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In the Land of Procrastination I am Queen

I was up kinda late last night... and then I awoke to some really tough decisions this morning.

Like both of my favorite coffee mugs were clean.

Which to choose? Which to choose?


"Xena Warrior Princess" or "Get To Work: You're not being paid to believe in the power of your dreams." (Gotta love Despair Inc.)

Tough call.

In light of my burgeoned To Do list I went with the Work one, although Xena might have been a better choice.

And then, despite starting the day right with the proper coffee mug theme and all, I got nothing done... unless you count taking the dogs to the park as productive.

So, I'm cutting class tonight to work on my paper.

How's that for ironic?

Wake me when it's over!

It's 01:30 in the morning less than three weeks before the end of the semester and that is a BLANK microsoft word screen:

Darn paper is not writing itself.

(Not to mention that vacuum cleaner that's mocking me from a distance!)

Ugh!

My To Do list is getting a bit overwhelming!

Must focus.

Must focus.

Ooh, I like that show...

Y'all, who am I kidding?

Joanne is from Buffalo, NY. I was born and reared in a small town in Mississippi... and I have spent most of my adult life in Tennessee. I'm sure I've mentioned this before.

Anyway, as you can imagine, there is a bit of a culture clash and it makes for an interesting mix sometimes.

She is not much for subtleties and I tend to get my feelings hurt looking for those subtleties. I don't think I'm terribly thin-skinned, but I'm sure she'd disagree... vehemently.

There are just certain things that a girl reared in the south does and looks for in others...

• Like using lots of endearments. All of my patients are "honey" or "sweetie." (I realize that offends some people and I do say Mr.---- or Ms.-----, too. But if you are my patient and I like you, then you get an endearment.)
• If you have gray hair or look to be somewhere near the age of 60+ then you always get "Yes, sir" or "No, sir" or "Yes, ma'am" or "No, ma'am." I could never choke out anything else no matter how hard I tried. Those are the rules. I don't make them. I just follow them.
• If you are a male between the ages of 10 and infinity (unless you are infirm) it is expected that you hold the door for any female(s) in the vicinity. (I know some people will say that chivalry undercuts a woman's strength socially or professionally. I disagree. I think that those who feel that way operate outside the system that I refer to and therefore could never fully appreciate the advantage that a woman - I should say "lady" - can hold in such a situation.)
• Also, if you are, for example, approaching a check out line at the same time as another individual then the only time you, as a lady, defer is if it is an older lady who is vying for the spot. A gentleman should never, I repeat never cut off a lady. This is as good as saying that you think the female is not a lady and that she doesn't deserve to be treated like one. It's an affront.

There are tons more rules like that. I could go on and on and on, but I won't. These rules aren't written anywhere, but any lady or gentleman reared in the south knows what they are.

If you weren't reared in the south you get a free pass. We know that you don't know. It doesn't mean we like it, but we know.

Anyway, since Joanne and I have been together we've been to TN numerous times on vacation. She has fallen in love. I keep trying to point out the faults: It's a red state. People can be judgmental. Did I mention that it was a red state? Nothing I say seems to bother her.

I say, "Joanne, we could move to Syracuse or Buffalo, even NYC. Aren't you homesick?"

Invariably, her answer is "NO! It's cold and the people are rude!" (said in her NY accent, which makes it especially funny to me.)

"But, honey, what about all the prejudice? I'm from TN. People can be really narrow-minded! You've never lived there. I have and I know."

To which she says, "People can be narrow-minded in NY, too. Remember my sister's neighbor? She wouldn't even speak to us."

"Oh, yeah..." I don't say it. I just think it.

"The majority of Californians just voted against us!"

"Oh, yeah..." This time I say it.

Then she's quick to point out that at least in TN they'd speak to you, they'd be polite, even if they didn't like your lifestyle.

I have no argument for that. It's true.

So, we go around and around and around.

She has her heart set on Nashville and I...

Don't.

That is until we take a trip to NY or CA and I realize that I'm a bit like a fish out of water. And then we drive to TN and just as we cross the VA/TN state line I notice that all the guys at the gas stations start to hold the door for me again and nod "hello" and let me get in line first... and then my heart melts and I think - "Who am I kidding?"

I guess you can take the girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the girl.

I guess we are looking at Nashville in a few years.

Her parents have already started pricing property around the city.

I think I'm losing this battle and I'm really not even sure why I'm fighting it.

So, I went to iTunes and downloaded about fifty bucks worth of country music just now.

(Big sigh...)

Faith Hill - Mississippi Girl

Three Hugs and a Cake

When the alarm went off yesterday at 05:15 the last thing I wanted to do was roll out of bed and hit the shower. Ugh. But, somehow I managed and the next thing I knew I was heading down the interstate on the way to the hospital. I arrived in the parking lot, jumped out of my car and headed to the staff entrance beside the ER. The elevator ride up to my unit was a blur. I cut through the nurses' station to the lounge to drop my lunch in the fridge and get morning report.

I was pleased to hear that I had been assigned to care for a critically ill post op patient who was requiring extensive intervention and had not yet stabilized. Her condition merited one on one nursing care in order to keep up with the frequent lab work, IV medications, continous dialysis and airway maintenance. Ten years ago this would have scared me to death. Now I look forward to those assignments in a way, because I know they will keep me busy, engaged. They will challenge me and make me feel useful.

And my work day will fly by.

And that it did.

The next thing I knew it was 1600.

I was sitting at my patient's bedside charting. I didn't dare wander out of earshot for fear of not hearing an IV pump beep or seeing her start to struggle against the ventilator. A moments delay in my response could mean the difference between status quo and a code situation. It is entirely possible to stabilize a patient on life support, but she was anything but stable.

One of my peers peaked into the room. She had a big smile on her face. "Guess who just called?"

"Who?" I asked.

"M-----," she said.

I knew right away who she was referring to. M----- was the daughter of a patient we had taken care of in the days prior. We all loved her. She was so nice and her little elderly mother was cute as a button. She was sassy and independent. She was like the grandmother I always wished I had. (I guess we can't all be lucky in the grandparent department.)

"How is she?" I asked.

"She is doing just fine. M----- baked us cakes! She said to come up there (the floor we had transferred them to) and get them. She said she'd be there at 19:00."

"Oh. That's so sweet," I said. "They are just the nicest people. Did you tell everybody?"

"No!" she said. "That's just it! I told her I'd come and get the cakes and everybody would be so tickled and she said 'no'. She said to wait until 19:00 (the end of our shift) so that we could take them right home with us. She asked if you were here. She baked two cakes. One for me and one for you. I told her I'd be happy to share, but she said 'no'!"

"Wow." I was so surprised that I cried a little.

My friend and I couldn't wait for 19:00 to arrive so that we could make the trek to their new room. When the time finally came we slipped away in our conspiracy and took the elevator up to the 10th floor.

And this is what was waiting on each of us:

It's an Amaretto-Almond Cake. (Of course, it was whole at the time!) It's made with real Amaretto liquor which makes the cake really moist and it gives it a touch of heat (kind of like rum balls) which is delightful. It goes really well with coffee. She said they freeze well and that we could save them for Thanksgiving, but I assured her that this cake would never make it to Thanksgiving! :o)

Yesterday from my patients and their families I got three hugs. Count 'em. One. Two. Three. And a cake!

I feel like a million bucks :o)

Where in the world..?

I didn't get to protest today because I had to work.

:o(

Bummer.

So... I got nothing...

That is, except this little geography quiz, which was kinda fun:

45

I hope everyone else had a great Saturday!

I'm going to do a little blog hopping now and I hope to see a lot of entries by people who were able to attend. :o)

Join the Impact!

(I mentioned this earlier in the week, but I'm reposting to help get the word out!)

Tomorrow presents a wonderful opportunity for members of the LGBTQ community and our supporters. In just about every major city in the United States there will be a protest held against the implementation of Prop 8 - Yes, a powerful, national, grassroots protest has been organized and it will go live tomorrow!

If you want your voice to be heard, if you want to stand up and be counted, then go to http://jointheimpact.com/, find your city's time and location, gather up your friends and go make some noise!!!

November 15th