oh my stars...

addendum:  lady clairol decided that instead of dark brown, i would look better in auburn...

oh no...

i just breezed back

into town - again, a few hours ago, and hope everybody had a safe and good holiday.  the weather here was beautiful, and had i been home, i would have made it into the pool - but there's always tomorrow.

and now i'm sitting in front of the computer screen waiting for 25 minutes to tick by while lady clairol does her thing and covers my "wisdom."  that's what my co-worker, mae, calls the grey in her hair...i really like her attitude, but never meant to be quite this wise, you know?

we spent the holiday taking care of my daughter, who has something called POTS  ( postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).  she stands up and she passes out - her veins don't constrict like they're supposed to and her blood doesn't make it to where it's supposed to go...a couple of days ago, i got a call at work.  she had just gotten back from the emergency room after passing out.  she was unconscious for 45 minutes, and when the emt's reached her, they performed a rescue technique that involved pressing on her sternum, and she finally woke.  the emergency room doctor consulted with a cardiologist and they finally, finally have her on some medication for POTS.

we were all very pleased that at last, she was getting treatment.  her father and i loaded the car and headed to her place for the weekend and were a bit upset when we saw her condition.  she was in horrible pain.  said her head felt like it was splitting in half.  i asked if she had CT scan at the hospital and she said no - they did a neuro exam on her and decided she was ok.  but she wasn't.  sunday morning, she woke up confused and in more pain.  so back to the ER we went - she had a concussion.  i have to wonder why the physician's there didn't think she would...a neuro exam doesn't tell everything, and it ticks me off that they let her go home without checking her out thoroughly.  what if she'd had bleeding of the brain??  you don't just let somebody go home with head trauma without making SURE they're ok.

luckily though, there is no bleeding and she's fine, but out of work for this entire week and taking percocet for her head.

so we played mom and dad (frankly, i loved taking care of her.  has been so long since either of my kids needed a mom) and we cooked for her and made sure she got her meds right and cleaned..the whole nine yards.  and as much as i loved playing mom...if itmeans she won't get hurt or sick again, i'll gladly go see her and sit on my butt while she cooks and plays hostess.

but we had fun, too.  the percocet made her talkative, and let me tell you - that girl can TALK without drug inducement.  so except for her injury, it was a good weekend.  and i got to spend some time with my girl.

still no word on my friend's daughter.  :-(  i'll keep you guys posted, and thank you for your prayers.

i think lady clairol has covered my wisdom sufficiently now.  y'all have a great week.

hugs!

once family, always family

I had some fears about leaving my old job at Hoke - mainly that I would lose touch with the people who work there.  We aren't in contact every day, but we do communicate.

Someone left a note on my desk on Thursday.  It said:  From Hoke - Captain Stewart's daughter has been missing for 2 weeks.

She had been on a road trip to the state capitol and somehow had lost her way.  She called from her cell phone to let Jean know she was lost, but trying to get directions, and she would be home as soon as possible.

She never made it.  Her car hasn't been found.  Her cell phone hasn't been used.  Her credit card has not been active.  It looks pretty grim right now...

I cannot begin to imagine what Captain Stewart and her family are going through.  And there's not much I can do for her - such a fine woman whom I care about.  But I can pray...and if you pray...please, please add yours, too.

Thank you.

 

30-day challenge update

i'm embarrassed to say this..but until Lori at Dusty Pages reminded me, i had forgotten about the 30 day challenge. on reflection, i've come to conclude that what were once intentions have become habits, because...at work, i'm down to 24 minutes of dictation on the machine, desk number 1 is now visible because the charts are down to a manageable stack, there is only one pending release of information (had to wait for the doc to dictate the summary), and the paper...well, we won't go there. the house is clean, i've begun each day with prayer and meditation and am now working on the food in the freezer thing.

i am of the mind that journals are a useful tool because 1. they help keep a person centered. 2. they are a great place for emptying brain clutter, thereby making room for actual thinking and 3. they keep the wheel greased, so-to-speak. slowly but surely, a little of my former creativity is sparking. perhaps one day, it will catch fire. so if you don't have one - get one today!

by the way, stormie has started a brand new journal called Cat Tales. She has made some cute entries so far about how her cats use her computer and other adventures, and i love it!

y'all, if the html is all screwed up in this..i apologize. i'm so out of practice it isn't funny.

I

am whooped.

something happened to me this morning that made me want to check the mirror to see if it was really me.  and what was that, you might ask?

i worked like a dog.

washed 4 loads of clothes, changed all the bed linens, scrubbed the kitchen, washed the walls, baked 2 cakes and a pot of spaghetti, swept, dusted - didn't mop.  shoot. i knew i forgot something.

and today was my boy's birthday.  dale is 18 today...hence, the cakes that we took to mom's and dad's where we had a small family gathering.  and tomorrow, my girl and my little sara pie are coming from durham, so we'll probably do it all over again.

sara is my 2 year old granddaughter.  she's a character.  i often think she'll do a fine job of raising her mother.  last night, sara and i were on the phone and she was chattering away.  suddenly she stopped and said - and how are YOU?

i'll never forget the time jim was quizzing her. he was teasing and said..what's wrong with your mother?  is she silly.  sara, who had just started talking a few months prior to the inquisition, shook her head solemnly.  no.  i see.  is she mean?  sara shook her head again.  no.  hmmm.  she isn't silly and she isn't mean.  is she crazy?  whereupon sara nodded her little head yes, still solemn and said ...yeth. cwazy.

and lucky me...i have 4 weeks of vacation saved up.  one week is reserved for october, when jim and i are planning a romantic get-away.  but before that, i'm taking a week, bringing sara to my house.  can you imagine the trouble she and i will get into?

i love being a grandmother :-)

 

where what goes around comes back to.

the problem with waking so early is that it’s just too quiet, and my brain is so full.

this morning, it’s about karma. i don’t care who you are, what goes around comes around, and i’m witnessing that very thing at work right now.

one of the reasons i left the prison was because i knew it wouldn’t be long before gentry left, and i wasn’t staying there without her. they would have worked me to death - not that i didn’t work like a dog already. and it’s strange, but at one point, i wanted to leave because gentry was THERE.

i have an idea why she’s leaving. it’s because the assistant director of nursing is being made an example of…and gentry is afraid the same thing will happen to her. the new regime is sweeping through, but they should keep in mind as they dish out what the old one dished out that what goes around will come back to bite you.

i watched as the old regime deliberately trumped up charges, treated the nurses like dirt, got rid of people because they didn’t like them. they would find a way…but i honestly believe that the asst. DON and gentry are getting theirs for what they did to a woman named lillie.

lillie had family health issues she was dealing with. her son had aids, and her live in boyfriend of 7 years was dying of cancer. the woman had more on her than any human being should ever have to face alone, and some nights, she didn’t make it in to work because she was at the ER with one or the other. and then she herself had to have surgery. but she was a good nurse. and she had the time to take, so she took it.

lillie’s boyfriend died. she was with him when the end came, and she took a few days out of work to bury the man. and when she came back to work…she was fired. since she wasn’t married to him, she should not have taken time she didn't have anymore.  it was all used up. she didn’t qualify for any leave. and we all know the state has no heart.

but someone could have helped her. it’s amazing what powers a department head can wield if they want to…but nobody wanted to help lillie. instead, without proof, they decided she was an alcoholic and the reason she was out of work so often was because she was drunk. gentry had a hand in that. the assistant DON had a hand in that.

you know, i don’t doubt there were times lillie got sloshed. if i were facing what she faced, i’d be tempted to drown my sorrows and forget my load for a while. but they had not oneshred of proof. and her companion had just died. and then she lost her job.

i kept up with lillie for a while. when she found out gentry was my new supervisor, she warned me of what might happen. and from what i was experiencing at the time, i believed her. she told me she had a lawsuit against the state and she gave me a list of people who were named in it. i’m not sure what happened with that…i do know she fought for unemployment that the unit head protested and she won it. i do know that while the battle was going on, she lost her home, was forced to move to a slum-type neighborhood.  she had a heart attack and survived it. she went through hell.

and now the old regime that deliberately set out to get rid of people like lillie find their heads on the chopping block. one is under investigation and can’t practice her profession until it’s over. and i have a feeling it won’t be over until her retirement in august. and gentry is leaving of her own accord, on her own terms. but still, she’s leaving when she would have stayed longer. they made it impossible for her to run her unit. the battle that has gone on has been nothing short of explosive.

so what goes around does come back again. i think it’s the universe’s way of taking care of those who can’t take defend themselves from those in power. i think it’s the universe’s way of collecting debts incurred by the deliberate mistreatment of others. gives you pause to ponder, doesn’t it?

bifocals ain't no joke

good morning.  it is currently 5:08 a.m. and i have been awake since 4:03.  i've got coffee, got a/c, am being stared at by a cat (not rosie - she doesn't stare lately.  she just attacks), and i am trying to sit far back enough from the screen so i can see it.

i love the new glasses.  i can see road signs i never knew existed.  i no longer mistake poles for human beings and can tell tire rubber from roadkill.  those nasty little headaches have gone away, but i'm still not quite used to multi-focal lenses.  if i turn too suddenly, the room swims.  looking through the lenses wrong makes everything blurry and occasionally, the countertop will come to life while i'm slicing and dicing. it moves. so far, there have been no accidents on stairwells.  i've heard horror stories about people missing steps and falling.  and i know it will take time to adjust...but now i know why some folks wear their glasses on the ends of their noses.  so they can SEE.

but this is much, much better.

5:17.  it's gonna be a long day...y'all have a good one.

a very, very good day

it's no secret that i have no life to speak of outside of work and family.  frankly, though, i get out enough.  and there isn't time for much of anything else in between.  one of the perks of working in medical records is the amount of 'company' each of the three of us who work in there gets - specifically for that person.  don't get me wrong - the visits aren't long, but they're fun.  and today was great.  we had ms. hadley in for coffee.  i took some gourmet stuff in, produced by a major candy company and she was the first in line for it ;-)   jim the social worker stopped in as usual, first thing this morning and visited and shot the bull with ms. horton and me for a few minutes.  and then atkins, my old buddy who quit the prison before i did, called, asking for the fax number so she could fax her application in to the director of nursing, and would i deliver it to her personally.  of course.  atkins, i'll always be your secretary!  later in the day, as i was coming in from my lunch time cigarette break, i saw a familiar head in front of me.  kept trying to place him but it just wouldn't come into focus...and then it hit me.  it was the irreverand, as i called him years and years ago before i ever went to work for doc.  i called out to him, he turned around and he remembered me.  he asked about mom and dad, gave me a hug, we chatted in the hallway for a few minutes and then he had to catch up with the other chaplains who were probably out of the building by that time.

and then, andrews came in.  she winked at me and said, i'll see you in a few!  and she came, swooped me out of medical records and we went for a quick catch up break and chatted for a bit.

and then bryant came in, and at the same time, the hospital administrator came in and while bryant was extolling her virtues and letting lucas know that she had been contract for six long years and had done every job imaginable except for nursing, and that was debatable...well, i couldn't help it.  lucas was already pointing at me and laughing, so i said it.  i said...it's getting kind of DEEP in here, isn't it?

but see, i can tease bryant that way because she's so much a part of the family.  we had a great time laughing.  and later, on an excursion to check the mail, i saw agy walking down the hall.  and lambert.  and gillespie! all of them from the prison i left.  i hugged them all and went back to work, and that was pretty much it for the day.  and believe it or not, the day was productive.  we got in our monthly activity report without mentioning company or visits from the outside.  and we got a lot of work done, too.

and later i talked with my old friend, charles.  what a sweetie pie he is, no matter how intimidating people think he is. 

it was a very, very good day, and the only dark spot in it was finding out that gentry, who is on a leave of absence, will not be returning.  DOC has lost one of the finest nurses it ever had.

what a weekend it was

it was full, very busy and wonderful.  on saturday, jim took me to visionworks to get my glasses prescription filled.  first time bifocals, and of course, i had to have the lineless ones.  since it was going to take a while for them to be made, we zipped back to mom's and took her shopping.  dad had given her cash for mother's day, and she wanted a new outfit.  so off to belk's we went, but first she wanted seafood.  we took her to john's barbeque (which sells the best seafood, as well) and she got a deluxe platter.  and then, when she was all shored up for shopping.

as sick as this woman is, she can shop circles around me.  we were in belk's for what seemed hours as she scouted for just the right colors, just the right outfit.  she looked at shoes, jewelry, handbags...and when she finally finished that, she wanted to go to walmart!

on sunday, i had resigned myself to the fact that neither of my children would be around for mother's day.  i got up early, made a pot of Frangelico Coffee to help me recover from my shopping trip/glasses excursion, and jim, bless his heart, decided i should have a newspaper.   so there i was, alone in the house, wearing shorts and a comfortable T when the dogs started barking.  off to the bedroom i dashed to pull on something presentable when suddenly - my daughter was standing my bedroom door.  i squealed.  i jumped up and down.  i grabbed her around the neck and hugged her hard, and she laughed.  and then later, my son made it to mom's for lunch with us.

it was a great day.  :-)

i hope you all had a wonderful mother's day.

Imperilling I. Rascal

The spammers have done it - they hit my domain mailbox full force.  It was like an assault - she can't possibly delete this many!

Annoying though it is, you have to admire their creativity. The names they choose are amusing.  For instance, Imperilling I. Rascal, Lifesavers S. Flycatcher - and my favorite - Relatively K. Wanton.  The list goes on and on and...on.  I suppose legitimate names weren't getting the attention they wanted.  Well, they got mine - if it's an absurd name and has an attachment - *CLICK*

Work is certainly tame these days.  That's fine with me.  I'm usually at the transcription desk trying to decipher Drs. Lee, Khan, Elsaid and Cox.  Was transcribing one of them recently and I kept hearing the phone in the outer office ring.  I ripped off the earphones, answered, but dang.  Was too late.  No sooner than I had the earphones back on, it rang again.  And again, I was too late.  Went back to work...lo and behold, it rang again.  By this time, I'm noticing a pattern.  The phone does not ring until I'm wearing headgear...I'm almost embarrassed to type this, but...

the phone was in the background of the dictation.  It never did ring in the office.  It was a recording! What can you do but laugh?

I'm still getting used to the doctors' habits.  I would prefer they not dictate immediately after lunch or breakfast, because you're plowing ahead and suddenly...BRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!

Ms. Horton - he just BURPED at me!  I think it was a burp...HOPE it was a burp..

One afternoon, I got stuck on one word.  One word can tie you up for 20 minutes, and I was making no headway.  I talked along in the physician's accent and all I could get was ADC.  It isn't unusual to get abbreviations, but I couldn't find one to match in the drug reference book, nor in our approved abbreviation list.  My last resort was Ms. Horton, who has been listening to these guys for years and so I broke down and bothered her.

She listened, then burst out laughing.

That's one of his words. He uses that for etcetera - get it?  E T C.

Good heavens.

 

Done.

Ava once told me that I expected too much of myself.  She could be right, but who knows...anyway, I've thought about this 30 day challenge thing and have decided what my challenges will be:

becoming more organized at work and at home.  right now, we're short staffed in medical records.  thank god for roberta, for she is a grounding influence and keeps me from feeling too overwhelmed.  this morning, i made a list of goals for the week.  the jobs i do take time, so the first thing was to be realistic about getting them done.  so far, i've completed one and part of another out of 8. yeah! so the plan there, is to create my lists and check off the items as i go.

at home, i'd like to do what martha does and cook for the freezer.  that's plan number 2.  a saturday cookfest out of the month would certainly go a long way in easing the day-to-day chores.

what i really need is more time for prayer and meditation...so that's an important part of the challenge.  and that's it for the next 30 days.  the next 30 should be interesting.

 

30 Day Challenge

I've been easing Monday into existence by reading journals, and Lori (Helmswondermom) introdruced me to a brilliant idea and to martha at life's little challenges.  Will come back to do hyperlinks, but it's so early and my time is limited right now. 

Anyway, these ladies have such good ideas that I have decided to jump on their bandwagon.  They talked me right into it just by posting.

The thing is, there are so many areas of my life that need helping, I don't know where to start. Martha has some brilliant ideas to make cooking easier.  Lori has some great ideas about becoming more organized. 

I'll have to think this through and zero in on the most important areas first, and after that, another 30 day challenge might be in order.  ::sniff::

I'm pulling for you, ladies!

Y'all have a great Monday.

Thank you Tina :-)

Odd, I thought with age, things would slow down, but life has been extra busy lately. Today I am determined to  steal a few minutes for journaling and catching up.  And I'm typing to you from a new location!  It's very nice here, quiet, private, and I am surrounded by the scent of vanilla.

My mother is home from the hospital, has been for a couple of weeks now.  Her meds are adjusted, and she knows there's nothing else that can be done for her, but she hasn't just gone to bed to wait to die.  She has a new best friend - my Aunt Bessie - and a new hobby that Bessie inspired - baking.  Mom has never been one for baking at all.  I don't think she even made a cake until I was an adult, and she never did bake cookies, but she's enjoying piddling around the kitchen, talking with Bessie, Patience and me.  She's nothing short of inspirational.

Dad fell this week...don't know why.  He was trying to work in his garden, was kneeling, stood up and fell backwards.  He's grouchy..but who wouldn't be, after what he's been through?

So between moving everything and checking on everybody and studying, there has simply been no time. That's a good thing, though...I'm thoroughly enjoying myself in many areas, meeting new challenges - trust me, doing transcription for Dr. K is quite challenging.  The man talks like he has a mouth full of marbles. 

Bessie gave me a few cook books - Southern Living - and they're wonderful!  There are spinach recipes all over the place! 

So there is cooking to do, new dishes to try. And books!  There are books to read...I keep finding new (old) ones that I bought at yard sales or book sales and when I can squeeze them in, I'm reading.

So life is good.  and I'm very blessed and don't know what I've done to deserve it all.  I'm thinking I've done nothing to deserve it but I'll take it.

 

can't help it..i like quotes

"The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little."

Thomas Merton

"In love, it is better to know and be disappointed, than to not know and always wonder."

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