It's Monday

I just absolutely adore Mondays when the higher ups were absent from Tuesday through today.

Yup.

The staff meetings always rock.

How many ways can I mess up?

Plenty.

The up side?

No one died.

Haha.

I have figured out who, outta my co-workers, are really snakes in the grass. Lesson learned.

We won't mention 15 hour days or the fact I'm still learning.

The paperwork may give me fits.

Aren't we in the digital age?

Someone tell my employers please.

All in all, not a bad day.

After last week, not a bad day at all.

I will continue to figure out the pitfalls and navigate those who are sweet to my face, then stab me in  the back.

(For anyone not reading this with as sense of humor and sarcasm....you don't get me.)

Grey's Anatomy Scrubs

I'm continuing my weight loss.

Running up and the stairs at work 60 hundred times a day helps.

It was impossible to go walking this week so I walked faster while at work.

I parked farther away at the mall and the grocery store.

All my clothes from soup to nuts are much too big.

Darn, had to go shopping.

Yup, picked up several sets of Grey's Anatomy scrubs.

Yes, I love the show but not enough to buy clothes based on it. Except they carry fitted tops and petite bottoms. I have short legs. I also like the partial elastic waist with a tie for future weight loss.

I'll be stylin' this week at work. I'm not as pretty or as young as the actors on the tv show but I look GOODin these scrubs!

I plan on looking better soon.

Now if only I could find a McSteamy to work with.....

Not Watching The News

Korea.

Scary.

Knowing my son wants to a Ranger, I've decided I cannot watch certain parts of the news. Right now that includes the rapidly rising tensions between North Korea and the U.S./South Korea.

This is a complete change from Ms. News-Junkie/Communications degree.

When we first moved to NW Washington state from So. Cal, I bleated at my spouse that the 4 page Bellingham Herald would not do it for me! (This was in 1990, long before easy internet access or even good cable access.)

After all, I'd been devouring the LA Times and The Orange County Register before we moved.

I was afraid I'd go into withdrawal from the world and what was happening.

In early 1991 when Desert Storm was just finished raging, I gave birth to a beautiful blue eyed, blond haired baby boy.

I watched CNN as I nursed my newborn with tears in my eyes for the mothers of those soldiers.

Now that baby boy is becoming a soldier.

Wow.

My perspective has been tumbled and turned upside-down.

My prayers for our freedoms fighters and their families are fervent.

So off goes the news.

On goes my blind faith.

"You Only Get Three"

That's what the paramedic team told me Friday night.

Yup.

Had to call them three separate times.

First one, a lovely elderly lady who tripped in the hallway outside her room. She may have hit her head~automatic must call.

Second one, an independent man who fell while transferring himself from scooter chair to computer chair and hit the floor with his left hip. Oh yea-ah. Another broken hip to add to my list in the past week and right in the middle of the lunch rush. Poor guy. He who never complains said his pain was 10 out of ten.

Third, a resident who, after being "off" mentally most of the afternoon, did not know my name, the caregiver's name, where she was, or what year it was. Off to the ER, transported by the paramedics who let me know THREE was all I got.

My response?

Okay.

"I'm going home in 30 minutes anyhow." (Followed by hysterical laughter within my head.)

What a week it has been.

What a freakin' week.

The Quandry

How could I raise one incredible son and one so oblivious to anyone but himself?

Being awoken at 1:30 a.m. when I have to get up at 5:30 a.m. really seriously irks me.

Especially since I have to work.

What the heck??

Praises

Praises and shout outs~

After almost 72 hours at my work facility I got home safely at 21:30 last night. I drove very carefully and slowly with my window partly open to stay awake. I made it!!!! Yeehaw!

My peeps. Love you all!

My home.

My family.

McArmy. I adore that kid. He called today and is doing well. He'll be home 12-19 and I can't wait.

Hot water heaters are one the best inventions EVER!!! The hot bath I had last was one of the best experiences I've had this month.

Sweet Pupples who licked me all over when I got home last night.

My life.

I am grateful for everything today.

My new mantra is:

 

It's ALL good.

Cold and Snow

As I drive 20 some miles to work the possibility of black ice and/or snow does not thrill me.

Great for skiers, bad for commuters.

I plan on bringing an extra set of sweats and another set of scrubs just in case.

I've co-opted McArmy's underarmor sweat shirt and I'll be sporting a jacket on top of that plus gloves. Layering is the key in this state.

I'm hoping for a day less than 15 hours.

I'm hoping for no snow/ice.

I'm praying for guidance and safety for all of us living here.

I wish you all warmer weather than here.

Feeling Old

I have a new computer.

A Macbook Pro.

Call me stupid but there are several things I've yet to master.

One~how does one left(whoops I mean right click) click a touch pad?

Two~how does one authorize a computer to their iTunes account?

I cannot find extremely simplified instructions to master these two issues.

I did not grow up with an Apple in every classroom. My technical advisor is in Georgia. He's at basic meaning I can't just call him to troubleshoot my new laptop.

My number 2 technical advisor was out at a party last night and is up in Seattle today.

The Apple express advisors do not work after 6p.m. at night so they were no help at 9p.m. lat night.

In pure frustration I turned the dang thing off and had a glass of white zinfandel.

Anyone know how to help a technically challenged woman?

Let's Hear It For the Boy!

As I was scrambling around to get through my evening/dinner med pass, my cell phone buzzed. Usually I don't even have it out at work, but I had been using it to contact several doctor's offices while multitasking and my cell phone is quite portable.

It was McArmy.

Awesome.

He told me how much he's liking basic training.

He told me his drill sergeants are rocking his world, in the best possible way.

He explained his company (made up of potentials Rangers like himself) is motivated, willing to go the extra mile to complete their tasks, and he likes them.

Some parts of his first week were 'interesting' but he was learning a ton.

His legs are slightly sore from a 6 mile 'hike/run' but overall he was enjoying himself.

I do not know where this kid came from (because I certainly never made his run) but I am so grateful and happy he's liking it all.

He is incredible.

Oh yeah, he told me how much he loved me as well. (almost lost it at that point but I didn't)

HOOAH for McArmy!!!!

Thank you Lord for providing me with such a wonderful boy/man to have as my son!

Only a month until he comes home for Christmas.

Shout out to all our service men and women and for their families!!!

HOOAH to you!

I Was Thinking.............

(scary, I know)

.........that it might seem like I am not grateful for my job.

Overall, I am very grateful to be employed.

I know I am lucky to be working and getting paid for it.

I am grateful I have a roof over my head and warm showers every single day.

I appreciate that my children are healthy.

I have a car that runs, has heat, windshield wipers, is energy efficient, and is reliable.

I try quite hard to be thankful for what I have in the moment.

Good and bad.

Because it sure as heck beats being homeless, alone, starving, wet, cold, thirsty, and ill.

In my brain I know all this every minute of every day.

I don't even mind feedback in general.

I want to improve and learn.

I just don't want to feel like I'm drowning most of the time.

I would like to be able to convey my lack of judgment of others to others without seeming to be elitist, stuck up, or arrogant.

I would like to ask for help and to be perceived as a learning individual. Some one who's just trying to figure it all out.

A seeker, attempting to acquire skills without harming or offending anyone.

Does that even make sense?

I'm so confused, as always.

I wish all my readers a good and enjoyable weekend.

Peace out.

Body Surfing

Back in the days when I lived a block away from the Pacific Ocean, I used to love body surfing.

Jumping up right before the wave hit me and then allowing the wave take me away.  Floating on top of yet within the wave.  It gave me a fabulous feeling of freedom.  A lightness of being.

The warm sunshine, the warm, clear, salty water, the ripple-like sandy bottom of the ocean floor.

Magic and complete joy.

Peace.

At this point in my life, I'm body surfing the tumultuous waves of events in my life.

Yesterday I was slammed into the sand by a harsh wave of the realities of my job.

OUCH.

Wave after wave of "constructive criticism" crushed me, leaving me with a mouth, nose, and a face full of gritty, scratchy, painful sand.  Ears clogged by water and gunk.

More waves consisting of flotsam and jetsam crashed over me.

From the north, south, east, and west of me, came the waves.

Unrelenting.

I cannot elaborate.

I will continue to surf.

I have no intentions of drowning or getting feasted upon by predators.

I refuse to sink beneath the surface to join certain factions.

My mouth will remain closed so the water and sand don't choke me.

Body surfing.

Not as much fun but still doable.

Sucking It Up

Janice will be peachy keen.

I am sucking it all up and attempting to be a mature and responsible adult.

Any and all hugs welcome.

Don't hurt yourself on my strong metal big girl panties! LOL.

My day...

From waking up at 4 a.m. and not being able to go back to sleep. It began.


My day=TOTAL FAIL:.


'nuff said for now.

I did manage to drive home safely and I consider that a small victory.  :o)

What's The Buzz?

Get this, the newest rumor at the facility where I work is....ta-da! I'm pregnant and expecting a baby in April.

Bwahahahahahahahahahah.

I guess I'm one of the gang when residents start inventing juicy rumors about me.

I laughed for 10 minutes straight.

How was your day? 

It's Illness Time

McArmy has a virus and goes down range (officially starts basic infantry 14 week course) tomorrow. No chicken soup and gatorade from Mom this time. Sigh.

I have a cold. Surprise, surprise, as all of my residents were sick in the past week or two.

I wash my hands and use the hand sanitizer religiously but hey, when folks cough in your face, what can you do? (I want to bleach 'em all, I tell ya!)

It's worse than teaching preschool. Being a nurse, I mean. Germs, germs everywhere!!!

I see many similarities to a preschool. Haha.

Nope, not going into detail.

Let's just say not all folks play fair.

Friday was a crazy day. Had a fall, a hypoglycemic episode, and dementia rearing it's ugly head all at the same time. Now add in paramedics, family members, and administrative staff all gone for day.

I'm really beginning to think on the fly.

I wish every single one of you a fantastic week!

Hugs.

Wolf Spiders

I killed one of these spiders the other day.

Slammed it into the wall with my Stress Management textbook. Yeah. That was wonderfully stress relieving.

These spiders love to get inside houses in Western Washington. They're looking for mates. FAIL for this spider.

He did however, leave me some extremely disgusting bites.

That was too much spider dude! Makes me GLAD I killed you..

How dare you find your way into my bed while I'm sound asleep and bite the freaking heck out of me?

These are not tiny little read marks. Oh no.

Large oval areas with a nasty center that take weeks to heal. Almost look like a target but ickier.

Sucker got me about 6 separate places over several weeks.

WHAM!

Bye bye spider dude, I hope you rot in hell.

Rememberance Day

Remind yourself that every soldier is somebody's baby!!!!

In honor, gratitude, and memory of all those who have sacrificed their lives so that we may live in freedom from oppression and evil...........

Thank you.

With all my heart~thank you.

In honor and gratitude for those who have served and are serving in the military now and forever~thank you for protecting me and mine.

In honor of McArmy, who begins the realities of basic training tomorrow to prepare himself to become a warrior. and defender of freedom.......

You are always in my heart. I love you and will always love you. Thank you for who you are!! I am proud beyond words.

Time to Give Thanks and Only Thanks

My most excellent blog buddy  Suldog  has a passion for Thanksgiving.  His passion is so great he gets extremely cranky when Christmas decorations are in the stores before Halloween.  Can't blame the guy, can ya?

I agree with with Sully. There's an entire blackout, in retail, of Thanksgiving.

Stupid profiteers just want to sell, sell, sell!

Let's face it, Thanksgiving Day is not the best advertisement  for buying stuff. Any kind of stuff except maybe food for the actual Thanksgiving meal (besides my specific area where grocery stores may go on strike before Thanksgiving forcing folks to plan ahead!).

All stores except grocery stores and a few convenience stores are closed Thanksgiving Day.  

SHOCKING you say?

Not at all, I say.

Take a day off of spending money peeps.

Spend the day appreciating what you already have!!!

I'm not going to get into the argument about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in Plymouth, Mass.

Nope, not going there. (She says as she side steps any political issues.)

We all need to spend more time being thankful.

On the fourth Thursday in November, the United States decided to invent a holiday so that working folks could spending a day at home being grateful.

Let's honor that concept.

I know several of you LOVE to get all your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa shopping done by the end of September.  You'll that obsessively organized no matter what the retailers show on their shelves.  (C'mon being that organized is slightly obsessive.)

Seriously,(have ya'll noticed seriously has replaced  'You  gotta be kidding me!' in our culture?),do we really need all the freaking Christmas related items in stores before Thanksgiving day?

I will say loudly: NO WAY JOSE!

Four weeks before Christmas etc. is plenty if time to shop for decorations.

Who needs MORE holiday music?

NO ONE.

This is why I wear my iPod, so I don't have to hear another's selection of music.

Let's revel in the Turkey tradition!!

No red and green until Black Friday.

Boycott retailers who bombard the general public with early winter holiday products!! Do not buy from them, or wait until after Thanksgiving Day is over.

Embrace gratitude and rebuke the profit mongers!!!

Trying to Let It Go

I am cognizant that I have absolutely no control over any person's actions but my own.

The difficult part~completely accepting this and letting go.

I am trying to keep things in focus.

I'm gonna have bad days. At work. At home.

I'm gonna have better days. At work.

I'm making the effort to deal with one issue at a time. Not to worry about all the issues at once because change, in any form, takes time.

Certain things at work are better or I'm learning how to handle them.

Other things I just need to suck it up, keep my nose clean, and get the experience.
Working on getting into An ADN program ASAP. May take a year or so but I've started the process.

McArmy is in the army. That's a fact. It will take time to stop missing him so much. Working on that.

Other folks in the family are who they are. Working on that as well.

I will continue to walk though the rainy, windy, cold weather is making that more difficult. Time to find a gym and/or buy an elliptical. I need exercise. I enjoy exercise. Working on ironing out details.

Still trying to eat at healthily as possible. I did have a Coke Monday. Needed the caffeine and the high fructose corn syrup. Only because I was out of green tea. I have not eaten enough the past 2 days. I did not revert to crap, I just did not eat due to time constraints,exhaustion, lack of easily available food. Trying to pre-plan so I have enough protein shakes and healthy food options at home and to take to work.

All in all, my life is ever evolving and I'm working at everything as practically and calmly as possible.

Hugs.

Three in the Morning (again)

Sleep is elusive for various reasons.

I work the next several days.

Between McSelfish and his disregard for all other occupants of this house and McHub and his disrespect for me as a person........I am getting stressed out.

I may need to move out. Just to get enough sleep to be able to function at work.

This is an ongoing process and I reassess things hourly.

Those who pray for me, thank you.

I need divine intervention and grace right now, right here.

Not sure when I'll post again as I'm in survival mode.

Peace be with you all.

Challenges

Here I am with a new attitude, a new acceptance, and the willingness to allow a certain someone a chance.

1). Certain someone sabotaged us and he did not go to counseling appointment. Whoops he says. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

2). McArmy is in limbo until November 19th when his basic training actually begins. He cannot go to the PX, he cannot exercise, he cannot go anywhere, he has nothing to read, nada to do. Wow great use of our tax dollars.

3). I have to attend a dementia class on my 2 days off this week. Veterans Day has no bearing on this. I do not even know if I am getting paid to attend this class taught by the DNS. Fab-u-lous. Mandatory attendance. Required to have class by state.

I could go on and on but why bother.

It's going to be a very long month.

Perspective

Attitude is everything.

I used to hear that phrase from coaches, religious speakers, at PTA conferences.......I used to think, "Yeah. Sure. WhatEV!"

I begin to see the truth behind the statement.

Because of a conscious choice to change my perspective, I can find peace about my son in Basic Training.

I can accept and revel in my very long day at work yesterday.

I rejoice in new found friends.

I embrace some old friends I reconnected with this week.

Simply stated the world is a brighter place.

Blog Blast For Peace November 2010

Three years since I made my original Peace Globe.

Life has changed.

I still believe in world peace(to quote Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality ).

Now I have a son who has committed four years of his life to protect our freedom here in America and peace for others all across the world.

My son has honor.

He has devotion to a free world.

He will die, if needed, for our freedom.

While I fervently want world peace, I now understand that peace and freedom come with costs.

Costs that must be paid.

While I agree with Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and other freedom and peace idealists, my son is now my PEACEKEEPER.

I am somewhat conflicted about the United States' role in world peace.

I am completely clear about my support for the United States military men, women, and families.

Let's keep the peace to the best of our abilities.

Test Results

Despite my low fat, no trans fat, no saturated fat, no red meat diet I still have high cholesterol.

Despite my walking every single day I still have high LDLs.

However, my trigylceride levels are most excellent.

My HDLs are good.

My genetics are apparently screwing me over with cholesterol. Darn them.

Back on a statin.

That's cool. The main goal to get healthy and remain healthy.

If that means taking 10 milligrams of simvastatin every evening I can handle it.

I will continue to exercise.

I will continue to eat my no high fructose corn syrup, low fat, low salt, tons of veggies, whole grains. and fruit diet.

I don't even miss the Coca-cola, the butter, white bread, or red meat.

I don't miss the fast food.

It's all good. That's my motto for today. It's all good.

The Launch

He's done.  All sworn in. 

THRILLED he got the Option 40 aka Ranger School.

First 16 weeks of basic.

Graduation in March.

Airborne training.  Jumping out of planes and helicopters.

RASP after that.  It's a 10 week Ranger selection process.  Snake eating, survival training, all that macho soldier stuff.

If he makes it through RASP he's off to Ranger school.  That's to the best of my knowledge.

SOAR!

I wore his Go Army. Com shirt........................