Category Archives: one of those days

Daily Prompt: In a Crisis

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Honestly evaluate the way you respond to crisis situations. Are you happy with the way you react?

After 26 years of nursing, I react the same way to any emotion evoking situation. No matter what the situation, crisis or otherwise, I am always cool as a cucumber.

There are only a few exceptions to which I will lose my cool, the main one is when the crisis involves a close family member. When Barry had the stroke, I was on top of the situation until help arrived and then I lost it. I couldn’t drive myself to the hospital.

The second is if the “Chipmunks’ are on the movie screen, I have a tendency to burst into tears. I do not understand this one at all, but hey…..it happens!

As a trained professional, am I extremely happy with my reaction to a crisis. I think my reaction over a close family member is perfectly normal and I cannot say I should act any other way.

As far as the ‘Chipmunks’ thingy, I haven’t got a clue…..other than they are just so incredibly sweet and absolutely cute as buttons. How can you not get emotional over something soooooo sweet……???? 🙂 🙂

Daily Prompt: Toot Your Horn

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Most of us are excellent at being self-deprecating, and are not so good at the opposite. Tell us your favorite thing about yourself.

I can give you numerous incidences of my many mishaps in life, but writing down what I have done right, is a different ballgame.

I think if we all took 5 minutes out of our day to write something good about ourselves, self-confidence everywhere would improve. Mental Health Clinics everywhere would lose business.

Now give me a sec to figure out how to toot my horn. This first one will sound a little strange, but it’s true. Those of you who know my blog, know my story.

  • I drive better than I walk.
  • I say what is on my mind, I do not play games.
  • If you tell me I can’t do something, only makes me want to do it more.
  • I love the Lord, studying the Bible and learning more about the Gospel of Christ.
  • I’m good with plants.
  • Improve the springtime.
  • I believe in love, marriage and the whole fairy tale.
  • I have a brain tumor that is a symptom of a generic disorder, called Cowden’s Syndrome. I do not let this effect my life. I live a happy, full life and intend to keep it that way until I can’t do it anymore!
  • I’m good with kids
  • I’m good with animals
  • I’m a great cook, without a recipe
  • I’m crafty and creative
  • I consider myself intelligent, but my brain tumor can get in the way
  • My husband knows I love him because I show him
  • My family knows they can count on me for whatever they need no matter what. Even though I have screwed things up with my older sister, I’d be there in a heartbeat if she needed me. 
  • I adore, Maggie, my dog-child.
  • I am good with geriatric patients
  • I’m an excellent nurse
  • I know my way around a computer and I love learning new things.
  • I love studying birds
  • I love to sing, but I only sing in church and the car for now. I don’t want to scare anyone with what the brain tumor has done to my voice. 
  • I still blush at the drop of a hat.

My favorite thing about myself, is that I love elderly people. I have spent 25 years as a nurse and have always gravitated back to the geriatrics field. My husband says this is where ‘I shine’.

The elderly are a fascinating group of people. I have worked with a stewardess that was on the first plane to ever land in Figi, a woman that was one of the first law enforcement officers in our state, an author, an artist, a woman who helped pioneer one of the largest charity organizations in our state,a comedian and many others that wrote just hardworking people that watched this country grow into the force it is today.

OK, ok , OK enough about me. I hope this is what the daily prompt was referring to. Otherwise, I’m just ranting again. I hope you enjoy reading this yourself!

Stuck between a rock and a hard place!

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Let’s just say, I was stuck I’m my very own metaphor this afternoon. With the exception of a rock, my dilemma involved my favorite chair in the living room.

Barry was on a grocery store run, while I did a little reading. It was nice and quiet in the house, so I started to fall asleep. As my snooze was getting good, I started to slip down in the chair and the ottoman started to roll away from my chair. A few moments later, I was wide awake and realized I could not move. 

The ottoman was stuck where the rug started. The rug had started to push up and the ottoman was hung. I was positioned with my weak side up, I’m strong on my left side, but it is pretty useless trying to push or pull up.  

I struggled with it for a bit and gave up. Mom was home, but she was behind two closed doors and could not hear my call, soooooooo….I got comfy and waited for Barry to get back. Not sure how long I was in that position, cuz I fell asleep.

Barry came in, laughing as he helped me up. He wanted to take a picture, but I threatened his life. Maggie thought we were playing a game. She was squirming all over the place and licking everything she could get too! What an afternoon!

Raising Mom

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At this point in my life, I never thought I would be taking care of my mother. It is what God has led Barry and I to do, so here we are……raising mom.

She was in a situation, at her new home, that was not a safe. James, her new husband, I say new…..I should have said her husband of four years.

The home he provided was not the best place for her to be. I will not go into details about the situation, but let’s just say mom needs to be with us, than her husband.

Having mom move in has been an experience. She acts like she is afraid of Barry and is trying to raise me again. She treats me like I am ten years old, not 47. 

Having her around, has been amusing, as well as a huge challenge. Mom is a breed of her own. She believes in being treated right and will quickly let you know if she feels if she has been wronged.

I’ve written several posts about mom’s exploits, but believe me….I have only written about the tame ones.

One of my many lessons, since she moved in, was on how to freeze pork chops. Needless to say I have had my kitchen for over 20 years. Guess what? I was doing it the right way! As Gomer Pyle would say, ‘Surprise, surprise’!

Mom and I share a love for gardening and houseplants. I discovered my plants were not looking well and I could not figure out the problem. I found out, Mom trying to helpful, had been watering my plants too! I know, I know…she was just trying to help. There are certain things I am totally capable of doing is handling my plants. After throwing out the plants that were not going to survive and re-potting the others, I am now the only person watering them!

Mom and I sat down and went through the household chores and I have asked for her assistance with a few things and she knows that I will let her know if I need more help!

I have to admit, I love having help with the laundry. I hated laundry before becoming disabled, but I simply adore finding cleans clothes in the closet when I need them. So does Barry.

Mom’s memory is declining, ask her she’ll tell you there isn’t a thing wrong with her or her memory. She is overall in better shape than most people we know.

She doesn’t drive after dark any longer and I set her medications up for her by the week. She wasn’t handling them well. Mom can think at times that she is a doctor and will decide which pills she needs and the ones she doesn’t. I settled that issue and just started doing them for her, hint, hint….

If she needs directions, we get them for her. If I need to go with her to an appointment, I go. Our biggest problem has been her adjustment to living with Barry and I, as well as our adjusting to her.

Mom does not know what the word quiet means, nor does she know how to be that way. I am beginning to think she likes to hear herself talk, because she never STOPS! There is always this constant chatter.

I have a huge family and mom always seems to go on for hours about relatives, never heard of in my lifetime. She can’t find her keys, but she remembers all of these people. After numerous head butts, she is starting to understand that she needs to be a little quieter and not to talk as much in the car.

I enjoy the time I have with her in the mornings, when we first get up. She does all the talking while we watch the news. I’m starting to believe she corners me in the living room on purpose at that time of day. It takes an hour of waking up for my voice to wake up, so I get the pleasure of hearing about her crazy dreams. There are times that it is hard to distinguish whether she is describing a dream or a hallucination.

This morning was a little strange. The first thing she asked this morning was if ‘we had seen it?’. When questioned further, she was talking about a little girl in a rocker floating around house. How so you respond to such?

If I can get mom and Barry on the same page, things would be copacetic in the house. Barry doesn’t like her un-nerving me and questioning everything we do. She is also having to adjust to the ‘New Barry’. My life would more stability  if those two could figure each other out. It’s in God’s hands, I’ve been praying…..

Be Patient

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I hate to do this, but the doctor is patching both my eyes through the weekend. I can’t focus on anything and I’m being told my eyes need a rest.

If I get a post completed, Barry has graciously agreed to do the typing for me. He enjoys it as much as I do. He wants to help keep the blog up. Unfortunately, he’ll be doing a lot of things for me this weekend. I’ll take it easy on him.

Hopefully my eyes will straighten out and I can take things over again at the first of the week. Have a wonderful weekend, all!!

“Life is like a box of chocolates”………

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Watching ‘Forrest Gump’ at the theater, when I heard my title in the movie, I giggled. At the time I was a mere 28 years old and didn’t think past which movie I’d like to see next weekend, or what clothes I’ll wear to work tomorrow, or what to cook for supper that night. I didn’t think about the deep, complex meaning those few words can truly hold.

It wasn’t a good four years later that my marriage ended. I moved back to my hometown and back into the house I grew-up in. I had a second chance at life and I wanted to get it right this time.

There were many things about myself that I wanted to do differently, so I got busy and found myself. In that time, I felt like a piece of chocolate in that box that was different in so many ways, but at the same time you could interpret the meaning a a box full of choices. In that box, I found the changes I felt I needed to make and threw myself in head first.

My work ethic grew. I threw myself out there and made my job my number one priority. It kept me busy and kept my head in a good place. I also ventured away from positions I was familiar with and tried something new. The big suprise was I was good at it and found a new love in the nursing field. I job-jumped for a few months, until I settled into the field of geriatrics, where I stayed until my forced retirement.

*In high school, a couple of friends and I made a list of things we wanted to accomplish in life. My main thing on my list was owning my own business by the age of 40. I did it! It felt so good the day we opened our door to patients. We won an award for our service, but then it felt just as bad to close the doors, when we had to. But we had an incredible six years!*

At age 28, watching ‘Forrest Gump’ , I would have never dreamed I would actually meet my soul-mate and have him propose on my 38th birthday. He’s my soul-mate. My first husband was a good man, we just went in different directions. I’m the person I am today, partly because of my time with him, but Barry is the man I was meant to be with. I am the woman I am today, totally because the love and support of my sweet husband!

As I threw myself into my new job, I forgot about all the other important things in my life. I missed my oldest sisters kids grew up, the next thing I knew they were graduating high school and my baby sister was about to have a second baby and her oldest was starting school. It was time to slow down and make time for me.

I guess what I am trying to say in all this babble is that “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get” (movie quote: Forrest Gump, 1994)……but it’s your choice, the box is full. Life is too short, make your choices count!

Awards Night…….

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This is a re-post from the night I got notified of the award. I’ll do my best to finish it now:

Thank you for the nomination, Sheri at http://theothersideofugly.com! I’m about to go to head off to sleep. I’ll post all of this tomorrow. Pooped tonight!

Thank you again for thinking of me. You are too kind!

Sheri at http://theothersideofugly.com writes an extremely fresh, well organized blog that I enjoy reading daily. Her poetry is creative,thought provoking, both inspirational and motivational.

The Shine On Award

nominated by randomuzings and the othersideofugly

nominated by randomuzings and the othersideofugly

To me this award is for the blogs that shine, make you feel good and are inspiring to the reader. The blogosphere is a large place and there are so many blogs out there that deserve this award.

Sheri had a beautiful piece written up about this blog, but the link I received is no longer working.

I’m going on memory for the requirements for the award, but I’m sure I have forgotten something. I have to nominate 15 blogs, as well as recommend notable blogs that tickle my fancy. I believe their wrote some questions to be answered, but I’m not sure. I’ll add just a few things about me just to bore you to tears!

I am going with some of the newer blogs I have recently discovered, as well as a few I have been following for a while. Then my list of ‘Tickle my fancy’ Blogs are going to be a mixture of the two as well.

My nominations are as follows: I hit publish when I meant to save as draft until I notified everyone. I’ll get that done after our church service is over tonight. Please forgive me!

http://thebottomofthebottle.wordpress.com

http://melanielynngriffin.wordpress.com

http://uwana.wordpress.com

http://theasianreloaded.wordpress.com

http://Gooseyanne.wordpress.com

http://lindavernon.wordpress.com

http://tellthejourney.wordpress.com

http://peacefulpartings.wordpress.com

http://michelleproulx.wordpress.com

http://fishofgold.wordpress.com

http://stuffitellmysister.me

http://gardnersworld.wordpress.com

http://lostcompanion.wordpress.com

http://therantingpapizilla.wordpress.com

http://deriklawrence.wordpress.com

The blogs that tickle my fancy: 

http://chrisman2college.com

http://mysouldances.wordpress.com

http://ldsconvertblog.com

http://beachtreasuresandtreasurebeaches.com

http://hopeforheather.wordpress.com

A few things about myself:

I’m a southern belle, through and through…

I do not play games, I speak what is on my mind!

God, my husband and my family are my life. I learn something new about all three daily!

I’m attempting to figure out how to garden from my wheelchair….

I try to see the good in everyone…..

I can be gullible….

If God had had it in his plans for me, I would have had a houseful of children…

My husband is my best friend and a gift from God!

Time Reblogged…….

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******This is a re-blog. I felt it was appropriate to post it again, cuz that old dislike is the word ‘Time’ is coming out again. I have something go wrong and I feel like crap-ola. All the doctor’s office can say is give it time, they will come in. I truly do not like being in this position. One thing has changed since I wrote this, I have been reminded that I am not supposed to worry about things. I need to put it in God’s hands, he is in control. So much has gone on since 2009, I had kinda forgotten that huge fact. I am actually beginning to feel more at ease about my illness. I do not like getting worse, but I have to remember, I’m just getting closer to him. Honestly, being able to give a little of this worry up is wonderful! I’m loving the peace!*****************************************

I learned to hate that word several years ago. When you are healing after anything to do with the brain, everyone’s favorite thing to say is ” Time, just give it time.”. I do not know about anyone else, but both Barry and I can be a tad impatient. Time is a word impatient people can’t stand.

I have to admit that I enjoyed paying Barry back with a few time comments. You have to understand my husband’s quirky sense of humor. I know he thoroughly enjoyed telling me “Give it time.”. He smiled and giggled a little too much after saying it. I turned it around and now use it on him just a little. I tried to hide my snickering.

Ok, well down to the news I need to share. My visit to neuro-oncologist was quite informative. He gave us more information than we have ever received from other doctors. He confirmed that I do have Cowden’s Syndrome. With my medical history, he doesn’t feel the blood test is necessary. He is scheduling an MRI of the brain and a full body PET Scan. He says he hopes they are both negative, but to be prepared for the possibility. Said it could be as simple as the thyroid cancer not being totally removed or something else manifesting in the neurological symptoms that have been popping up. Here we go again with that word, TIME! Barry and I are praying and giving it to God. If it’s meant to be……….

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