The Visit

It's been a busy two days. My sister decided she was going to come for a visit. If there is anything one get's to know about my sister is that she is one of those people who tries to put as much into her day as possible and I am sure the saying "kill two birds with one stone" was named after her.

Yes she decided to cross the pond to come visit, but that wasn't of course until after the day she had. She travelled over 60 km in the morning to go help her eldest daughter out at the schools fundraiser for Valentine's day....after spending a few hours there she ventures over to the other part of town....another 45 mins drive to help outone of our other sisters who was having a severe allergic reaction to some laser surgery she had. Once assuring herself that other sister was ok and got her what she needed she got back into her car drove another 40 mins back to her place....packed her stuff and then went to go get my brother...who she decided would also benefit from a trip to come see his baby sis...Great! After then getting brother she picks up my youngest daughter and they all head off to the ferry...another 35 mins drive away. She, my brother and daughter make the last ferry out....they arrive at my house at 11:30 at night. Youngest daughter was absolutely exhausted as she had been up since 0445 that morning to go skiing, so after some hugs and mummy tucking her into bed she was down for the night. Not so for sister, myself , hubb and brother. We sat around and chatted and chatted some more.....stayed up way past our bedtime....0400!!!! What were we thinking.....I guess we weren't.

Sister and I, both with our new glasses and noting how much we look alike

It was a good thing that the day before I had made some of the meals ahead of time knowing that I didn't want to spend time cooking rather visiting.

My niece also decided she and her youngest son wanted to come for a visit. So they arrived mid morning. Eldest sister and I had already managed to get out for a vigurating walk before she arrived...after only 3 hours sleep I don't know where I found the energy. But it was lovely.

We were on a tight time schedule as my sister had to catch the 5:00 pm ferry back to the mainland to go to the ballet with other family memebers. So it was a hurry up and have fun kinda of day. After our early morning walk and the arrival of my niece, I decided that we should do lunch and then take my niece and great nephew out for a little tour of the area. The weather was variable yesterday. Cloudy, raining, windy, sunny....seemed whatever old man winter wanted to throw out there he almost did...except the snow of course....

Now having my new truck I was able to get everyone in the truck....well youngest had to sit on hubbies lap and great nephew had to sit on grandma's lap...all buckled in of course....anyhow, we venture off to a place called Spider lake....it's very close to my house....in the summer it's a lovely little lake to go for a swim....fishing is fabulous there.....I've been told they get 9lb bass out of the lake.....anyhow, we venture to the lake....of course it's starts to rain.....and it was cold....so we didn't stay out of the truck for very long......

My sister aka grandma wanted her grandson to see the ocean....so that was our next stop....down to Sunnybeach to see the ocean.....again it was raining, the wind was blowing...and it was darn cold....but great nephew really enjoyed himself....he couldn't blieve the size of some of the sea shells in a very short period of time he gathered more than enough shells.
Well we didn't stay at the beach to long due to the weather....but it was nice to get out. We got home and my sister had to start getting ready to leave. Those that were staying I fed coffee and lime cheese cake I had made.

Oh and just a note to self....when you have company for meals...find out what people's dietary requirements are.....I had planned the meals the night ahead. I made vegetarian lasagna, prepared an arugula salad with raspberries, madarine slices and pine nuts with a raspberry vinegarette dressing, along with a french loave. That is what I had planned for dinner....I was going to make a one pot Italian rosotto dish until my sister talked me out of it. The night before I had also prepared cinammon buns that I would put in the oven when I got up. Breakfast was homemade cinammon buns, yougurt, and blueberries and lattes....big brother had his porridge...somethings never change. Anyhow, as it turns out my niece was on some cleansing program..which meant she wasn't eating dairy or wheat products....great...now what....but actually it all turned out ok....it was dinner which became the problem because the lasagna got eaten for lunch....so I had to get creative.....niece not being able to eat wheat...I had some couscus in the house so made some of that....roasted butternut squash and baked chicken was for dinner.....niece thought her ferry was at a different time than it was.....she had to high tail it out to catch the last ferry home last night.

So after a worldwind visit from family yesterday, today I am going to relax...youngest daughter and I are going to go out for a nice walk...and maybe some shopping.......

Amore.......

Well today is Valentine's Day. I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day, but when we did this week's Heads or Tails the theme was Love. I visited some wonderful blogs on Tuesday and saw all kinds of things of what love meant to them or what brought love to people. My post was about Love and things we remember about Love. These two gave me an idea for what I would post for my Valentine's Day post. And it falls along the lines again of things I remember I love.

Do your remember all those cards your children made you over the years? Or if your were/are a teacher all the cards you received from your students....or a card that was given to you by someone who meant so much to you?

Well I have to admit, I am one of those parents that has saved almost every card or piece of art work my daughters ever made me and I am so happy that I did. On Tuesday after looking at all the themes on love I remember how much love my daughters gave me when they presented me with those cards....well now still having them....I treasure them even more. And so for my Valentines Day post I would like to share with you some of the little treasures my daughters gave me for Valentines when they were young.....

The above is the front and inside of a card my eldest daughter gave me, she was in grade 2 at the time....she's now 22.

These two were from middle daughter she was in grade 4 & 5 when she gave me this card....she's now 19.

And finally, this one is from my youngest daughter, I can't believe I didn't have this dated...but knowing what her language and writing skills were I think this was grade 4...she's now in grade 10 and I still get the most fabulous homemade cards from her.

Whatever your plans for Valentine's Day, I wish you all much love and happiness.

Is it just me?.........

I was over at Myownwoman's blog yesterday and she had the greatest Utube post on menopause women title Middle Aged Women. Oh my gosh it got me and hubby laughing.....being the youngest of 6 girls and working in a predominantly female profession, I have seen my share of women going through the angsts of menopause. Unfortunately for me, at a spry young age of 46 I fear I have some of those traits/angsts rearing their ugly little heads. I call them "The 3 M's".

M #1 : Memory.....yup.....I now have to write myself lists when I go to the store, when I pick up a box of laundry soap instead of the jug of milk I needed I know I am in trouble.

M #2: Mood......oh dear god if I thought they were bad before......7 days of hell I put myself and my poor hubby through....yup....my moodiness, my tears, my anger....my why the hell can't you take the garbage out mood....yup....7 days, oh where or where did my pleasant self go...or where or where can she be?

M#3: Measurements.....where did they go......my chest use to be.... well on my chest.....my waist...yup I know it's there somewhere.....and my butt....now what happend there?

I want to share a story with you that I think demonstrates what I am talking about when I make reference to my 3 "M's". The other day I went shopping.....M #1, I forgot my list.....yes I went shopping and forgot my list......which of course leads me right to M #2 my mood....I am pissed at myself for forgetting my list....so what does any emotionally unstable menopause woman do...she shops...for what...oh yes.....this now leads into making M#2 worse....she shops for a bra....which of course brings us to M#3. Well M #1 must have stepped in here, because I should have known better, my breasts size have been all over the board since I was a teen....going from a D to an A to a DD to B and now what I thought I was... a C.....still suffering from M #2, I quickly search the racks(no pun intended)and shelves for bras. I can't find what I want....until I finally come accross this one bra...it was white...what I was looking for....it had some nice lace on it...and well it was my size....and the price was right. Feeling happy with my find I purchase the bra without trying it on. Yes silly me, testing all 3 M's at the same time, I know. Well, I didn't try the bra on until a couple of days after I had purchased it. There it was sitting on my dresser, so I thought I better try this thing on, I do....it just didn't feel right....it gave my already pathetic excuse for breasts the look of one of those old 60's wonderbra commercials, they had all weird and distorted look about them, and well the girls just weren't fitting where they were suppose to, it was not a pretty sight.....I thought...what the heck is going on here.....I can't be that far off with my measurements......still having the tag on the bra I look down to see what it says.....guess what I bought.......a Maternity bra........there you have it....all my 3 M's put together.....you know the saying if you don't laugh you will cry.....oh did I laugh.....

Have you ever really looked at the word MENOPAUSE take it apart....MEN O PAUSE....maybe in some sick way our bodies are trying to tell us to take a break from MEN and hence the "O" for No and well Pause, and enjoy your coffee......

Have a great day all!!!

Just a Quick question

Does anybody know why spell check went down....and if it will ever be up again......I.... being the worst speller in the world am really having to use the dictionary a lot these past few days......hmmmmm.....maybe it's a conspiracy.....

Heads or Tails Tuesday....

This weeks theme is "Love".... being February and only 2 days before Valentine's day what a perfect theme and opportunity to share things about love..........

Do you remember your favourite "Love" song?

Do you remember the name of your first "Love"?

Do you remember what you "Love" the most?

Do you remember the "Love" you felt when your child was born?

Do you remember how it felt to tell someone I "Love" You?

Do you remember how you felt when someone told you they "Love" You?

Do you remember one of your favourtie pets and how much "Love" they brought to your home?


I do.....and that is what I want to remember this Valentines day......the people I love, my pet who lovingly greets me and lays in the doorway keeping me company while I sit at my computer, my family, my wonderful beautiful daughters that love me even with all of my idiosyncrasies, my step sons who bring me such joy and my wonderful husband who is by my side whenever I need him.....yes I remember......I hope you remember what you "Love".

If you would like to join in on the fun please go over to Skittles Place and get all the instructions.

Rural Health Care

When I first started blogging I thought I wanted to write about a city girl gone smalltown, from my RN perspective. Well I think I have pretty much covered the aspects of city girl gone smalltown but I haven't really spoken much about it from a RN perspective. Today that is what I would like to chat about.

When you live in the city, you tend to take a lot of things for granted. Like the proximity and accessibility to stores,schools, libraries,community centers, restaruants and the likes. But most importantly your accessibility to doctors, walk in clinics and hospitals.

When I lived on the mainland (Vancouver) I had 3 hospitals all within 15 min drive from me. One of those hospitals being a major trauma center. I was walking distance from doctor's offices, walk in doctor clinics, medical labs and xray/diagnostic labs. If you needed a GP in the city they are very easy to find....if you had an ear ache and didn't want to make the trip to your GP, you had the option to go to a walk in clinic. Medical services are readibly available in the city. I can't say that about living in a rural community.

I didn't truly appreciate what was readibly available to me until I moved away. The funny thing was....one of the reasons I stayed in the city was for my youngest daughter. When she was eight she had been diagnosed with cancer and required treatment. After many trips to childrens hospital and sitting in many waiting rooms and seeing the anxiety on some of these parents faces I was humbled. I remember talking with one woman who told me they had to make the trip to the city at least once a month(3 -4 hr drive) so their child could have treatment. For them this meant, booking time off work, financially arranging somewhere to stay...and believe me staying in the city is not cheap. She told me that on one particular trip that their vehicle had broken down and that it cost them over $600 to repair, and then they had to stay at a motel. So if you don't have family living in the big city, it can be a very costly experience. It then dawned on me why I use to see so many motorhomes parked in the hospital parking lot....those motorhomes would become their home while their child was being treated in hospital. How tragic. I use to think to myself....it's bad enough that your child is ill but then having to travel such a long distance to get help and the all the financial burden that goes along with it. I felt for those poor families....here I would complain about having to drive in city traffic for 45 mins to get to appointments....it's all in how we percieve isnt' it.

Being active in my nurses union at the time, I would hear stories from my colleagues who worked in the northern communities or rural posts and the challenges they and their patients were faced with when it came to providing adequate care. If a patient suffered a heart attack in a rural community they were stabilized and flown out, to the city sometimes 5 - 6 hours drive away. How isolating for the families and the patient. Research has shown that patients tend to recover quicker when they have a good support network, that being having family close by.

I understand that we all make choices about where we choose to live, but should we have to sacrifice accessibility to health care? I don't know. I guess when people move to more remote locations they think they will always be healthy, never require a doctor. Well they better hope they don't need a doctor to quickly, because they are hard to come by in the rural communities.

Many rural communities lack sufficient doctors. Even in my tourist little town with the highest population of seniors per capita doesn't have enough doctors. I think you have heard me talk about how my docotor was off for 6 weeks himself with an ailment....he didn't have anyone to replace him....patients appointments just got back logged. There is only one walk in clinic that I know of which is about a 20 min drive from me, but that is an after hours clinic open from 5:00 -9:00 pm and you better get there before 5:00 or you won't see a doctor...that is how busy they are. The only other choice is to go to the emergency departments, which is a poor usage of emergency staff and services, but getting to the emergency department is another 45 min. drive away.

I personally have been effected by the lack of accessibility to GP but also to specialists. For example with my recent diagnosis of the herniation of discs in my spine, I have to go see a neurosugeon....he is 3 1/2 drive away.....I have difficulties driving 45 mins as it is....but as I said, I chose to live where I do...and with that comes the down side, the lack of accessibility to doctors.

One can easily get over looked in a small rural community if you are not an advocate for your own health. You have to be out spoken. Keep calling....so they don't forget you. My father in law needs to see an orthopaedic surgeon. He waited approximately 6 weeks to only be told that he couldn't get in to see the surgeon for a consultation for 2 years......2years for a consultation!!!! That is just wrong. Now I recognize there are waiting lists all over our province for surgical procedures...but this is just ridiculous, and it is due largely to the fact that we live in a rural community and there are few orthopaedic surgeons. Again, a choice one makes when they move to a smaller community.

Is there an answer to this.....I don't know.....I love where I live....I wouldn't go live in the city....but there have been times I have been really tempted to hop on the ferry to go see my old GP who was amazing for getting a person in to see specialist or services he felt you needed. So there is a part of me that misses that...but I wouldn't sacrifice the tranquility I recieve from my surroundings and the soaring of eagles overhead.....that in itself can be the best medicine of all.

Humor Thursday.......

When I worked in an office I used to always love Thursday. I knew the end of the work week was coming to a close and Thursday nights used to be my head start to the weekend.....I use to psychologically tell myself that I only had one more day left and I could handle anything.Well now that I am a shift worker, days of the week don't really mean anything to me.....my Thursday could be your Monday.....you know what I mean. So I can't really say any day of the week holds any special purpose for me anymore...other than my last night shift what ever day of the week that might be....the morning after your last night shift is a great day!But with today being Thursday I thought I would try and start my own little tradition.....and I am going to call it "Humor Thursday" not terribly creative....but humor comes in so many different forms. So I am going to try to make a commitment that on every Thursday I dedicate my blog to humor. If you would like to join in and make a post about humor or include something humorous on your blog on Thursday just let me know and I will keep a record and certainly make sure I stop on in to your blog and send others your way.

Well I hope you find some humor in a few of these jokes....and like I said if you've got some to share please let me know......cheers all....and Happy Humor Thursday....keep on smilin!

Thought I would start today off with a little humour...but to be honest, I kinda feel that way today. I've got lots to get done today, but just don't have the energy to get at it....but I am sure I will find it somewhere, maybe it's hinding on the couch.

Quick update on the shoulder....I had my CT scan....turns out my pain is not muscular but rather I have a herniated C5-6......well gee gosh.....that would explain a lot of my symptoms now wouldn't it......here all along I am thinking I am being a wimp....they kept telling me it was muscular and that I needed to keep up with my excercises and work it out and that I should expect a bit of pain. Well we all know our own bodies.....I knew that I wasn't healing as I should....it just pissed me off that it was me who had to insist on getting the CT scan......my doctor had been off ill himself for most of my injury so I was dealing with his replacement who I think was feeling a tad overwhelmed. Anyhow, they are now making an appointment for me to see a neurosurgeon.....they don't always treat this surgically, they do prefer to be as conservative as possible....but I will let the surgeon make that call. So the waiting game begins.

My eldest sister remains in the hospital with her bowel obstruction, she is having a barrage of tests. Again, one knows their own body. My sister has lived with Crohn's desease for 35 years....this flare up presented completely differently than her usual Crohn's flare ups...she knew....our fear now of course is it cancer. She is having all the test to rule it out...and I pray that she will come through this with flying colours.....I can't imagine my life without my big sister....she truly is the matriach of our huge family.....she is the glue that keeps us together.....we have often told her she puts to much responsibility on her shoulders....but she being the eldest of 12 has always felt it was her responsibility to make sure everyone was ok .....always being there for anyone who needed her....and believe me over the years there have been many many times she has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Being a mom of 4 herself and a grandmother to 7 one would think her plate would be full enough, but no....whenever a brother or sister or niece or nephew needed a helping hand.....my big sis is right there by their side.....she's also one of those volunteer extrodinare.....again if there is a task to be done....she is in there like a dirty shirt....no job to big or to small. You know that saying, if you need a job done...ask the most busiest person, they'll get it done....there is a lot of truth in that.... She is so talented something I aspire to.....she knits, sews, cooks,and bakes basically an all rounded talented person...if she doesn't know somehting she's not afraid to find out or better yet...she loves to experiment. For awhile she was the resident hairdresser....and of course she does all this while working full time.... I think about what she has endured over the years and she still comes out fighting and strong and pleasant....I say to myself.....self get off your ass stop complaining and get on with life. I love that woman with my whole heart and soul.....she is my inspiration.....god keep her safe.

Here's to you all....have a wonderful day....be good to yourselves, both physically and mentally!

Cheers!

The new truck......

Well after many weeks and hundreds of hours searching and searching some more I finally got my vehicle. It's funny how things turn out....when hubby and I first started looking for a vehicle I told him there were only two things I didn't want.....I didn't want a green vehicle and I didn't want a monthly payment.......I lost out on both accounts.

My dear sweet and wonderful husband search and search some more on ebay, consumer reports, compared and compared some more. I test drove so many vehicles my head was spinning. I guess at first I thought I wanted a utility vehicle....something that was more reliable in the winter months...something that would have space for the kids....and Bert.....yes I really wanted Bert to be able to come on some of our adventures.

My first vehicle I test drove was a Ford Sport Trac.....fun easy drive....but the cost put it out of the market....or a least I thought. Ideally I wanted to be able to get a straight across trade for my Mustang...or at the very least a very small payment. Well the stories the car salesmen would give us about my car not being worth this or that....and the resale value on the vehicle they were trying to sell us(me). Always going in prepared, hubby would have researched the book values done cost comparisons both on year, models, mileage and extras, so we always knew when they were trying to give us the gears.

Well finally when I thought I was giving up, I decided to make one last drive through this Ford dealership that we had been to twice before....and there lo and behold there she was, in all of her glory...shiny, and just shouting at me to test drive her......I did....it drove like a charm....like a luxury car actually, all leather interior, heated seats, memory seats, automatic adjustable foot pedals, 6 CD stereo, sunroof, power back window....need I say more...this baby was loaded. I got behind the wheel of that truck and it was as if the vehicle and I became one.....it was wonderful. That was on Saturday....after the test drive of course we sat down with the salesman....I told him right then and there that I shouldn't have driven it that it was out of my price range.....he said....let's see what we can do with the numbers. Well of course he came back and we weren't close at all.....I countered.....they moved a bit....they weren't willing to give us what we thought we should get for trade in on my mustang...hubby told them that he had researched their sister company up island and that they had a vehicle just like mine on the lot for a lot more....they concured and came back with a better offer....but still not good enough.....a senior sales person tried to step in and close the deal....I think he just pissed my hubby off instead....if there is one thing you can't pull over my hubby is numbers....he sees numbers and can calculate better and faster than most people do with a calculator.....long and short...we ended up leaving.

Hubby knew I wanted that vehicle....how could we make this happen.....we called them and made our final offer.....they accepted.....we returned to the dealership....it was closing time...but we worked on a deal. They wanted us of course to finance through them.....again...hubby and his numbers....knowing they couldn't get in contact with a financial institute at that hour we did a subject to financing agreement and left. We came home and crunched the numbers....we went to our bank and got a pre- approval for a small loan. We went to the dealership armed knowing that we could pay cash for the vehicle. At this point hubby is loving the wheeling and dealing that is going on....he is trying to negotiate many options for me....but the icing on the cake came when after they said what a wonderful job they had done with getting me this great financing....yeah right....10.10% when we got a 7.25%.....that is a significant difference....Hubby saved me about $12,000 on the deal.....the dealership knew that we got a fantastic deal...I got top dollar for my trade in...we talked them down to a price we wanted...and we didn't finance...which of course they wanted us to do.....so at the end of a very long day, I got what I wanted..... so without further adue let me introduce you to my new baby.....I call her "Betsy"....yes beautiful Betsy May.....

Heads or Tails Tuesday....

This weeks theme is Heads "First" Tails "Last"......I have chosen Heads......

I am not the "First" child in my family....I am baby number 10

I got my "First" transitter radio when I was 8
My "First" boyfriends name was Chris
I "First" learn't how to ski when I was 12
I "First" married at the age of 21
I was 21 when I got my "First" mortgage for my "First" house
My "First " child was born when I was 23
I did my "First" knee boarding when I was 42
The "First" car I owned was my 2004 Mustang GT convertible
I bought my "First" quad when I was 44
I did my "First" skydiving when I was 43
I did my "First" solo parasailing when I was 46
I bought my "First" truck today!!!! Thanks to my wonderful hubby

If you would like to play along with the Heads or Tails Tuesday....check out Barb at Skittles Place for all of the instructions......I hope you play along.....


And now for something completely different.....I have been honoured with this lovely award by a very dear blogger, who herself I blieve is so deserving. I think the picture really describes this blogger....she is so sweet , and kind and unconditionally gives of her friendship....so to be a receipient of this award mean a lot to me.....thank you so much Misty. Misty Dawn has a passion for her dogs and is a fabulous photographer.....the picture here is one of her very own puppies....how sweet is that.....I would be great if you went over and just said a hello Misty Dawn and let her know I sent you, I know you won't be disappointed ......Misty, thank you sweetie for this lovely award, it means a lot to me...

Well I hope you all had a terrific day.......cheers for now....

Things that go bump.....

Is anyone else having problems with Blogger? I can't seem to get my spell check or the uploading of pictures to work either yesterday or this morning......Urgh!

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I last made a post. Time flies when your having fun.....

I started back at work last week on a gradual return to work....Monday I also had my CT of my cervical spine in the hopes that we might be able to get to the bottom of my dicomfort. I am trying really hard to optomistic about my gradual return to work(GRTW) and am hoping it is going to be a success. I fear it has not gone as well as I had hoped. On Monday after my CT scan I went and worked 4 hours...I didn't really do a lot...there was a lot of paper work and documents to read and catch up on....I helped with night work, phone, answerd call bells...but no hands on patient care. On Wednesday I arrived and was immediately put to work....there was a very sick patient that required lots of special lines to be put in and eventually ended up on a breathing machine....I ended up caring for this patient during my four hours...no break and on my feet the whole time.....I was sore by the end of if but I thought it was bearable and to be expected. So I iced my back and shoulder when I got home. Thursday I spent on the couch with my bad tummy....that's a whole other story....Friday I went in...and assisted with direct patient care. By the end of my 4 hours I was feeling it. I got home and immediately iced my back and shoulder.....I was woken up by the pain at 0400 and couldn't get comfortable at all....shooting pains down my arms....burning down my spine.....ouch....Ok don't be a wimp right? Saturday we went vehicle shopping......and in order to go vehicle shopping meant I would have to do some driving....the weather wasn't t the greatest slushy snow and rain, just yucky....anyhow....the drive really irriatated my shoulder and back. I am off to see my doctor again on Tuesday and hopefully he will have the results of my CT scan and we can get to the bottom of this.

On a completely different note. The strangest thing happend yesterday. Do any of you remember me telling you the story about the 9 litre jug of laundry soap falling off of the washer in the middle of the night? That always bothered me, so the other day hubby looked up on the internet to see if there had been any recorded earth quakes at that time.....none recorded....hmmmm...the mystery continues......anyhow yesterday, I was laying on my couch with my ice pack on my back watching some TV when I heard this loud noise...it was like something was being forceably removed from the wall and thrown and then a huge crash sound. I got up to investigate .....and walked over to stairs where I have family pictures hanging on the wall, when what do I see but one of my old family photos had fallen off the wall and was smashed. Now I looked at the wall to see if any of the other pictures were ascew, but nope...they were all in place...not crooked or anything.....the nail on which the picture hung was in place and still sticking out far enough that it should have held the picture in place. My initial thought was we had a mild quake or something...but like I said nothing else was moved.....it just gave me the shivers. Yesterday I also found out that my eldest sister was admitted to hospital the previous day with a bowel obstruction.....I had spoken to her maybe about 45 mins before this happend....this really bothered me so I called her to make sure nothing had happend....she said to me she was ok, hadn't seen the doctor yet today....I told her what happend...she said to me...your having another one of your preminisions, I said I think so...but I just don't know what....it really made me feel unsettled....maybe I am just making to much out of this...but it was just so weird...... Anyhow, about an hour and half later....another picture falls....but this time it is one that sits on the table in my foyer along with other family photos......this pictures was sitting behind other pictures on the table, it was a picture of my step son....it fell flat on it's face and managing not to cause any of the other pictures to fall......next thing you know, we get a call telling us that he had a fall Saturday evening hitting his head and had to get stitches......another coincidence? Creepy if you ask me......
I've told hubby about other things that have happend here.....and I am sure there must be some logical explanation....but I think hubby was even surprised about the picture of his son falling......

Through out my life I have had numerous unexplainable things happen, preminissions and the likes...it's to the point with my family that they call me the resident spook. What about you....have you ever had anything that you just can't quite explain ever happen?

Heads or Tails Tuesday....

Well today is Heads or Tails Tuesday and this weeks theme is "Who would you Like to Meet". At first I wasn't quite sure if there was anyone...and then I thought some more and I realized yes there are some people I would have like to have met.....first and foremost would have been Mother Theresa."Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."
~ Mother Theresa~

A modern day saint. What an amazing woman. She dedicated her whole life to the betterment of mankind. She was always there for the downtrodden. I would have loved to have heard her speak....to experience her gentle touch...to just be in her presence and watch as she so caring and lovingly tended to the sick and dying. How she tried to give them hope and comfort. I don't know how or where she managed to find the strength to do what she did.....you know what the say big things come in small packages....she to me was larger than life and would never fit into any package.....truly an amazing woman and a inspiration.

I would have also loved to have met my grandparents on my fathers side. My father was raised as an only child, he did have a younger sister but unfortunately she died at infancy. My father was born and grew up in a city called Dubrovnik. It sits on the coast of the Adriac in a country that was once called Yugoslavia, now known as Croatia. I know very little about my fathers parents. During the war my father was a captain on a naval ship and he travelled the world. He met and married my mother in England in 1944, and he never returned to his homeland until the late 1960's. I was told that that my grandfather died when my father was young and his mother remarried. His mother ruled with an iron fist and was very strict on my father. I am told she eventually remarried but she out lived husband number 2. I remember when my grandmother passed away. We were all sitting at the dining room table for Sunday dinner and the phone rang, it was for my dad....he spoke in his mother tongue...after he got off the phone...his eyes were red and I saw a tear...something you rarely saw in my dad. I think I was around six years old. There are very few pictures of my fathers parents, and like the pictures there was little information shared about my grandparents. I got the impression that my father was "running away" or wanting to to leave all his childhood memories in Dubrovnik. I sensed that he had bad memories that he just didn't want remember or share. Even though I never got to meet my grandparents I would have loved to have known more about them, I feel like a piece of me is missing, a piece of my family history.

So there you have it, some people I would have loved to have met....now if you would like to play along all you have to do is check out Skittles Place and get all then instructions on how to play along. Hope you join in on the fun. Cheers!

This and that Monday.....

You know sometimes you wonder......"what the heck took me so long?" Well I am thinking that today. For awhile now there have been a few blog sites that I have not been able to visit because it either takes to long to get to their site or the site just won't open. I knew what I had to do but I just wasn't doing it. Can you guess what it was? Yup I had to download FireFox, what a world of difference it has made. I can't believe I waited so long to do it. I asked hubby what the difference was, and in simple terms he told me that FireFox is more graphic friendly.....he's got that right....the moment I downloaded FireFox I went to visit two of the blogs that I have had problems with...and lo and behold almost instantly I was able to view their blogs. My friend Jeni at Down River Drivel has recently join the world of high speed Internet and she is in awe of what she is now able to accomplish. Poor Jeni was on dial up and it would take her sometimes an hour to just view a video. Well Jeni that is how I feel about FireFox, I wonder what took me so long to get on board. Now all I have to do is become more computer literate so I can make changes with my template.

Quick question though....I noticed that when I view my blog on Internet Explorer the words in my header don't fit properly, now when I view it in FireFox everything fits. Why should changing my browser affect the layout of my template or how it appears? Now with FireFox I've noticed that when I try and download photos or graphics to my site I can't seem to move them to where I want to put them...... Hmmmm....I have so much to learn.

On another note. Have any of you heard about at blog that does "Tackle it Tuesday" I can't remember where I saw it, but I remember seeing someone posting about it. For those of you that don't know, it's when you take on a task that you have been putting off and get it done....like organize a closet or a drawer, or putting up shelves....basically getting yourself organized.

Well that is how I felt this weekend. On Saturday I decided I was going to clear out the laundry room. Now this was something hubby was going to tackle but with his arm he can't do that...and well it was in dire need. Anyhow, I took everything out....and I mean everything....I moved the cupboards and swept and washed behind them....I moved the washer and dryer and washed behind and under them....oh my god what a mess that was.....I vacuumed up stuff and sawdust shavings that I swear has been there since my brother in law built this house. Yes I was in every nook and cranny. It reminded me of the story I shared with you all about the laundry soap and how one job lead to another. Well, it took all afternoon but we got it done....but of course that led me to another job which had to be tackled on Sunday. Having decided we didn't want the motorcycle helmets or the cycling helmets in the laundry room anymore this meant we had to find a new home for them....under the stair.

So Sunday was spent, clearing out under the stairs...and yes...yet again I found myself sweeping and vacuuming dust and sawdust from when this house was built. Well I got it all cleared out....hubby wanted to put some shelving up....so that is what we did....I got all the helmets on the shelves, the sleeping bags up off of the floor, some arts and craft and seasonal craft stuff organized...again...another job done.....I now have to make a trip to Salvation Army to drop off stuff that we have no need for anymore. You know games you kids use to play....knapsacks....glass canisters that I had all good intentions of using but never did.....2 fondue sets....oh it just goes on. Our next chore is to tackle what is suppose to be our en suite...but no....right now it is a storage room.....to be honest....I am afraid to go in there......it's going to be a huge job. I think I will wait till Tuesday......cheers all....

The uniform.....

I'm glad you all enjoyed the old photos of the nursing uniforms and the transition of the nursing uniform.

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I used some of those photos in a power point presentation I had done for a course along with a paper and lesson plan I written, I titled it

"Nursing - Do the clothes really matter? The Nursing Uniform and its effect on Caring in our profession".

In doing my research for the assignment I found many articles about the uniform, why it came to be,why it changed, and people's perception of the nursing uniform. What I found most interesting was the impact the changing uniform had on patients. One of the articles I referenced was from The American Journal of Sociology...the author of the article had this to say about the uniform....

"The uniform is viewed as a device to resolve certain dilemmas of complex organizations-namely, to define their boundaries, to assure that members will conform to their goals, and to eliminate conflicts in the status sets of their members. The uniform serves several functions: it acts as a totem, reveals and conceals statuses, certifies legitimacy, and suppresses individuality. The interaction of these components and the acceptance or rejection of the uniform and its associated status by the wearer are described."

Another article I referenced in my paper,was one that was a result of research done by a, Professor of Psychiatry in Lancashire England. It appeared that in over a 3 year period there had been numerous requests for the staff to go back to wearing uniforms. These requests came mainly from relatives, service users and in-patient staff. The reasons given for the request were in relation to clearer identification of staff, ,better boundaries with patients and more professional rapport, which would lead to a better established alliance. It was determined that this would apply to all the in-patient psychiatric wards, including the psychiatric intensive care unit, and rehabilitation wards. What I found most interesting about this article was that it was the patients requesting the change for the nurses to change back to the uniform as the patients felt it helped them set boundaries.

You use to be able to identify where the nurse had trained based on the uniform. There was much pride that came along with that. Up until the 1970s, when hospital rules about wearing uniforms became less strict, nurses wore the uniform and cap from the nursing school where they completed their nursing training. Each school had their own uniform and cap design as well as methods for indicating the level of training the student had received. When the student first began their training they would wear the school's uniform and once they had successfully completed their probationary period they would be presented with the school's cap. After the 1940s the presentation of the school's cap took place at a "capping ceremony", which signified that the student had completed the first major step to becoming a professional nurse and that they were now officially accepted into the nursing school.

Times have changed. With our male counterparts entering into nursing the uniforms needed to be inclusive.

Victoria General Hospital Nova Scotia Canada 1892

As evident by this picture the male nurse uniform was very different from the female nurses and hence were often mistaken for the doctors and were given more privileges than their female counterparts.

Victoria General Hospital Nova Scotia Canada 1925-1928

You certainly could tell who was your nurse in those days. Here are some photos of uniforms we wear today....

Now I don't know about you, but I for one don't wear anything as bold as this, well maybe the lavender one in the middle. When I started nursing I wore the white dress the heavy duty stockings and white shoes, when I went into critical care that is when hospital funded uniforms for ICU staff, so we would change into the hospital uniform when we arrived. This I think brings to mind the infection control aspect of the uniform. Leaving your dirty uniform at work for them to sterilize to me is way better than bringing those germs home to my family. So when it comes to patients not being able to distinguish the nurse from other health practitioner's, I think the bottom line is, as professionals it is our responsibility to identify ourselves to our patients, wear our ID badges, and when another health care professional other than a nurse enters the room it is their responsibility to identify who they are and what department they represent.

So do the clothes matter? I am of the opinion that nursing practice should be based on a personal commitment to caring from a health promotion perspective. If in the case of the mental health patients they find our attire having a negative effect on them, then we as nurses should consider wearing something else and if that means going back to an identifiable uniform then so be it.

Saturday Scavenger Photo Hunt

Today is Saturday Scavenger hunt...something I haven't done in a long time...I love it....the theme today is "Old Fashion". So I started scratching my head thinking what I could post...then it came to me...when I was doing one of my courses in the fall I did an assignment on the evolution of the nursing uniform....so I will share with you some photos I found....now I know these are suppose to be my photos...but well they aren't but I thought this would be good for the theme....If you would like to play along please check out tnchick for all of the instructions on how to play along.....enjoy!

Florence Nigthingale

I have many more photos of the changes in the nurses uniform and in the caps right up to what we wear today....it would seem that the uniforms are as varied as nursing itself......

Enjoy the hunt!!!