He liked going to the CLUB and wants to go back!

Gary spent his first day at

Caring
Loving
Understanding
Belonging

or The CLUB.  We got there early and waited patiently for the volunteers to finish their meeting.  He seemed very nervous all the way there.  Remember, he rode with me last week when the center was closed.  Today, he did not remember that the center was in Rancho Cordova...thought it was in Elk Grove.

He was greeted by a center leader and was very warmly accepted. I gave them his paperwork and left him alone.  He was busy introducing himself to all the ladies.

I rode away with the strangest feeling.  Are you supposed to cry when you take someone to day care for the first time.  I didn't, but it crossed my mind.  I felt relieved that I knew he was going to be safe...I was worried about him being bored.

I went to work and went back to get him at promptly 2:30.  He was sitting at a table with 4 ladies playing BINGO.  The center leader said that he had appeared to have a good day.  They had celebrated Mardi Gras, complete with colored beads around every neck.  He was smiling big and hugging ladies goodbye.  One elderly lady came over and thanked me for bringing him because "he is so cute."  I told her that he belongs to me.  She smiled.

We ran an errand to the post office and then I started asking questions.  He said that he had participated all day and he could not remember all the activities because there were so many.  They sang, did exercises, had snacks, lunch and BINGO.  He helped wash the dishes.  He is looking forward to going back tomorrow.

We then went to Heald and I found any empty cubicle for him to read his book and log into a computer if he wanted to surf the net.  About twenty minutes later, he came into my office and stated that he had perhaps made a mistake.  I asked what he did and he stated that the phone rang in the cube, so he answered it.  What makes this particularly funny is that I have an entire team of skilled admissions professionals who wait all day for the opportunity to receive an inquiry from the call center.  In fact, they are usually on a rotating basis.  Apparently the phone rang more than once, so he answered.  It is still undetermined why no one else who needed inquiries so badly did not answer the phone.  Its a shame he did not have a script or he may have enrolled the student!

He became very tired and went to the car for a nap.  After realizing it was too hot, he came back to my office.  After two large glasses of water, we finished up and left. Due to the time of day, I decided the freeway was probably too crowded so I started down a more remote highway (Sunrise).  After about three miles, he said that we needed to stop and go to the bathroom.  There is nowhere to stop on that road.....I turned around and drove two miles back to McDonalds (this is becoming a pattern).  Then, I realized enough time had passed, so we came home on 50 and 5.  It took us almost an hour. He realized how long I spend on the road everyday. I have just taken it in stride and made the drive everyday.  He was appalled. 

We had a nice crock pot meal and will go to bed early.  Tommorow, we go to the new Chiropractor in Rancho Cordova together and he goes to day two.  The college received notification of our annual Internal Audit starting on Thursday.  Add a little more stress. 

He asked if I was writing the blog and said to make sure I talk about how nice all the people are that he met today.