We're Off to the Races

Remember when I first started this blog and I told you that one of the things that I would post about often is my commitment to raise money for Susan G. Komen this year by participating in the 3 day? Well, I wasn't lying! I'll try to make this snappy, but I just wanted to let you know that I am registered! Yea! Our team (Colby, Sara, Aubra, and Amy) has made the commitment to raise $12,000 between now and August. Yes, I am aware that is A LOT of money, but we have some fun things planned to help get people to "join us" on this journey. Plus, I am hoping that anyone who is not local and would not be able to attend any fundraising events in the area would check out my fundraising site (the link is on the top, right side of the page) and make a donation. Any amount helps! Thanks!

P.S. Let me know if you want to join our team!

They Say the Darndest Things

I just got home from doing an admission at a nursing home, and I have to let you in on the funniest thing I heard all day...

I was talking to two other nurses when a resident of the nursing home walked up to one of them, put her hand on the nurse's right breast and started making small motions...around and around and around. I don't know why, but the nurse didn't stop her. The resident finally looked up at the nurse and said, "when's the baby due?"

I had to walk away; I was laughing hysterically. Cute, aren't they?

My Unfavorite Part of the Day

Anyone who lives in Oklahoma or any of  the other 20+ states that have been affected by this lovely ice storm knows that it is not only miserably cold out there, but also downright treacherous and unsafe. I would estimate that there is a 3-4 inch solid sheet of ice covering our yard, our street, and our driveway- our hill of a driveway. Please remember, we are the ones who had to park the u-haul in the street when we moved in because it couldn't get up the drive, and I am pretty sure there is still a gash in the concrete from the attempts that we made anyway. 

So, needless to say, today was a "snow day," for me and for Josh. Not that some truly ambitious and overly eager employees did not report to work; they did, but we were not among them. Call me crazy, but when all employees are told that the office is closed due to the weather and for their safety, why would some people still choose to go there? Furthermore, when said employees called this afternoon wanting me to slide down the driveway and halfway across the state to the downtown area to do something that could (technically) wait til tomorrow, I almost had a panic attack. Ugh.

Yes, we have had the day at home, and I am thankful for that although I have done absolutely nothing to show for it. I did shower, yea for me. Josh, on the other hand, in an attempt to be more productive than his wife, decided he would catch up on his laundry. No, I don't do his laundry. All the chores are split 50/50 in this house. I guess that is the benefit of getting married later and not yet having children.

So, Josh carries all of his stuff into the laundry room, and I can hear him grumbling before he even gets both feet across the threshold. I am notorious for leaving laundry in the dryer for days, even weeks, until he comes along after me and piles my last load on the bed, forcing me to fold it. Well, today was no different, other than the fact that there was a clean load in a basket on the floor, a clean load in the dryer, and a once clean but now moldy load in the washer. Apparently, I had washed a few things on Sunday and never moved them over. Now, not only are they horribly smelly and moldy, but the lamp cord cover that I washed, is now tangled around some sort of washer mechanism that makes the machine go round and round. 

Josh starts trying to untangle the cord mess without any luck. So, he tells me that I better come fix it, or he is just going to cut it out of there- as if that makes any sense. So, I say, "Get out of my way and let me fix it because I don't want you to cut my stuff." Gladly, he leaves the room, only to come back in 5 minutes to fix it himself since I am not done yet. He tells me he wants to do it, and I say,"No, I am working on it." So, he says, "well, I want to do it." When I tell him no again and he argues back to me, I think, "Are we really arguing over who "gets to" fix the washing machine?" So once again, I retreat to the other room, where, in the midst of my blog stalking, I can hear him mumbling/cussing under his breath. Mind you, he is a redhead, and all that entails, and he is getting more and more upset by the second; I mean REALLY upset. And now I can hear him getting into the tool box and starting to "mess with" the mechanism (whatever it may be). Terrified for the safety of our machinery, I return to the laundry room to kick him out again, and this time I rescue the fully intact cord cover from the washing machine, only to say to my husband, "I told you it didn't need to be cut."

Moral of the story: Don't EVER put a lamp cord cover in your washing machine. Oh and don't put a queen size comforter in there either. I learned that in college. By the way, in case you are wondering, the cover needed to be cleaned because our kitten/cat locked himself in the bathroom over the weekend and, without access to the litterbox, had to find someplace else to go.

Meet the Team Part Deux

Ladies and gents, I have recruited another team member! Yea! It is my sweet younger brother, Colby, and I am so excited he has decided to walk with us. Now, we need a fourth; otherwise, I will have to share a tent with a stranger....how awkward would that be?!?! Colby was on the crew for the last walk I did. I think he had fun, but he doesn't want to risk being assigned to trash duty again for this one. So, he decided to walk this time!

P.S. We have some team name ideas...We could be the chestNUTS, the Wittie Titties, Operation Save 2nd Base, or the Pink Pirates (since pirates seem to be a family theme). Do yall like any of these ideas? Any other ideas? 

Meet the Team

Good morning....I hope everyone is having a glorious Saturday so far! I know I am, and it is because yesterday was fantastic- lunch and shopping with mom and dad and dinner with Colby and Aubra. And, so far today, all I have on my schedule is scrapbooking. Yes, I know some of you think that is dorky, but I love it....its kind of a vice if you will! So, how could this weekend get any better?

Well, first off, I want to introduce you to Aubra Wintin, the newest (and only) member of my 3 day team. She agreed to join me on my 60-mile journey over dinner last night, and I can guarantee that that is one decision she won't regret. Yea Aubra!

Now I know that a two-person team is possible, but I think it would be so great to have several more people join us...Chicago 8/7-9/09. Yes, there is a fundraising requirement, but we can all work together on that. Plus, I have done it two times before and it was no big deal! So, go to the3day.org and check it out! Oh and help me out with a team name while you are at it! 

The Way I See It #9

For those of you who have read my blog since its birth (you know, all eight posts), you will hopefully remember one of my earliest posts talking about my fundraising efforts in the past and my goals for the year ahead. As I mentioned in that post, I am planning to participate in another Komen 3 Day Walk in either July or August, and Iam looking for people to join me or help me get there (by donating) if you are unable to do the walk yourself. So here I am again trying to inspire you to participate with me! Please, if you have even the slightest curiosity about the event, watch the video. It is very short, and if you are like me, it may leave you a little teary eyed. Then, after you watch it, if you have any questions or want to join my team, please let me know!

P.S. Sorry about the font and split words on this post....I am still not quite "blog savvy."

The Best Treat Ever

I am a self proclaimed rice krispie treat connoisseur! Yes, I know, I should probably strive for a title with a little bit more meaning/importance, but I can't help it....the marshmallowy piles of goodness are one of my favorite things in life.

My love for RCTs first bloomed the summer I lived in Los Angeles. The commissary at Universal Studios where I worked sold some that were dipped in chocolate and were absolutely amazing....I think I ate one almost daily. That was 10 years ago, and I have been searching for a comparable treat since then. Of course, I can make my own, but it's not the same thing, and the ones in the little blue packages don't even come close...they just don't taste right.

Well, I took Josh to NYC for his birthday, and we decided to go to Serendipity for dessert one night. However, the line was 3 hours long, and I didn't have the patience to wait 30 minutes for a touristy soft frozen hot chocolate. So, we made our way to the candy store down the street for the next best thing. It was fate! They had the most amazing krispie treats! In fact, we tried to go back one more time before we came back to OK, but the store was closed. So, I made a point to ingrain the name of the company on my brain and find it when I got home. It worked....they have a website, and I am able to order my favorite little dessert squares any time I see the need. Actually, it would be nice if Josh read this and surprised me with some, but since he doesn't read it, I guess I will have to treat myself!

I love my job. Well, it is actually more of a love-hate relationship, but today I loved it, and I was thankful that I got to be doing what I was doing with the people I was doing it with. Of course, that could always change tomorrow. 

J and I just got back from vacation this week, and I was honestly dreading my return to work. I think my actual words to him while we were somewhere in the Caribbean were, "I am in heaven right now, and I am not looking forward to returning to hell." He just looked at me and said, "It is your home. Get over it." So, as soon as our plane landed in the tropical paradise that is our great state, I was on the net looking for a new job....travel nursing, travel agent, jewelry maker, welder, dog groomer....I didn't care as long as I got to do something great in someplace fabulous. 

Well, news for me, I was in for a big surprise at work on Monday morning. In an early morning meeting, I learned that I no longer have any patients of my own; instead, I am now responsible for all daytime admissions and discharges and I am officially the new nurse preceptor. I was livid! Since I accepted this job almost a year and a half ago, my only stipulation was that I always wanted a caseload of my own. In fact, I passed up a management position in order to keep a caseload and stay out of the office. My reason? I like building relationships with patients and their families. It is why I do what I do. However, over the last two days, I have realized that change may not be such a bad thing. In fact, these have been two of the lowest stress days I have experienced in a long time (besides vacation of course), and I am thankful for that! The only drawback is that I am spending much of my time in the office....doing paperwork...lots and lots of paperwork.

Anyway, I was thankful for my job today when I got to spend part of my afternoon admitting a certain  young man to our service. He is 80+ years old and lives with his wife of 60+ years. He takes care of her (she has severe dementia) even though his health is rapidly declining, and his love for her was very evident through his patience with her. Every person I meet has a story, and my favorite part of work is trying to look past the disease to see the person for who he or she really is. So often, we are trained as clinicians to maintain boundaries. Of course, I am not advocating that we cross those boundaries, but these are real people going through REALLY tough times, and we have to form some sort of bond with them to get them through these times.

Ok so the whole purpose of this post is to write about my experience with this darling little couple. First off, I arrived at their house, and it was probably a good 30 minutes of him ( I will call him Mr. A) telling me about all of the golf he has been playing. I am now familiar with every golf course in the tri-state area as well as all of the . Throughout the extent of this conversation, I had no idea that we weren't the only ones in the house, until Mrs. A finally decided that she needed to venture out of the bedroom to see the stranger sitting in her kitchen. Our conversation went a little something like this.

Mrs. A- (in a  really excited voice) Hi! Im Mrs. A. I am SOOOO glad you are here. 

Me- Hi. I am Mizzle, and it is nice to meet you.

Mrs. A turns around to face the back porch, glances at the cat who is sitting outside, and turns back around to face me.

Mrs. A- Hi! I'm Mrs. A. Welcome to our house. I am glad you are here.

Me- Hi. I'm Mizzle, and it's nice to meet you. Thank you.

Since she is dressed up, and by dressed up I mean that she has her purse on her arm and is wearing a Victorian style blouse with pearl buttons, a pink tea-length skirt, red high heels, and athletic socks, one of which reaches mid-calf and the other is an anklet, I say, "You look like you are about to go somewhere."

Mrs. A- Oh no. I always carry this with me. (She is referring to her purse.)

Mr. A- She does. She even gets it in bed with her...under the covers.

Mrs. A- Well, I never know when I'll need my stuff. 

She opens the purse to show me exactly what she is referring to. I am expecting some makeup, maybe some money, an old driver's license...the things I carry in my purse.

Inside her purse were 4 perfectly folded papers towels, each lined up exactly the same way and sitting next to one pair of underwear. It was also perfectly folded, so as to not disrupt the symmetrical presentation of her goodies.

I guess I can't blame her for being prepared!!! Yes, I did get a little chuckle out of this, but I thought it was so cute, and these people definitely made my day....it was a little brighter because I got to spend a couple of hours with them!

For some reason, I am an emotional wreck today. It is probably due to a major increase in work-related stress; hospice nursing can really take on a person's mental state. You have to always pretend to be happy and strong for your patients and their families, when somedays all you want to do is sit down and have a good cry with them. Yes, I know I am not supposed to get attached to the people I take care of, but it is very difficult to provide good care without forming some sort of bond to these people. The stress and fatigue add up quickly, and before I realize it, I am spending my evenings trying to fight back the tears. Yes, it is time to take a vacation! 

OK now that I got that off my chest, what I really wanted to share with you was the story of Two Bobbies. This story made me (once again) a little teary-eyed. I read it on another woman's blog tonight, and I thought it was so sweet I had to share. Apparently, there is a children's book coming out with the same name, and it is based on the true story of a cat and a dog, both named Bobbie for their bobbed-tails, who were left behind during Katrina. 

The story is that a construction worker picked up the animals one day after they started playing with his dog, and he took them to the shelter. The man told the shelter staff that when he found them they were very thin, so he began to feed them. However, he found that the two were such good friends that if he tried to separate them, the dog would "bark its head off," and if he even tried to pick up the cat, the dog would growl. The shelter workers noticed the same things, and in order to keep the peace, they had to keep the animals in the same cage. They finally came to realize that the cat was blind, and the dog had been leading her through the ruins of New Orleans following the hurricane.

The animals were eventually adopted together by a woman who owns a 50-acre ranch in Oregon on which she runs a therapeutic equestrian program for children. How sweet is that story?!?!?