New Obesssion

I have always liked to read in my spare time, often getting caught in a series of books yearning for the next book to come out so the story can continue. In the past this has included the Stephanie Plum series, all of the Harry Potter books, and my most recent victim the Twilight books.
I like to think that I am a rational person capable of making good decisions however, I purchased the first book in the series on Friday night and I finished all 586-ish pages by Saturday evening leaving me craving the next book. So Monday night after class I went and purchased the second book in the series, good thing its already been released, and last night I stayed up until midnight ready nearly 300 pages. The only reason I stopped was my cat started meowing and it forced me to look at the clock. I couldn't believe how much time had passed.
Tonight I look forward to diving further into the storyline with the characters I already feel like I know and love! I've decided to pace myself and hopefully I won't need to purchase the third book until Thursday! By the time the movie comes out this weekend I may have ready 3 out of the 4 in less than a week.
I've decided this is a good version of self-indulgence, and a habit I'm not interested in breaking.

No Silver Lining

Last Monday I received a frantic call from my mom about my godmother, her best friend. My god family is an extremely important part of my life, if anything ever happened I knew that they were my safety net to catch me when I fell, especially my godmother.
My godmother had unusually high white blood cell counts and had just finished seeing a hematologist who told her that he was quite certain that she was showing signs of liver cancer. She was calling to prepare us for the bad news, that she may be facing a battle with cancer.
At this time I was finishing my presentation for class about Relay for Life and the presentation really hit home, because I realized that this year would be different instead of just celebrating the people in my life that are in remission, I would have to "fight back" for her against cancer.
It was a very scary realization, for the next few hours I looked through old pictures and tried to relive memories in my mind, hoping to find comfort. She is my first role model, a guardian, friend and mother- it took my breathe away to realize that a doctor's appointment, and a set of test results might change all of that. So this week I've just been hoping and praying for the best- maybe there is a silver lining...

Last Conversation

Faith, Hope and Love but of these three the greatest is love.

In my previous blog I mentioned loosing my favorite resident- 100 year old woman who left an extraordinary legacy behind for her loved ones. My last conversation with her occurred the day before she died. She was sitting in the dining room waiting for lunch to be served and went up to her to make sure that she had everything that she needed. She said," You realize that I have a birthday coming up, I'll be over 100 years old." Her birthday wasn't actually for another few months but I smiled and replied, "What is your secret to living a long life?"

She looked up at me and smiled," Love. To live a long life your life must be filled with love. You must first learn to love yourself for who you are and who you want to become. Find a spouse that you love unconditionally that loves you that way in return, because no matter what happens through the bad times love is what gets you through. And then you have a family and you raise them with love and happy memories, so that all the good things that come from lots of love in your life fill your mind, heart and soul. That's my secret!"

We continued talking and she kept stressing that point to me over and over again- love is the greatest asset that anyone can obtain in their lifetime. So if you are looking for the secret to living a long healthy life, follow her generous wisdom and fill your life with love.

100 Years

So I owe you a blog from last week, to say the least last week was a hard one. It started with one of the girls in my department quiting because we couldn't work around her schedule so she found a better job. Which means that I will be working every other weekend and will no longer have a life.
However, the real hardship was loosing my favorite resident. She was 100 years old and I know that you are probably wondering how much longer I expected her to live. I think if you knew her you would understand. She was a fighter- her parents died when she was young, became a mother of four sons, lost her husband at the age of fifty and lived the rest of her life as a widow. She christened a navy ship in his honor, raised three sons who followed in their fathers footsteps to become admirals. In essence she was a fighter.
When I was helping her family pack up her room and listening to all of the stories I became sad because I realized that I only knew a small portion of who she really was. I became aware of how many stories I had missed. A few days later I read her obituary which was a tribute to her entire life and I realized how many great things she did in her life, what a great legacy that she left behind. In 100 years there were extraordinary things that she accomplished, it made her look like superwoman!
It made me think of what sort of legacy I want to leave behind for my loved ones. If I live to be 100 what great stories would I want to be told about my life- my career, friends, and especially my family.

Survey Window

As you may realize since I work in a long term care facility, it is evaluated each year for an annual inspection by DHEC. The facility is now in the window for visitation from this organization and chaos has entered the building wildly. Each day there is a new task on the agenda to improve the facility in some small way that will help with the survey. Each department has been assigned tasks during the survey, and all have received educational material to review based on information that we should all know about the facility.
Overall this process is somewhat overwhelming, and adds a lot of stress to the daily work routine. I must say that I will be relieved once the visitation is complete and we have another year before the survey team visits again. I will keep you posted- hopefully the results will be great.

Coffee Addiction updates: In the past week I only stopped for two ice Carmel latte lights on the way to work. This is a large improvement!!

Only Time Will Tell

This week a position opened up within the company that I work for. It is a full time, salary based position that I know would allow me to use the skills and knowledge that I possess on a higher level. I approached the director of Human Resources about the position opening and requested that I be considered for the position and I added my experience and knowledge about the position and my readiness and eagerness to learn more about the company. The decision has not been announced so only time will tell. I am keeping my fingers crossed that if not for this position maybe another that will arise in the near future.

Coffee addiction update: In the past week I have consumed three cups of Dunkin Donuts coffee and one of Starbucks. I am hoping that is a slight improvement!

Coffee Addiction

Recently I noticed how often I go to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts for coffee I must admit that I was pretty surprised. One week in particular I bought 8 coffees. That's more than one a day, I am starting to believe that I am mildly addicted to this liquid substance.
Since this discovery I have tried to limit my purchases down to less than 4 per week, but I am seeing a change in my behavior. I am slightly moodier in the mornings without coffee, tired a lot, and I crave even the scent of coffee beans. One could blame those symptoms on having a bad week, or getting sick but its really all about the coffee.
My favorite obsession is an iced Carmel latte with skim milk and two splenda. Its gotten to the point where some of the morning shift recognizes my car and knows my name. So this week I have started to ween myself off of the substance. I will keep you posted on the process, it should be interesting!

To Evacuate or Not to Evacuate That is the Question!

I work in a nursing facility in Mount Pleasant, and I love my co-workers and the residents a lot. I guess that I can go out on a limb and say that most days I really love my job. However, the past few weeks have been very stressful with the threat of upcoming hurricane's and possible evacuations.
For instance, when the rumor of Hanna hitting our area surfaced my department had to contact, explain, and console family members on the evacuation procedures if and when it came to that point. Our building must be evacuated for anything more than a category 2 hurricane, for someone like myself who stayed here during hurricane Hugo a category 2 is something to sleep through.
Needless to say I contacted one family member who cried and felt guilty that they could not be with their loved one during the storm, I was only the phone for 15 minutes. I felt like a telemarketer! That week feels like a blur because I didn't get any work done for performing all of the phone calls and contacting all of the family members 2 and 3 times to update them on the situation.
I am hoping that the rest of hurricane season is a quiet one so that I don't have to spend any more days on the phone with family members. I know that I was not meant to be a telemarketer because I think that was the most amount of consecutive headaches that I have ever had!

They reall do exist...

I realized that dream jobs do exist but that obstacles also exist that stand between you and the "cloud 9" feeling. I really love working with older adults and on a daily basis thats what I do except its not at the capacity that I would like it to be. I would love to work for Hospice and help them through the end stages of life. So I find it very frustrating to be working in the same environment as my dream job doing something very opposite.
However, I am realizing that this "dream job" is keeping me focused within the MBA program because its the prize at the end of the game so to speak. I know that once the MBA is complete then the dream job is more attainable and that these few years will be worth it in the end. I have decided that I need to create a poster or something to hang in my office to make me realize that each day is a step closer to "cloud 9."

Moving Home

I moved back home in May after graduation to accept a job and start graduate school. My parents opened their doors offering a rent free, free food, free utilities and amenities offer which I gladly accepted. It has always been just the three of us along with whichever pets were in our lives at the time. So we made the big move- Sydney and I my two year old lab. It just made sense on top of the "free offer" Sydney would inherit four new play mates.
Now we've been home for almost four months and the situation is still good- even though I know that there are things that are a little difficult such as remembering to call if I have made last minute plans, or juggling my time between my friends and family. I think that reality has just hit- there will be no moving back into my apartment with my friends surrounding me- that phase of my life is over. No more late night movie nights, being five minutes from my friends, or stopping by the sorority house to just hang out- the spontaneity of that life style no longer exists there has to be a plan- after work or after school, the weekend. Its strange to be 22 and feel like you are living the live of a 42 year old- minus the husband and children.