This week has been slow, not a whole lot going on with my case, so I am going to hang out with some of my CASA friends at a restaurant. The good thing is the restaurant we're going to will donate a portion of each check to CASA! CASA tries to do these fundraisers each week. Many restaurants participate, which is great.

I'm looking forward to seeing my CASA friends that I went through training with earlier this year. We each got assigned different cases, so it will be interesting to see who got what kind of case. I haven't seen many of them in a while. We all do other things besides CASA. We each have jobs or families, and with our hectic schedules it's easy to get out of touch . But Facebook has been an amazing way to keep in touch and schedule get-togethers. I think it will also be nice to talk about our cases with one another and give tips about how to deal with difficulties or anything to help the case along. From my perspective, it has been a lot of trial and error to see what works with my kiddo, the caseworkers, the therapists, etc. I try not to put my foot in my mouth when talking to these professionals, because I don't get paid for being a CASA and don't have as much experience as they do in dealing with the foster care system. When I'm in these staffing meetings, sometimes I don't know what to say or do. I try to interject concerns and questions I have, but to tell you the truth, sometimes I feel awkward. I think that is my lack of experience in this area. My other CASA on the case sometimes feels the same way. We are trying to establish our role in this case, and I feel that I'm still kind of watching on the sidelines. Court feels the same way. It's not that I'm scared to go into court, I feel that I don't have a lot to say about the case yet. Again, I think that it's a lack of experience.

As the case goes on I feel more and more comfortable. I am starting to feel that I'm getting into a routine, but I know new things will come up, and I will have to rely on my CASA supervisor to talk me through them. I hope I will start to feel more comfortable with my case. I will let you know soon!