The management of my home will be switched over to a service provider on April 1. Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) provides funds to pay for the staff to look after me and my roommates. My mom does not get paid for managing the home or for covering staff shortages and providing personal care to my roommates. As her contract with PDD draws to an end, she noticed that the funds in the bank account are lower than expected. She went through her financial records and discovered some mistakes in her invoices to PDD. So far, she found out that she has under-billed PDD by $7,000+ in 2007. My mom is very upset with herself for the mistakes. She needs to remember that she has been too busy and stretched over the past few years. It is not surprising at all for her to make mistakes. After all, she is a nurse, not an accountant. It is becoming nerve wrecking for her as she continues to find more mistakes.
My mom has been totally stressed out as she knows it is difficult to recover funds for previous years. She is very thankful that the financial clerk at PDD has been very kind and patient. This has certainly helped her in coping with the situation. PDD's decision is not to release funds at this time. My mom has to come up with her own money to cover for the shortages of the March payroll. It is unknown at this time how many thousand dollars she needs. She will meet with PDD in May to resolve the problem. My mom will need to celebrate when this real life nightmare is over.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sleepless Night
Lately, I have been asking for mai-mai (little sister) on a regular basis. My mom always respond by saying, "Mai-mai is in Vancouver." Today, I have been practicing how to say Vancouver. I was over at my mom's home to sleep over last evening. Mai-mai called and I said "Hi" to her.
My mom was working on the Beraka Residence book-keeping last night. She was so behind in her work that she was relieved when I fell asleep. She was able to balance the books for the budget year 2006, but was shocked to see a hefty deficit for budget year 2007. She was really stressed out and was trying to figure out what went wrong.
I woke up at about 1 am. and wanted to watch the Teacup video. My mom tried to coax me back to sleep while she anxiously reviewed the 2007 invoices and funds received. With my distraction, she couldn't concentrate. So, she gave up at 2 am. and turned the computer and light off.
I stayed awake all night long. Sometimes I laughed out loud while other times I got very agitated. Since my mom was right beside me, she calmed me down whenever I was upset. We got up at 7 am. and, for a change, we were at church really early this morning.
On our way home from church, I started to doze off. It is extremely unusual for me to fall asleep in the car, even when my mom takes me on long driving trips. One time, my mom drove to New York. The whole trip was 12,000 km. and I fell asleep twice during that trip for a total of less than 15 minutes. Today, I slept so soundly that I snored. When we arrived home, my mom didn't have the heart to wake me up. She covered me up with a few afghans and let me sleep longer. After lunch, she put me to bed hoping that I would take a nap. No luck! She came over to my room shortly after 9 pm. to check up on me. I was already half asleep and I went "unconscious" before she left my room. :)
My mom was working on the Beraka Residence book-keeping last night. She was so behind in her work that she was relieved when I fell asleep. She was able to balance the books for the budget year 2006, but was shocked to see a hefty deficit for budget year 2007. She was really stressed out and was trying to figure out what went wrong.
I woke up at about 1 am. and wanted to watch the Teacup video. My mom tried to coax me back to sleep while she anxiously reviewed the 2007 invoices and funds received. With my distraction, she couldn't concentrate. So, she gave up at 2 am. and turned the computer and light off.
I stayed awake all night long. Sometimes I laughed out loud while other times I got very agitated. Since my mom was right beside me, she calmed me down whenever I was upset. We got up at 7 am. and, for a change, we were at church really early this morning.
On our way home from church, I started to doze off. It is extremely unusual for me to fall asleep in the car, even when my mom takes me on long driving trips. One time, my mom drove to New York. The whole trip was 12,000 km. and I fell asleep twice during that trip for a total of less than 15 minutes. Today, I slept so soundly that I snored. When we arrived home, my mom didn't have the heart to wake me up. She covered me up with a few afghans and let me sleep longer. After lunch, she put me to bed hoping that I would take a nap. No luck! She came over to my room shortly after 9 pm. to check up on me. I was already half asleep and I went "unconscious" before she left my room. :)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Grandma's Travel Plan
My mom has been checking airfare and greyhound fares everyday to look for sales so that Grandma can go to Vancouver to visit Emily. Yesterday, my mom found the Air Canada seat sale of $79 one way to Vancouver. She has booked flights for Grandma departing on March 17 and returning on April 8 (about 3 weeks). Emily and Peter will be coming to visit us over the Easter weekend. Unfortunately, the fare for the same flight is $145, so it does not work out for Grandma to come home with them.
Grandma gets tired easily and needs to increase her physical activities. However, Grandma cannot go out much as it has been very cold and the sidewalks are slippery. Today, she took advantage of the nice weather (9 C) to go out for a walk. Visiting Vancouver will give her the opportunity to go out for walks more. This is also a good time to visit because of the cherry blossoms. Grandma has wanted to see them for some time and her dream can come true this year.
Grandma gets tired easily and needs to increase her physical activities. However, Grandma cannot go out much as it has been very cold and the sidewalks are slippery. Today, she took advantage of the nice weather (9 C) to go out for a walk. Visiting Vancouver will give her the opportunity to go out for walks more. This is also a good time to visit because of the cherry blossoms. Grandma has wanted to see them for some time and her dream can come true this year.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Transition
Since making the decision to switch the management of my home to a service provider, my mom has been busy with:
* working with the new service provider during the transition. A week after working with one manager, a change of caseload brings us another new manager. This places more demand on my mom's time and energy.
* facilitating a smooth transition and being supportive to our team of staff
* catching up with the administrative work that has piled up on her
* responding to the government's request for a financial review. She has to wrap up the financial records anyway, so it works out well even though the time pressure adds to her stress. Grandma's illness and the many things that happen in my mom's life necessitated postponing the deadline a few times. The financial records are now ready for submission.
My mom has trouble sleeping many nights because of the budget deficit for February. There are surpluses from previous months to cover for the shortfall, but due to her mistrust of the "system", she worries that the funds may not be readily available for the staff's pay cheques. It is too complex for me to explain the situation. She is hoping that it will all work out in the end and that the staff will get paid on time. She has been reassured that funds will be released to cover the deficit after the families submit their February invoices.
* working with the new service provider during the transition. A week after working with one manager, a change of caseload brings us another new manager. This places more demand on my mom's time and energy.
* facilitating a smooth transition and being supportive to our team of staff
* catching up with the administrative work that has piled up on her
* responding to the government's request for a financial review. She has to wrap up the financial records anyway, so it works out well even though the time pressure adds to her stress. Grandma's illness and the many things that happen in my mom's life necessitated postponing the deadline a few times. The financial records are now ready for submission.
My mom has trouble sleeping many nights because of the budget deficit for February. There are surpluses from previous months to cover for the shortfall, but due to her mistrust of the "system", she worries that the funds may not be readily available for the staff's pay cheques. It is too complex for me to explain the situation. She is hoping that it will all work out in the end and that the staff will get paid on time. She has been reassured that funds will be released to cover the deficit after the families submit their February invoices.
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