Unbelievable

Whew!!! It has been a long and busy past few nights. Have worked several nights and all I can say is I am so glad they are over. Off tonight and I so need it. I feel like my body has been run over by a Mack truck, a Semi trailer, a Tank, or something similar. Or maybe someone came in while I was sleeping and used my body as a punching bag. All I know is I am stiff, sore, aching, and really had a lot of problems getting out of bed and getting my bones/joints to moving. Think I need some WD40. ha ha.

Sometimes work can be either Feast or Famine. Census can be booming or so low that a unit might be closed. I don't really know about last night. I don't know if census was booming, but I do know that it was busy. There were still beds available so I know our unit was not full. However, busy, busy, busy, busy little beavers we were and we weren't getting the job done. We were plugging along and doing the best we could but... We needed reinforcements. We needed help. We needed someone to send in the calvary.

Have you ever worked for someone who would let you drown? If you called and told them you needed help, they just didn't have any solutions? would not offer to even come in to help for a short time? would not try to find you any help?
Now I can see it if you are constantly calling for help. If you can never seem to get through a shift without "drowning" yourself. If you are always behind. Hey, if this is happening then you may need some time management classes. However, I am talking about those rare occasions when what needs done and what you are managing to do just are not balancing out on the scale - things are definitely not in your favor. Then what happens?

Last night was one of those cases. One of the solutions my manager/boss came up with was to come in and assist for a few hours. Wow!!! that is unheard of most of the time. In all my years of working (started working in nursing homes soon after graduating high school, then moved on to the hospital setting), anyway, I only remember two other times when a manager came in to assist. My manager came in, pitched in to get the work done and get us caught up, did not pick and choose her jobs but just did whatever needed done. I was very impressed. Just knowing that she would come in to help, well, those are the type of managers that I will tend to go the extra mile for if needed. What is the saying...something about....Don't ask me to do something that you would not do yourself. Well, she definitely was not that type of person. In my book, that makes her stand out above the rest.

I feel so blessed to have her as a leader, manager, boss! and I hope she continues in the position for quite some time to come. I feel that with her at the lead, caring about the staff and the unit, then maybe, just maybe we could make our unit the best again. We could really make it Rock!!!

More than One Test

Goodness it has been an emotional whirlwind of a last few days. ACLS. Anyone taken it before?
I knew it was coming up. I tried to get a book, but there weren't any. They did have a pamphlet of some papers that included a pre-test and pages and pages of drugs. No books though. Would the books have helped? I am not sure, but still....
The first day was class. Lots and lots of info was discussed. There were some test out sections - testing out on the AED, testing out on CPR, demonstrations on entubation, and lots more. There were discussions about the mega-codes. make sure you say "resume CPR" or we can fail you. Make sure you participate, make sure you say "IV route" with the drugs or we can fail you. Okay, to be honest, did they say it that many times? I am not sure but I do know each time was stuck in my brain - Fail, fail, fail, fail, remember, remember, remember, or fail, fail, fail, fail. By the time I left, I was on serious overload and feeling severely overwhelmed. Talk about feeling like giving up, I was there!!!
I came home, grabbed a bite to eat, played with Miss Cleo and tried to study. It did not work. I looked at the clock and decided I did not care at that point, I wanted sleep. My day had begun in the wee am hours around 3am and it was 7pm then. Sleep came, but it was not restful - it was nightmarish thoughts that invaded my dreams. I woke 2 1/2 hours later, not as sleep deprived, still tired, but more able to concentrate. I grabbed my pencil, my notebook, and the papers. I did the pre-test first and did not do bad, but did not do good either. So I grabbed the pencil and paper and wrote out over and over the steps of each logarithm. A few hours later, I was feeling better and sleepy so went back to bed. I slept 2-3 more hours and then got back up a little before 5am. I made a pot of coffee, grabbed a cup when it was done, grabbed the papers and started studying again.
I was beginning to feel it was not worth going in to take the class and if I could not do this, then what was the use of trying to go back for my BSN!!!! Maybe I was just too old. Maybe I couldn't comprehend anymore. Maybe I didn't have what it took to do this. Maybe I should just give up!
I was ready to. I was ready to not go to class. I was ready to just stay home.
I prayed and as a last ditch effort put out a plea for prayer via email to some friends on the internet. I was praying they would see this and intercede for me. I left quoting the words from the scripture - "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS WHO STRENGTHENED ME!!' I went to class!
God provided peace to my body. He provided peace to my mind. When it came time for the mega-codes I was calm, I was peaceful, I could recall the info I had studied. When it came time for the test, I was very calm, I could recall the info, and I was sure of the answers. I passed ACLS.
What this means:
I could have given up and that may have lead to me giving up on the school.
However, it is just another proof that I am on the right track. I can do all things if I continue to rely on the one who can provide calmness during the storms of life. The one who provides peace when all is chaos inside of me. The one who provides strength when mine is totally gone. The one who knows that even though I would chose for this to be handled differently, his way is the best.

As a side note - when I checked emails this morning, I received one with a beautiful prayer written out. It was timed at 10:04am and my first mega-code started at 10:10am. The other emails I received in answer to people praying were timed from when I sent the email and continued throughout the morning. I am so thankful for all the prayers. I am so thankful for the technology that allows us to reach out to people all over the world via the internet and form a prayer chain that grows stronger and stronger with each prayer that joins the chain. It still amazes me how God can use everyone and everything.

Jammie Day

Today is a New Day.
Prayers are being answered.
I was suppose to be going to a meeting today for work. Today is my only day off because I am not counting yesterday. Yesterday I got off work at 0730 then proceeded to sleep off and on or just veg out half awake, half asleep. I have class the next two days (for work) and then have to go back for 3 12 hour shifts. So really today is my only day off and I really wanted to declare a jammie day.
Have you ever had a jammie day? You know a day when you get up and stay in your jammies all day because you are not going to go anywhere, you are just going to stay home and do whatever you want to do - no one can make you do anything! Love those days and don't have them enough.
Praises are going up because I found out yesterday around noon that the meeting is cancelled until Sept 24th. So..... it's a Jammie Day!!!! Yeah!!!!

So what do I want to do today? Well..... I am going to play with stamps, inks, and paper. I went to Goodwill a few months back and found these really cool neat stamps. I think they were made for a kid, but hey I am just a kid in an over sized body...haha. The stamps are about a 2x2 square (maybe a little less). Each one has only one thing on it, for instance the one showing is a rainbow with clouds, there are also dinosaurs, a telephone, golf bag, a moon with stars, and many other neat things. There are also a bunch of the alphabet (those I have put up because I tend to use other stamps for when I need the alphabet).the back of the stamps have a little knob on them - then that knob fits into the pink holder and the back of the holder has a part for you to hold onto to - then makes it a stamp which is usable. So neat and easy to use.
I stamped off some of the moon and the rainbows. I colored them and cut them out. They are small but I love to use small things on cards. sometimes they give just the right "pizzazz" that is needed.

Here is my little one sitting in front of the computer proceeding to block my view. Did not realize until now that it looks like she is sitting in front of a huge dog. The computer screen is behind here and the dog is a pic on my desktop. As you can see the keyboard is already moved over to the side so she can sit there. she blocked my view and hindered my typing for about 5 minutes then when back to curl up in her bed.

Going for another cup of coffee and going to stamp some things - Maybe I can get something put together and show what all I do with the little things I cut out. have a great day and maybe you can have a jammie day too.

The Dream

Fall is here. The nights are getting cooler. I was off last night and woke to a very cool morning - I was snuggled up in a lightweight blanket and almost wished I had something heavier covering me. However, I got up instead and now have coffee on. Soon I will have a steaming cup of hot coffee. So good on a cool morning.

Miss Cleo is snuggled down in her bed. She is curled into a semi-circle with her tail curled up underneath her. She is so pretty lying there. I can watch her little chest moving up and down - rhythmically as she sleeps. The sleep of the innocent - the sleep of contentment - the sleep knowing that she is safe and secure.

How I wish I could rest in that assurance - always!!! Some days I try to sleep, but the sleep that comes does not rest my soul. However, the other day (I think it was this past Wed) I slept during the afternoon because I had to work that night - oh the sleep that came. the restful, blessed sleep that restores and rejuvenates your body and soul. I woke dreaming and upon awakening remembered the dream. Now that does not always happen, but this time it did.

The Dream:

I was sitting on a screened in porch in a comfy chair, had a lightweight blanket to snuggle up in and a steaming hot cup of coffee with my favorite French Vanilla creamer and Sweetener. It was a cool morning too so both the blanket and coffee were welcomed. The sight before me was awesome - the brillant colors of a sunrise were displayed over a body of water. I am not sure if it was the ocean or not, but the soft ripple of waves were rushing to shore and the water stretched far into the horizon - the blues of the water melting into the pinks, reds, and other colors displayed in the sunrise. An awesome sight - seeing God's majestic artwork.

I remember the quietness all around me - just the distant sounds of the waves hitting the shore and the occasional bird (sea gull maybe) saying It's a Glorious Morning.

I can still picture that sight in my mind - it has become a treasured memory and a restful haven during times of stress or trials. My friend, Cathy, says it was a blessing from God.

It reminds me of Elijah - he was sitting under the juniper tree wanting to die, but God has an angel go to him, bake bread upon a rock, wake Elijah up to eat, the angel does this twice, and then Elijah goes on the substance of those two meals for the next 40 days.

I am not sure how long I will be going on the substance of that dream but already it has sustained me through a night of stressful busy work. Even in the chaos it provided a peace to my soul.

Read more on Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 19.

Odds n Ends

Good morning. It has turned off cool here in Indiana - yesterday it was raining some and that made it even cooler. It is suppose to rain again today too - scattered showers that is according to the weather man. After all the hot hot weather we had been having, the fall weather is feeling really good. My body is not liking it though - the cold is causing lots of body aches and sinus problems. I can deal with it though. Was off last night, am up early and have my coffee in my favorite coffee cup. I bought this right after I moved here 3+ years ago. It is a little larger than a regular coffee cup, but not by much. I had two of them but the other one ended up breaking (probably from overuse...lol). Now I treasure the one I have left and use it most of the time. It has a small chip along the rim but is still useable. It even reminds me of Christmas year round since it says Santa Stop here....lol.

Here it is filled with my favorite vanilla coffee, vanilla creamer, and sweetener. Yum!!!
One of my friends, who recently moved into a beautiful new old but loved home, gave me a few boxes of things to put in a garage sale. Included were boxes of picture frames in various shapes and styles and several larger pictures that were already framed. This one is not going in the sale, but is going in my bedroom. I just think the little girl is so sweet...and besides she has my two favorite animals with her - a kitty and a loveable dog. Check out the frame - it is so pretty too with the unique design.

this smaller 5x7 framed picture was also included. I really like the uniqueness of the frame and it is one of my favorite colors - blue. I am not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but just don't want to part with it.

I am not keeping this lamp but i do like it. It reminds me of my older sister who loves all victorian type things. Not sure this is victorian, but it sure does remind me of her.

Loved this little knick-knack. I thought about nabbing it too, but I know Miss Cleo would not leave any pen in the holder. She thinks any pen or pencil is a toy for her to play with - so I figure it would be bettter off finding another home. so sad.

Yesterday I started going through old cards. One of my friend's mom gave me a huge ziplock bag filled with old cards and card fronts. I started sorting them out, cutting out different pictures and parts of the cards in order to recycle them - to use them on other cards. Here are just a few of the pictures. This one reminds me so much of my paternal grandma - I think it is the bonnet and the apron. however, it sure does look like her - don't you think so too Mandy???

These little bears came from a Christmas card. I send out several cards each week and this year want to send out Christmas or winter theme cards the whole month of December. That will be a lot of cards and I think the little bears will end up finding the perfect home on another card.

And this cute reindeer too.

And I just couldn't pass up the kitty.

Thank you to my friend's mom for all these and many more. I still have about a dozen more to go through. That is my project for today. I will have my scissors in use!!

I am planning on sitting on the couch, putting some Southern Gospel music on (probably the Gaither's Homecoming Videos), grabbing my supplies and just enjoying myself. Hope you have something enjoyable planned for today.

Helping Study

My little Miss Cleo is almost a year old. My how time flies. She is still a great source of company and entertainment. She loves to be somewhere close to where I am. Trying to read or study with her help is quite a job sometimes. Here she is trying to help me do a Bible study.

Oh wow, a pen she says...

Okay, so I can't have the pen, then I will just lie here on your book. You didn't want to read this part did you?


And when you are not paying attention, when you least expect it - I will attack the pen. Yeah, it is mine!!


What you talking about? I didn't do anything. I am just lying here all innocent! Innocent I say. Hey how about a treat?

That is what I imagine my little Miss Cleo is thinking and saying.
She does love her treats even though she does not get them very often. For me, my treat is my Diet Coke. Love my Diet Coke. I try to cut back but still need to have one or two or three a day.


Soon I will start back to school for my BSN in nursing. I found out I got accepted and classes start Sept 27th. I am taking all the classes online. Miss Cleo will be helping me study for them I am sure - either by attacking the books, the pens, or blocking my view of the computer. the joys of a cat who is no longer a kitten but still plays like one. I think I will keep her!!!