Well, it's been awhile

July to November...............I guess you can say time really has flown by over the past 5 months. My son is now almost 11 months old. I took him recently for his holiday and 1st birthday pics. I will be sending out invites to his birthday party before I know it.


Life otherwise is pretty routine. Which I am not sure is a good thing or a bad thing..........I pretty much continue to work Monday-Friday and finally, really enjoy my job. Well, for the most part. Being a social worker still can be completely draining sometimes. Especially when I am dealing with clients who have super unrealistic expectations about what I can do to help them, are in denial of their issues, have a toxic family or just have adapted to years of living in a dysfunctional situation overall.

But otherwise, I can't really complain. It certainly could be so much worse. I have almost survived my first year as a new mom, and a working one at that! Go me!!!!!

I love Target's new Up&Up brand!

It's pretty cheap and the quality is great. The best thing for us is the diapers and formula. I am so excited that my son can drink the soy formula now because I've been getting him the Up & Up brand. It's only about $13.00 a can (and it was on sale for about $12.00 last week!) vs. costly Similac which can be almost double that, and the Target brand has the same nutritional quality.

The super-size pack of baby diapers is around the same price as well vs. Huggies or Pampers which are also twice as much.

I also have started to buy my baby wipe refills at the dollar store.

I've heard some parents say that they buy the costlier brands because "they can afford it" or they don't "want to go cheap on their child", but c'mon, it's all basically the same, and with diapers and wipes especially, they are going straight into the trash. Why throw $$$$ away on that if they work just as well?

Don't spend a lot...........

on baby clothes!!! It's such a shame...........I spent the other night packing up a body-sized bag of Matthew's 0-6 months clothing.........some brand new with the tags still on, some he only wore once, maybe twice. I am going to pack it away because we are thinking about having another baby in a year or so, but what a waste of $$$ in the meantime. It's so hard to resist spending on this stuff too because it seems like wherever you go, there are such cute little outfits for kids. Even at $3.00-$5.00, it's really NOT a bargain though if the kid is only gonna wear it once. Or not at all. The mom's who shop at yard sales, thrift shops or who just accept free hand-me-downs are totally on to something there.

Speaking of saving $$$$, I was in Target yesterday and saw they now sell one of my favorite Bath & Body Works scents, coconut lime verbena, for only $3.49. To me, it smells pretty much the same as the $12.00+ stuff.

Just thought I'd share. That is all. Now time to go outside and get some sun for free!

Here's a couple other good links for Long Island SW agencies

Forgot I had this and this bookmarked under my faves.

This is a great site if you are looking for non-profit work in general. Do a chapter search, perhaps there's one near you. I have a daily email subscription to the one for the NYC chapter, and every day I get job postings.

My agency right now (I work in homecare) is actually hiring for some non-social workey kinds of positions (i.e. accounting, billing) so that's another tip of places to look if you aren't necessarily interested in working in human services.

Anyways, the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. I just finished cleaning my house, I am almost done with one of my library books, so I think my son and I are going to head out, return the book, get a new one, and then go sit down in the park by the water. Have a good weekend!!!!

Places in the NYC area to look for Social Work employment

I know this is the time of year a lot of new grads are looking, or people are just looking in general. In no particular order, I am going to make a list of some agencies I know that are usually always hiring, from entry-level to more seasoned positions. Some of these agencies I have also either worked for, or worked with at one point, if not currently in my day to day professional life. If I haven't listed a website, usually a quick google search can help you find the contact info of the agency. Here's my only partially-finished list............Happy Hunting!!!

1.) Transitional Services for New York
2.) New Frontiers in TBI, Inc.
3.) Gallub Services for TBI
4.) The Center for Family Support
5.) The Puerto Rican Family Institute
6.) CUCS
7.) International Center for the Disabled
8.) Catholic Charities
9.) JASA
10.) CPA of NYS
11.) AHRC NYC/Nassau/Suffolk
12.) Long Island Head Injury Association
13. YAI
14.) VNS
15.) Jewish Board of Family & Childrens Services
16.) CIDNY
17.) The Bridge
18.) Fountain House
19.) Goodwill Industries
20.) RES TBI services
21.) UCP Nassau/Suffolk
22.) SCO Family Services
23.) LIFE'S Worc
24.) Mercy Haven

I also recommend going to websites such as socialservice.com. My favorite site to do a search by key word and zip code is Indeed.com. Check out all the local hospitals as well. They are often hiring for all kinds of positions. Oh, also check out home care agencies. A lot of them often hire for SW case managers depending on the program/population served. I also have found through personal experience that they tend to pay more than non-profits since home care agencies mostly are for-profit agencies.

For those of you who may just be starting out, or wanting to get your foot in the door in this field..........remember that any kind of experience is good experience and a stepping stone to moving up. Often if you can get hired somewhere, even if it's not your "ideal" position, a lot of agencies promote from within. If you are good at what you do, they tend to promote pretty quickly. Also keep in mind, that if you work in human services, you are always meeting people from other agencies where you may choose to apply down the road.

I also keep a huge binder on my desk at work that I am constantly adding business cards of other professionals, as well as just contacts and resources I come across. You never know when this info is going to come in handy down the road.

There are even lots of good online networking groups to go to for employment information. I have found that Meetup.org, Myspace and Facebook all have active discussion groups about local employment and where to look!

A good thing I have found about our field as well, is that a lot of agencies host regular "job fairs" or welcome "walk-ins" to come in and apply at any time. Social workers often are willing to talk with you about their job and share resources of where to look as well, so definitely don't rule out that option either.

Anyways, I promise, promise, promise I am going to *try* to update this list sometime in the near future. However, I am neglecting my son at the moment who is starting to fuss. Good luck with your search and feel free to share this with anyone you know who may be looking as well :)

So

I made it through last weekend without spending money. And I also made it through the week without spending $$$$ except on things I needed like gas and my LIRR ticket into the city one day to see a client (which I will be reimbursed for). I did take out $20.00 for weekly "spending" $$$$ but I do that each week regardless, and try to follow a "when it's gone it's gone" attitude. I still haven't spent it all :D. We also made do by eating left-overs and what I had on hand already in the house. I made a huge pot of sauce last Sunday which we ate from a few times, and I also froze the leftovers for a couple more meals. So what I have observed is not spending unnecessary money can be done and I have realized that has been my issue with spending too much lately. It's Memorial Day weekend (my favorite holiday of the year since it's the beginning of summer!!) and I am planning to just grill out back, lounge around outside, read and make some frozen drink concoctions. I also am planning to go one day this weekend and use one of my giftcards for the nail spa. I love relaxing weekends like this, and thank goodness the weather is finally starting to cooperate.

In other "news" my younger sister just broke up with her boyfriend of 5 years. I don't want to look like I am judgmental or anything, but I think it's probably for the best. He is a few years younger than she is and at a completely different place in life in terms of goals and such. She even said that over the past year, she was feeling he was holding her back from doing a lot of the things she wanted to do. She is actually considering relocating to Long Island at this point where there is more job opportunity. I am helping her in this regard, by offering her a temporary place to stay and I also handed her resume in for an open position she is qualified for at my job, so we shall see what happens with that. It should be interesting!!!!

Cleaning out closets & drawers: Where shopping is NEW again.

So to follow the theme of my "$$$$ free weekend", I decided to keep myself occupied and clean out my closets and drawers this morning. I've been putting off this task for awhile, and it's started to look like a bomb exploded. I have had a lot of my pre-pregnancy outfits mixed in with maternity stuff, and stuff that I plain don't wear anymore, either because of style or because it doesn't fit anymore (Since having Matthew, my hips have expanded and I still have a bit of a "pouch"). My sister is also coming down to see me for a few days and she is on a pretty limited budget herself because she doesn't make a whole lot of money, working in the arts field. So I decided what I no longer want/can wear I will let her look through and have, the rest I will probably either donate or Freecycle.





I came up with two huge piles of stuff, mostly pants, that don't fit anymore. I could technically hold onto this stuff, hoping my body goes back to how it used to be (HA!), or follow the rule of getting rid of stuff............if you haven't worn it for at least a year, let it go.





So that is what I have decided to do. In the meantime, I also came across of ton of spring and summer clothes I haven't worn in awhile (mostly shirts) because during the spring and summer last year, I was too preggers to fit into them. So it was like going shopping all over again, but in my own closet LOL. I also realized coming across all of this stuff satisfied my "urge" I usually get when I am sitting home on the weekends and I feel like going out and doing something (which usually involves shopping and spending $$$).





I also have been doing laundry this morning................endless loads. We have a rule in my house as well, that since I do the laundry, I get to keep whatever change I may come across in the pockets. My husband tends to NEVER empty his pockets so in addition to a few dimes and pennies, I also found a 5 dollar bill that's now mine to keep. SCORE!