Time to Laugh

Recently my granddaughter, Cordelia, and I were talking about each other's personality traits.  She said that one thing she knew about me was that I love to laugh. That made me so happy to know that was something she noticed. She also noticed that I love to hum a lot.

If I can pass on to my kids and grandkids a sense of joy, then I am satisfied. 

Almost.

I also want to pass that on to others, so, here's a laugh for your day.

Tears and Laughter

 Mike and I have been out of town for a few days. We made a quick trip to Great Falls, MT for a funeral for Mike's Uncle Harold. This was not a pleasure trip, obviously. We kept talking about Uncle Harold and how weird it was going to be to not be able to see him whenever we go to Great Falls. We were sad, but this trip still had many moments of joy.

As is true with many funerals, they sort of evolve into family reunions. Uncle Harold was all about family and friends. Mike and I both thought he would have really enjoyed his funeral! He would have known everyone there, and there were a lot of people there! 

We saw so many people, friends we have not seen in years, relatives who live all too far away.  I wished we could all have spent more time together but we really only had one day there. It wasn't enough.

Sometimes I wish things were like the old days. By old days I mean days older than me. Days I never really experienced. I kind of wish for the days where families lived nearby for a lifetime And you knew your friends through all their days. I glamorize how it could be, all of us laughing and living in peace. Of course, both sides of the family would mesh together with ease.  Doesn't that sound like heaven?. Well, I suppose it is. It isn't real life, but I like the idea. Maybe that is what heaven is like.

Ok, enough of that.

I want to show you a couple of things from our trip.  First, want to see some mermaids? 

They have shown up at that hotel bar for decades. They look really young!. Yes, those are real. Ok, maybe not real mermaids, but real people. Those two ladies gently swam around for hours. That is not something you see everyday.

We drove home the next day.  I like road trips with Mike. He can be pretty funny, but don't tell him I said so.  

The view was pretty nice most of the way.

So pretty! 

It was a fairly long drive with a lots of wind. This is what Billings looked like.

That is not fog, just dirt.

We almost had an eagle in our laps yesterday. Really. I was crocheting and looking downward but Mike, thankfully, was on top of his game.  I looked up when I heard him say, "Don't do it! " All I saw was the vision of the eagle, wings spread, filling up the whole view out our windshield!. He was really, really big. What Mike had seen was the eagle diving down toward the side of the road, going up, then repeating the dive. He had an eagle eye spotting something below, but ignoring the car about to intersect his dive.  Mike slammed on the brakes and saved the day! Well, he saved the eagle. He saved our windshield. He saved us from having a giant bird in our laps. He did no favors for whatever that eagle was hunting.

While we were out of town, Maria, Eric and girls stayed at our house with our dog. Last time he stayed at their house he freaked out and took bites out of their stairs! 

Anyway, we had some surprises when we got home.

I opened the fridge and saw these notes. 

Funny, huh? 

Then, there was the toilet.

Sweetly, we also had a pretty picture...

So, that was a whole lot of rambling to tell you of both tears and laughter... of life.

We'll miss you, Uncle Harold. 

Project Happy Room

Remember how I told you I put something funny on my door at work every day as part of making that office a happier place to be (Project Happy Room)? Maria has been helping me find little funnies from time to time. This one is gross, but too funny to pass over.

I had this one on my door Monday.

And this one is just cute, don't you think?

You're welcome.

Confessions of a Nurse - Knock, Knock

Who's There?

One thing nurses are taught to do is to knock. We knock a lot. All day long we are in and out of rooms with patients in them and we are to knock before entering. So, I knock and I knock and I knock...all day long.

Not too long ago I knocked before entering a room. It is just automatic for me. The weird thing was, I was at home and the room was our bedroom. Mike was inside. He just looked up at me as I entered and said, "Well, that's new."

This week I over-knocked yet again. I was in PACU (Post-Anesthesia Care Unit...formerly known as a recovery room) and as I was going from that unit out to the hallway, I knocked. No one answered. I'm not sure who, if anybody, saw me knocking before entering the hallway, but I burst out laughing at myself. I thought it might tickle you as well. 

If I made you smile, my mission is complete.

Confessions of a Nurse

As I've said, I work at a surgical center. It is an outpatient facility, meaning patients usually go home after they recover a bit from their surgery. There are two phases of their recovery.

After patients have surgery they are taken immediately to the recovery room, now referred to as PACU (post anesthesia care unit). They remain there until they are awake, breathing safely on their own and stable enough to be moved to the post-recovery area. 

A lot of our patients are children who've had their tonsils out, ear tubes installed, hernias repaired, dental work requiring anesthesia and a variety of other surgeries. We also have many adult patients having their gallbladders removed, kidney stones resolved, plastic surgery, lap band placements, nasal surgeries, etc. 

I was assigned to the post recovery area yesterday and I did have a mixture of adults and children to recover. Usually patients are in a medical type of recliner while in post recovery. Most often when children are brought out from PACU we have one of the parents sit in the recliner and we place the child in their lap. Isn't that just the best place for a child to be when they are scared and/or hurting?

Anyway, that was rather a long build up to tell you about the dumb thing I did yesterday. 

I entered the room where a young boy was recovering in his mother's arms. I was preparing to take the boy's temperature and to go through the discharge paperwork. The boy's grandmother was in the room and I was talking with her while I was doing all this. Without even thinking, I used the temporal thermometer and swiped it across the forehead to take the temperature. The only problem was, I TOOK THE MOTHER'S TEMPERATURE! As I said to the mother, "That really gives you confidence in my highly professional assessment skills!" 

Then guess what happened!? Yep, I went over the edge. I laughed and laughed. It's not my fault, really. Remember, I suffer from the Genetic Laughter Seizure Syndrome. 

Eventually I pulled myself together, kind of. I still needed to go through the discharge instructions. I admit I had a couple more giggles slip out even then. Thank goodness both the mother and the grandmother were people who also enjoyed a good laugh.

Anyone else want to make any confessions of dumb mistakes they've made at work?

Genetic Laughter Seizure Syndrome

We have a serious disorder that runs in our family.  I simply can't conceal it any longer.  I am thinking of organizing some kind of fundraiser or applying for a grant to support research as little is known about this disorder.  Maybe our daughter-in-law, Sara, will head up the research.  Of course, I will have to ask her to stop her present research looking for genes associated with liver cancer and such.  I'm sure she won't mind as she realizes the severity of our condition.

You see, there is little known of this syndrome that runs in our family.  It seems to affect the females more than the males.  I am guessing it is caused by some as yet unknown mutation.  Perhaps it began with my mother as she is the first one I've known to suffer extensively from this.

She passed it on to me.  

I passed it on to Maria.

I am sorry to report that Cordelia even shows early signs of it.

This dreadful Genetic Laughter Syndrome causes out-of-control attacks of laughter.  You might even say we have laughter seizures.  These attacks often begin with little or no warning.  We don't usually even get an aura as some do before a migraine attack.  We might even be in a formal or serious situation when it occurs.  It can be completely distressing and socially unacceptable.

Occasionally we cause quite a scene as people around us may think we are sobbing.

Physically these attacks can be gravely dangerous.  It becomes difficult to breathe!  Drooling is a serious risk.  Because of that risk, it is advisable to cover our mouths with our hands.

As people begin to stare it seems to increase the intensity of the seizure.    

Even as the laughter seizure begins to resolve, there is an extended period of recovery before we reach full functionality again.   Often there are tears to be wiped.

It takes time to regain composure.  A period of total and complete exhaustion sets in.  It really is utterly dreadful but we do not seek your pity, only your understanding.

Please watch for future fundraising events to help find the cure for this Genetic Laughter Seizure Syndrome (GLSS).  We simply must seek the cause so that a cure can be found.  If you are interested in organizing your own events on our behalf, such as a walk-a-thon or a bake sale, please contact me.  I thank you in advance for your care and concern.

Recycling Ziplocks

A confusing thing happened recently.  I was visiting with a group of women, very nice women.  They were chuckling about odd things people saved and quaint things people did to save money.  It was a charming little conversation that suddenly took a twisted turn.  One friend, expecting shock and laughter, told how her mom even washed and recycled ziplock bags.  Everyone laughed.....everyone but me.

I just didn't see the humor.

Do you?

Movie Matinee

I've been wanting to see "The Help" for awhile now.

When Mike and I were on our little vacation in Montana we had planned to go to two movies.  I voted to see the one he wanted first, thinking we'd save my choice for the last day.  It all goes along with one of my life-long plans of "saving the best for the last".  I don't know why I keep planning my life that way.  Religiously speaking, it is what I expect of course, saving heaven for last.  However, in this world it has not worked out the best for me.  Remember the underwear story?  In Montana we saw Apollo 18, which was rather forgettable, and had something else going on and did not go back to see "The Help".

I also try the "saving the best for the last" all too often when eating potato chips.
In case you aren't aware of this, some potato chips are better than others.  It is such a joy to eat a chip that isn't already broken!  I especially like large chips that are folded over.  They crunch the best.  Equally good are the ones with just a gentle curl to them that kind of fits right over your tongue.  Saving those for the last is a great plan when I am eating alone.  However, when Mike is nearby it is risky.  He thinks it is pretty funny to come by and snatch one of those dandies just before I get to it!

Oh man, I've gone off-track, huh?

....so my friend, Donna, asked if I'd want to go see "The Help" with her yesterday.  I was excited!  I was waiting out front when Donna arrived.  She graciously allowed me to take a picture of her sweet face.  I just think she has a great smile and a face that really lets her beautiful sense of joy shine out.

The movie was wonderful.  You've probably already seen it, huh?

It was a story that needed to be written.  Having said  that, I'd have to agree with reviewers I'd read who said it kind of wrapped everything up in a pleasant kind of package to achieve a happy ending.  I didn't care about that so much; I actually appreciated it a bit.  I also appreciate any movie that reminds us where we've been in this country regarding racial issues.  Hopefully in the remembering we can better avoid going down that horrible road again.  In fact, I wonder why we even use the term "race".  Aren't we the human race?  Maybe we should just say "ethnicity issues" or  "skin tone" issues.  I just don't think "race" is quite the right word when what we are really talking about is the amount of melanin present. 

It did seem that there were some parts of "The Help" that didn't really contribute much to the movie, such as the main character's Mom making reference to new treatments for girls who have unatural attractions to other girls.  I kind of got the feeling they were making fun of Biblical references and making some sort of comparison to bigotry based on skin color.  I'm not sure about that and since it was just a blip in the plot I'll move on.

The movie somehow managed to make us laugh and cry, all while considering one of the darkest stains on our country.  The acting was great!  I particularly enjoyed watching Ron Howard's daughter, Bryce Howard, play the part of the person you most want to dislike.  She's a pretty versatile actress!

The thing that made me most happy, though, were the previews.  I'm not kidding!  I don't know that I've EVER watched previews and wanted to attend ALL of them.  Did you all see Fireproof?  Well, the makers of Fireproof have another one coming out.  I've forgotten the name but it is about Dads becoming better fathers.  All of the previews were about movies that seemed to have something important and good to say.

Maybe there is hope for the film industry after all.

And on to another issue...

Maria (daughter) and I have been busy preparing for Fall at our Etsy shop, Wyoming Rose Boutique.  Also, we are going to do our first craft sale on September 24!  We're kind of excited about that.  We've decided to discontinue our shop blog, though.  Our plan is to just occasionally give shop info on our personal blogs.  Maria had the idea of doing some tutorials also.  I think that will be fun!  In fact, Maria 

posted a great tutorial yesterday.  Check it out!  And while you are there, browse around.  She has the greatest blog EVER!  She loves new followers as well!

Have a great week-end!

Hello? Hello?

I have the world's cutest phone, don't you think?

It is a KIN.  According to my son, it was first marketed to teen-age girls.  Hmmm.  But it is just so cute!  I get compliments from strangers!  I liked the idea of it because it can use Wi-Fi to go online for free, without the extra monthly cost of smart phones.

But, sadly, it is also the world's dumbest phone.  OK, so it is possible that I think it is dumb because I am NOT a teen-age girl.  It is actually quite likely that the problems I have with it are largely operator error.  I've texted messages to people I didn't mean to text.  Like the time I meant to ask our daughter to pick up our mail when we were out of town.  Instead, I texted that request to a friend who lives in a neighborhood quite a ways from our home.  Although she was surprised by the request, she was going to do it!  I have some really great friends!

My phone also drops calls, usually long distance ones.  It is infuriating!  Last night, I had the address book part of it accessed to my Mom's listing because I needed to doublecheck her phone number.  That's a funny thing.  Using a cell phone, sometimes I forget people's phone numbers because I rarely need to know them now.  I just click on their name and my phone dials them.  However, last night I just looked at her number and then dialed on our land line; I just wasn't in the mood for dropping calls, etc. 

I had been talking with my Mom a bit when she got the "beep" and she said, "Someone's calling me."  She then saw that the second call was coming from our town.  I offered to just hang up so she could take the call but she declined.  Our towns are only a few hours apart and she sometimes has medical appointments here, but she doesn't really have anyone that should've been calling her from our town.  She said I was the only one who called her from here and I chuckled and said, "Well, it's not me!"  

Finally, I pulled my stupid cell phone out of my pocket and, you guessed it, I had pocket-dialed her from my cell phone while talking with her from our land-line!  It was me interrupting my own conversation!  It made us both laugh, a LOT.  I guess anything that brings laughter can't be all bad, right?

The good news is, I only have until September 2012 until I am eligible for a new free phone!

Confessions of a Pastor's Wife

 This post has been linked to the GRAND Social linky.

As most of you know, my husband is a Lutheran Pastor.  Last night we were at our Lenten Service.  Lent is rather a somber season during the church year.  It's the time we ponder and thoughtfully consider the time leading up to Jesus' death.  We learn more deeply about what he had to go through. 

Mike was preaching about how Jesus called out to God during the distress he endured on the cross.  Mike then spoke of how WE need to call out to God in our distress, not worrying about how to tell God our problems but to just call out to him.  He repeated, "Just call."  As he finished that brief sentence someone's cell phone went off.  The owner of the phone was seated near the back and I don't think Mike even heard it.  But I did, and I snort-laughed.  I'm sorry but it was funny!  I quickly subdued myself, realizing snort-laughing may not be considered proper Pastor Wife behavior.  I've yet to find the Pastor Wife Etiquette Book but I'm pretty sure snort-laughing would be a no-no.

So, I started thinking about other behavior lapses I've committed in church.  Even before Mike was a pastor, early in our marriage, I led him down the road of inappropriate church behavior.  We were sharing a hymnal while singing hymns.  I love to sing and was doing so with enthusiasm.  About the middle of the song Mike had to elbow me as I was singing the wrong verse, loudly.  When I finally realized why he was being so rude to me, I said, "Oh!" still a bit too loud!  THEN it happened.  We both went over-the-edge as we call it.  We started laughing with no control!  I'm talking the silly laughing where you have to cover your face because you are rendered unable to swallow and drooling is a likely possibility.  It's awful and wonderful at the same time.

Now I sing on the Worship Team at our current church.  My place is in the back row.  A few years ago the back row was all men except for me and Kylie.  On a particular song Kylie was telling me that during a part of that song, where the parts separate, she and I were to sing with the men on their part.  The way she said it was, "We'll be men on this song."  It struck my silly side.  Without thinking I imitated a woman in a current commercial who was herself imitating men.  I stuck out my finger and in my best dopey male voice said, "Hey Dude, pull my finger."  I said it a bit too loud and Kylie wasn't the only one who heard me.  I've been known as "Bubba" ever since!

I Sometimes Forget

I didn't write the following.  I found it probably 6 years ago, printed in a church bulletin for an advent service I attended.  It really spoke to me that night.  I stumbled upon it this morning and thought it was perfect following the blog about fear that I posted yesterday.  I would give credit to the author but no name was attached to it.  I hope the poem touches you as it did me.

In the dark,
I sometimes forget the light will come, the stars will shine.
In the rain,
I sometimes forget the sun will come out, the land will be green and fresh.
In the rush,
I sometimes forget how to slow down, how to be still.
In the noise,
I sometimes forget the quiet will come, peace will return.
In the loneliness,
I sometimes forget you are always here, you are holding me.
In the cold,
I sometimes forget who warms my heart, who holds my soul.
In the fear,
I sometimes forget to trust in you, to lean on you.
Forgive me, God, for not remembering that laughter will follow tears,
Joy will follow the sorrow, healing will follow the hurt,
Day will follow the night, because I sometimes forget. Amen