Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Snow Days



SNOW! I love snow. The wonder of every child, and most adults though many won't admit it. I have lived in parts of the country where snow is your friend. It covers the ground long enough to collect it and throw a snowball then it melts away. It may just fall a flake at a time which in Virginia meant school was out immediately. We would be sent home before a single layer had fallen. Awesome. Then there are those parts of the country where snow is an enemy. It blocks roads, prevents animals from getting to shelter and traps people at work for days at a time. Me for instance. I spent 3 days cooking for a 400 bed hospital and staff with a skeleton crew and a hand full of nuns. 3 DAYS! I can tell you there was a lot of soup and sandwiches served because honestly, those dear nuns couldn't boil water.
Or the 2 1/2 days as the only licensed nurse to provide care to 420 residents at a state hospital for the mentally challenged. I did not sleep and no one died so clearly the protective hand of God was at work. It was 70 below with the wind chill factor at night for several days. Was I ever grateful for those dark, abandoned, underground tunnels left from the 50's that connected one building to another. These events did not dull my love of health care but added to it's intrigue. What other great adversity or challenge may come my way? Rather like an episode of Survivor.
And in Switzerland there are places the snow never melts requiring road crews to carve out roadways for cars to pass through the mountains. Walls of snow that at any moment could collapse and cover your vehicle with the tiniest sneeze. Imagine the possibilities.
But snow is an incredible anti-aging creation that is mysterious and wonderful all at the same time. I was visiting my parents in Kansas one winter with my son. My brother also joined us. The three of us went to our favorite park to play in the snow. Not thinking about it, this was my sons first exposure to real snow! He got out of the car and stood still, staring around the park as if looking for gold. I asked him "What is the matter son?" to which he replied "Mom, where are all the snowballs?" Then it hit me, and I laughed so hard I thought I would, well, you know. The only snow he had seen was on Barney and in every winter episode there is snow and a nice stack of snowballs. That is what he was looking for.....
Needless to say we adults proceeded to show him how to make snowballs and snowmen. We were laughing, and playing, and building a rather impressive snowman when we realized my son was nowhere near the festivities. He had settled into a swing and was just watching. Hmmmm We paused only momentarily and resumed our playtime.
I think there are many opportunities to play more and stress less. We hear it all the time but most of the world is too busy running to the next big event. I kind of like the impact of snow as it often forces you to slow down and enjoy the scenery since your car is stuck and you can't get wherever it was you thought you needed to go.
So today I am going to have a snow day, stay close to home, have some ice cream and enjoy the view. And if I forget what I am doing, I will watch Barney to remind me:)

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Joy of Parenthood 101



Many couples find that once children arrive it is the end to life as they know it. That is not a bad thing, as the little bundle of joy bring hours of entertainment. You know this to be true as you have been sent or have yourself sent out 100's of pictures of a child doing absolutely nothing but lying on a blanket dressed in different outfits with matching toys. What disappears in this new adventure is the parents freedom. Date night, the ability to read a book undisturbed or to nap freely in the TV room, vanished like the Tasmanian Emu. No longer can you leave your best jewelry lying around or walk around in your skivvies.
One couple thought they had it all together. They had figured out the way to have their cake and eat it too. BUT they had failed to predict where they would be eating that cake and whether or not it would be covered by their health plan.
Mom had desperately missed her ladies club and talking to grown ups. Supposedly they met to play cards, at least that is the story they are sticking with. Whatever it was, it started at supper time and went into the wee hours of the night. Dad, in an effort to support his wife and ultimately earn his night out agreed to babysit the darling 2 year old girl. After all what harm could she do. She would eat dinner, and go to bed by 7. It would be hours of freedom to watch TV, scratch those places no one wants to see and nap with reckless abandon.
He tucked his little beauty in bed after a dramatic reading of Goodnight Mr. Moon. He quickly set up his snacks and stretched out on the couch for some peace and quiet and late night TV. A long sigh later and he was history. Out like a 90 year old in the dining hall. That is when the crash occurred. He sat upright, wiping the drool off his chin trying to figure out where in the world he was. Then he heard more noise, it was coming from the hallway.
He flew off the couch turning over his TV tray full of goodies and ran toward his little angels room. What terror could be happening, why wasn't he there to watch her sleep and protect her?As he rounded the corner another loud noise occurred. It was coming out of the bathroom. He swung the door open and discovered the source. Precious was there, standing tall on the bathroom sink with an array of pill bottles and makeup lying all over the counter and floor.
"What are you doing? Naughty Girl!" In her hand was an empty bottle of orange chewable aspirin. His eyes scanned the sink and floor. There were no pills lying anywhere. The little girl looked at here dad and asked for more "candy". Dad thought he wanted to choke the numb skull who invented candy flavored medication, clearly NOT a parent he determined.
In a time when pagers and cell phones did not exist, he had no way of getting hold of the person he really wanted to strangle, MOM. He decided he must rush his darling girl to the hospital and so he did, empty bottle in hand. The hospital was ready, a dozen hands yanked the little girl into an exam room and began pumping her stomach. After a lot of screaming and thrashing and kicking of the nurses, it was determined she would need to stay overnight. She should recover well and would go home in the morning.
Mom arrived home to an empty house and saw the mess in the bathroom. Putting two and two together she went to the hospital. When she found Dad and baby girl sleeping in a room, she woke him to hear the entire story. As the story unfolded she had to decide whether or not to interject a tiny factoid into the event. Deciding honesty is best, she informed the exhausted, emotionally spent dad that the bottle he found had been in the trash. It was empty already and the little explorer must have been looking for more. Hmmmm
This would be the first of a lifetime of crisis for this happy family. They would not have the tools of parenthood we take for granted today such as monitors, cabinet locks, cell phones and a 1- 800 poison control number. They would manage to raise the little lady to adulthood despite her many escapades to follow. And she would eventually go into nursing as it was what she knew best. From a young age, she knew what it took to be a nurse as she had tested many to their very core. She is me and as it turns out no one knows health care better than someone who has spent more time in the system then out. So, thanks mom and dad for always knowing the nearest hospital and best docs in town.

Monday, September 28, 2009

In the beginning....


Everyone starts somewhere. For me it was in utero, the traditional way. I am the daughter of a military man who has more war stories than the Health Reform bill has pages. He lives for a new face to walk in the house, it is like cheese to mouse. Once cornered, there is no break for air. The one benefit is that indeed, his stories are fascinating even the 7th time. He has lived life well. Then there is the southern bell he married. Found her at the 5 and Dime. She loves to shop, collect and create things. So together they explain the complex person that is me, a broke, pack rat who can't stop talking. Welcome to my world.
I have spent the past 34 years in health care and I got to say, it is not the same as when I began. How I long for porcelain bedpans, patients who could give their own baths and nurses who could perform a days work without complaining about working two days in a row. However that may be global these days as I heard the same complaints at the corner convenience store. So to cap off the end of a great career in which I have worked in every department from the kitchen to the behavioral heath unit I was laid off. Seems corporate positions may be less secure than others in health care.
My big question now is what to do? Return to a nursing job,teach or leave health care all together. I am deciding. I will let you know when I get there. There must be a need looking for an answer from me. I almost thought I found it one day. My friend and I were having coffee and talking about this dilemma she was having. While there she complained about her purse. She held it up and demonstrated her complaint, "I wish they made a purse that opens the other way. This one only opens this way (as she moves the zipper right to left)". I watched this situation unfold and thought here may well be the beginning of a great career, to design a Left Handed Purse. One where the zipper opens left to right! How many left handed friends do you have who can only find purses that unzip right to left. Tragedy. Seeing an opportunity as profound as this caused my creative juices to flow. I quickly grabbed her purse, turned it around and Viola! It opened left to right. A solution found, an entirely new product line potential.
Okay, maybe not.
But there must be something or someone that will need me. So until then, I decided I must share some of my deepest thoughts, or at least some casual comments, depending on the day. I hope that someone will find a morsal of entertainment in the process. For today, I am simply beginning.

MAD Unified Life

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