And the S____ Gets Real

When you go to the bank and get the cashier's check to take to the title company, you know it is real and you are buying a property!  Goats, chickens, guinea foul,  more cats and more dogs!  Greenhouses to build, gardens to plant, a house to remodel.  All while working, commuting and getting a house ready to sell.  Yeah, it's getting real. 

Today is closing day.  I got a lot more sleep than I thought I would.  After many days of lengthy discussions about what we will do, how we will manage and what all of our contingency plans will be, I think I am at peace with our decision.  At 3:30 today we will do a final walk through with our realtor, Carl, who has been wonderful through it all.  At 4:00 p.m. today we will hand over the check and sign all the paperwork.  Then off to the farm to begin our adventure.  I hope you enjoy the ride!

Let the Farm Fun Begin

I was almost too afraid to post that it would happen.  We hit a couple of snags along the way and found out the house needed some foundation repair.  BUT, after a slight negotiation of the price, we landed on a fair deal.  We did  not get a steal on the property, but it is a good deal.  So....closing date is set for August 8. 

We have drawn and re-drawn the house and the renovations we want to make.  We finally decided we needed to stop until we actually got there, to see where everything is, before we make decisions.  We know there is a lot of clean up to do on the house and the property, so we will start with that. 

What should we name the place?  Should we focus on the home part or the farm part, which will ultimately sustain us and hopefully make us some retirement money?  We are all over the place.  We are scared.  I know we can do whatever we set out minds to do, but the problem is, we keep waffling on the direction we want to go.  We will post hundreds of pictures, not all of them will be pretty.  LOL!!

Moving to the Country

We are buying a house and eight acres in the country!  Yes, I have lived in the country before, but never quite like this.  Over two miles down a dirt road (yes, I know it's mostly gravel, but we still call them dirt roads.)  Every day I want to leave my house that's about five miles driving on a dirt road, to get anywhere!  WHEH!  What was I thinking. 

I was thinking about the peace and tranquility, land that is mine, chickens to have, goats to have, endless garden space, wild blackberries, space to roam.  I am thinking I'm getting back to my roots, back to my tribe and I will love it. 

Five miles of dirt roads always stopped me before.  But today, in order to get something affordable, where I can have time to actually spend on my property, this is what I can have.  This is what I want, this is my destiny.  We have a lot of work to do, but we have a plan and we believe we are up for the challenge!!

These are the quick pictures I took as we were doing our final tour of the house.  I promise some better pictures as our journey unfolds.  I would love to hear about your farming adventures, changes in lifestyle and how you've found peace and tranquility. 

New Way of Living

Check out my new post on my recipe blog http://jjsfavrecipes.blogspot.com/2017/02/new-way-of-living.html

Licensed Counseling Professionals and Our Responsibility

Do you think fudging on the time you spent with a client is an innocent mistake?  It is not.  I am always saddened when I hear of a licensed counselor being charged with fraud. We, as therapists, are entrusted with helping people when they are their most vulnerable.  It is our responsibility to know what we are doing, and that includes billing.  

If you think a billing system is too complicated, hire someone to do it and keep an eye on them.  Or go to work for a reputable agency and keep an eye on the billing.  Are you getting the point here?  If you have the license it is YOUR responsibility to understand what you are doing.  You can hire other people to do things, but it is still your responsibility to know what they are doing under your license.  

I have supervised people who are trying to get their license and they have been depending upon someone else to tell them what they can and cannot do.  They have never read the licensing laws.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, what we do as licensed people is governed by law.  The board of directors, for our licenses, enforces, approves, but the law guides what they do. 

 

Those who know me well might say I am impatient, I am rigid, and that I don’t suffer fools gladly.  They are right about all of the above when it comes to my profession.  If you are going to share my profession then it is your responsibility to carry it well and not give the rest of us a bad name.  It is your responsibility to be competent, to practice within your “scope of practice”  (don’t know what that is, then look it up), to consult with others when in doubt, to get legal advice if you go into private practice, to always treat clients with dignity and respect.  It is also your responsibility to know what you are agreeing to when you accept a contract to provide services and to know very clearly how to bill for and how to get paid for said services.

 

I am sickened and saddened when I hear about fraud or mistreatment of clients.  I am further out-raged when I hear a therapist claim ignorance.  You at least have a master’s degree if you are a licensed therapist; I don’t know what the others learned, but I learned most of this in school. 

Addiction Treatment

Someone recently asked me about the Medical Model of Addictions versus the 12-Step Model.  I asked them to give me some time to ponder.  After going to school to get a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and over 30 years in the addiction field, it is hard to answer that question easily or quickly.  I will say that my views and practices have certainly evolved over the past 30 years.

I believe in the 12 steps for recovery from addictions. I think the belief you can be "cured" is dangerous. But the critics say believing you can't be cured is discouraging. That said, I do not believe one size fits all. A thorough evaluation and individualized plan is what is considered "Best Practices" today. Not everybody needs inpatient and not everybody benefits from 12-step meetings; although I usually recommend twelve step meetings and explore reasons why, if someone is resistant. My favorite expert, Dr. Mee-Lee is at UC-Davis.  The link is for his blog.  https://www.changecompanies.net/blogs/tipsntopics/

Why do I think that the idea you can be "cured" is dangerous?  Because it assumes the addict is just like everybody else.  There is evidence that the brain of addicts is different, thereby making this a brain disease, and yes, it is a disease.  Alcohol and other mind-altering chemicals react differently in an addict's brain.  Yes, with therapy, medication, program of recovery, things can get better.  My question is always, "Why would you want to take that risk (try to drink alcohol or take other drugs "socially") with something that has caused you so much pain, caused you to lose so much?" (insert whatever consequences the addict has suffered.)   

Discussion to Be Continued

Politics Make Me Sad

I try not to become disillusioned with our country and what’s going on, but it gets harder and harder.  Forces beyond my control are making us more and more divided.  I still believe that the answer to many of our trouble is to figure out a way to get along, work together for solutions that are good for all of us.  However, we are so far apart I don’t know if that is possible.  

One of my biggest issues is when politicians use something that has happened (and seriously twist the facts) to further divide us.  A recent example:  the case of the “Little Sisters of the Poor.”  A group brought the lawsuit on behalf of the nuns and religious schools, yet, a Republican lawmaker said on Facebook, “The Administration has taken the "Little Sisters of the Poor," a group of Nuns who care for the needy in the community, to court to compel them to buy birth control (which violates their religious belief) or pay a huge IRS fine which will devestate (their misspelling, not mine) the ministry.”  This resulted in countless people rallying behind him and his conservative agenda, not bothering to read the facts of the lawsuit. 

I know there are examples on the other side, too, but this one was fresh in my mind because I just saw it.  I don’t want to dwell on the specifics of politics because I think there are problems on both sides of the fence, and as you might guess I am a liberal.  But both sides go too far.  Both sides are guilty of using the mistakes and missteps of the other side to further their agenda.  Yes, yes, I know that’s what politics are all about.  Are we really willing to let that destroy us?  Are we not still the greatest nation on earth?  Are we not still your best hope to live the life you want with opportunities that are found no other place?  Are we not still proud of the brave men and women who fight for our freedom every day?  Let’s all work together to make sure those men and women are still proud to fight for us.