I've been busting my tail at a long-term care facility, so I've encountered some absolutely funny situations. One thing that gets me is that when old people start losing their minds, they talk about events that happened yeaaaaars ago. That got me to thinking.
What will -I- talk about?
I hope to God I am not one of those women who flashes residents for bingo cards or something unless I've had some fake boobs put in. Otherwise, I guess by that time, I'll just pick up my skirt? (Counter that with the pervy old men who actually pay women like that).
Will I be one of those women who sings songs that no one knows because they're from, like, a gazillion years ago and not popular. When I sing Morrissey's "Life Is a Pigsty", will someone think I'm suicidal?
Oh no! Will I think I'm a mage or a warrior or a cleric or something from a roleplaying game? Will I wiggle my fingers at people, thinking I'm casting a spell?
This is kind of a creepy thought. What's your worst nightmare that you might do when you get old?
01 April 2009
Christian dating websites...why?!
I was just over on Facebook, being all facebooky, when off to the left of whatever I was doing was an ad for "Christian Mingle," a dating website for Christians. I'm curious so I went and looked. Mind you, my children told me the other day, "You should go on eharmony.com and find a husband." But really, I'm kinda anti-dating website for a variety of reasons.
First off, a non-Christian friend of mine has used said websites and Craigslist personals. While the guys she meets purport to be interested in relationships, in the end she's nothing but a booty call. She finally decided to pull all of her ads off. The last straw was some guy telling her that "redheads are hot and have big boobs." Yeah, that's a winner right there. Makes me want to run right out and meet him!
Then from a Christian perspective, I have a few questions. The first is, "Is this a good use of my time and energy?"
First off, a non-Christian friend of mine has used said websites and Craigslist personals. While the guys she meets purport to be interested in relationships, in the end she's nothing but a booty call. She finally decided to pull all of her ads off. The last straw was some guy telling her that "redheads are hot and have big boobs." Yeah, that's a winner right there. Makes me want to run right out and meet him!
Then from a Christian perspective, I have a few questions. The first is, "Is this a good use of my time and energy?"
09 March 2009
What to do when bad things happen?
Tater is going through a lot. I found a journal of hers (she gave me permission to read her journals) and it is basically a very angry letter to God spelling out very specific incidents she remembers and asking why He let them happen.
I can't blame her.
I also recently watched a video blog made by a dad who'd recently lost his 10 year old son to a rare cancer. He wanted to know why God let that happen.
So these are the things I'm thinking about lately. There are TONS of books about "Why bad things happen to good people" but you know what? You could tell me a bunch of reasons until you're blue in the face and it isn't going to ease the pain. We all know that.
So what's the right thing to do when someone faces horrible pain?
This is what I'm thinking about lately.
Tater update: Has broken a lightbulb and cut herself all over the face and arms. She's 14 and will have scars on her face from this. God help us.
School update: Less than two months to go til Pinning! I got assigned to a nursing home for Preceptors (bleh) but I'm looking forward to getting out there and working. Not looking forward to the smells though. I'm going to be an adamant vegetarian when I get old so that I don't stink everything up.
I can't blame her.
I also recently watched a video blog made by a dad who'd recently lost his 10 year old son to a rare cancer. He wanted to know why God let that happen.
So these are the things I'm thinking about lately. There are TONS of books about "Why bad things happen to good people" but you know what? You could tell me a bunch of reasons until you're blue in the face and it isn't going to ease the pain. We all know that.
So what's the right thing to do when someone faces horrible pain?
This is what I'm thinking about lately.
Tater update: Has broken a lightbulb and cut herself all over the face and arms. She's 14 and will have scars on her face from this. God help us.
School update: Less than two months to go til Pinning! I got assigned to a nursing home for Preceptors (bleh) but I'm looking forward to getting out there and working. Not looking forward to the smells though. I'm going to be an adamant vegetarian when I get old so that I don't stink everything up.
07 March 2009
The Things That Matter
So now that I've had time to digest it, I'll post it. My Tater tried to kill herself the other day, and almost succeeded. When I heard the news, everything else faded away except the thoughts of "God, I wish I'd..." and the overwhelming urge to storm the facility where she is, bust down the doors and just hold my child.
We get so caught up in life and in ourselves that we forget the basic, most important aspects of life. We get caught up in looking right, in acting right, in money,in jobs, in pop culture. We forget the basic human connections that make life worth living.
Rare is the day you hear a dying person say, "I wish I'd had more shallow relationships." You hear "I wish I'd spent more time with my son" (or husband, or father, etc.). Rare is the day you hear "I wish I'd seen more mediocre films" or "I wish I'd played more Scrabble." You hear "I wish I'd taken that trip to the Grand Canyon my wife wanted to take."
Life is so short. We get one go-round. Even if you disagree with that, we get one go-round in this body and with these circumstances.
What good is it if we achieve everything material wise but have no one to share it with?
I hope this post will remind everyone that it's the PEOPLE in our lives that matter. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go play Wii...with my kids.
We get so caught up in life and in ourselves that we forget the basic, most important aspects of life. We get caught up in looking right, in acting right, in money,in jobs, in pop culture. We forget the basic human connections that make life worth living.
Rare is the day you hear a dying person say, "I wish I'd had more shallow relationships." You hear "I wish I'd spent more time with my son" (or husband, or father, etc.). Rare is the day you hear "I wish I'd seen more mediocre films" or "I wish I'd played more Scrabble." You hear "I wish I'd taken that trip to the Grand Canyon my wife wanted to take."
Life is so short. We get one go-round. Even if you disagree with that, we get one go-round in this body and with these circumstances.
What good is it if we achieve everything material wise but have no one to share it with?
I hope this post will remind everyone that it's the PEOPLE in our lives that matter. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go play Wii...with my kids.
05 February 2009
Rocking my World
So my world's being rocked but I think it's a good thing, you know?
Turns out Funsize has been deceiving me about a whole aspect of his life. I'm pretty sure he's ashamed of it, which is rather funny since this aspect supposedly has made him a better man. It was an answer to prayer for me to find out this information about him, and definitely put him into perspective as a completely lost individual who needs to be found.
Actually, that whole subject has me thinking on the beauty of absolute morality but that's another post.
Tater is in the state mental institution right now, and has lost her placement at her facility. No idea where she's going next week, and she's been hurting herself and flashing back an awful lot. I love my Taterhead and I can either fall apart and quiver with fear for her future, or I can trust that the Lord has a plan for her life.
My quote of the day yesterday was: I can't even handle my LAUNDRY problem, so why should I try to solve everything else instead of giving it to Jesus?
School is insane as usual. Three more months and then Pinning! Yay.
Have been getting close with a few girls there. We're pondering small, matching tattoos on our feet to commemorate our sisterhood, upon graduation.
Have made a couple of friends at church. When I say "friends", I mean friends. I have many acquaintances wherever I go, thanks to realizing I'm an absolute extrovert who was always so timid that I was an introvert. I'm hoping these friends become the kind of people I can have wonderful fellowship with, because I so miss that.
I don't remember if I posted or not but I laid hands on my ex-husband and prayed for him recently. It was a beautiful occurrence, so God and not me. The man is lost. I'm not saying I want to be his best buddy or anything. I just want him to have peace.
(CORRECTION: I struggle everyday with anger towards him, but the good part of me wants him to have peace.)
Anyway, my update is that my world is so being rocked and I'm rocking with it, and it's a darned good thing. I shed a few tears over allllll of the above situations but I've put them all in the Lord's hands. Now if He would only do my laundry...
Turns out Funsize has been deceiving me about a whole aspect of his life. I'm pretty sure he's ashamed of it, which is rather funny since this aspect supposedly has made him a better man. It was an answer to prayer for me to find out this information about him, and definitely put him into perspective as a completely lost individual who needs to be found.
Actually, that whole subject has me thinking on the beauty of absolute morality but that's another post.
Tater is in the state mental institution right now, and has lost her placement at her facility. No idea where she's going next week, and she's been hurting herself and flashing back an awful lot. I love my Taterhead and I can either fall apart and quiver with fear for her future, or I can trust that the Lord has a plan for her life.
My quote of the day yesterday was: I can't even handle my LAUNDRY problem, so why should I try to solve everything else instead of giving it to Jesus?
School is insane as usual. Three more months and then Pinning! Yay.
Have been getting close with a few girls there. We're pondering small, matching tattoos on our feet to commemorate our sisterhood, upon graduation.
Have made a couple of friends at church. When I say "friends", I mean friends. I have many acquaintances wherever I go, thanks to realizing I'm an absolute extrovert who was always so timid that I was an introvert. I'm hoping these friends become the kind of people I can have wonderful fellowship with, because I so miss that.
I don't remember if I posted or not but I laid hands on my ex-husband and prayed for him recently. It was a beautiful occurrence, so God and not me. The man is lost. I'm not saying I want to be his best buddy or anything. I just want him to have peace.
(CORRECTION: I struggle everyday with anger towards him, but the good part of me wants him to have peace.)
Anyway, my update is that my world is so being rocked and I'm rocking with it, and it's a darned good thing. I shed a few tears over allllll of the above situations but I've put them all in the Lord's hands. Now if He would only do my laundry...
30 January 2009
Preceptors
Hey!
Specific request for you praying types out there.
I need you to pray that I will be satisfied with wherever I am placed at for preceptorships. Many people are offered jobs by these facilities after graduation, which is somewhat of a relief. But honestly, I don't know what kind of nurse I want to be. I can tell you some things I absolutely love:
* Surgery. I love the OR! I hope someday to get my RN and become an OR nurse. Right now, LPN's don't typically work in OR's. Also, the call schedule would kinda suck what with me being a single parent.
*Caring for profoundly mentally retarded folks. I have done my last two clinical days at such a facility and have absolutely LOVED it. Loved! I mean, really. It has brought me such joy, even though I've had to do some icky stuff. Also, the facility has basically a long-term care section AND a medical-surgical unit, so I can pick up a lot of experience on both ends. Problem with this is that the facility is over an hour's drive away so I'd have to leave my kids with my parents overnight a lot to do the preceptorships, and how would we handle it if I was offered a job? Could I do it? Dunno.
I tolerate the med-surg floor at the hospital and definitely prefer it to the long-term care I've been exposed to thus far. If I couldn't get either of the above (or the Emergency Room, which I haven't yet explored), I'd definitely want med-surg over nursing home any day.
Preceptorships start in March. They're already starting to place people now, even though they're not telling us. Please pray for me.
Thanks!
PS You can always pray that a) God will provide a massive amount of money so I don't have to work, or b) God will provide someone to take care of my kids so that scheduling isn't an issue. Preferably someone who wouldn't mind homeschooling a couple of 'em. ;)
Specific request for you praying types out there.
I need you to pray that I will be satisfied with wherever I am placed at for preceptorships. Many people are offered jobs by these facilities after graduation, which is somewhat of a relief. But honestly, I don't know what kind of nurse I want to be. I can tell you some things I absolutely love:
* Surgery. I love the OR! I hope someday to get my RN and become an OR nurse. Right now, LPN's don't typically work in OR's. Also, the call schedule would kinda suck what with me being a single parent.
*Caring for profoundly mentally retarded folks. I have done my last two clinical days at such a facility and have absolutely LOVED it. Loved! I mean, really. It has brought me such joy, even though I've had to do some icky stuff. Also, the facility has basically a long-term care section AND a medical-surgical unit, so I can pick up a lot of experience on both ends. Problem with this is that the facility is over an hour's drive away so I'd have to leave my kids with my parents overnight a lot to do the preceptorships, and how would we handle it if I was offered a job? Could I do it? Dunno.
I tolerate the med-surg floor at the hospital and definitely prefer it to the long-term care I've been exposed to thus far. If I couldn't get either of the above (or the Emergency Room, which I haven't yet explored), I'd definitely want med-surg over nursing home any day.
Preceptorships start in March. They're already starting to place people now, even though they're not telling us. Please pray for me.
Thanks!
PS You can always pray that a) God will provide a massive amount of money so I don't have to work, or b) God will provide someone to take care of my kids so that scheduling isn't an issue. Preferably someone who wouldn't mind homeschooling a couple of 'em. ;)
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