Sunday...t minus one week!

Yup exactly one week from today that's gonna be me. I really can't wait as the stress levels are hitting maximum. You know Friday as I was going to work I thought about how I was feeling and I even said to myself (yes I do that sometimes while driving) everything in my life is pretty darn good and I am feeling no stress at all and was smiling pretty good. Now there was a reason for that smile(more on that later) but I was happy, no tension in my shoulders, even my back had no pain which is rare. Then out of no where I walked into a freaking train wreck of a day at work where we had a new guy training a brand new guy on how to stand in one spot and accomplish nothing while I sat in my office admitting what seemed like four hundred people. When I walked in I asked who I was working with and my new boss said confidently I was working with this guy, he is nice enough...really he is! I really like him and it's not his fault as he only works like once a month. When my boss told me this I rolled my eyes looking at the work and she told me very reassuringly that there was also a trainee! I rolled my eyes again and asked "so, um, we are gonna have a trainee train someone...PERFECT!" and proceeded to walk away before I got myself fired. Well it was the busiest I have ever seen it and I was really thinking that I needed to run away.....but I didn't. The night finally ended with several sarcastic comments on Facebook, for my boss to read and I went home.

Now for me to explain why I was in a good mood right up until I hit the door of work. Thursday night w date night as I told you all mid week....and had a great time. Cheesecake Factory for dinner and then a drive down a1a. We stopped at the inlet and watched boats and talked for what seemed like ten minutes, it was really two hours. It's still a little early to tell, but we may just have a keeper. I'll let you know. Well I need to wrap this up and close out my night so thats it for now

Here's hoping all your faces have smiles.....mine does :)


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Thursday in paradise

Hey there y'all, thought I would check in before I go to bed. It's another Thursday here in paradise and I must say I'm looking forward to today.

Poker Tuesday night with the parental units was ok...I lost about forty dollars which I don't really mind. I will also say i dont mind playing with the people with more money than brains. The problem I had was there were these two ladies that just ruined it. First the lady next to me, she was one of those really fun to sit next to people from Boston who think it's necessary to shout to the person sitting next to them. I spent three hours having this lady scream in my ear which left me with a splitting headache, and I really...I mean REALLY wanted to tell her to shut up. It took all the restraint I could muster. If it were not the parental units club I would have taken my boxers off and stuffed them down her throat! The other problem was this lady, she is a nice enough person I guess, but she thought she was supposed to win every hand. I add she did win about every fourth hand, but when she didn't she complained how she just never catches any cards. Again if we were in a casino she would have gotten the full Chuck sarcastic treatment.

Enough about that, last night was an evening with the boys from the Fern. I gotta say the group I am running there is pretty rough, I mean the guys there just don't seem motivated....but I got mine! If they choose to do nothing different it's on them, I still get the benefit of being of service.

Tomorrow is a day for getting caught up on some stuff for job two. I need to visit each house and make sure that all the keys still work. We have changed a bunch of faces in the last two weeks and we change locks every time. I went to one of the houses yesterday and couldn't get in. Therefore I am going lock by lock to figure this mess out then off to home depot to make any necessary keys. After that it seems like tomorrow is date night. As always details will follow.

I guess that's about it for now. Here's hoping all your faces have smiles!


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Poker Tuesday

Well hi everyone, I am a blogging slacker I know. This last week has been very busy between the kiddies, job number two, and school I have been going a mile a minute.

Last week at school was really cool. The Monday and wednesday class was all about relapse prevention. This was great as it's a subject that has had some personal trials and I took this class so serious! Monday we went over all the material and then as we were about to leave, the teacher who I just love handed out case studies for us to prepare before the next class. For those of you who don't know what that is, they give us a paper describing a fictitious client and their trials and tribulations, my job was to develop a relapse prevention plan for this client. I then had to get up in front of the class, a group of aspiring therapists and share my plan for the client with them.

The other class last week was titled "crisis intervention". Now I thought by the name we would be learning how to do what the people on intervention do, but noooooooooooo. It was a class about how to intervene high risk or violent clients. The teacher for this class, nice enough lady, was not the right person to teach us. She kept emphasizing that if a patient in her facility looks like they could become violent in the near future that she just gets away from the situation. I know in my experience with the kiddies that that idea is absolutely wrong. I have found it to be very easy to de-escalate someone teetering on the edge so long as they are not high on pcp. If they are on pcp I always wish upon a star for a restraint chair, so far to no avail though. I have quite honestly not really enjoyed any of her classes, but when she had me get in front of the class and teach some self defense techniques if someone does go violent I must say that was fun!

Those classes are done and now I am enjoying a week off from classes. I will be joining the parental units for dinner and their poker game tonight which should be fun. I have one more class this seamster next week and then during the break between semesters it off we go on the Carnival Glory!



This is actually not the glory, it's the valor. But it the same class ship as the valor and from what I'm told a fabulous ship! As I type this the cruise is a mere 12 days and 9 hours away. I can tell you that there will be a much more regular set of postings here on the blog while I am out of the country.

Well I need to get some rest before the poker game tonight. Here's hoping all your faces have smiles!



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Another Friday

Well hi again everyone! It's another Friday, which means another work marathon starts tonight at job number one. The kiddies get enjoy my favorite word to say to them..... NO! I am forever saying that word lately, job number one and job two. Job number two has been crazy this week. When last I posted I told you all I was on my way to take care of the guy who was sleeping on the picnic table, well he has become a thorn in my side as he just doesn't want to go away. I got a call Wednesday morning from the neighbors of that house (I used to live in that house and the neighbors are friends) they wanted to let me know that there was a guy passed out face down in the backyard. I get out of bed and run over there only to find the guy trying to break in to the garage. He had apparently put some of his stuff in there the night he was sleeping on the table. I tried to explain to him exactly how not ok this is but I tend to think his elevator only goes up to his knees. I let him know if he came back I would have to call the police, and when I left Fern House Wednesday night I stopped by and there were all the signs that he had been there. Geezzzz I went into the house and told everyone if they see him call the cops first, then call me so I can meet them there. I don't think this episode is over, but only time will tell.

That brings me to the other whack job. House number three has since I took over been the house I don't worry about. The guys there have been really cool and I never have a problem there, till now. Last Friday we moved a new guy in filling the house, and chaos has surrounded that property since. I hit my breaking point with this guy when he threatened to hit one of the other guys. I called him up and he came over to my house. The owner was there with me as he has known this guy since they were kids and both of us were on the same page, he needs to go. Well we tell him he has to get out and he snaps. Threatening to slap the owner and me and then kicked the screen door off it's hinges. We called the cops and he rode off. They met us at the house he was moving his stuff out of and supervised his leaving and told him not to come back....again time will tell if this is really over.

As if that isn't enough drama, i am writing this at 4am and I seem to have one to few cars outside. Right after I post this my next item is to change the locks at my house as it seem someone found their way back to the pipe. Wow that's a lot of drama.

Now there has been some fun things happen on my days off. Tuesday Wasserstein date night for me. I went out with a nice girl who has never had any addiction issues. We went to chilis for dinner and then went for a walk down the pier at Lake Worth Beach. I had a great time and I think she did as well. Very cool eh? Yeah I thought so too.

I tried to call my friend in St. Thomas, but he apparently does not have the same phone number, either that or he developed an accent and the tone of his voice is much higher. I guess that means there won't be a reunion there so I am looking for something cool to do there. If any of you have any suggestions I am open to your ideas.

Well I guess thats about all for now. Here's hoping all your faces have smiles!


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Happy Monday

Well a very happy Monday to you all, and for those who hate Monday's...well I love them enough for both of us! The weekend marathon with the kiddies is almost over and all I can say is thank the good Lord for that. They ran me ragged this weekend and I am looking forward to some much needed time away. Job number two is a seven day a week thing, but it isn't usually all that tough. This morning however, when I leave the kiddies it's off to throw someone out that I know was out drinking last night. Actually he is already thrown out, the owner went by and changed the locks while my guy was at the bar. Rumor has it that he is sleeping on the picnic table waiting for me to let him take his stuff out of there.

Speaking of that guy and his relapse, I got a call yesterday from a good friend named Trevor. Trevor is newly retired and looking for something productive to do with his time. When he was working he was a therapist in several treatment centers and the reason for his call was simple.....would we like to implement a relapse prevention group for the halfway house. He offered to do it very inexpensively, just five dollars per client per week and that structure alone makes us much more attractive to treatment centers looking for placement of their clients. I am very happy and probably going to implement this program in the next few weeks.

Enough work stuff, I'm sure your all asking... I wonder when chuck is going on vacation with the parental units again? Well wonder no more, in a mere 27 days the parental units and myself will be boarding the Carnival Glory for a seven day adventure to St Thomas, Grand Turk, San Juan, and the Bahamas! This one I am already bouncing around like I am doing the pee pee dance because I have wanted to go to St Thomas for decades. I have a couple friends that live there and am going to try to get in touch with them...maybe they can meet me at the port and go to lunch together. I don't know yet but will keep you all in the loop as I am sure your going to loose sleep until you find out. I believe I am going to help the motherly parental unit do some cruise ship stalking as well, not to mention the pole dancing the fatherly parental unit does that sounds fun! Maybe I will join him for some table side pole dancing.......or not. We shall see!

Well that's enough for now. Here's hoping all your faces have smiles!


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Old adventures relived in a different way

Well yesterday marked the point in my journey in recovery from addiction that I faced one of my biggest fears. If you read yesterday's post you know that last night I went to a concert in Boca Raton. The band I got to enjoy was Furthur which is a reincarnation of my all time favorite band the Grateful Dead. I have been looking forward to this show for months, but deep down inside I was afraid to go. Why you ask, well the people who follow this band....






Yeah, enough said. I got to the show early and rode down there with my roommate, but he unfortunately didn't have a ticket... Lucky for him



The show was outside and the sound traveled to the end of the street you see. So I am inside the show by myself with


And as soon as I got inside I had a rush of feelings that I needed help to get through this concert sober, so I prayed.......it worked! There were people getting high on everything from pot to magic mushrooms to LSD (a mixture that I used to call the hippy triple play). Not only did I get through the show clean and sober, but I was repulsed by the smell of pot in the air. I saw people getting high the way I used to, and I actually had pity for them. Instead of being able to enjoy the music and dance all the way through a song, they had to stop and go through the process to use. That used to be me, but screw that!

The show itself, top five of my all time concerts.....and I have been to a lot of concerts in my life. The band was just on fire from the first note until the last.
















They played two sets that lasted three hours in total, and you'll see on the above photo the last two songs of the first set had two other musicians joining them, one a guitarist I didn't know.... But that cc.......that was a legend


Saxophone player Clarence Clemons who gained fame as the heart and soul of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Clarence needed to be helped onto the stage as well as back off, but gosh can he still blow that horn! All in all it was a great night, I danced so hard that every muscle in my body hurts but it hurts in a good way. I am still clean and sober, and


Well he's not!

Heres hoping all your faces have smiles, cause I have one plastered to this face!

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Happy wednesday

Well hi again everyone, I just haven't had time to check in lately...sorry for that. It has been a very busy time in my life.

Job number one has been less rehab and more asylum as of late, and the weekends when I work are completely filled. The kiddies have really kept me running with their drama. It is nonstop from the moment I walk in the door for twelve hours until I leave. You would think that because I work overnights it might be better because they sleep......but they don't sleep.

Then we have job number two, which is really close to taking off in the direction I was hoping it would go. We are almost full and the bilk of the people we have are really taking their lives in a great direction.

Last night was the poker tournament at the parental units club and what a fun night out. It didn't hurt that I played well against a bunch of people who have more money than brains, literally. Some of the worst poker players I have ever seen in my life. I came in fifth place in the tournament and the motherly parental unit came in the top two and they split the winnings. A great time was had by all and I left up about a hundred and ninety bucks!

Today's adventure is something special to me. For those who don't know half of my twenties were spent traveling around the country following the Grateful Dead, well tonight the band Furthur (spelled correctly) is playing at the Mizner Amphitheater in Boca Raton, a twenty minute ride from home. Furthur is a band that has most of the members of the Grateful Dead that are still alive and kicking. I am definitely taking the camera and will be posting pictures here tomorrow. To say the least I am completely psyched!

Well that's about it for now, here's hoping all your faces have smiles.........today mine absolutely will!


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