New addition to the family

Well, finally went and got a playmate for Lacy, my cat. She has been the queen of the house since Molly died over a year ago of kidney disease. I felt she could use a younger cat to play with. A friend at work had a litter of kittens to find homes for and started working on me to take one. I wanted a female and she had one left who was a snuggler and a purring fool. She told me the kitten had fur coming coming out of her ears, like Gizmo.

So I went to pick her up and boy was she cute! 4 months old and sweet. So then it came to naming her, the vet needed something to put on the record. So Gizmo was not appealing so she became Gigi, short for Gizmo Girl. She has not taken to her name yet. She plays hard, and sleeps hard. I find her in bed with me, but then I have also found her toys in my bed also! The joys of being owned by a cat!

Gigi is very helpful, she "assists" me when I am studying. The only way I can get anything done is to hold her like a baby craddeled in the crook of my arm. She checks my balance by whipping around the house and under foot, one of these days she may topple me. She is very clean and even gives me a bath, she cleaned my face tonight. It has been a long time since I have had a kitten, 19 years! So there are some adjustments, but I look forward to them!

I already have a PHD!

Fall leaves and flowers

I am currently working on my Masters Degree as a Nurse Educator, but I already have a PhD....in glue gun! My choice of relaxing crafting is to get out my glue gun and make seasonal decorations for my home, family and friends. I have included some pix of some of my creations. What does PhD stand for? Push here Dummy! Easy way to do crafting!
Mums for Fall
Spring bird and floral "Every Birdies Welcome!"
Heart with favorite pink and blue flowers and ivy
Christmas topiary, Angels and gold fruit and musical instruments. 1 of a pair. I have made topiaries for each season, but the others are packed away.

Cross another classic off the list!

Many years ago, I came to the realization that my education was lacking. In the years that I was in high school there were choices of what classes you wished to take. So, unknowingly, I missed out on reading many of the classic books required. Since then I pick up a classic novel every so often to complete my education and widen my horizons. As if working on my Masters degree isn't doing that completely enough!

So, I have just completed reading "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. This book was actually a quick read. The story was written in 1905 about the French Revolution. It was exciting following the scarlet pimpernel as he employed clever disguises to get past the guards. There was a love story and unexpected humor that I found, well, unexpected! I found it very interesting that when I looked up the flower, the scarlet pimpernel, it is considered a weed and so it is overlooked, much as the man named the scarlet pimpernel.

So cross another classic off the list. What is next you ask? You will just have to stay tuned.

Week in review

As I look back over the past week, most of my time was spent working. Preparing for an impending visit for our yearly survey. Quarterly body exams, quarterly MD rounds, filing, filing and more filing, staff training, meetings, I just want to take a nap thinking about it! We had a memorial service for a resident that died on 9/25, 2 weeks after another residents death. I really hate losing my residents, but I know that they are living longer lives than would have ever been possible related to the health care they have received. The most recent resident I lost was not expected to live beyond 18 yrs of age, she died at age 63.

I did find some time to do other projects that I enjoy. I joined "Operation Minnesota Nice" last April. This is for service persons who get little or no mail and their name is sent by another service person to OMN at www.operationminnesotanice.com
Each month I meet with my group at a "packing party" where we all bring 10 of one item to pack. This way we all share in filing the boxes to be sent to persons serving in Iraq or other war zones. I have one regular service person and 2 of the group of Marines we adopted who are stationed in a remote part of Afghanistan without electricity, e-mail, etc. To do such a small thing as packing a box with personal care items, snack foods, reading material and a personal letter helps me to realize that my life may be boring but it is at least safe and yes, predictable.

Lacy

Lacy is my cat or rather I am her loyal subject. I lost my other cat, Molly, to kidney failure after 18 years, last August. Here is a picture of them, as close as they ever got to occupying the same space. They did not become great friends as each considered themselves the queen of the house. Molly is the gray cat on the right, Lacy is the black cat on the left.

Lacy came to me via the spa consultant who came to do a party at my house 3 years ago. Lacy was not doing well with the 3 children, 2 dogs and another cat that she shared the home with. So in essence, she is a rescue.

Lacy is a one person feline. She is all black with beautiful green eyes and full of attitude. She has come along way in the past 3 years. From growling when myself or Molly walked by to now seeking me out to be petted, sitting on me to watch TV or sleeping on me at night. Her personality has blossomed and she has filled out to cover the bones that stuck out when she came to live with Molly and me.

Lacy likes her water fresh and has me trained to turn on the water in the bathroom sink when she jumps up on the counter. Lacy has a paper fetish and loves books, she is often "helping" me study. Lacy is not a low fat feline. If I have anything with butter or whipped cream, she is there in a heartbeat and will lick it off my finger. She, however, is svelte and of a normal weight given her running up and down the hallway at top speed. She loves to sit on the screened porch and watch the cars go by and the children play at the daycare center across the street. She has a chirp that she saves especially for any birds that come close enough.

It is truly nice to have some one who is glad that I am home at the end of the day. Greeting me with a meow at the door and demanding to know where I have been and why did it take so long for me to come home!

Well, that is enough, lest you think me a crazy cat lady. I think technically you have to have 10 or more cats for that to be true... 9 more to go!

Day 2 of My Boring Life

This blogging is kind of fun. Have been thinking all day of what I would write. But being that my life is boring, there is not much to write.

I spent today teaching our non-licensed staff to pass medications in our group homes. I work with Adults who are DD (developmentally disabled) and most of which are physically disabled as well. This is truly the best job I have ever had! I had just shy of 14 years in a large hospital in St. Paul. Out of nursing school and into the hospital in a new grad program. Worked Med-Surg, Oncology, was a Nurse Clinician working with physicians who saw the patients admitted to the hospital from their large clinic and even did a stint as a nurse recruiter in HR.

My current job is great, the variety of working with the residents, training staff and also teaching is right up my alley. For the past 6 years I have learned to really know my residents. That is something not every nurse can say, especially when working in the hospital setting. I have learned who is prone to what problems and work to prevent hospitalizations and illness by training staff on what to look for and to report to me, as the consulting nurse. Sometimes the symptoms are as vague as refusing to eat a favorite food. What is really interesting is that it often comes down to a "gut" feeling that this resident is just not right. I love a good mystery novel and my residents often are a mystery to be puzzeled out, because they are not able to communicate in conventional ways. The patient interview is out the door with this group and a physical exam is not always helpful to determine pain. I am fortunate to work with a fantastic physician, and his support staff, who is the primary for 99% of our residents. We have built a relationship of trust and that makes things so much easier.

Well, on a more relaxed note, I just finished a book late last night...okay, early this morning. I love to read and really require fiction, mindless, don't have to think about it recreational reading, at the end of my day to relax and go to sleep. Sometimes I just can't put a book down. Anyway, just finished "Fearless Fourteen" a Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich. Yes, there are 13 previous books and I have read them all. Stephanie is a bounty hunter who has a crazy guntoting granny and gets into all sorts of situations that cause her policeman boyfriend to have a virtual heart attack. The writting is easy to read, and full of understated but wonderful humor that had me snorting with laughter. Hope you check it out.

My Boring Life Day 1

I often state that I live a very boring life. So now, as an assignment for my Masters Degree in Nursing, I am creating a blog. I will tell you all you want to know, more than you ever asked to know about my life. You can be the judge as to if it is boring or not!

I have spent the weekend sleeping, recovering from a sinus infection and catching up on the volumes of reading for my current class on "Instructional Technology". Interesting subject and I am learning much...mostly that I don't know as much as I thought about computers and technology.

I also spent time digging thru my papers for debts, paystubs, medical bills, etc. as I am filing for bankruptcy related to forclosure and loss of my house a year ago. Difficult and emotional, frustrating also in that I am not organized like I would like to be. I spend more time trying to find things than it would take me to just file right from the beginning. I would think that after moving in here 2 years ago on 10/1 that things would be ship shape. Not so! I am still downsizing 2 years later. I downsized considerably on moving from my house to an apartment but not enough apparrently. It is an ongoing battle to get rid of things that are not needed. Isn't there a saying that "She who dies with the most stuff wins". I just might win.