Update on my matchmaking!!!

I swear if I jinx this I'll shoot myself. Remember when I wrote about the matchmaking that my friend, Michelle and I were doing with my son, Patrick and her cousin Amber? Well, it will be four weeks ago this Sunday. They are still dating. And they're seeing one another more every week. They went out last night and tonight.  Do you all have any idea the restraint I am using not to  bombard him with questions? Of course you don't, but trust me I have to literally bite my tongue. I so love her. She's perfect for him. She confided in Michelle that she really, really, really likes him. She likes him so much she's scared. I think he's feeling the same way. I'm so tickled about this I can't stand it. He's such a loving guy. He's such a good son to me. Everyone that knows him loves him. But he's been sooooo reluctant to get serious with anyone since his high school romance. He's always seemed to end up dating these bimbo type girls that end up being drama queens. They smother him, make demands and push way to hard. Amber isn't at all like any of them. The comment he keeps making  is "she's so easy to be with". I think he's afraid to believe she's for real. I think he's waiting for the drama to appear. From everything Michelle has told me about Amber, that is not going to happen. She's the real McCoy and this is truly how she is. I'll keep ya posted!!!

I Really Do LOVE My Job!

  I am a kind of tired that I haven't been in a long time. My two week work schedule usually is as follows: Monday, Thursday, Saturday,Sunday,Wednesday, and Friday. You'll notice that the only two days I work in a row are every other weekend. My other days are spaced apart. I do this for a reason. You see, more likely than not work is CRAZY. From a few entries ago you'll see why. So, when I have one of those nights I can get myself through them by telling myself, "You're off tomorrow, you can get through this". And it works, for the most part. I have time to remind myself why I love my job on my days off and I am able to go in and handle those rough nights. Well, these past two weeks have been waaaay off the norm. It started when I requested to be off on Halloween so I could be home with Austin for trick or treating. My boss said, "Sure I'll give you that night off, but could you work Friday for me instead?" Sure, I said. Well, that made my schedule Th, Fri, Sat, and Sun. It was worth it, I told myself. When I got to work that Friday, my boss asked me if I could work Tuesday (she had a hole in the schedule), instead of my normal Friday this week. Sure, I said! Oh my gosh, had I just said YES? By agreeing to that I had scheduled myself for 6 out of 7 nights.On Tuesday when I got to work, this same boss (who I truly liked before this week) came up to me all smiley and lovey like and said, "Melissa, Shalane has to attend the stroke class tomorrow, could you come in and relieve her at Noon? (I work the 3-11:30 shift)  Before I even knew what I was saying I heard myself say, "Sure!". It was official, I'd  lost all sense. People, I don't work full time....and now I know why!!!

 

  As more proof of my loss of good sense, I offer this: I wore a new pair of shoes to work that lovely 12 hour shift last night! I know better than that, I truly do. I got a new pair of those ugly Croc shoes...you know the rubber thingys that are lightweight and UGLY! But they are so comfortable! Well, they are comfortable if you're not planning on walking 500 miles nonstop. They have no support. I drug myself home at 1:00 this morning dreading each time my croc'd feet would touch the floor. Won't do THAT again!  

 

 Oh, and I got a flu shot before starting work on Tuesday. Felt great Tuesday. Last night I had this vague ache all over my body and I swear I think I had a low grade temp.   I literally drug myself home. Fell in a chair and died! I woke up in that chair at 11:00 this morning. My husband and son got Austin on the bus this morning, bless them. I didn't hear a thing.  

 

So now I have 4 days off. Guess what I'm doing today? As I was typing this, the phone rang. Caller ID says it's work. Not for any amount of money would I have answered that phone. I know that within 30 seconds I would have been saying, "Sure!". They can hold the fort down without me today.   I gleaned some pretty funny stories from these six days. If I weren't so spent I'd tell them to you right now. But I think the couch is looking for a potato and I'm good potato material today.

I've worked the past four nights. I did my volunteer duties with Austin's first grade class this morning. I have to work tomorrow night and Wednesday night. Can you imagine what my laundry room looks like right now? Don't even try. You'll never come close.

  I love gardening. I spend so much time (and money) on flowers. I baby them, I water them, I talk to them (yes, I talk to them, so what?). It's such good therapy to work outside in the dirt. I plant and weed and nurture and love every minute of it. My soul breathes in my garden. It makes me giddy to have my hands dirty and smell the dirt. I get mad when I have to stop working in the yard and come in to fix supper. I'd rather not eat if it means I have to leave the yard.   So, now it's fall. I love fall for the colors and the feeling in the air. I love the smells of fall and the crispness you can feel in the air. BUT....this means that my flowers look like pitiful, neglected orphans. It breaks my heart to see my flowers dying. This is the time to pull them up (annuals) and throw them on the compost pile. I HATE this job. It's almost physically painful for me to do this. Last fall, I just left them planted, thinking this might be less painful, but it didn't. It made it worse. I would look out on the back yard and see them brown and withered in their spots and it was a worse reminder than it would have been to just pull them up and put them to rest. I finally just did the dirty deed and got rid of them.   This year I found the most perfect hot pink geraniums I had ever seen. They were glorious all summer. They were even more glorious as we went into fall. I can't part with them. I have decided to pull them up and try to save them over the winter in my basement. I've read that you can pull them up, knock off all the dirt and hang them upside down in the basement and they will come back in the spring. I'm crossing my fingers and giving this a try. I've spent a small fortune on all my flowers and this should save me some money next spring. HA! who am I kidding. I will just have more flowers, not more money.   There is a little house that I pass quite often. A sweet little lady lives there. She has artificial flowers in her flower beds. ALL OF HER FLOWER BEDS. It's so funny to drive by her house in the winter and still see the bright colors of her "garden". Bless her heart, I guess she couldn't stand to see them die in the fall either. I won't do that, don't worry.

My Horoscope for today....

Intense effort may be required at work today, and you might feel frustrated by how much you have to do. Consider taking a look at deeper issues such as your motivation, for maybe this isn't the right job for you. Perhaps a different approach would make you more efficient. Don't push yourself too far. Although your production will be appreciated, it's not worth jeopardizing your physical well-being.

Well, now, let me tell you, this sure makes me excited to go to work today. Remember the post from the other day about my night at work? Well, last night was twice as bad.  Looks like tonight won't be any better. 

I must not forget to take my bag of hugs with me.

The Queen of Procrastination!

If there is a medal for it....I win hands down. Every year it's my New Year's Resolution to stop procrastinating. Why do I do it? There has to be some deep convuluted reason deep down in the recesses of my mind for it. When I don't procrastinate, things go so much smoother. I know this. I know this to be so true and yet, time after time I procrastinate.

October 31 was the deadline for renewing my nursing license. I only work three evenings a week. This week my scheduled days were Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Since Monday was Halloween I had arranged to be off to be home with Austin and to work Friday instead. I knew that proof of my license renewal had to be turned in to the nursing office at work before I could work. Last week, somehow, October 31 (although I knew differently, I honestly did!) seemed like an eternity away  to me. PLUS the fact that I wasn't working on the 31st and would have until November 3 to get my proof into the right hands, I procrastinated myself into a nailbiting trip to the mailbox yesterday afternoon. I have to work today. If I don't have my license turned in by 3:00, I can't work.  I had asked several people that I work with how long it had taken them to get their license in the mail after renewing online. Everyone said, 2 to 3 days. So what did I do? I waited until last Thursday to renew online. In my addled brain, I imagined going to the mailbox on Monday (a day I didn't have to work mind you) and pulling out my renewed license. It wasn't there. It wasn't there Tuesday, it wasn't there yesterday. I am scheduled to work today. My license isn't here yet. I am supposed to be at work at 3:00. My mail will come today at 3:00. Why do I do this to myself?

There has to be some deep rooted self defeating evil alter ego here.  I can't blame this on anyone but myself.  It's a major character flaw and I have got to stop it. I think I will put signs up all over my house that say, "Just do it NOW".  I'm so mad at myself.

But you know, all of my problems today pale in comparison to what my friend Pam (Just One Girls Head Noise )is dealing with. I wish I had a magic wand to wave over her life and turn it right side up again. Please say a prayer for her.

UPDATE: I was saved! While nosing around on the Board of Nursing site, I found a place you could pay to get verification. I paid, the measley buck and printed verification that I am, indeed, licensed to practice. Yippee. I guess we'll see how much I learned from this next year. I will say, right here, right now. The very day that I get my papers for renewal in the mail next year, I'm sending them back in immediately!

  Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of pleasures,
costs nothing, and conveys much.

-- Erastus Wiman  

 Isn't this the beautiful truth!! It seems like such a simple no-brainer to me and yet every day we see evidence of people who have forgotten or never learned this simple rule.

I think we sometimes get so busy with "stuff" that we forget that we are not lone travelers in the universe. We forget that the way we treat others even by just passing them in a hallway or on a sidewalk can have a profound affect on them and eventually everyone they meet that day. Think back to a time when a stranger smiled at you, or had a kind word. Didn't it instantly lighten your load just a little bit. I know it has mine. I think we often think that it takes a grand gesture or a big production to "do something for someone". But ya know what, it doesn't.

Try a little experiment tomorrow and just give a genuine smile and a friendly "hello" to people you come in contact with in passing. Crown yourself the King or Queen of Cheer for one day. Go out of your way to do something nice for someone. It doesn't have to be a big thing. Be really corny and buy a bag of hugs....give hugs out tomorrow. I'm going to do this also. I bet we will be amazed at how much better our days go and how our own outlooks will improve.

You might think that what I've said here isn't really about courtesy, that it's just about being happy and smiling at people. But, isn't that the greatest courtesy we can grant? I know that I count it as a courtesy when someone acknowledges me in a  kind way. Come on...."out courtesy" everyone tomorrow.

Oh, and let me know how it turns out. ;)