The most important practical lesson than can be given to nurses is to teach them what to observe. – Florence Nightingale

Yesterday I attended the Annual Nurses Tea at the Blaine House to recognize, and celebrate Nurses Week. It was a lovely event, and inspiring.

 The Blaine House

I was able to meet our First Lady Ann LePage, and presented her with a watercolor of Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center painted by my husband. Mrs. LePage is very family orientated, and has a special interest in our military, and their families, which I was not aware of previously. I found her to be very authentic, and charming, and feel blessed to have had the chance to meet her.

Tomorrow is one of those mish-mashed days that I do not enjoy. I go into work at my regular time of quarter of seven, head out at 0730 to attend a conference from 8a-4p, and finally, back to work until quarter past seven. The conference is perspectives on the aging. Looking forward to it, but I am sure I will be happy to get home tomorrow night.

Sadly, I have procrastinated so badly today, that I must focus, and work on my topic concerning the homeless population. Considering I turn into a pumpkin at 10pm, I think I need to get to it quickly! Until next time, the weekend is almost upon us, so be well friends.

-Jenny

I am pleased to share that I have completed a course and I am officially a Certified Instructor to teach the Certified Residential Medication Aide (CRMA) course. This has been quite the process, and from the initial thought of wanting to become an Instructor, to the completetion of the instructor course represents over six months. I found out that it is truly who you know.

What’s next?

• more instructor training…it’ll all be on my business website in due time.

The great thing is I am right on schedule for my plans/goals. So excited about this journey. I will be sharing my business website shortly.

Can you guess who is home?!

Yep, my darling soldier, who just spent 6 months away from home, between basic training, and training school…arrived home yesterday, threw his belongings in the front hallway, and even dressed from his luggage this morning on his way to report to the recruiters office. Ahhh, how some things never change. He is home for two weeks participating in the Hometown Recruitment program. So happy to have him home, even though it is for a very short time. Don’t like not having all three kids nearby, can’t even imagine making the decision to move away from my children…ahhh, that is a sore subject of mine, and I may begin talking harshly about their biological [father] so I will just stop there…thankfully they have been blessed with a wonderful [step] father… but honestly, I would just as soon have them still living at home…making messes, and bickering, and eating my Special K cereal, and all of the fruit at one setting….

Yesterday was ‘one of those days’. Driving home from my class I was pulled over by a state trooper reminding me the speed limit, and telling me to slow down. I will not tell you how fast I was going. I will just tell you that it was fast enough that I could have been handcuffed. Happy he found me charming. Lord, my husband would have killed me! and I don’t even want to think about what could have happened to my nursing license [gulp], must remember to be mindful, and pay better attention…

I had mentioned to my husband that on my way home I was going to stop and get a hair ‘trim’, and my eye brows waxed. Well, from the photo above you can tell that I got one hell of a hair ‘cut’. I knew I was in trouble when I told her the exact placement of my bangs that I prefer and a few minutes later she asked me if my hair ‘bounces up after it dries’? What, really, did a hair stylist seriously just ask me that question? I mean, we all know that wet hair and dry hair do not equal the same length…right?! I should have listened to my gut, but no, I didn’t. Note to self: Listen to gut, voice that I am not feeling comfortable and am worried that you are going to cut me bald! Ahhh. By time I realized the shortness it was just too late. I bought a big bag of chocolates on the way home. Had heartburn for the first time in years due to eating too many.

Because the teenager in me has snuck out [again], I figured it would be a great idea to pull my bedroom back together. I have filled two trash bags of clothes to donate, and haven’t come close to doing any real damage. I even found clothes that I had forgotten about.

Well friends, on that note, I truly have not gotten much accomplished, and my bed is still covered in clothing, and clothes hangers, so I am going to run along and attempt to get a few more things accomplished. Until next time…

-Jenny

Unfortunately our Easter Sunday was more of a quiet, lazy day and for the first time ever we didn’t have our typical Easter dinner as Keith volunteered to work a 9a-9p shift this weekend.

Sadly, I had every intention of attending Easter Mass this morning, but was unable to due to a situation that arose last night, as I am nursing a concussion. The majority of today has been spent sleeping, and dealing with double vision and ringing ears. Not so sure which is worse. Thankful to have both of my boys taking good care of me today…and thankful that tomorrow is a new day.

I am also thankful for wonderful peers, especially to one who drove me to the hospital and remained with me until 3:30am…and for my son, Matthew, who rushed to the hospital to be with me.

I believe this.
Living with integrity means: Not settling for less than what you know you deserve in your relationships. Asking for what you want and need from others. Speaking your truth, even though it might create conflict or tension. Behaving in ways that are in harmony with your personal values. Making choices based on what you believe, and not what others believe. -Barbara De Angelis

On that note, thinking it is time to call it a night. Here’s to a beautiful week ahead of us! From the sounds of the peepers outside tonight, I think Spring may truly be here…

-Jenny

You’ll meet more angels on a winding path than on a straight one.  -Terri Guillemets

I’ll be the first to admit at times I am flying by the seat of my pants. I personally feel that this is an important characteristic of a lifetime member of the procrastinators club. But, with that said, I never take for granite my personal Angels that walk beside me.  They have helped me thru some difficult moments in my life, offered me strength, and sometimes have just given me that little extra nudge for me to just close my eyes and jump in.

And this moment in my life is no different. I have been blessed to work as the Night RN Supervisor. Unfortunately the night shift, and the one-and-a-half hour drive each way has proven to be too much on me, while the sacrificies have been enormous during the past 7 months. I recently sat for an interview for a facility closer to home and yesterday morning was offered a position, which I accepted, so last night I put in my two week notice. I am nervous, and hope I haven’t made the wrong decision, but I feel confident my angels will be walking right beside me as I begin my new journey…

Loved my postman today! Slowly working my way thru the series and wondering what is going to happen [I'm afraid to think about this, as I 'think' I watched the very last episode accidently this morning on A&E...ugh!!] Coincidentally I peek into my facebook and the Sopranos page I belong to had this on my wall; POLL: What do you think really happened to Tony Soprano? Ugh. This series was so well written, and there are so many symbolisms thrown in to each episode I am going to hold strong that Journey’s don’t stop believing was playing for a reason…

The changes are not complete on my blog…and I’m still playing with a lot of new ideas, etc. I really want to keep my blog streamlined and visually appealing so I don’t overwhelm my visitors, let alone myself. At the same time I don’t want to appear one dimensional, or narcissistic, [too] whiny, or [too] negative. So, anyways, I’m still creating my list and working things out to change things up a little.

Link LOve…because sharing, and inspiration are good things!

• If you know me at all, you know that my dream is to visit Paris. We are about a year behind on our plans, but like everything else that I set my mind to, this will take place [eventually...just hope I don't need to be pushed around in a wheelchair, or worse have dementia when it finally takes place! haha]. Came across Karyn’s blog: French Charming recently. You can totally get lost in her gorgeous french theme.
• To go along with our weekly attempt to recreate and test out a new recipe Endangered Recipes has caught my eye to order.
• Common Ground makes me want to shut this laptop down, jump in the car and head to my favorite antique store!! Thank goodness it is pouring out, and the smell of chili in the crock pot and corn bread in the oven is keeping me sensible [for the moment, tomorrow morning could be a different story].
• Netflix movie time: Blood Creek

Until tomorrow, happy Wednesday friends!! The weekend is this much closer…

-Jenny

[for certain]

• Night shift sucks.
• Hostile people and Hostile environments, suck.
• Driving 1 1/2 hours one way to work, sucks.
• Loosing time with my family and friends, sucks.
• Fibromyalgia, sucks.

There. That’s just a few things that I know for certain that suck. And seriously. UNCLE. UNCLE. UNCLE. During nursing school we were told that Anger/Aggression are related to a person feeling a loss of control, insecure. All I can say is I work with a lot of people that are feeling a loss of control, and are insecure. And it’s only because of the residents that I am able to find the strength needed to continue each shift.

Maybe homemade pizza and a good night sleep will make life a little better…Sorry for the rant. I know a lot of people prefer not to read negatives…but seriously, this is my Perfectly, Imperfect Everyday Life, and sometimes sucky stuff happens! Have a wonderful remainder of your Saturday friends, catch you all tomorrow with hopefully a fun, picture full Sunday post.

-Jenny

I look at this quote block everyday, and everyday I try to remember the importance of including these words into my everyday life. Because of personal life choices, confidentiality, etc, there are parts of my life that I am unable to share in entirety. And right now in my life, I do not need anymore drama, that’s for sure.

…last night I found out that my mentor is suddenly, no longer a part of my life. An amazing woman. An amazing leader. An amazing Nurse. Because of our weekly meetings together I am a better leader, and a better Nurse, because of her…[little] blocks of time spent together that were pieces of the ‘big things’ in my life…

I’ve been looking around my bedroom and have decided it needs a little bit of love. I want to look around for a new bedding set, and the possibility of repainting my bedroom set [this will be a long drawn out project to say the least], and I would love to recreate this into a throw pillow for my bed. Must see if my girlie, Jeryn, can help me with the digital rendering. Maybe do a second one that says, “and good morning too.” Oh, the ideas…oh, the lack of time/energy/motivation!

Well, as usual this beautiful day has passed before me because I have slept most of it away. Tonight is 4 of 4 and I need to find myself thinking about a nap before I head towards that interstate. Night friends!!

-Jenny