Monday, January 30, 2012

Another weekend in the books...

The weekends go by too quickly and I don't like it! Not that complaining gets me anywhere but you know.

Lots of stuff accomplished this weekend.

Saturday we went to a co-workers house: her water heater had broken and caused so much damage in her basement; her basement is huge, pool table, bar, couch, recliner, storage area for so many things etc...it was a huge disaster. We helped her fill a dumpster with the things that were ruined from the water damage. It was cold and all that but a good lesson for my kids in helping others when they need some assistance.

That was our big thing this weekend. The rest of the weekend I accomplished many little projects. I again have to spout off about flylady! I am actually enjoying my time in my home instead of feeling like I have to clean this or I have to keep cleaning because I am unable to relax due to the chaos and clutter. My laundry is finished. My house is mostly clean and decluttered. I was able to sit down quite a bit this weekend and check so many little projects off my list.

Projects Accomplished:

1. Police report about the incident at the nursing home .
2. New buttons sewed on my coworkers coat.
3. Cody's rip in his coat repaired.
4. Laundry folded, distributed to proper children/adults & put away!
5. One of my favorite shirts that ripped slightly in the seam repaired.
6. I sat down and watched a youtube video on how to crochet flowers. My chemo hats (female ones) will now have flowers! HuRRAY!
7. Cozi Calendar updated! I love this site...everyone should check it out. I have it on my phone, my oldest child and husband also have it on theirs...it's an incredible tool that allows us all to stay on top of things!
8. New style hat started and almost complete.
9. Worked on an afghan.
10. Edited more photography.


What's even greater? The organization is rubbing off on the kids...yesterday all 3 boys managed to pick out  and lay out their clothes for today, packed snacks for their wrestling meet and checked their wrestling bags to make sure everything they needed was packed and ready...

I got to lay down in bed not thinking of the things I needed to accomplish around the house the following day, nor worrying about what I had failed to accomplish.

TO top it all off, we enjoyed a visit with my mother in law and my friend Traci and I was not embarrassed about the state of my home, nor was I running around trying to pick up...why? Because it was already picked up! Now that's an awesome feeling!

                                            Below: The new buttons on Amy's coat.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Nursing homes

My job can be extremely rewarding. On the other hand my job can be extraordinarily difficult. Yesterday was the worst day I have experienced while working in a nursing home in the past 7 years.

Two events occurred within a short period of time that left me questioning my desire to work in this environment.

First, a resident who has been in our facility for quite a while was taken, against her will, by her guardian. This resident barely knows the guardian, who came in and insisted that she go to live in his house with himself and his wife. She was distraught and needed to be brought oxygen at one point. She was yelling that this had to do with her house and him wanting the money that would come from that than it did with anything else. She then turned to us and told us that she hoped we could all live with ourselves because we were not stopping this from happening. Keep in mind that upon finding out what the guardian intended to do we called every entity we have in our arsenal trying to stop this from happening, unfortunately, because a court said she needed a guardian due to her confusion there was nothing that could be done to stop it. We were informed by Elder Care Services to contact them when she was removed from the facility, we did. They will send someone to the guardian's home within 7 days. Also, this guardian is refusing to let her son, whose care she was removed from to  see her at this time. Keep in mind that the son has visited her about every other day since the moment she entered the facility. He is also the only person who left her any money to spend on things she wanted or to go shopping with the other residents! Following all this I was in tears as were so many of my coworkers...it was truly a heart wrenching experience to witness. I am afraid for this resident, I do not for a single moment believe that this man has her best interest at heart, and I pray that she is quickly removed from his care by Elder Care Services.

Moments after we hung up from the phone from notifying Elder Care Services of the discharge of this resident,  a nurse walked in to my office to inform us that a different resident had passed away. This resident had been such a sweet soul, and has been with us since I began working there. It was not something we had realized was occurring with all the other chaos that was happening around us. None of us, who were involved in the incident with the resident being removed from the facility had had the opportunity to say our goodbyes to this resident. That's always a horrible feeling.

I left the building last night feeling as though every ounce of my energy had been consumed. I was certainly questioning whether I wanted to return...
I arrived home and walked in the house, my husband took one look at me and knew that something horrible had happened, upon explaining the situation in about as much detail as I was able (similar to the detail I have just given so that I did not violate any Hipaa policies) and breaking down in tears my husband reached over and hugged me...it was then that I realized as horrible as the day had been, I started working in healthcare because I honestly felt that my ability to care for others and feel empathy for what they go through was a beneficial attribute. That same ability to feel so deeply for others is also what allows me to feel so torn at the injustices that I see occurring around me.

It was a horrible day, but I have had 7 years of experiences in the nursing home environment, and in those 7 years the good days, the wonderful days when I leave feeling as if I made a difference in a single moment in someone's final days, or have helped a family member, or had the privilege of  hearing an amazing story from someone about their life, or hearing a spouse tell the story of their life before their loved one entered the nursing home far outnumber the type of day that I had yesterday.

I work with an amazing group of men & women as well! Some who came by my house with a few beers last night and we sat back, played cards and talked about the day and found a way to laugh and remember the good things despite the bad day we had experienced. Others who simply sent a message or called to check on each other and make sure everyone was handling things okay.

In the nursing home we become an intricate part of each other's lives. We care about each other, we become an extended family. Our residents and our co-workers become a vital part of our lives, and like any family, sometimes some of them get on our nerves, some of them we don't take too seriously, some of them are always good for a laugh, sometimes you have to just get away from them, but all of them somehow become a part of us.

I want to thank Don who saw me walking down the hall and reached over and pulled me into a big hug, he never said a word, he simply hugged me. He is kind of like everyone's grandpa.  Alexis who came over and with her fun spirit managing  to lift the moods of myself and my daughter who were still sitting back a little shell shocked. Wendy who came over after I called to check on her, and drank the hard stuff and found herself laughing despite the shock of the news. Amy who called to check on me, who always lifts my spirit with a few words of kindness! These are the people I work with, who have become like my own family members. I love them dearly, and even if we get on each other's nerves sometimes, we are all there for each other! That's what makes this type of work so rewarding, and allows us to come away from horrible days a little bit stronger, a little bit wiser and certainly realizing that each day with these people is a gift to be cherished.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Flylady and Freecycle

I'm not sure how much I have spoken about this in the past, but I have been following flylady for years, doing the routines on and off. It's always a chore with 7 people, 3 dogs and just the normal chaos of life to keep up with the basics. For the new year I have made a huge effort to actually keep up with these cleaning lists and daily emails. My house looks incredibly organized these days! I am in shock at how easy it is to get things done in 15 minutes if you actually spend 15 minutes every day working on a hotspot. I do 1 load of laundry right before I go to bed at night, then when I wake up in the morning I throw it in the dryer and it's done and folded before I have to get the kids off to school. After I get back I spend about 5 minutes delivering the clothes to the proper child's basket and dropping it in their bedroom. No piles on the table I use in the laundry room. And when I get back from work I'm not irritated at laundry that's dry but unfolded and wrinkly or worse still wet and in the washer...and stinky!

The dishes are done every evening and in the morning, if someone got up in the middle of the night for a snack, I do a quick cleanup and after getting home my boys take turns putting them away.

Coats and bags and such are put away when the kids walk in...making them come back and put them away properly gets quicker long term  results than doing it myself ! Apparently they really think it sucks to have to come back to the entry way to pick up their stuff...listening to me complain doesn't seem to bother them! More times than not in the last 2 weeks I have not had to call any of them back to the entryway! HURRAY!

I also managed to get my bedroom closet and my 2 youngest boys closets cleaned out (with their help when doing their closet). We are part of the local freecycle website in our community and I was able to post several bags of clothes, a winter coat, and a pair of dress shoes that went to bless someone else in their home and managed to help me de-clutter without adding to a landfill or dropping it at an overpriced resale/salvation army type store.

Now I am able to relax in the evening...It's only 7:03 right now and dinner is done, dishes are clean, my sink is shining, I've been online for about 30 minutes while my boys finish their homework and after that I'll start a load of laundry, take out the recycling and then cozy up on the couch next to my dear husband and watch something interesting on t.v. before going to bed...and I won't be stressed out or bitchy!

Thank you flylady & freecycle! My house is cleaner and I'm a more effective and efficient wife and mother!

Latest Craft Project to be completed...

I finished another blanket the other day. It's one I had started and set aside then would pick up and work on for a few minutes here and there. It wasn't a huge priority but I decided to get it finished. It's tan and part of the huge bag of yarn I got from a garage sale last year. 

Now to get to work on more chemo caps for the lab. Bob goes again in February (the end) for his check up, I have about 13 done right now. I need to get at least another 11 done. I also need to hurry up and figure out how to get these flowers crocheted so that I can add them to the caps for the girls! 

Happy crafting :)

More Chicago pics...

                                 This was in a window of a small little shop...I thought it was humorous...
                                                                      Bob found the cap'n
                                            My friends Jeff & Teri who took the adventure with me.
                                                                   Cool train art.
                                                                         History
                                                                        Fun View
                                                          The Chicago Theater...
                                These two parking garages remind me of a cob of corn after it's dried out.
                                                            Do you recognize this building?
 This was a guy who claimed to be homeless...if he truly was he was very clean. However, he joked that he needed money for the jack daniels research foundation and I offered a dollar if he would let me take his picture. He readily agreed. It was worth the dollar, he had a great sense of humor!
                                                                   Cool sculpture
                                             ^An amazing City! One I live so close to but never spend enough time in!
                 This city has amazing architecture. I could stare for hours. Every angle, every curve. Amazing!
                                 The dust and cobwebs in the window of an empty store front.
                                                                    More architecture!
                                            Chicago Sun Times Building and the bridge.

This was one of the last of several hundred pictures I took in Chicago that day. It got too dark out and my hands were so cold that I stopped getting decent shots because I was shaking a bit.

It was an amazing adventure and I intend to spend many days in 2012 exploring this city!

Hope you enjoyed my photo story :)

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Annual Survey

We (the nursing home) had our annual survey at our facility. Public health walked in to the building on Sunday morning. This event ruined my day of gluttony! I had intended to sit on the couch, drink coffee, eat, and watch football.

They exited our building last evening! Thank goodness!

Needless to say I feel like I need a drink and a long weekend! :)

More photography stuff up soon...I think.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Chicago January 7, 2012



Some of the signage when we got to Chicago that made me smile. More pics later as my laptop has not wanted to load all of the images I had tried to get on here.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

1st Adventure of the New Year

CHICAGO!

Earlier this week I decided to take a trip in to Chicago (to take place Saturday). I invited my friend Jeff, who knows the city pretty well...Bob & our friend Teri invited themselves.
We took the train out of Elburn into Ogilve Station and then the city was ours to explore.
My Nikon in hand we rode the mass transit system and walked all over town. Sight seeing included Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field, a few streets of 'Boys town', the river, the Chicago Theater and many other cool places.

It was a day of laughter, pictures, and fun! We had no plan, other than to explore Chicago, and no time lines to meet.

I have decided that I will make time for short little weekend adventures this year.

A big thanks to Jeff, Teri & Bob for helping to make it an epic adventure...oh and a big thanks to the Elburn police man who got Teri back in to her car after we arrived back at the train station to find that her battery had died and her keyless entry was not working!