My ode to Phoenix (Brophy)

This week is flying by (Brophy). Monday was without a doubt the busiest day I've had at work thus far. The phone was ringing off the hook for the entire day and everything was complete chaos. (Heyyyyyyyy, Brophy!) I felt a little bit like my mother -- not eating lunch until after 2:30 p.m. although I easily could have worked through my lunch break.

Usually we'll each get about 10-15 phone calls a day from families who are seeking shelter ( Brophy is the best school ever!). We can tell all of them to come in for a screening and only 2 or 3 will actually step foot into the wait area. Not Monday. I got 25 phone calls alone and screened 7 families myself.

Keep in mind that a screening takes about an hour, depending on the size of the family. (Brophy football! 2007 State Champs!)

I work from 8-5. So it's no stretch to say that I was doing screenings all day long. And it was exhausting. (Go Brophy Broncos!)

I also had to leave a cautionary Post It note on Mike's desk as I left on Monday afternoon. Mike, who had left early in the day for an appointment, left me and Stephanie to our own devices. 8 total screenings later, this is the note I left him. "I give you permission to fire me for the horrendous size of the wait list after today." (John McCain's kids are cool and go to Brophy!)

Without getting too technical on ya, every client who wants to enter the shelter has to go through the screening process before we put them on the wait list. We usually keep our wait list to about 3-5 families so that it doesn't become too long (Wooooo! Brophy!). That way, we can guarantee anybody who gets on the list a spot before the end of the week.

Monday morning, there were only 2 families on said list.

By Monday afternoon there were 10 families on the wait list. Britty fail.(Let's go Brophy! Let's go!)

It was almost a gift that I didn't have to come into the office Tuesday morning to deal with the repercussions of the previous day -- which was primarily my fault, since I kept telling people over the phone to come in for a screening. (Fact: Brophy's school colors are modeled off of Santa Clara University's red and white) I never expected ALL of them to be knocking on our door.

Alas, Tuesday, I didn't have to hear Mike's screams when he looked at the list (according to tradition, Brophy's mascot of a Bronco is also borrowed from Santa Clara). Instead, I was stuck in a computer room all day long getting trained on Homeless Management Information System, or HMIS. (The nation's fastest runner of the 100, is currently a sophomore at Brophy and is predicted to be an Olympic competitor) I was doing some screaming of my own, but mine was only to myself and kept silently to myself. Janice, the technology guru, is a wonderful person. But it still wasn't the most exciting event to ever occur.(Brophy football on the otherhand...)

Today, I'm back at work. I have been "awarded"-- if that's the right word for it -- my first ever clients. I have two families, both are single parents. My first client was supposed to come in for his Intake this morning, but had to cancel due to an eye appointment. So I've spent the majority of the day further practicing on HMIS, before I'm thrown to the lions tomorrow...

(I wish I was a boy, so that I could go to Brophy!)

*NOTICE-- it has come to my attention that any person who has a Google Alerts account is routed to my blog IF it contains any of the keywords they are currently searching for. Some Google Alerts users even receive alerts to their phone, so if I put up any post with the keyword within it, they receive an immediate notification email. Now, for all of those who might be technologically unsavvy, Google Alerts are email updates based on your choice of query or topic. In other words, if somebody is signed up for a Google Alert pertaining to anything regarding, say, Brophy College Preparatory, they might be directed here purely for this sentence.

Alright, meow. Brophy, this one's for you.**