The best things in life

Some are free, some not so much.

It's been a fun week. Bubba started seventh grade. He's happy enough, but wishes more of his friends were in his classes (only half of the classes contain at least one friend, which according to Bubba will make them "very boring.").

The school district here in RehabLand is having budget cuts this year. I always know which teachers talk about them (the ones most affected). It's very interesting. There won't be any intramural sports this year, so we have to find Bubba a boys' volleyball league he can play in. He is set on trying out for v-ball in high school, so we must prepare. This will be interesting. He may have to get on a girls team.

So today, we hung out, did homework and we had fun. We went to a local hamburger joint that's been around for ages. It's a tiny place (counter serves 10 people on each side) that makes their own root beer. We got a burger, fries and root beer. It was fun. One item crossed off the bucket list.

Since that wasn't enough calories, we decided to go to a local creamery known for it's oddball flavors. Bubba got one called Cookie Monster. It had both Oreos and chocolate chip cookie dough in it. I got old reliable double chocolate, which was amazing.  Bubba was a little scared of the teenage girl population, so we sat on the same side as the ice cream scoopers.

All in all, it was fun hanging out with Bubba. These moments are priceless. I would not trade them for anything.

More to come...

Harbinger of things to come?

Sunday started with a migraine, which did not go away. It just subsided here and there until the migraine drugs came out (thankfully, no nausea and vomiting!)

Went over by the Hotel and saw one of my coworkers, F., getting ready for the night shift. Long discussion. Had to cut it short to do what I had to do and get two friends to bring home for Dahey and Bubba.

Those friends: Ben & Jerry. Yes, we ran out of ice cream (found this out yesterday) and you would have thought the world would indeed end.

But alas, as I'm leaving I saw it. The harvest moon. 

I hope F. has a really boring night.

That is all. Stay tuned...the night (and the week) is young.

Ice cream and Viagra?

Thankfully, we won't (or shouldn't) have anyone eating this at the Hotel.

It's one thing to need a medication fridge, but a freezer for this? Yes, the pharmacy folks keep our shingles vaccine, so we don't have to do it.

It's always something as Roseanne used to say.

What's what: this week's Sunday Stealing

Getting ready for the week and Veterans' Day. Here's the latest meme from Sunday Stealing. Enjoy!

What is on your bed right now?
Dahey. He's asleep.

What is the best ice cream flavor?
Hmm...pistachio

Did you wake up smiling this morning?
I woke up in a hurry, so I don't remember.

What time do you wake up on a typical morning?
Between 4 and 7 a.m. (varies, but alarm assisted during the week.)

What holiday makes you sad?
It depends on who is with (or not) with you.

Where does a good night’s sleep rank on your priorities?
Top 2. Must have sleep!

One song that makes you cry?
"I drive your truck" is one that gets me.

What food do you find disgusting?
Liver. Just don't like it.

Siege, day 2

True discipline is really just self-remembering; no forcing or fighting is necessary.~ Charles Eisenstein

Okay, it's not really a siege. I often worry about that when the safety guy drills us on the phone-in bomb threat (yes, apparently they still do that, even with Caller-ID) or the shooter who walks in the lobby.

The siege is happening every time I walk into the kitchen. Over to the cafeteria. Out in the mall.

Yes, dear friends, due to liberal imbibing of those fine Hefeweizens, and all those yummy cupcakes, I'm now on a diet.

I have just decided that I should have never let that nursing school flab (and brownie habit) come back.

Coping with stress with food when you have a job where you sit a lot more than you used to, is not a very good thing.

My goal is not impossible, but it sure seems that way when I look at dark chocolate or ice cream.

Stay tuned.

Life is like a box of chocolates? Maybe...

If any man has drunk a little too deeply from the cup of physical pleasure; if he has spent too much time at his desk that should have been spent asleep; if his fine spirits have become temporarily dulled; if he finds the air too damp, the minutes too slow, and the atmosphere too heavy to withstand; if he is obsessed by a fixed idea which bars him from any freedom of thought:  if he is any of these poor creatures, we say, let him be given a good pint of amber-flavored chocolate... and marvels will be performed.  ~Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin


And if ice cream's your thing, especially as the temps go up in the RehabRN household when Bubba plays more outside and comes in a sweaty mess:

Ice cream is happiness condensed.  ~Jessi Lane Adams

Do you really think...

I need my house cleaned? Not anymore!

Left to her own devices, RehabRN got out the vac after work, terrorized WildDog by putting him in his room (so he would stop chasing the vacuum), mopped and made dinner all before the guests arrived. Don't worry...he got his cookie for relaxing in his room (he just tries to make me feel guilty!)

Whew! Now for another scoop of pistachio ice cream...I worked hard!

Hope you day went just as well. Traveling partner's been working on the next trip. Who knows...maybe we'll see Elvis.

More later...stay tuned.

Preview

Hot Friday

The unit (and some of our patients) was steaming...literally and figuratively.

As usual, in our neck of the woods, it was hot today. No one told this to the HVAC people, who last year, were lucky enough to have the heat on in mid-May when we had a cold spell. Oh, the joy of rooms that are so hot, patients sticking around in them get sick and vomit. This happened to one of our characters today...just as I was finishing my lunch.

His nurse of course, was nowhere to be found when he first started retching. I got the lucky job of elevating his head, turning it and getting him a bucket. By that time, it was too late. He was a mess. His nurse did show up and I did stick around to help her clean him up and get the doc to look at him, since he's a nice guy and he just doesn't normally do that. He had some other complaints that seemed a bit strange, so we gave him the full treatment...EKG and all. No surprise that after we got his IV access started he tells everyone, "I sure feel better now that I threw up!"

I had the same two patients and Mr. Colo. (They're still working on a colostomy for him...he needs it). I was working with some new nurses, too, so that made things interesting. Trying to demonstrate new stuff and have patients cooperate can be a challenge. Fridays are busy days and one of my normally reasonable characters got crabby fast. He wanted to be "waited on first". Thankfully, the charge nurse helped me out, but I was guilty only of not being able to be in two places at once.

This character is an anxious respiratory mess and you know that ABC stuff (airway, breathing, circulation)...well, he knows the routine and he just hams it up. Just for grins, I put him on an O2 sat monitor, as I start his trach trial (he needs to be plugged for several hours for his trip home). What do you know, he sats in the 90s all the time. All his entreaties for suction, etc., were driving me nuts. I just made him cough up the little bit of sputum he has (always white), because he needs to know how to do it. I still had to suction him twice this afternoon and he made a big mess going back to bed. Happily, I had a helper, so we got done reasonably quickly, but it was still a mess.

My other patients were reasonably less demanding, even the more demanding one. We kept his water cup filled and he was happy. It didn't hurt that I found an ice cream for him at lunch, either!

Needless to say, this wet and tired nurse was so happy to get out of Dodge and get a shower at home. The temperature at home was a delight. The night is young and so is the weekend, which I'll enjoy two days in a row off.

It doesn't get any better! More to come...