districts served are closed which means that those students will not be attending. That is helpful, but...

this picture will make sense - keep reading It is a snow day. My superintendent made the call yesterday afternoon, so I knew that I did not have to go to work today since yesterday, and I am embracing the day away from work. Yep, you read that right. I decided to stay home today. I am trying not to feel guilty about staying here, but it is a difficult reach for me. I feel guilty. So, time to embrace that feeling and then release it into the world. I may try to get out of my driveway tomorrow to get to work, but I might not. (I think we will have another snow day tomorrow, by the way.) Today is already full of chores and things to do for work. I have to make some signs for an upcoming after school event run by the clinicians at my facility for our residents. I like making signs, so I am going to take this time to do this task. I will be Zooming with my intern who is also having to take a snow day at her house. I was able to finish up her busy box of things designed to stimulate her crea...

Today is Saturday, the one day where I choose what I want to do with my time and energy rather than having to do what others structure for me...well, in one sense of the word. I do not go to work for someone else on Saturdays - I get to spend time in my home without having to leave unless I want to! I try to keep my Saturdays reserved for rest and relaxation because I work the other days of the week. Today, though, is an exception. Once per month (or about that often), I meet with the other Board of Directors of the Online Conference for Music Therapy, Inc . We talk about the conferences that we run on a regular basis and we plan for what we have to do to get an online conference going and ready for other music therapists from around the world. It is a wonderful bunch of people, so I do not regret the time spent with these folks on my Saturdays. I enjoy our conversations and our problem solving. The rest of the day will consist of me walking around my house, looking at the boxes that a...

I am currently starting my second Inclement Weather Day - yesterday doesn't count as it was a planned holiday for us all, but Friday was our first snow day. I enjoyed not struggling through the snow and sub-zero temperatures and just staying in bed as long as I wanted. I also enjoyed that feeling yesterday, but my body got some revenge in the form of a migraine which made me change all my plans. Today, I am ready to get some things done around here. My view from my window shows snow and gray skies as far as the eye can see. The plows haven't come by yet and my maintenance folks haven't bothered to shovel because snow is still in the forecast. I have to start my car for the first time in five days this afternoon, and I'm a bit concerned that we are going to be frozen solid. I sat down and made my February/March goals yesterday. I've changed from making my Saturdays reserved for only rest to making sure that I take some time to craft and create every week. I am contin...

This post is late because we are in the middle of an INCLEMENT WEATHER DAY!! I finally got one, and I am feeling really snuggly in my fleece robe and jammies. I am considering cancelling my Occupational Therapy appointment due to the cold that has taken over the outside. In fact, I think I will call and cancel...okay. That's finished. I have to do my hand exercises and stretches more diligently to make up for not going today. I now have no obligations until Monday at 3 when I go get my taxes started with my new accountant-type tax person. It is so nice to be sitting here all cuddly. There is not a flake of snow in sight, but the weather is very cold and is affected by the wind that's out there. Things are below freezing and just getting colder as the sun is finally shining for the first time this week. This is the first year that I haven't gone in on inclement weather days, and I am enjoying the idea of having this day to relax and just be. Like I said, I haven't chang...

I have always made it part of my pride that I was able to go to work even on the most snowy days. I used to spend the night at work when the weather was really bad so that I didn't have to get out and be a problem for the transportation department. I spent nights camped out on the music therapy room floor, somewhat comfortable on couch cushions borrowed from around the facility. I no longer do that. Today I awoke to find that it was slick and icy outside. Now, I went to the transportation department's website where it indicated that all the roads that I take were "partially covered." Translation? There may have been a couple of treatments done, but nothing is clear yet. I went outside to check - sidewalks are very slick and the drive is also slick. There isn't much sense in trying to drive 50 miles when getting out the drive takes 15 minutes (it's 147 feet to the street). The folks on the street were not going very fast, so I opted for safety for myself an...

I am going into work on a regular Friday!! I am going to work a regular Friday!! Today is a regular Friday! Why all this enthusiasm for going to work?? Why am I emphasizing a regular Friday? Well, readers, for the past two weeks, our Fridays have been inclement weather days which means that I have had to do extra music therapy groups for our residents. They still have to come to school on snow days because we only have the school staff available to coordinate their care on those days. So, I trudge through the ice and snow (when I can) to go down and do music therapy on those days - sessions that are completely different from our regular therapy - these sessions are more geared towards energy expression and fun than our usual sessions because, hello, SNOW DAY! Most of my students live at the facility full time. It is not something that they choose - they have to be there. Since they don't get much choice in whether they come to school when the rest of the world gets to stay ...

I am spending today at my home...again...due to inclement weather and a strange rental car situation where I don't want to chance going out onto slick roads where I may get into an accident. I usually go into work on these snow days because I work in a residential facility that has to be staffed on days when the school is closed. I get to take time off at any time in the future that I want, so being at work isn't too much of a chore. I actually like snow days, but I'm getting more and more nervous about moving around the slick world these days. Add in the fact that my little car is currently being repaired after it got run into while I was in the hospital for emergency surgery, my trepidation is a bit larger than usual. Also, on Sunday, I slid into a curb at a roundabout on my way to church in my little car, and I watched a 4-wheel drive SUV do the exact same thing. My tires bounced off the curb - no detectable damage - but I was rattled. So, we are now getting ready for ...

It is another snow day here in my neck of the woods. I am getting ready to head out a bit early so I can get to work. We'll see if I am successful or not. I'm not looking forward to going out, but both of my interns have obligations to do, and they don't go to work if I don't go to work on these inclement weather days. MY rule is that I don't do ice. I need to put on my clothes (rather than my pjs), layer on the cold weather gear, and go outside to see how much ice there is out there - that will help me make my decision about whether I chance it today or not. (There is an inch of snow covering about two inches of slush out there right now.) All of my roads are completely covered which means icy conditions and snow covered roads the entire way to work. I hate missing snow days, but I also hate sitting in ditches (which I've done on one of these days) and having thousands of dollars worth of car repairs (which I've done on a day that should have been an inclem...

I am involved in a situation at work that is getting more and more contentious. The last time this happened, I ended up filing a grievance against the (other) person who did the exact same thing to me. The grievance went through, and eventually, the person was fired. I am still there. I am thinking that this situation will also lead to difficulties, and I am so tired of having to defend myself against bullies who have the attitude of "Well, I'm here for the students," with the implication being that I (MJ) am not interested in being available for my students. Yep. I've been working at a small, rural school with absolutely no room for advancement or even recognition for the past 23 years for the GREAT paycheck (tongue firmly in cheek and this is definitely a statement FULL of sarcasm).  I woke up at 1am this morning (due to the cat) and then stressed about the incident that occurred yesterday for about two hours before finally falling back to sleep. The thing that...

I am thankful that I was able to stay at home safe and sound yesterday for our fourth snow day. I am also going to go to work today during our fifth snow day because staying at home reminded me how much I do not like surprise days off without plans. I have no idea what I will be doing during the 30 minutes that I have scheduled for each class - I may just chuck it all in and open the store for that time - each class can come in and shop during their music therapy time. I may figure something else out, but I am going in! I have many co-workers who do not understand my preference for working on inclement weather days to staying at home. I'm not exactly sure myself why I would rather be doing things than getting under the covers and hibernating on bad weather days. I've never been off the inclement weather staff list. My biggest motivation is the promise of scheduled time off when I want it later on. Right now, though, I am starting to have some difficulty finding time to sche...

There is almost 3 inches of "wintry mix" outside this morning. It started just after I arrived at home after a good day at work, and continued all night. For all I know, it may still be precipitating out there - it's hard to see outside at the moment - seems to be still coming down, but more snow now than sleet and ice. This type of weather makes for some really interesting days at my job. You see, I work in a psychiatric residential treatment facility for kids with developmental/intellectual diagnoses and chronic psychiatric concerns. We have both a day school program and an educational program for our residents. When the local school district shuts down, we still have clients who live at the facility and who need something to do. So, we have school for our residents. Now, teachers are not required to attend on inclement weather days (AKA: any day where the weather causes us to close the school), but I have always worked on these days. I've missed three incleme...

It is time to say goodbye to ice! I no longer want to be frozen or slip sliding away. I do NOT want to build a snowman, and Frosty can hurry on his way. I'm finished!! I now have enough Paid Time Off (PTO) to take off another week at some point. I will need to spend some time thinking about when I want to do that - it has to be done by June 30 because of the contract year. So. I get to take some time off at some random time because I have spent all my snow days at work rather than at home. I like this system SO MUCH! Hate to say it, though, but I don't want any more of these days. I'm just outright finished with the novelty. It's not all that novel now - especially after three days in a row. Ugh. We are all feeling it. Students are ready to see their missing classmates and teachers. We want to have our regular schedule back. We really want to spend our time doing things that make us frustrated and challenged and that give us things to complain about. Too much rela...

Yesterday was our third snow day. I am almost ready to declare that I will be having an additional Spring Break this year!!! I now have enough extra days off to do so. Here's what goes on at my job. I work at a residential treatment facility and day school. When inclement weather comes, like yesterday's ice storm, we have a group of students who are at the facility already. Their commute to school is down the sidewalk. We also have a group of students who need the structure of daily school, and, compounding all of that, we also have a lack of staff members scheduled for school hours. Hence, the inclement weather policy! Any certified staff member (me - that's me) who wants to make the trip to be at school gets to take an equivalent amount of time off at a later date. I have missed exactly 3 snow days in my 22 years of service. Yesterday was the third snow day of this school year. I am hoping for one more so I can take a week off later in the Spring. If it doesn't ha...