Cute Conversations that shouldn't be had...

As a nurse you get to interact with patients and hear stories of their lives and stories about their families. In the same way some patients like to hear about your life or comment on your life or your personality or your manner etc...Some patients don't say much, others say too much and some don't say anything at all. They just lay in their beds smiling or grinning from ear to ear and nodding their heads pretending they know what your saying to them or talking about.
Today I met Patient Susie (*not her real name). A vibrant wonderful lady who was an ex-nurse. She seemed like outside of the hospital and illness she would be a busy woman with lot's to do. Susie* was worried about being in the hospital and away from her family. I gathered she was the care giver in the family as seeing she was an ex nurse and nurses are caring, and nurturing. So with patients like Susie* I like to ensure they are comfortable, taken care of...mostly try to distract them so they don't think about things going on at home and can care for themselves to get themselves back to proper health. So I talked with Susie* tried to calm her nerves a little bit and get her settled into her room.
Our conversation went as follows:
Susie* - It's so nice to have such a bright young woman as a nurse.
Me- Why thank-you.
Susie*- Your smile is wonderful and encouraging
Me- Well we just want to ensure you have the best care possible.
Susie*- You have a glow
Me- Oh really?
Susie*- When are you due?
Me- (my jaw is wide open at this point...)
Me- (finding the words to say)
Me- I am not expecting
Susie*-your not expecting? I just thought you had such a glow, a pregnant woman glows like you are.
Me- Trust me, I am not expecting, just a little extra weight.
Susie*- Oh......
The conversation ended, another nurse walked in and I beelined it for the door. Guess my caring personality misled my patient to believe I was expecting because I am a happy nurse, I like to smile. A smile in my opinion brings warmth and forges a type of patient/nurse friendship that is trusting....guess I need to stop smiling so much so my patients don't mistake it for a "pregnancy glow" next time....
Luckily a few of us had a good chuckle out it and compared other stories from other nurses who experiences similar to mine with patients.

The elephant and the mouse.

I thought elephants were afraid of mice, but this elephant doesn't seem to mind that he is about to step on the mouse. Most pictures I found were of elephants running away or sheepishly hiding from the mice in their pictures. This picture made me smile and laugh...poor mouse...But sometimes I feel like the mouse in this picture...Ever feel as big as a mouse? Or feel like your going to be trampled by the elephants? It's an interesting analogy...the elephant and the mouse....

Totally true story....

This is a touchy subject for some...death and do you get cremated or buried...I favor the burial route. But this is not a blog about the differences between cremation or burial. It is a story about the funeral home starting on fire today...Well on my way home sometimes you can see the local funeral homes smoke stack billowing away, when their smoke stack billows you know what is going on. Cremation or they are warming up the oven, getting ready to cremate. On a normal day it looks like the above picture, just a small puff of smoke, nothing seriously billowing out of it. Just a normal chimney puff of smoke...nothing unusual or different than any neighborhood smoke stack. I was driving home today and saw some smoke in the air. I figured there was nothing serious going on, probably coming from the funeral home...but the problem was I was nearly four or five blocks away and the smoke was really thick, black and filling the air...As I neared closer and closer I could hear the sirens. I was suddenly halted on the road by a fireruck and an ambulance whizzing past me. Now I am a curious person...I knew the firetrucks were headed to the billowing cloud of black...But what could be on fire?

The funeral homes smoke stack was on fire...literally! (note:above picture is not actual photo from todays events but merely my portrayal of todays events.)( I did not have my camera handy when I saw the cloud of billowing black smoke or the firetruck.) I could not believe how tall and how thick the smoke was, it was a thick black dense cloud of smoke with flames of red and orange shooting up from the smoke stack. The firemen hustled around the funeral home running around and within twenty minutes it was all under control. (I know it was twenty minutes because I drove past it again later) But I never had seen such thick black smoke and shooting flames coming from a chimney before. It left me to wonder, How often do funeral homes catch on fire??

My day...

My day documented by my 5 year old...here is her view on it...we started at the park...she wanted to take a picture of the houses on the road...so she did.

Drove past the lake towards downtown....another picture, she had a few of the lake as we drove past it.

Ooohh...got to get a picture of her shoe in here....very important! She took a picture of her shoes a few times throughout the day. Sometimes you wonder what they think when they do that.

Our delicious starbucks beverages...caramel machiatto for me, hot chocolate for her with a straw! There were a few dozen pictures of her hot chocolate from different angles as well.

The barbies on the backseat in the car...they were along for the ride. She took a picture of them together, seperately, sipping her hot chocolate. Well they did come along for the day.

A view of the coulees as we zipped past them...

A street pole with a no parking sign...So as you can see, she took pictures...but really we did a whole more than spend time in the car or sitting in starbucks drinking coffee...interesting what kids see when you had them a camera...

Blog is still alive.

My blog is still alive, just a post will have to wait another day...too tired to post right now and I don't have anything to post about. We'll see what tomorrow has to bring, I feel like I have things to do but cannot think about them right now...honestly I don't know what I have to do tomorrow, so we shall wait and see what comes up...so you'll have to wait too until tomorrow because tomorrow is another day and I am too tired....

Its warm out....

Mmmm...I love a good starbucks drink. Doesn't it look appetizing? It's vibrant color and appeal. A Shaken Passion Iced Tea Lemonade is one of my favorite drinks in summer. It replaces the mocha's and the tea's and other warm beverages I consume in the winter from starbucks. It is so delicious, but quite honestly.....

I wish they wouldn't put so much ice into it...your left with 1/3 of the cup filled with ice. When you get it, it's pretty much filled to the top with ice. I did however solve this dilemma and realized I could order it by asking them to use a little ice instead of filling the cup full. But if you like steeped tea, iced tea and lemonade then you will like this lovely blend of all three. I look forward to more of these throughout the summer...I wish too they would revive their blended tangerine lemonade, that was a delicious one but it sadly was discontinued. That was another one of my favorites to drink in summer. Hopefully they'll come up with something new this summer.

Dear Peru,

Dear Peru, thank-you for your meals of guinea pig, a delicacy of sorts. A meal commonly served throughout Peru. It was tasty the last time I had it, tasted a lot like chicken. You'd walk through the markets and hear their tiny squeals coming from the sacks ladies were carrying home to serve as meal to their families. Some facts I have learned->they are domesticated for their meat in the Andes. It is a major part of the diet there....mostly because guinea pigs breed quickly and take up less room than traditional livestock (betcha didn't know that...) It is also high in protein and low in fat and cholesterols. Peruvians also consume close to 65 million guinea pigs each year. It does taste like the dark meat in chicken (see told you it tastes like chicken!) So when I return to Peru, I will forget that we keep them as pets in Canada and see the furry little creatures in our pet stores here and remember that guinea pig tastes like chicken.

Dear Peru, Your wonderful stir-fry. I look forward to trying you again. Somehow the frenchfries you incorporate into the stirfry make it all the more tasty...Surrounding the frenchfries with peppers and vegtables and meat...a savoury combination all served on a bed of white rice. Delicious.

Dear Peru, I have been trying to brush up on my spanish to place my order at starbucks...but so far I have failed. I do not know anymore spanish than when I picked up the phrase book in the first place. So when I enter into starbucks and cannot read the menu, hopefully the barista will not laugh at me for my poor spanish skills and my hand gestures motioning to the board what I would like to drink...Maybe I can figure it out on the plane there how to order starbucks in spanish...I do doubt it though...(p.s.-your valet parking is awesome...but I won't be using it)

Dear Peru, the children, their smiling faces and grins are enough to melt our hearts. I wish I could speak spanish to them but enjoy making them laugh at me. (yes, at me...)Spending time with them and letting them know that half way around the world we care and think about them will hopefully give them hope for a better future. I wish we could take them all home with us but visits will have to do. They have homes, they have families and I am sure they have joy.

Dear Peru, your culture and vividness amazes me. The culture is alive in the streets with dancing and marching bands and people dressed up. Its nice to see the diverse customs and traditions. Every town has traditions and customs of their own. Every country is proud of its roots and it does show.

Dear Peru, your scenery is extraordinary. The Andes are breath-taking (literally!) The mountains and the streams, the waterfalls and the towns. The history and the architecture. All amazing sights. The towns and the cities, all have different stories to tell...The statues scattered on the mountainsides. The monuments covering the mountainsides as well. They all tell a story. The storefronts and shops in the towns. The townsquares each with their own unique features. Lot's to see and photograph.

This post was a little long but it was just a few memories of my time in Peru...and a few little pictures of those memories.