Jones Soda Pop

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

My beautiful and talented sister Danielle sent in a picture to Jones Soda Co to get on the label of their pop and she WON! You can go check out her picture here... link
Her picture is the second row, third from the right. It's her windsurfing when we were in Domincan. She's wearing my bathing suit, so I'm going to take some credit...just kidding Danielle. The talent is all you! Way to go!!!

Look for her label on an upcoming bottle of Orange and Cream Soda! They will be out in a few weeks, so let me know if you spot one.

Since my stories are so popular

Monday, March 27, 2006

Creepy old man grabbing at my hand: Hey, where is that girl?
Me: What girl?
Man: The pretty one?
Me: Who me?
Man: The one wearing pink.
Note: I was wearing blue. SLAM.

Fun old man BLEARING Elton John from his room: Hey nurse, want a beer?

Me calling up to a different floor: Hi, may I please speak with house keeping.
4th floor: One second please.
Housekeeping: Hello?
Me: Hi, yes, I need some soap for the bathroom please. Itâ€™s empty.
Housekeeping: Empty?
Me: Yes, nothing is coming out, so empty.
Housekeeping: Well, youâ€™ll have to wait til the afternoon shift gets there, that is their job.
Me: Wait until 12? Itâ€™s only 9:30. Itâ€™s just soap, heck Iâ€™ll get it myself if youâ€™ll just tell me where it isâ€¦
Housekeeping: 12 oâ€™clock, then you can have soap.
Next time, Iâ€™m bringing my own. Frig.

Old man giving me the stare downâ€¦
Me, approaching, afraidâ€¦
Man: Iâ€™ll kill you I will, you evil BLEEP.
Me: Um, why?
Man: You stole my pillow.
Me: Itâ€™s right hereâ€¦on your lap.
Man: Oh, thank you nurse.

One man writes note to other resident asking her back to his room laterâ€¦female resident replies flattered, â€œthank you but no.â€�

Me: Here sir, hold this rail and my hand and Iâ€™ll help you stand up.
Old man with a muffled voice: Thatâ€™s not all Iâ€™d like to holdâ€¦
Me: The hand will do.

Old Lady is screaming bloody murder. Am Iâ€¦

Stabbing her with her breakfast fork?

Throwing her wheelchair at her?

Crashing her into a wall?

Putting on her shirt?

The correct answer isâ€¦..4

Last one for todayâ€™s shiftâ€¦
Lady: How old are you?
Me: just turned 21 in January
Lady: oh, youâ€™re too young and pretty to be working here, come back in a few yearsâ€¦

I like ending off on a good note.

Nursing Home Saga Continued...

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Lady at lunch: Nurse, this soup tastes awful, what did you put in it?
Note: Lady is scooping up coffee with her spoon

Funny Lady: Nurse, did you know that this is the president?
Me: No, I didnâ€™t. Wow.
Funny Lady: I told my daughter I got to eat with the president today.
Me: And lucky me, I get to serve the president.
Funny Lady: Well, thatâ€™s not that special now is it?

Lady: Hey nurse, I didnâ€™t get my treat
Me: Iâ€™ll bring it right away, I promise
Lady: You will?
Me: Of course, go sit down in your room and Iâ€™ll bring it right to you
Lady (turns to other HCA): you make sure she brings it!

8 residents asked me if I was married and gave me a sympathetic pat when I said no.

One man- Hey, Iâ€™m a half breed donâ€™t you know?
Second man- Oh yeah? Whatâ€™s that?
First man- My mother is German and my father is Canadian
Second man- well youâ€™re a half breed of nothing

Me at lunch: Can I get you ladies anything else?
Ladies: Anything?
Me: Sure thing, whatâ€™ll it beâ€¦
Ladies: Weâ€™d like money and a ticket outta here please.

Me: okay dear, letâ€™s do something pretty with that hair of yours.
Cute Lady: Can you make it look like yours?
Me: A side ponytail, not the latest fashionâ€¦
Cute Lady: well just make me pretty like you.
(I like her)

Not the best day at workâ€¦I actually think one of the regulars went home â€˜sickâ€™ because she didnâ€™t want to work with someone new. Brutal eh? I wish people wouldnâ€™t be so mean when youâ€™re just starting out, it takes time to learnâ€¦

Tales from the Nursing Home Part 2

Sunday, March 19, 2006

1st time one man rings his bell: Call a doctor, Iâ€™m dying.
Me: (sympathetic) what can I do for you?
Man: Iâ€™m dying. Call an ambulance.
Me: okay, Iâ€™ll do that right away.
2nd time he calls: Nurse, Iâ€™m dying.
Me: How about a drink of water?
Man: no, that stuff will kill youâ€¦
Me: actually it wonâ€™t considering your body is like 70% water
Man settles and takes a drink
49th time man rings call bell: Nurse, Iâ€™m dead.
Me: (no longer sympathetic) Funny how dead people can speak isnâ€™t it?

Lady who wonâ€™t sleep: Nurse, I had 21 cents, did you see it?
Me: No I didnâ€™t dear, where did you leave it?
Lady: I think those damn monkeys stole it again.

Lady in bed: SOMEBODY HELP MEâ€¦.PLEASE!
Me: what seems to be the problem?
Lady in bed: Iâ€™m falling!
Me: No dear, youâ€™re in bed. Youâ€™re safe, itâ€™s okay.
Lady: I know Iâ€™m in bed, but Iâ€™m still falling, canâ€™t you see that?
Me: No, youâ€™re safe and youâ€™re not falling.
Lady: Well fine, if you donâ€™t get out of here Iâ€™m going to tell you where to go and how to get there.

Aggressive lady smacks me in the arm and then tries to scratch me to death for attempting to check her depends and then screams at me in an unknown language.

Lady who STILL wonâ€™t sleep: Nurse, I donâ€™t want to go to my room alone.
Me: Thatâ€™s alright, you can sit right here with me.
Lady: Iâ€™m tired nurse.
Me: Try to sleep dear, itâ€™s late.
[Call bell rings and I leave to answer]
Lady is missing!!! (PANIC ATTACK)
Me frantically searching every room to find missing ladyâ€¦
Lady is found cuddling in another bed thinking it was her own.
Lady is redirected to her bed and finally sleeps soundly.

(My favourite resident)
Me: okay, dear youâ€™re all set now, Iâ€™m going to turn your light out so you can sleep tight.
Sweet lady: pauseâ€¦thank you.
Me: oh, youâ€™re welcome.
Sweet lady: Whatâ€™s your name?
Me: Itâ€™s Rachel.
Sweet lady. I like you Rachel. Goodnight.

Sigh. What a night. Two nights. Iâ€™m tired!!!

Crazy Week

Thursday, March 16, 2006

This is a bit of an update.
Saturday- My equally as addicted to Amazing Race friend Brendon and I entered the McMaster edition of the Amazing Race. We had to run all over campus for the morning and solve clues and complete tasks. It was incredible and the BEST part was that we WON! First place. (and 100$ to boot). Nathan thinks I should drop out of Nursing and enter Amazing Racesâ€¦that would be my dream come true. Iâ€™m addicted to this season already and love those hippie guys.

Sunday- my lovely family came to surprise me. MY WHOLE FAMILY. Mom, Dad, Sister and her fiancÃ©, and my Nathan. Fun family times. It was the best, plus my dad took us all out for dinner, so free food on top of great company, how can you beat that? Then they all came to the FRWY which was just as awesome as the free food and leftovers I got to take home.

All throughout this week Iâ€™ve been doing tours at the University for high school students since it is their March break. I am so sick of smiling and telling them nice things about McMaster, but someoneâ€™s got to do it, and plus I get paid to talk and smile, two of the things I do best.

I have so many projects and presentations due because I donâ€™t have any final exams. So that means that every thing is due in these next two weeksâ€¦like 160% of my grade(s)! Crazy. So needless to say, Iâ€™m quite busy. Although, at this moment, there is exactly only two more weeks of school left until Iâ€™ve finished 3rd year and am a free woman! I canâ€™t wait.

Discussion night was on Wednesday and Susan made chiliâ€¦MMMMMâ€¦I love Susan and her excellent cooking. I also got to meet Randyâ€™s parents who were visiting for a few days. His dad is working at a church in Sarnia right now so that was awesome to get to know them, they are cool people, but should I have expected anything lessâ€¦NOPE! Randy gave us an art lesson and I learned a lot about looking for the meaning behind what I seeâ€¦seeing Jesus without something tangible to base it on. It was a great time.

Clinical today. Not as bad as I thought it might be. I came up with some creative activities for the patients to pass the time more quickly. To all who are continually praying for me, thank you SO MUCH, I think Iâ€™m going to pass! Only two more weeks to go.

Friday I have a tour in the morning and then I work nights at the nursing home. But then I work all Saturday at the University into another night shift at the nursing homeâ€¦LOOONG weekend. Sunday is going to be a day full of group meetings for two HUGE presentations on Monday. So it is Bâ€“U-S-Yâ€¦Say a quick prayer for me if you have some time, I know everyone else is probably busy too, itâ€™s that time of year.

Sorrow and Prayer

Friday, March 10, 2006

Itâ€™s tough to know people are hurting.
Especially people I deeply love.
Itâ€™s even tougher when there is nothing you can do to make the hurt go away.
Words canâ€™t describe pain.
I so desperately want to fix the problem.
I am unable.
Somehow this makes it worse.
Worse. Is that possible?
I sit here and pray.
Pray for those I love.

Questions without Answers

Recently Iâ€™ve been asking a lot of questions. Sometimes I get so confused that I canâ€™t even phrase my questions into logical sentences. I debate in my head. Play devilâ€™s advocate. I struggle with things Iâ€™ve known all my life and the constant search for truth. I ask questions and seem to end up much more confused then before I started. I feel lost. But I donâ€™t want to stop asking why. Even if I donâ€™t ever figure out the answer, Iâ€™d rather passionately question that be ignorantly silent.

One thing, Iâ€™ve always struggled with how an amazingly good God could let so much evil happen in the world. Essentially, the basic question: â€œwhy do bad things happen to good people?â€� I guess I just got sick of hearing the almost pre-recorded Christian response of free will; choices and consequences. To me that answer is getting old, it almost seems like a cop-out. But maybe Iâ€™m just too cynical. Anyway, I guess I just read the news, watch television or walk out my front door and am bombarded by so many examples of oppression, victimization, suffering and death. And on days when I actually let it sink into my brain, it really affects my thinking.

A lot of times we blame God for our suffering. A lot of times I blame God. I look around and think, why? I mean itâ€™s easy. Itâ€™s Godâ€™s fault. Heâ€™s easy to blame; a perfect scapegoat. If God is all powerful that means He has the power to stop the bad things, and he doesnâ€™t. That must make Him responsible.

Often times when Iâ€™m going through a struggle itâ€™s not a battle to figure out how to get through it, but why itâ€™s even happening in the first place. If God loves you and is pleased with you, how can someone who is loved by God, suffer? Then comes the temptation is to doubt that God is good. He canâ€™t be good if bad things are happening. If you are suffering, God let you down. How can someone be loved by God and suffer? Isnâ€™t it a dichotomy? One or the other. Which one is it? Suffering must mean that God isnâ€™t good. Suffering or God, you canâ€™t have both. Or can you?

There is something deeper to life than the avoidance of suffering. People that are deeply connected with God suffer. Heck, Jesus suffered! Jesus is the Son of God, is God, and he suffered more greatly than I ever have, and will ever. Jesus shows me that the Christian faith is not about putting on a happy face and pretending things are okay, its brutal honesty about how life really is.

Albert Einstein once said that â€œthe important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." I still donâ€™t have many answers to the tough questions that fill my brain. Iâ€™m still searching, still asking, still questioning. I donâ€™t know exactly why bad things happen. I donâ€™t know if Iâ€™ll ever have that one figured out. I doubt it. But I think just writing it down help. It encourages me to continue to ask questions in an attempt to know God better, and maybe thatâ€™s the point.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

I miss my sister

I miss her pretty face.
I miss borrowing her clothes.
I miss stealing treats that sheâ€™s hidden all over her room
I miss her sarcasm.
I miss her computer savy-ness.
I miss her home-made pizza.
I miss her smiles.
I miss the way she comes to chat and cuddle because she knows I like it.
I miss her making fun of me and then me telling her toâ€¦er, shut up, and then her making fun of me again because I suck at insults.
I miss her spelling mistakes.
I miss her asking me if Iâ€™ll play Euchre even though she knows I wonâ€™t and then settling to play a game I want...Iâ€™m so selfish.
I miss the cute-romantic-lovey-dovey stories she tells me even though she would never admit to telling them.
I miss the way she drives us around.
I miss cheering for her in sports, even though Iâ€™m usually not allowed to.
I miss the way she always makes me give her shot gun when sheâ€™s not driving.
I miss the way she loves our stupid dog.
I miss the way she hides the book sheâ€™s reading under her pillow.
I miss her fun.
I miss my sister today.

Erin the Champion

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Erin has some mad basketball skills and was the MVP in her championship game tonight!!! Obviously, her team won, because the other team looked at Erin's muscles and just ran away!!! Seriously, I would. She is officially a McMaster girls A-division 5 on 5 intramural CHAMPION!!! Way to go Erin. You make mamma proud!!! Read about her game, go to her blog...