My dream job is turning into a nightmare

So here it is, November 1.  An unending 5 days to go before I can finally get my hands on CoD4! 

In a couple of weeks I will have been here at this job for 7 months.  It is wierd how it can feel like I have been here forever and also feel like I just got here at the same time. 

How I got here- Long story short... Over the course of January and February of this year I was recruited by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, interviewed three times, and finally was offered and then accepted the job. 

As I interviewed for the job, the Board members were very frank and upfront with me about what I was walking into.  The organization was in a ton of hot water with the State due to basically not taking care of the kids here.  There were also several allegations made by both social workers and some of the kids.  (After months of investigation, all of these have finally been determined as unfounded.)  Because of the mess here, the State decided to stop sending kids here until we got our house in order.  Small problem for us- our income is based on the number of kids we have in care here.  As kids finished the program  and left, our numbers slowly dwindled.  For January and February, we actually did a little better than breaking even.  For March, we dipped into the red by about $5.  In April we went further into the red, by a lot.  In May the good Lord blessed us with a donation that a lady left in her will for us.  This was more than my annual salary!  That helped us get through May and most of June.  For July, our income was less than half of our expenses.  Finally at the end of July the State allowed us to start taking in kids, but only very slowly.  August was better than July, and September better than August, financially, but we were still way in the red.  Once all the numbers are in, October is gonna be close to that break even point.  November should be great, finally.  I feel like I have climbed Mt. Everest to get us back to financial viability.  But, that is only half of the story.

The other half- All of the problems we were having here when I arrived stemmed from two things.  1. The program (what we do with the kids, how we try to make them and their lives better) was a mess.  No one was doing their job.  The specifics of each person was suppossed to be doing was a joke.  I spent the better part of my first month here completely rewriting the policy and procedure manual as well as the employee and resident handbooks.  2. The former Director here was... two many bad things to even start a list.  So many bridges burned that I am still trying to repair.  So many rumors of all kinds of impropriety I am trying to dispell.  Two camps of employees (those that liked him and those that hated him) I am still trying to bring together.  All of these things I am still working on.

The third half- We are losing employees left and right.  Apparently now that they actually have to do some work when they come to work, people don't want to work here.  I am currently filling 4 different positions, including mine.  I am so scared of seeing this agency head right back to where it was.  There are so many things that I just don't have the time to take care of that things are getting left undone.  I've learned how to prioritize and be organized, but that only goes so far.  I am getting close to that "screw it" point. 

I am sure some of this sounds a bit ungrateful.  I do enjoy my job... sometimes.  I get paid pretty decently to do this as well.  But, the toll this is taking on me is bordering on not worth it at this point. 

God bless my good wife.  If it weren't for her I know I would not have survived this.  She is so very understanding about the long hours and bringing work home every stinking day.  Tuesday I had one of the worst days since I have been here.  Emergency after emergency on top of everything else.  It was just a very no good, very bad day.  I had emailed my wife back and forth a few times during the day to let her know how bad things were going and that I probably would be working late.  I got home about 6:30 (on a "normal day" I get home at 5).  I walk in the door to the dogs going nuts- Sugar barking at me and Sasha howling like a wolf(she is such a drama queen!).  I walk through the living room to the kitchen and that smell hits me.  Woohoo!  Lasagna!  I love lasagna.  I just love good food.  But I really love lasagna.  We sit down to eat and talk about the terror that my day has been.  We finish eating and she promptly gets up, tells me to get out of my monkey suit, and go to the living room.  I change clothes and sit down on the couch hoping she is going to tell me to fire up the box and play CoD the rest of the evening.  But no... she walks out of the other bedroom holding Guitar Hero III in her hands!  She and I played the mess out of that game for about 3 hours.  She calls it quits and heads for the shower.  As she is walking to the bathroom she says, "Put in your silly war game and play with your new friends."  

This job sure does suck a lot.  But with a wife like mine, I think I might survive it.  CoD4 coming out in just a few days sure ain't gonna hurt either.