Ah, the weekend!

It's  a lot of work celebrating Easter at our house in RehabLand, but we have fun. Lots of stuff going on. I got up and assembled all the ingredients I needed. I found out that Dahey ate one of them (you just can't leave him alone with certain kinds of canned fruit), so that went on the shopping list.

Next, it was run over to one of Bubba's soccer games at 0800. (So glad it was not an 0700 one!) Bubba got up early anyway, and asked me if I saw what was outside. RehabLand was covered in a huge fog.

Once we got done with soccer, it was back home to start some of the baking, with Dahey on watch (and warned not to eat anything else.) so I could go to the store to pickup the missing items and a couple of other things.

While I was out, I also returned a movie. I'd wanted to see The Intouchables forever. I finally did with Dahey last night. As a rehab nurse, it was an absolute riot. I especially loved the references (and reactions) to teaching the caregiver about bowel programs.

It would be a riot if any of our folks had a Maserati. I can only imagine what might happen with a similar setup.

More later...

Kids say...

The darnedest things. Since I wanted to watch a grown up movie from a Redbox this weekend, I went looking online.Bubba, who sees lots of movies, told me the one I chose to rent (The Intouchables--good for a rehab nurse, eh?) is "basically rated R, Mom". Yes, I knew it was since I had to prove I was over 18.

His assessment of the last rated R movie he saw (he caught bits of Dahey watching Silkwood): "they say a lot of bad words."

Somehow, he mentioned Lincoln was rated PG-13 and had "a" words and "b" words. Then he says, "Isn't booby trap a bad word?"

It all depends, dear, it all depends. Should be an interesting Easter weekend here in RehabLand with the gathering of relatives, Dahey's birthday, and all the other assorted excitement.

Hope you all enjoy whatever holiday you'll be celebrating wherever you are.

Three words...

Expense report hell.

Still waiting for reimbursement almost a month after MegaConference. Pushing the expense report back and forth, back and forth. Passive aggressive accounting people are so much fun!

Praying this is over soon.

More to come...

Something to keep in mind...

This is going to be my motto today:

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone. ~ Reba McEntire

One more workday, then it's a LONG weekend with Bubba and Dahey to celebrate Easter.

Stay tuned!

Patients, positivity and a liberator

I loved this post a psychiatrist wrote about his patient who passed away. Today, a Buchenwald liberator died, and what stories he had to tell in his 95 years.

And my favorite, because I need positivity  in my work and home life, was this one from Shawn Achor of Waco, Texas. So many funny quotes about life, applying (and getting accepted) to Harvard on a dare, and dealing with life.

The quote: "The absence of disease is not health." So true.

Really spring?

Yes, we're having a snowstorm in RehabLand. Who could think of a better way for us to appreciate spring when it gets here? (Those crazy meteorologists.) Anywho...here are a few goodies I ran into once I got off the slick roads and out of the grocery store today. (I had to get my triple coupons!)

Since the groundhog predictions of an early spring are off, some litigious folks in Ohio want to get Phil. Thank you BBC for being on the mark for this important story.

Grumpy has a weekend rerun ALL nurses will enjoy. Thanks for thinking of us Grumpy. I'd stash you a Diet Coke, anytime!

Yet another problem: how to tell if the new iPad you just bought is really in the box. Hard to believe this could have happened at a major retailer, but if it's worth something, people will try to steal it.

Sunday silliness

I loved this video when I saw it. Another Oreo dismantling technique. Be sure to watch all the way to the end to see the best splitting method.

The things you learn with children

My child, Bubba, is a character. He's spent his afternoon after soccer, singing around the house: church songs, and even Adele.

He's also having a grand old time trolling the internet on the iPad we got recently. (I won it at MegaConference). When he wasn't busy playing a map game of the NCAA tournament, he was checking YouTube and looking at videos of other kids.

He also learned about genetic diseases when he happened upon a video of a kid with a rare skin disease. We looked it up and found out that is now survivable. He was most impressed that the little girl we saw doesn't live too far from RehabLand.

Now it's a golfing math game, so he wanders to and fro, but when supervised, he has fun and learns something, too.

More to come...spring break is still young.

Rites of passage

Bubba gets to go to his very first orthodontist visit while he's off on spring break.

Boy, do I remember that!

More to come...

Signs you know the weekend is near...

1. Your NP traveling friend is growling a lot and the bags under her eyes have suitcases.

2. Everyone is saying, "Is it Friday yet?"

3. The heat was turned off in the building (or it seemed that way, anyway).

One more day...

The first day of Spring

Yes, it's spring on the calendar, but you can't tell in RehabLand. It's freezing!

I went to the allergist for the first time in a LONG time. (my personal rite of spring). Discovered that I really do need to change up my meds so I can be less stuffy, or at least have a less stuffy nose.

Even though it was cold, I stood outside waiting by PrivateU to get lunch from a food truck. Not just any food truck but an exceptional Asian fusion one. To top it off, a pink cupcake truck was parked nearby.

Life really is sweet...and lunch was surely wonderful today.

Stay tuned...more to come.

Now I know why...

The Hotel requires fluent nurses, since you just have to ask ahead of time.

I guess they were so busy that the nurse manager didn't get an interview and just did not pick up on that little tidbit that most likely would not have escaped notice in a verbal interview.(scratches head)

Wow!

More to come...

Three reasons

Why I should stay in bed today...

1. Dark. (I hate Daylight Savings sometimes!)
2. Wet. (Still raining.)
3. Monday.

Stay tuned...

It has begun

That illness known as March Madness has descended on RehabLand. Dahey and Bubba are glued to the TV and the tournament has not even started.

It is fun though. A couple of teams from the local area are hot, hot, hot as they say. We know all the patients who are basketball fans because I'm hearing, "Hey, I have to go back to my room, X game is on.", and "Bob, I'll bet you a soda X team wins the conference."

Let the games begin...

Always a sobering thought...

You go out for a walk and your kid gets away from you...lost.

Got stopped by the local PD today. A little boy in RehabLand is out there alone with his dog. The cop thought Bubba (running ahead of course, since WildDog is so geriatric...) might be him.

It's frightening to even think about it.

More later.

No, it's not normal

My life is not THAT exciting, thank you so much!I thought walking miles at MegaConference and staying in a place without flushing toilets was exciting.

No. I was topped again. I talked to my pharmacist friend who told me about her week. Besides the usual crazy cast of characters in the large metro neighborhood, one of them decided to steal a police automatic rifle, out of a police car, one block from her store.

Said thief must have been what she lovingly calls an "unlicensed pharmacy professional" who obtained said firearm for protection of his "inventory." Thief then sells his wares to local yokel and shows him the rifle.

Local yokel takes random drug of the moment (she had no idea what) and has a bad experience. Could he get physically sick? Oh, no! He does get psychotic thought and starts trashing aisles of BigPharmacy, where she works. Store management calls police and 911.

Once local yokel sees they are on to his bad trip, he runs to the pharmacy and proceeds to jump over the counter, screaming, "The machine gun man is coming to get us."

My friend, freaked out and having no idea, that Local has been reported, calls 911. They put her on hold. She wanted to run out of the store (via a back door) but her tech froze, so no dice.

After  all the hubbub, Local is taking to station, and stuff  written up. Local only got a night in jail.

So what's the first thing you do after you crazily climb into the pharmacy and tell everyone a murderer with a machine gun is coming?

You call your pharmacist (at the same store) and ask for a refill, because you forgot it.

Madame Pharmacist was not amused...

Weekend follies - travel wrap-up

Yes, if you travel, you get to do lots of things.

Here's a few of the things I did:

1. Walk. I went over 10,000 steps on my pedometer every single day walking back and forth to various sessions. That's not including the to and from to the conference.

2. Eat. Lots and lots of restaurants (and some nice receptions) with loads of food. I tried to stay away from too many bagels (aka meeting room food).

3. Drink. Lots and lots of coffee--every kind you can imagine. Also had some of the local beverages which were quite tasty.

4. Chat with presidents. And vice presidents and marketing directors, as well as our sales reps. I was enlisted to do a demo with one of the products I use regularly for one vendor. She didn't know how to use it.

5. Collect swag. I got a gallon Ziploc full of pens for the nursing staff: light up pens and even the  new pens with stylus ends for your tablet. I also got a purple dragon and mints, among other things. Wish I could have gotten a fedora (yes, one vendor gave those out) for S.

6. Meet. Met lots of fellow nurses from around the country. Had lots of fun discussing everything we do in the SU. Was almost tempted to show up in scrubs when the dress code said "business dress".

Yes, even in the SU, scrubs are business attire. However, I caved and wore my "I could be a banker" suit.

And now, I get to do one more thing: prepare an expense report. It's all worth it. I learned a lot, walked a lot and had a lot of fun.

Stay tuned...

I didn't run away...

Oh.My.Heavens. MegaConference was just that--MEGA. And I had to walk miles every day just to get to the different sessions. I met lots of folks and enjoyed myself immensely.

Fun, fun, fun. Stay tuned!

Have money...

For cabs, coffees and the copy machine.

Suitcase is packed and ready. Electronics are charging and I'm about ready to do the same right out the door. Left Bubba and Dahey all set up for some little and big man togetherness, roughing it in the refrigerator.

Look out! Here I come.

Stay tuned, 'cause I'm gonna take you all along.

Wild, wooly, and can we join you

Wild would have been an appropriate description of part of my day. One of the patients grabbed a trapeze and threw himself into his bed a la Tarzan. All I had to do was maneuver the feet and park the wheelchair.

Wooly described the outerwear I was wearing. Damp and dreary, but I'm not complaining. A few of our folks at the Hotel hail from areas being blanketed by the latest round of snow. In a couple of towns, they've had so much snow in the last week that roofs are collapsing.

And while the first round of inspectors came and quizzed us, our program was one of the stars of the show here at Hotel Rehab. They love the SU work. They want more of it.

Now just give us what we need: a backup so if I ever win that lottery, someone has a clue as to what is going on.

It would be nice! So so nice! A nurse can dream...stay tuned.