Loss of a Coworker

Today our hospice family lost a very spunky member. Her name was Fran and I can't begin to list the adjectives that describe her. It is so very hard in hospice dealing with death day to day. We care for people as they prepare to die, and we care for their family members that are left behind, and we do it well, VERY well. This is the problem: We are now the ones that need the caring. A void is left and the "teachers now become the students." Fran was a nurse turned social worker, and at 62, could still do the splits (I've seen it.) and did martial arts. We are so sad about our loss. God will have a challenge on his hands with Spunky Fran!! God bless you Fran.

Fun Time Ahead!!

Tomorrow after work I am going to a bachelorette party for a friend of mine who grew up in Oviedo, Fl and I met working in North Carolina at "Camp Itchycoochie" (as my brother called it.) I am so excited for her and can't wait to see her again. It has been 7 years since I worked in North Carolina!! It has been such a stressful week, that a little girl party and gambling will be a great distraction!
My "Man of Honor" Marcus and Robert came down from Fairhope to do some Central Florida scouting for Robert. Robert lived in the Cayman Islands when we were there on our honeymoon (although we didn't know it at the time) but has since moved back to the States and is looking for a new home base. Well, he LOVED Tampa, which means I have another former Mississippian moving to the area!! I hope we get to see him often and MAYBE Marcus, Lorraine and family will move down soon!! That would be SO great! Then we could rescue Robert's sister Angie and her family from Greenville and move them here!! And then..... anyway, we went to Leroy Selman's last night and had a wonderful time. We closed the place down. Robert insisted on gloating to Lorraine about the wonderful food she was missing. She is such a great sport! If I had one drop of the patience she has, I would be golden!! My Robert enjoyed telling stories of my sleep walking/talking escapades. Marcus is now very glad our "Marriage Contract" didn't pan out (see several blog entries before the wedding). I think he would have killed me with all of my shenanigans!! Robert finds them thoroughly entertaining and loves to try to "keep me going" by asking questions and feeding into my talking! I'm not right in the head, especially when I sleep. It's bad enough that I could probably get a "crazy check" if I tried. For those of y'all that didn't grow up in the Delta, I don't mean anything offensive when I use the term "crazy check."
Well, I've got to try to rest since tomorrow promises to be a stressful day at work, and a very fun and tiring day at the Hard Rock!!! Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?? I sure as hell do!!!! Bring it on!! Love, Shannon

Dealing with Attitudes.

Even though I am a nurse, I've never been very fond of doctors. (I mean no offense to any of my friends who are doctors at all!!!) I never could understand how the little nurses in the little hospitals had the time or desire to mess around with the little doctors with BIG god complexes!! Anyway, we have a new Dr, and I'll call him Dr Richard Head (for obvious reasons.) Well, Dr Richard (Dick for short) comes in with a major attitude each day and tries to get us to do things that are his job, but he feels are the jobs of the "secretaries." We are NURSES, who are nursing supervisors, who have 12 nurses, 9 home health aides, and 110+ patients to take care each and every day. He even DARED to make negative comments about the ONE doctor I truly love (not including you Dr Jennie!) I'll call him Dr Awesome. Dr Awesome is so nice to us, respects us as professionals, and trusts our judgment completely. I guess Dr Dick feels if you use terms of endearment (like honey) you aren't taking him seriously. Well, from this day forward, Dr Dick is now "Sugar Booger." If "honey" drove him nuts, "Sugar Booger" should run him OFF!!! Maybe if I "Bless his heart" "Sugar Booger" will find a more suitable work environment. Kill em with kindness!! Bless his heart!! (There are SO many days I'm glad I still have my Southern drawl after 12 years of being in Florida. You can say stuff and get away with so much more with a Southern accent!!) Love, Shannon

Feeling Spunky!

I had a dream last week that I got my hair cut short, which started the wheels turning. Monday I decided to be ballsy and walk in to a hair salon and tell them to do "whatever." Well, I couldn't find any place open on Monday except one that had a long wait, so I took it as a sign and waited until Tuesday. After work I walked into a salon that I have been to before. I don't get my hair cut very often. As a matter of fact it hasn't been cut since just before the wedding (over 6 months ago!) The lady at the salon was from Jamaica and was so sweet. I told her to cut it about shoulder length in a style that wouldn't make my round face look any rounder. She didn't want to cut it that short. She suggested I only cut about 3 inches off, so went with that. It is very soft and healthy right now, so I am happy.
We are in the process of looking for a small car for Robert since his has crapped out again. We want something with low miles that we can take to Miami or Mississippi and feel comfortable that it will make it. My 2002 Tribute has 171,500 miles on it and is running like a champ!! We are going to keep it forever. I think it is in such good shape because I started using full synthetic oil from day 1. Anyway, we looked at a Toyota Yaris (yes, it is small and Robert is a big guy, and it may conjure visions of clowns packed in a car with the two of us in a small car, BUT it is much roomier than we expected.) It gets great gas mileage (29/36) and is very reasonable. It's an idea we are seriously looking into as soon as we get his running enough to get it up there to trade in.
Today we did yard work and bought some herbs and a bamboo orchid. Robert planted it tonight. It reminds us of his Grandma Doris. She LOVED orchids. Dana had an oriental pot that had the bottom broken out of it, so we put it in the yard and put the orchid in it, and placed large Mexican beach stones on top. It is pretty.
That is about all for now. Shannon

Spring Break Wraps Up!

Tomorrow is the last day of Spring Break, which means back to work Monday!!! It has been a great week with Nicole. We have rested and done lots of wonderful things. I can officially say that I have had an ASS FULL of Busch Gardens!!! We went Wednesday and today. I wasn't able to ride any of the rides because of my back and fear of causing more problems. It was fun seeing Nicole get the "coaster bug!" She rode everything!! I wouldn't let her go on Sheikra last year because I didn't feel she was ready. Well this year she went 2 times with Jeanne and would have gone several times today, but it was so busy and the lines were long. She LOVES coasters!! It was good to get out and walk around the park. We went shopping some, got pedicures, went to some restaurants, saw Monsters vs. Aliens, Busch Gardens twice, and after tomorrow church 3 times. We had both computers die this week, so we were completely computerless for what Robert says was four hours, but it felt like 2 days!! We cooked out over the firepit tonight and ate outside and looked at the stars. It was really nice. Nicole wants to go camping now, which I find EXTREMELY funny because anytime a bug came near her, she freaked out!!! She is VERY much like her Aunt Nina (Dana) in the respect! Camping would be a hoot with her!!! We have a picture of her with a shirt that says "Nature Girl" on it. It should say "Nature Girl as long as it doesn't touch me!!" She is great!! Her "bug dance" is one in a million!!

I hate for this week to end! It went by WAY too fast!! Happy Easter everybody and Happy Birthday Marcus!!!! Today is 6 months since we got married!!! Love, Shannie, Robert and Nicole for a few more hours!!!!

What a Difference 19 Years Makes!!!

Today I spoke at a local high school to 3 classes of students who are interested in the medical field. The teacher wanted me to speak on nursing and hospice. It was really fun! It was so strange being back in a high school!! I haven't stepped in a high school since I did a brief tour of MSMS at my 10 year reunion. I felt test anxiety all over again! I know I'm going to have the "showing up to school naked" dream tonight. High school is very different now!! The classrooms were more flexible in the set up. Half of the classroom was a computer area, half was "desks" (Not the desks we had!) and a hospital bed setup. The desks were individual tables with chairs that WERE NOT ATTACHED and could be pushed together to form a few larger tables. They even had a culinary classroom that had a commercial kitchen. MSMS was state of the art in it's day, but this was amazing! In the "common area" there was a huge tv screen that had announcements and information on it as well as rows of lockers. It was clean and nice. This will be the school that our kid (if we have one) will go for high school. We are very fortuate because the Elementary school is about 1/2 mile down the road, the middle school is next to the high school, and everything is very close to us. It was an excellent experience. (I found it strange that the bathrooms didn't have doors on them, the individual stalls did, but you could see right into the bathroom. God forbid you have to barf, fart, or poop. I would NEVER be able to go there!) I am on Spring Break now, so I am a happy woman (who is feeling very old since I just spent half the day talking to students who weren't even born when I graduated.) I'm going to take my geritol and go to bed!!! Have a great weekend!! Shannon
While looking for a picture of MSMS I ran across this picture. This was my physics teacher and he is still really good looking!!! Sorry Marcus!!

Looking Forward

I have always loved fall, which is one reason we decided to get married in October. I thought ahead and wondered "When would I love to go on a trip to celebrate anniversaries?" October was a natural choice for me. Growing up in Mississippi, where the summers are so sweltering hot I thought they would never end, fall was always a welcomed change. Fall meant football games, cool weather, and the smell of fresh picked cotton. It was GREAT. The few times I have gone back during the fall, I just walk around in the wide open fields with my arms spread out soaking in every bit of cool breeze I can. It is a feeling like no other.
During the summer of 2001 I was a camp nurse in North Carolina. I became addicted to waterfalls. They are so relaxing to me and beautiful. The combination of fall and waterfalls makes me want to see the leaves change. I am hoping that we can make a trip this fall to take in the beauty of the leaves, the cool of fall, and the relaxation of waterfalls. I'm looking forward to this, and hopeful that this will happen. I have wanted to do this for the last 4 years, but it hasn't happened just yet. We will see. I'm trying to remain hopeful about everything right now because I am tired of hearing bad news and how we shouldn't be hopeful!! How are we going to get out of this if we lose hope?? Hope is the essence of life. I opened my profit sharing yesterday and it dropped nearly $4000. I could have done A LOT with that money, but it wasn't something I paid for myself, so I'm looking at it as a gift that had some taken back. Looking forward and planning is helping me feel positive right now. Much love, Shannon

Almost There!!

Today is not only April Fool's Day, but also the last day I will be in the office for just over a week!! I'm excited because I need a break!! Tomorrow I am talking to 3 classes of high school students about nursing, hospice, and working with terminal people. What a happy discussion for them to kick off Spring Break! I hope I will be interesting and informative. I'm sure going to try!! I love to talk and I love to talk about nursing and the difference we make, so it should just flow out of my mouth.
After my "Career Day" experience I will be doing some satisfaction surveys with a few newer patients. I just did 30 of these in January, and now we will be doing 10% of our cases every month. I really enjoyed going out to the homes again and talking with people I only get to talk to on the phone. It will feel like a bit of freedom riding from place to place instead of sitting behind the desk.
That is about all that is going on right now!! Shannon