baptist pie

Can you believe September is almost gone?  One last day, and this is it.  It goes so fast, all of it, but today is like..October Eve, and October is my favorite month, for so many reasons:  The really hot weather is gone.  There is a tingle in the air. And my vacation starts in 1 week!!! Now there's something to look forward to.  But for today, this last day, it's time to celebrate with 1 last yard sale, and then it's off to the Farmer's Market to find sweet potatoes and apples :-)

Good things happened in September:  Dr. H from my old place of employment filled in for our psychologist at work, and he stopped by medical records for a visit.  It was SO good to see him!  We had employee appreciation day, and it was fantastic.  We went to a part of the unit that was once nursing quarters when the prison was a TB hospital, a building away from the prison itself, outside of the razor wire fence.  Since the committee was short on funds (they worked so hard with what they had, though, and it was really nice), instead of popping for dessert, they held a dessert contest.  One woman made a hummingbird cake from a Southern Living recipe and it was GORGEOUS!  She had drizzled stick pretzels with white and dark chocolate and adorned the top of the cake with them, shaped like a bird's nest.  And she did the same with the larger pretzels (pretzel logs?) and lined them around the bottom of the cake.  Wow!  Ah, yeah, the desserts were the best - we had banana pudding, fruited banana pudding, brownies, etc, and my entry was Baptist Pie.

It was so simple! and  I did not have to kill 1 baptist to make it! aaaand, it won ribbons for most original and for taste.  It hardly seemed fair...but here's the recipe, if you want an easy dessert:

Baptist Pie

1-15 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1-15 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
1 can eagle brand milk
1/4 cup lemon juice

1-8 oz whipped topping
2 graham cracker crusts
coconut
chopped pecans

combine the drained fruits with eagle brand milk and lemon juice.  mix well and spoon into graham cracker crusts (i didn't brown mine).  top with cool whip, sprinkle with coconut and pecans, and refrigerate.  This seems to be better after it sits for a day. 

And I bet maraschino cherries would be pretty on top...and maybe drizzle it with some chocolate.

Happy October eve, y'all.

*Smile*

It was a good day, and the evening will be busy, and there are a lot of entries to catch up on reading - not to mention the poetry folder Moments of Rising Mist where my friends, Tina and Sees post, and I will do that later tonight after dinner and coffee and a little relaxation and some basking in the day's afterglow.  Received my motivational quote of the day, and thought it would be a good thing to leave for folks to see.

"It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars."

Garrison Keller                                                                              

Such a good ol' cat...

She was something else, in her younger days.  We named her Coot, and as she became more formidable, we called her Cooterror.

I remember the day we got her, and her sister, Susan.  I had given the hubby an ultimatum - either the mice go, or I do.  Nothing we tried worked. Everytime the neighbors cleared the field, our house was chosen as rodent refuge, and I had had QUITE enough.  So on October 18, 1994, we picked out 2 kittens at the Mission Sale. One was a beautiful tortoise shell (Coot), the other was a short hair black and white (Susan).

Sure enough, the mice went away.  I think it was the way Coot looked at them. She had this evil glare that could wither a cactus, but off the job, she was a sweet thing.

You know, one thing we did not count on was that the two cats would reproduce.  The first one to have babies was Coot.  She was a sweet mom, cooing to her babies in those throaty purrs mama cats have, and she took such good care of them.  Susan wasn't far behind.  One night, after midnight, we heard this godawful screeching in the hallway. 

OH MY GOD, THE CAT IS DYING! from my daughter.

I was frozen in the bed, afraid to find out what was wrong. The first one out of the bedroom was Coot, gone to investigate what on earth was wrong with her sister. Jim got up and checked the situation out and came back to bed, laughing.

What is it? I asked.

Well...Jim could never give a straight answer without making a story production out of it.  I went in the hall and the Susan was standing on her head, yowling. It is my belief she is in labor.  It's ok, Coot has everything under control.

and she did. Coot had run out into the hallway, meowed something to Susan and off the two of them went to my daughter's closet where Coot played midwife.  She didn't leave Susan's side until the babies were born and Susan was okay.

We couldn't have all those cats in the house, of course, so as soon as they were old enough, we began introducing them to the great outdoors, little by little, while we tried to find homes for them.  We had an old dog at the time, a poor soul who wouldn't bite a fly if it was biting him first.  I opened the door one day to find that sad old dog running from two things...I thought they were blue jays or something, but what had happened was, he got too close to the babies.  Both mothers were puffed out about twice their normal size and they had become AIRBORN, attacking that poor dog like kamikaze planes.  It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. The dog would run, drop down to the ground as if playing dead, and then get up and try to run again.  When the "girls" were sure their mission was complete - even if the dog was not dead - their coats returned to normal, they walked over to the babies and began talking to them in urgent tones.  I could just imagine what they were saying - Do NOT go near that canine creature.  It's dangerous!  Well, no life-loving dog would approach the babies of Coot and Susan.

And somehow, they decided they would eat like humans.  They would dip a paw into soft food, lift it up and eat as though they were using a fork or spoon. 

Well, Susan went to live with my brother, who needed a good cat.  Coot stayed with us and ruled the house.  She was queen and she knew it.  She was Jim's cat, though.  At night, she curled up on his chest and that's where she slept.  In the winter, she was his constant companion beside the wood heater.

A week ago, I noticed she was losing weight.  A trip to the vet was not much help.  Old age, he said.  She has lived a long life.  Give her some honey for energy, make her comfortable.

Tonight, the queen of the house could not make it onto the bed.

I wish I had the nerve to have her put down, but I just can't.  I keep thinking back through all the years she has been with us, and keep hoping that by some miracle, she will make it through another winter by the fire, cozy and warm.  Tomorrow, I'll make spaghetti - her favorite - and asparagus spears to tempt her with.

I wish they could live the years that we do.  It's so hard to give them up, when that decade or a little more is over.

 

 

oh shoot, i forgot to tag people

i tag sandi, martha, bert, and anyone else who reads this (see entry below, 6 weird things about yourself) and wants to play along.

Tagged by Paula

Ms. Paula included me in a group she tagged to play along.  These are kinda fun.

Six Weird Things About Me:

1.  I do rituals for closure, like burning letters. But it works!

2.  I have a touch of ESP, scared the ladies in the office one day by suddenly and urgently announcing - i have to call my daughter! and did so just as she was being loaded in an ambulance.

3.  I pick up "vibes" from people.

4.  I type haphazardly here, lower case letters and typos, but at work, I'm a      perfectionist about it.

5.  I name cars, appliances, etc.

6.  I have a thing about screen names.  i like seeing what i can come up with and attribute that to some frustrated creativity.  i make 'em and then forsake 'em.

Happy First Day of Autumn :-)

It was a long, hot summer, wasn't it?  But finally it stopped sizzling and today's date is a magic number.  You can almost hear the heat being doused to a dull hiss. Ah, the autumnal equinox, when the nip to the air lends a touch of excitement, leaves on trees burst to full glory, and change is crisp, elusive to grasp, but you know it's there. Some see it as depressing, a dying season, but to me it is a season of echoes and a last brilliant burst of life before rest. 

It's a relief, in some odd way.

And on the last day of summer, my brother married Patience. It was a simple civil ceremony and I couldn't attend because of work, but the story is, Steve turned to look into her eyes and was suddenly overcome.  He started to cry...and then his safety valve kicked in and he began laughing.  And apologizing for laughing.  Before he composed himself, the bride, mother of the groom and the magistrate were taken with a fit of giggles.  The only person who didn't laugh was my 14-year-old nephew who said - This is serious business, here.  The vows were so flubbed that the magistrate gave the bridal couple a copy to take home and said - You might need this later.

I had ordered a cake for the reception from Kathy, the pastry artist at work, and it was beautiful.  You haven't lived until you have seen and tasted a Kathy-cake.  She had written in icing...Patience and John.  I looked at it, looked at her, not sure how to say and then blurted...umm..his name is Steve.  No problem - her husband to the rescue with a bag of icing, and soon John was wiped off the face of the cake and replaced with Steve.

The reception was really nice.  Nothing fancy - pizza, hot wings, pigs in a blanket, and a to-die-for Italian salad from the food network, but the whole house glowed with contentment.  She is a special, exceptional woman, and we're all grateful to the internet that brought them together, and her into our lives.

It was so symbolic, marrying on the last day of summer, and beginning the first full day of their lives together on the equinox.

Happy Autumn, everybody. :-)

 

 

two more weeks...

and i cannot wait. the last month has been killer, but vacation is within reach.

dad and sis were in the hospital.  dad with pneumonia, carol with an overdose of dilantin. my son got the crap beaten out of him when he went to the aid of his girlfriend, who was having a fight with her brother-in-law.  they're all ok now, thank goodness.

there is something up at work, not sure what's going on with the inmates.  one day last week, i happened upon a verbal altercation between a kitchen officer and a worker.  after that, one afternoon we heard a whistle.  three sharp blasts, coming from the kitchen, and then we heard thundering feet and after that i closed the door to medical records and decided if a code was called, i was gonna grab roberta and monica and head out the side door.  luckily, it was only a fight between two inmates.  i'm sure the inmate whose adversary tried to throw him through the dining room window saw it as more than that but...

and the write-ups keep coming. it's odd...i really thought that minimum custody would be a little calmer than the place i transferred from.  i read the shift narrative today, and it told what was said in muster at shift change.  the officers were cautioned because there were verbal and assaultive inmates in the unit, and as usual..we're understaffed, officer-wise.

and then there was the argument between my boss and a person from another department.  they would NOT let it go, and my boss was written up. had to write a statement by witness, and i told it as i observed it...can't we all just get along??

BUT...there are many good things to be grateful for.  like today, when i walked out, there was one of my favorite officers from the unit where i used to work, come to make the pharmacy run.  i was so glad to see a familiar, friendly face that at first, all i could say was oooh!  and then told him - i'm about to break policy because i'm gonna HUG you.

and i have paycheck coming in every month, and the price of gas is going down...avon sales are up, and tomorrow, my brother is marrying the sweetie pie he found on the internet, of all places, and ya know...life is as good as how we see it.

yeah, i'm ready for vacation, but i'm a lucky, lucky woman, overall.

When Human Error is Fatal

I had just returned home from visiting my sister in the hospital when I read the article.  Two babies have died as a result of receiving adult doses of Heparin.  The drug is given to premature babies to prevent blood clots that could clog  IV drug tubes.

A quote from the hospital:  "This was human error - that's all."  And they offered an apology  to the grieving parents.

That's ALL?  My God, is that supposed to be reassuring or exonerating? 

Why, oh why WHY were the dosages not checked?  If someone is giving me or someone I love medication, I want them to CHECK what it is they're giving and make sure it's correct and accurate.

I left my sister at the hospital this evening after talking with her physician there.  A week ago tonight, she fell on her face because she was not strapped into her wheelchair.  For several days, she had been dizzy and a little bit disoriented.  She was sent to the ER at that time - she has a possible nasal fracture that is not displaced, lots of bruises on her head and two black eyes.

Last Wednesday, she was back in the ER because of altered mental status.  I thought - maybe she's having a bout with post-concussion syndrome.  Her cardiac enzymes were off the charts, yet she wasn't having chest pain.

New labs showed her Dilantin levels were three times what they should have been.  The physician at the hospital made a call to the nursing home's medical staff to ask who had raised her dosage.  The doctor there denied it.

As a matter of fact, her labs had been drawn two weeks ago and her Dilantin levels were normal. They were read to the nursing home doctor over the phone and he said - Excellent!  Continue her on 100 mg 3 times a day.  Well, here's where human error came into play. The telephone order was transcribed into the chart as 300 mg 3 times a day, and that's what she got for more than a week.

She wasn't having a heart attack - the medication was screwing up her enzymes and everything else. She is suffering from Dilantin toxicity.

It was a clerical error, the hospital physician told me.  Somebody owes her a BIG apology.

Why on earth was that not noticed?  Why would you increase a seizure medication in a patient whose seizures are controlled on the present dosage?  Why was the telephone order not read back to the doctor for confirmation?

He also said - the GOOD thing about errors of this nature is that they are a wake up call.  Policy and procedure will be reviewed.

Apology. I could spit that word in the faces of all who offer that to the parents of babies who received adult doses of medication and died, and those who overmedicated my sister and COULD have killed her.

Another person in the room said in a quiet voice to the physician who seemed to be glossing over the mistake...

A slip of the pen can kill a person.

Apology my ass.

charles to the rescue!

I haven’t seen him in i don’t know how long now.  we talk on the phone, as everybody knows, yet we never visit.  today, he made a huge difference in my day, and we even had a chance to visit in person.

i had gone to poodle corner to deliver an order i had been trying to collect for for a week with no luck.  i walked in and nobody was in the reception area - not one human soul, but there were at least a dozen canine guests in cages barking and growling their heads off at me.  the door has one of those bells on it that i thought would alert somebody of another presence so i waited at the desk.  and waited.  and waited.  i called out, but got absolutely no response.  well, my stubborn streak set in and i decided to sit it out and did - for 45 minutes.  aha! this customer was obviously avoiding me.  she had found me on the internet, and maybe she really was a crank.  and so after 45 minutes and a polite note to let her know i had been there, i went to the car.  which did not start.  damn damn damn. 

nothing i tried worked, and i was in strange territory with no one to call and no chance of even getting a human to the desk at poodle corner. and so i walked back in, reached over the counter at the reception desk and did the only logical thing. i called charles.

he knows i’m hopelessly lost when it comes to directions, but he figured out where i was and said - I’m on the way!  and in less than 15 minutes, my knight in a forest green dodge truck was there, being his usual gruff and grumpy self. 

you killed it, didn’t you? he pointed towards the car.

well yes, you know i did.

he tried to get it started but couldn’t.  he tried again, still didn’t work.  and so i was forced to go back into poodle corner, opened a door marked staff only (sometimes you have to break the rules) to let them know i was leaving my hunk of junk in their parking lot, but would return with a roll-back to get it.

and there she was - NANCY!  the customer i had never seen and could not pin down.  oddly, she was as pleased to see me as i was to see her.  she got her order, asked for more (which i just happened to have with me) and we were both happy.

and then i hopped way up into that dodge truck and charles brought me home. on the way, we got caught up a little.  he complained about having to go on deliveries with me (not really) and i gave him a free shower gel, which he eyed dubiously.

when we reached my house, he pulled out some computer textbooks and some student software and gave them to me. and i gave him a copy of e.e. cummings poetry.

not sure when or even if i’ll ever see him again, but he certainly saved me today in more ways than one.  now if he would only let me do the same for him in some way, i’d feel better.

i love my friend.  i really do.

happy weekend, y'all

"The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be."

Robert Fulghum

How to read your lab results

if you've ever received your lab results in the mail and wondered what they meant, this is  good reference info to have:

http://www.amarillomed.com/howto.htm

For all us lexophiles

Ok, so this was a forwarded email, but it's a good one!

 

FOR LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS):

1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

2. A will is a dead giveaway.

3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

4. A backward poet writes inverse.

5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

7. If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

14. Local Area Network in Australia : The LAN down under.

15. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

16. A calendar's days are numbered.

17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.

19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.

21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.

22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

23. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine .

25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.

29. Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.

Note: No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

that slave-driver muse

Sandi at  http://journals.aol.com/sdoscher458/LifeIsFullOfSurprises/ inspired me this morning.  She did homework assignment #127, which involved writing a haiku inspired by a picture.  That's what I surmise by reading - she's very good at short forms and writing, in general. I love her short stories. 

But she kind of jogged my memory with her entry...It has been a long, long time since I wrote poetry, and she brought the short forms to mind.  So now, I'm rambling back through time and remembering them and the discipline it takes to write them.  I have no discipline, but they really are fun.

One of my favorite forms is Haibun.It's a short prose narrative about a journey of any kind which includes one or more haiku, usually in the middle (for two) or at the end (for one).  I have written a couple of those in my time, but it takes practice, practice..mine fell short and so did spare time so...

but if any of you are up for a challenge (and there's a certain cowgirl out there who would be GREAT at these), here's one for you.  write a Haibun. It consists of one or more paragraphs, the prose, which is concise, coming first. It should be written in present tense and brief with abbreviated syntax.  i'll post mine here, and if you choose to write your own, leave the link to your entry.

Haibun

It is late afternoon as I drive along the stretch of country road that leads to Pleasant Hope. The cemetery is around one of the curves, to the left, beside the white A-frame church.

Tall pines shine
gold threaded
through green needles

I wonder how much this road has changed since my mother’s youth. I am  visiting her past; I recall stories of walking to church on dusty roads. She could not, or would not, make the trip today. Perhaps she is afraid progress has covered what she knew, and she would rather not see.

These roads are paved now, but the church is as she described it. Remote and pristine, time has not changed it. I trail a finger along iron railing.

cold to my skin,
i touch
my mother’s memories.

You can find much better examples of this form at http://www.haibun.net/

quote of the week

"Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all."

Norman Vincent Peale