Seven Radom Things about me......and Christmas

Well I have been tagged by my own woman to do the 7 Random things about me. Now I am told it can be 7 strange things, or 7 things I like or dislike...whatever I want. So in in keeping with the Christmas theme, I will try and tell you 7 Christmas things about me.....I then have to pick 7 of you to play along.....So here it goes.....
I usually don't allow Christmas music in the house until December 1st.....this year I broke that rule....it snowed yesterday and well it put me into the Christmas spirit.

• I like to colour coordinate my gift wrap with my decorations....I spend a lot of time wrapping my gifts....
  
  


• I collect Santa's and I am hoping to find a decorative Santa for my front doorway....









• My hubby has started a tradition of us going out into the mountain to cut down our tree...it has proven to be quite the adventure...it's going to be very interesting this year as he has his bad shoulder and I am working out the aches and pains in mine......


• I'm a bit of a control freak so I like things to just be so....well as so as they can be around Christmas....I want a Better home and garden Christmas on a beer budget


• I truly do love to give rather than receive.....I get so much joy out of watching the expression on others as they open their gifts.....I know that sounds so corny ...but it's true...as a kid I would rip and rush to open the presents just as quick as any kid...but as I've gotten older I really do appreciate the simpler things.....


• I love Christmas Eve.....way more than Christmas day.....Christmas Eve you still have the anticipation of Christmas....everything is done and it is just time to enjoy the family....we use to always get together at my brothers for Christmas Eve and do a gift exchange, it was a wonderful time...we all dressed in our Sunday best, all the nieces and nephews and cousins would be there...the house would be bursting with people....laughter,and song....oh yes Christmas Eve....so very special to me...

Oh I am just getting on a roll....and I see that I have listed 7 things......so there you have it

So tell me....what are 7 things about you that you would like to share.......

Oh the weather outside is frightful.......

Well I can't believe it....here we are at the beginning of another week.....and another week closer to the big day......Christmas!!!!

The weather has been cooling off and today as I type this we are getting our first snowfall of the season. It's funny how snow really gets you into the spirit of Christmas. I use to have a rule in the house...no Christmas music until December 1st....but you know what.....with the snowfall this afternoon, I just couldn't help myself.....yup....I played a whole bunch of Christmas tunes. You know what else I did.....I made hot mulled apple juice.....yummy....and it smells so good and festive. Hubby has been working outside all day so he very much appreciated coming in to the smells of the mulled juice.

I got my Christmas cards done last evening....so those will be off into the post by the end of the week. Had a doctor's appointment today so did a little Christmas shopping while I was in town.

I have been off work since last week due to a shoulder injury I incurred as a result of a patient transfer. Even with three of us transferring this patient and using a lift I still managed to hurt my scapulae and shoulder. It's feeling much better than it did last week, but the doctor wants me to do some physiotherapy this week and then I think I should be ready for work by next week. So with not working this past week I have been able to get a good start on Christmas. This coming weekend I am hoping to get my decorations out and maybe get a start on some baking.

Hubby is working like crazy....he's doing to much with that terrible arm and shoulder of his....sometimes he just amazes me as to what he can do.....I can hardly wait to see what he can do after his recovery from surgery. I think that is what has put the fire under him. He knows his surgery is in a couple of weeks and wants to get as much done before hand as he knows he is not to do anything....and we mean anything for the first couple of weeks. The first week they told us that I would have to bath him as he isn't even allowed to raise his arm. So this is all going to be very interesting. Lucky for him I am a nurse....actually he has always been very appreciative of having a nurse around....my poor accident prone hubby....actually I don't know if he is accident prone or if he is just a risk taker....what ever the reason he has certainly had is fair share of injuries. I think he has been injured since I have known him.

When we first met he was recovering from a motorcycle accident in which he tore his tri and bicep muscles.....he finally recovered from that only to have a quad accident.....recovered from that and then got hit by a car....never recovered from that....and hence the surgery and with his dislocation of the shoulder while we were in Mexico that kinda expedited things a bit. So here we are, finally we can see light at the end of the tunnel and it is wonderful.

As far as the fog I was experiencing last week....still not sure I have figured that out...but just so you know....while I was out on my run I realized that I could take a later ferry which meant I could go to hubbies appointment, take him home....and catch the ferry to see my girls. I spoke with my girlfriend and we are going to exchange calendars and hopefully get together in January.

My course is finished next week....I can't believe it...it went by so fast. I start another one in December and then another in January....so I will be busy....but it will all be worth it in the end.

Anyhow, I promise to get around to saying hi to you all very soon. Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my last post. I know I sounded down....I was....but it all worked out in the end.

Cheers!!!

There are two things you can be certain of.....

You know the saying ...."there are two things you can be certain of in this life....death and taxes" I think there is one more...."Life never goes according to plan" But then I guess one has to ask oneself...is there a plan. Were we brought into this world already predetermined as to how our lives would play out? I know there are some philosophers and theorist who believe this to be so.

Today, I certainly don't feel that my life is following my plan...so who's plan is it following?

My plans for going to the mainland to see my friend and my daughters has fallen through. Try as I might, I couldn't coordinate things on this side of the pond. My husband's appointment and his schedule are conflicting. I can get him to his appointment and even stay....the plan...or so I thought was that he was going to take a couch line bus home....as it turns out there are none. He wasn't going to tell me this....or so he says. We are in the mists of a disagreement...one that I feel backed against a wall. As a result I have cancelled my plans for the mainland...I called my girls left them messages, emailed my friend and left a message at the hotel she is to check into. I am feeling very bad about not being able to follow through. My eldest daughter cancelled a shift at work so she could see me and my friend, and my daughter is in no position right now to give up a shift. I have told her I will pay for her loss of wage for today. Then there is middle daughter....I told her I would be there to wish her a Happy Birthday.....and never mind how I have disappointed my friend.

So who's plan was this anyways?.....I make no one happy....especially myself....my husband and I are having words.......I certainly did not plan this nor anticipate it, so whose design was this? What is it that I am to learn from this? What could I have done differently? I like to believe we learn something from our mistakes or life's experiences....in this circumstance, I think it is going to take some time before the fog clears so I can see what it is I was to learn.

Oh by the way.....Happy Thanksgiving to my friends accross the border.....gobble gobble

What to do.....

Do you remember this song?

Nelson - Garden Party Lyrics

I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends

A chance to share old memories and play our songs again

When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name

No one recognized me, I didnt look the same



Chorus

But its all right now, I learned my lesson well.

You see, ya cant please everyone, so ya got to please yourself



People came from miles around, everyone was there

Yoko brought her walrus, there was magic in the air

n over in the corner, much to my surprise

Mr. hughes hid in dylans shoes wearing his disguise



Chorus



Lott-in-dah-dah-dah, lot-in-dah-dah-dah



Played them all the old songs, thought thats why they came

No one heard the music, we didnt look the same

I said hello to mary lou, she belongs to me

When I sang a song about a honky-tonk, it was time to leave



Chorus



Lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)

Lot-in-dah-dah-dah



Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped johnny b. goode

Playing guitar like a-ringin a bell and lookin like he should

If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck

But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck



Chorus



Lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)

Lot-in-dah-dah-dah



n its all right now, learned my lesson well

You see, ya cant please everyone, so you got to please yourself



Transcribed by robin hood

More Nelson Lyrics...

Well it's the course that actually came to mind. " Ya can't please everyone so you gotta please yourself" For the past few weeks now I have been trying to organize and coordinate getting the girls over for middles daughters birthday. If there is one thing to know about me. it's that I like to have things organized and have a plan. I think that stems from having worked night shifts for so many years and having to balance raising children and working shifts and all of lifes commitments.

Anyhow, along with this my dear friend who I haven't seen in 3 years will be in Vancouver around the same time that I was thinking of having my girls over. So through many emails and telephone calls I am not sure I am any further ahead. Eldest daughter won't be able to make it at all due to work commitments, youngest daughter has alternate plans, and middle daughter tells me she really didn't want to come over for her birthday and that they were doing her birthday thing with her grandmother on her birthday. "Sigh" lump in throat. Feeling a little sorry for myself and left out.

Now as far as my girlfriend goes....as it is the day she gets in town I will just be getting off of night shift. I told her I could catch a mid morning ferry and meet her at her hotel around noon and we could get together then. "Idea" insert light bulb here......I suggested to my girls that they meet me with my friend(note my friend and I go back a long ways and she is my eldest daughters godmother...they call her aunty sue). Logistics....again trying to figure out my girls schedule, and meeting my friend. My girls are being a little non comm ital.

Throw another wrench into the mix. Hubby tells me that the day I have been planning on going to the mainland is the same day he has to go to the hospital to have his pre admission appointment for his up coming shoulder surgery.

Time to take a deep breath. Ok I say, what time is it at.....1:00 pm....ok .....I start to rethink things again.....if I go with him to his appointment we could still make the 3:00 pm ferry and then meet my friend for dinner. I talk to my friend about it...she thinks its a great idea......I suggest it to my hubby.....he is non committal. Enter the wrench......I want to go to his appointment with him...if I do that and he doesn't come with me to the mainland than how does he get home.....you see there are no buses to where I live.....and well taxi's are rare and if he were to get one it would cost approximately $150 to get him back home. Seems silly, now doesn't it?

So what to do......I want to see my girlfriend ........I think it's important I go to my hubbies appointment with him.....and well then there is middle daughters birthday......

".....Ya can't please everyone so you gotta please yourself.....lota dah dah... lota dah dah da"

Little of this and that....

Well I think this post will be a mixed bag of things. I did my last flu clinic today. I injected just over 500 people, in 3 1/2 days....that's a lot of shots. By the end of it I was starting to feel like a broken record...asking the same questions over and over....but you know...you have to...even if the next person is within ear shot of what I am asking I have to ask them. It was good. No reactions. Everyone very pleasant, I chatted with so many charming people. It was a great experience and I look forward to next year.

This week I also went to my local Hospice Society and decided to volunteer, it's been something I have wanted to do for sometime now. After meeting with the Excutive Director it was determined that they would like to see me as a Team leader. I told them however I could be of assistance. I have to take a 6 week training course. Seems kind of strange seeing as I directly nursed palliative patients for 5 years and continue to nurse palliative patients. But I suspect volunteering will be different. I think my challenge will be to take off my nursing hat and just be a volunteer and remember my boundaries as a volunteer and try not to take on to much. But I am excited, I think this will also help me with my long term goal of getting back into palliative care and hopefully being able to be part of a team who provides palliative services in the community.

Middle daughter is on her way over for a visit. Poor baby had her wisdom teeth pulled yesterday.....all four....ouch.....she is in a lot of pain....and is just wanting some mom time. I have tried to organize a massage and pedicure day for the both of us tomorrow...but so far no such luck...every shop I have called are booked. But I shall perservere.

Renos in the bathroom had to take a back seat this week. Hubby has been sick. Had a temp of 39.1 celcius...that's about 102 F. He's been so sick, but I think he is on the mend now....so maybe over the weekend we can get a start on it again.

So that's about all I have to say about that.....hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Cheers!

Storm season is upon us.....

Yesterday was stormy......very stormy....winds in some areas up to 130km/hr.....I was working nights...one of the day staff called early to invite me to sleep at her home...she didn't want me to drive home. I thanked her and told her if I can make the storms of last year I can certainly see my way through this one.

Little did I realize what I was getting myself into. I leave the hospital...I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and the storm....it felt like I could be picked up and flown away.....and I am no light weight. Anyhow, I make it to my car....the winds are blowing the raining is coming from all directions and it is falling hard.

I make my way out to the main part of town, when only just in the distance there is the loud pop their is a big flash of light and the all the lights go out....no stop lights, no street lights, nothing....I continue on. I drove another 5 mins only to hear another pop and flash and then no lights. It was crazy.

My ride home takes me along the water.....ocean to one side tall cedars on the other...or sometimes both.....the wind is blowing the rain is coming in off of the water.....the waves are high and rolling....the birds are loving it. I continue on...the wind making my car sway at times.....tree branches are falling in front of my car....some hitting my roof....I forge on. I get to a little community, of course there is no power......trees have fallen on the lines....for about 3km the trees are on the lines. I continue on.....I get to one of my favorite places that I have talked about called Rosewall Creek....I am about 15 mins from home at this point, but I can't go any further. A huge cedar is down right across the road...there is no getting around it.....I have to turn around travel 15 kms back in order to get up to the upper highway so I can make my way home. I am exhausted at this point. Just coming off of a 12 hour night shift and I am already an hour into my drive home.

I make it to the highway....the winds seem like they are at gale force, the highway is of higher elevation .....trees are down along this highway as well....but because it is the main highway on the Island it is maintained fairly well. I finally make it home...about 40 mins later than usual and extra 45km added to my drive because of the detour. I get to our drive and make my way down..only to see the carnage the winds had on our place....the vehicle storage tents have been blown away....stuff is strewn all over. I get inside only to discover that our power is out....they power was out for about 9hrs. Thank god for our generator, and fireplace...we managed to stay warm and have coffee. The power came on in time for me to shower and get ready to go to work.

I am hoping this isn't signs of things to come this season. I really think I need to trade my Mustang in for a truck.

Remembrance Day

Lest we Forget.......Today is Remembrance Day. A day that has been set aside to take a moment to remember those veterans who so valiantly gave of themselves so that you had I could have the freedoms that we enjoy today.

This can be a very difficult time for those that have lost loved ones in wars of past and in the current unrest in the world around us.

Let us never forget how they gave and give so unselfishly of themselves.

As I had the honour of meeting a relative of the creator of "In Flanders Field" it seems very appropriate to post that poem here today.

In Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

A brighter side of nursing......

The flu season is approaching and with that begins the start of another flu shot clinic. This post is not intended to debate whether we should get the flu shot or not. It's intent is to tell you about about another avenue nursing has taken me.

This year is my third year doing the flu clinic for my doctor's office. I usually start this time of year and do about 4 or 5 clinics. By the end of it all I will have inoculated approximately 500 people mostly seniors, or people caring for seniors. This year is no different than the past two years. I am meeting some of the nicest people I have ever met. They are talkative, friendly, inquisitive and so appreciative of the service that is being provided. It doesn't get much better than that.

As nurses we are very privileged to be able to enter the lives of so many in the way that we do. We have an opportunity to give guidance, support, information on prevention and so much more. Attending to the clients in the flu clinic is no different. Once I ask them a few questions and tell them a little about the flu shot and what side effects they might encounter , they go on to tell me about a variety of things going on in their lives. Medications they are taking, illnesses they have had, what they are doing in their life at present, and ask for advice. Just a whole gamut of topics. Yesterday was no different. A few jokes were shared smiles were exchanged and a sense of well being ensued. One encounter with a husband and wife lead me to becoming privy to a conversation. It turns out that I was giving an injection to someone who's relative was the creator of the poem "In Flanders Field". With Remembrance day approaching I couldn't believe what a honour it was to meet this person. We chatted. I said that poem was instilled in me as a child and in my children. That poem is synonymous with Remembrance Day. I remember doing my Remembrance Day post last year, where I sited the author and poem In Flanders Field by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae MD, (1872-1918). I still feel so very honoured to have met this person, and had an opportunity to chat. Such a lovely couple, so warm caring and compassionate. How fortunate that I should be their nurse that day.

Nursing is so varied. There are variety of nursing options out there. Doing the flu clinics, is one of those options. It is such a nice change from the very clinical ICU environment in which I work full-time. You know that saying a change is a good as a rest. Well it certainly holds true in this case. Those patients in the clinic were all so appreciative of the service I was providing and yet it is I who felt fortunate to be able to sit with them and enter their lives if only for a short moment.

As a nurse I am able to spend a little more time with the patient, well in this circumstance anyways. I listen to what they are telling me and start putting things together in my head about their diagnosis their medications their treatments all the while they could be just telling me a simple story in the day and the life of themselves. But through that story I can detect many things and it is my nursing background that provides me with those tools.

I am currently working on obtaining my degree, that in itself is a story which I will share with you in another post. Through the course I am learning about the concepts of caring, humanism, phenomenology, ways of knowing, time/transition and personal meaning, just to name a few. At first I thought yeah right, we do this all time, so why do I need a course to tell me this and to analyze the heck out of it. But you know, I have really enjoyed it. It's helping me understand why I do and say the things I do...something that I thought was just an innate part of me and to some degree it still is, but to be able to explore it and how these concepts might effect my delivery of care.

So here I am venturing on a new path in my nursing career, trying to be more aware of my behaviours and actions towards my patients and exploring alternate nursing options. Nursing, even with all of it's ups and downs, it is truly an amazing profession.

Christmas is coming so renovations must begin...

Why is it that when the thought of Christmas rolls around we start to think of renovations.

Hubby and I for some time now have been talking about doing some much needed renos to the bathroom. We have never liked much about the bathroom, but when the tile around the tub started to give way...we decided that now would be the time to make the much needed changes. Little did we realize what we were in for.

A few weeks back we went out and bought the tile for the tub and flooring, but just hadn't found the time to get the project started. But on Sunday, my first day post night shift I decided was the time to get the project started. Like any renovation the only thing you can be assured of is something going wrong. I was in charge of hammering and removing the tile from around the tub. The first tiles came off relatively easily. It was when I got to the side wall that I realized that the tile wasn't coming off as freely. It turns out that the wall hadn't been prepared properly and and as a result, the gyproc was coming off with the tile...and not just a little, but in chunks. Oh well hubby says...he wanted to replace that anyhow he says. Next thing you know we are down to the plastic and insulation. We decided that seeing as the facets had been leaking that now would be a good time to change them....so we went and bought new facets.....but then...well the tub was scratched and tarnished because of the leaking facet so we decided we should replace the tub as well. Now this is where the fun begins. Out comes the tub...only to find the plumbing needs to be replaced. This 2 day job is really taking on a mind of it's own. Currently we have no tub or shower....the old tub is out in the back of hubbies truck and the new tub is in the middle of the hallway getting fitted with it's new plumbing. Hubby spent most of the day working on the plumbing...only to find that he needed some extra parts. So at 5 mins to closing time hubby needs to go to the hardware store. Thank goodness he made it. He was hopeful that the tub would get installed tonight...but no such luck. Again, one task has lead to another..so we will go without the tub for another day.......hmmmmm

I am optimistic that the bathroom renos will be done for Christmas....that would mean the flooring being done...new granite counter tops...new light fixtures....sink and toilet...and then painting....hmmmm.....have we taken on to much?....but we can't stop now...it's onward and upwards.

So what about you....do you have a reno nightmare story you would like to share? And do any of you out there have the answer to the question ...."why do we start renos just before Christmas?"