Smile-Worthy

That is not snow on the ground, it is hail.

That is not an umbrella on that lady's head.

It is a garbage bag.

It made me smile.

Hearing Bells

Nurses are used to hearing lots of bells and buzzers. When patients push their call button, a sound alerts the staff to come give assistance. When the IV bag needs replaced, another sound emits to alert the nurse to the situation. Monitors on patients go off when something goes a bit off there as well.

It has been so strange, sitting by my Mom's hospital bed, as I'm not a nurse there. She has nurses and aides and respiratory therapists and surgical staff to take care of her. My role has been that of a family member. 

It doesn't stop me from feeling like I need to answer everyone else's call light, though! I was sitting out in the waiting area and the elevator made that ding sound to announce it's arrival. 

Just like Pavlov's dogs, I felt the need to respond...not by drooling, though.

I think I'd feel better if I could do some of the nursing things for my Mom. She is, however, receiving great nursing care. I am so very grateful for those who have helped her. In fact, I am full of gratitude for all the medical care available to us. Really. She has been well cared for and will soon be home recovering.

Get well Mom!

Hotel or Hospital?

It is hard to tell, isn't it?

It is prettier than many hotel lobbies.

Everything looks shiny and polished.

The atmosphere is so relaxed, open and airy.

Even the wheelchairs are artfully arranged.

I appreciate the effort.

Watching Over Mom

My Mom is hospitalized and I am with her today. She is a strong a lady and she will recover. I just don't want to take much time to post today.

A Night at the Roller Derby

Saturday night I went to a Roller Derby bout (not a game, not a match, it is a BOUT). Have you ever been?  I met Maria and Eric and Cordy and Elise there for a couple of hours of rough and tumble fun.


I am going to assume that some of you  do not know much about a Roller Derby Bout. Since this was our second time to attend, I think of myself as rather an expert (ha!). I do know a few things.

First of all, there are no more than 5 players on each team playing at any one time. There may be less if someone is sent to the penalty box. Of the 5 players on a team, only one can score points. That player is called a jammer. Each team also has a pivot player. The other three players are called blockers. Except for the jammers, everyone HAS to stay together as a pack. The pivot players control the pace of the pack. When they start going around, it is called a jam and each jam lasts no more than two minutes.

The jammers (the ones who can score points) have to start behind the pack. The object is for the blockers to help their own jammers get through the pack while holding back the opposing team's jammer.  The jammers make points when they can lap around and pass through the pack again, as many times as possible in two minutes. There's more to it, of course, but just knowing that much made it all more understandable to me.

The bout is not always played in a ladylike manner. The players have names such as "Formaldebryde", "Carry Undertaker", and "RedNeck Breaker". I have a nurse friend who plays and she is called "Nurse You Bet It Hurts!" Yikes!

My friend, Virginia, is the one in the center looking toward the camera.

She is usually a Jammer and she is tough!

The best part is, if she roughs someone up, later she goes and does 

a nursing assessment to be sure they are ok.

Part of the fun is dressing crazy.

Don't worry. We didn't wear the too-short-shorts or 

anything like that.

Eric bought a team sticker for me.

I pretended it was a tattoo.

Elise was really excited!

Some of the officials dress the coolest!

I love this girl who does the countdown each

time a jam is about to start up.

Maria and I want to get tu-tus for next time!

After bruising each other up throughout the bout,

they all did a skate-dance together at the end.

 Now, wasn't that fun?!

Prowell Family Band

These guys will be at our church tonight at 6:00 p.m. For local readers, feel free to join us.

I'm not all that familiar with Bluegrass Music but I like music and I like any color of grass... except maybe brown.  Ha...I crack myself up.

I bet it will be a fun evening!

I'd Rather Be the Nurse

I spent much of last night being sick, really sick. I was fine all day but rather suddenly got sick late evening. That isn't supposed to happen to nurses! We're supposed to stay healthy to care for everyone else!

During those few hours of being violently ill (that sounds kind of dramatic, doesn't it?) I became more and more aware that I am called to be a nurse,  not a patient. Being the helper is way more fun than being the one who needs help!

Before you get worried (Mom and Maria) it seems to have all passed now. I am fine this morning, though maybe a bit weak. There may be some napping in my immediate future!

So, I will use this opportunity to just share two happy photos of Wyoming sunflowers in the breeze.

Have a sweet week-end!

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Do Your Ears Hang Low?
Do They Wobble to and Fro?
Can You Tie Them in a Knot?
Can You Tie Them in a Bow?
Can You Throw Them Over Your Shoulder Like a Continental Soldier?

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

Do Your Ears Hang High?
Do They Reach Up to the Sky?
Do The Droop When They're Wet?  

Do They Stiffen When They're Dry?
Can You Semaphore Your Neighbor with a Mimimum of Labor?

Do Your Ears Hang High?

Do Your Ears Hang Wide?
Do They Flap From Side to Side?     

Do They Wave in the Breeze?
From the Slightest Little Sneeze?
Can You Soar Above the Nation with a Feeling of Elation?

Do Your Ears Hang Wide?

Do Your Ears Fall Off?
When You Give a Great Big Cough?
Do They Lie There on the Ground?
Or Bounce Up at Every Sound?
Can You Stick Them in Your Pocket Just Like Little Davy Crockett?

Do Your Ears Fall Off?

We've had our Granddogs, Bumblebee and Miss Betty Sprinkles, visiting us for a few days.

Bode loved having the company!

Sometimes it was kind of loud.

There were sweet moments.

Just look at that face!

They are pretty girls...

...but their ears really do hang low!

Flashback: The Coyote Whisperer

Flashback time! The following links will take you to a post I placed two years ago this month. I decided it was a sweet story I wouldn't mind sharing again. I hope you enjoy it.

Only the Manager: Sam and the Coyote

My New Key Ring

OK, another moment of geekiness...

The truth is, every day I am stunned by the power of the little phone in my purse. When I first heard about computers it seems they were these giant things that filled up a room. They spit out papers with gobbledy-gook as far as I could tell. Now, I have one I can hold in my hand. I use it every day and I realize I will likely never really comprehend the knowledge available to me. It really blows my mind.

This past week-end I went to PetCo for dog food. The girl at check-out asked, as they always do, if I had a PetCo Card. I did not. I reached my limit of those little cards! I hate having to carry them around then scramble through my purse to find the one I need.

The girl told me how much money I would've saved if I'd had the card.  Rats. I love saving money. She then told me about a phone app called Key Ring. It changed my life! OK, that is a bit dramatic. It did make me kind of happy, though.

I went online and learned about it, then started setting it up with the cards I already had. That went pretty well. I even signed up for a few more rewards programs!

Once you've got it all set up, you can easily scroll through them and see if any have special offers or coupons available.

When you click on the name of the store where you currently are shopping, it brings up your barcode. You can then have it scanned to get your savings. If they can't scan it, they can just type in the barcode number.

I don't think I've explained it too well but if you are interested, here's a little video to help explain it.

OK, that's it. That's all I have for you today. Anyone else have a great app we should all know about? Anyone tired of me talking about phone apps?

A Relaxing Float Despite a Bully Cloud

Yesterday Mike and I both had the day off, a rare event, so we decided to go out on the river again. This time we chose to go a bit out of town and float back in. We love it most when we are out in the country rather going through town. I checked the weather report and it looked to be good until after we were set to be back, so off we went!

I was enjoying watching this big pretty cloud follow us.

It was peaceful and relaxing.

We saw a big eagle in a tree.

I scrambled to get my phone out of the double

zip-lock bags, wrapped in a plastic grocery bag,

zipped into our lunch bag.

I was too late so I

went back to watching clouds.

I was also on the look-out for a moose as I'd

heard there was one spotted in the area last week.

At one point we heard a lot of trampling

in the brush and I got kind of excited when I saw a big dark

something breaking through to get a drink.

I said, "Oh look!" with maybe a bit too much excitement in

my voice as the big dark something turned out to be a cow.

Mooing followed.

So, more floating....

More relaxing....

Then, that pretty cloud turned darker and started chasing us!

I started to feel a little bit worried.

See my worried face?

It made rumbley sounds.

We could see rain.

We did NOT see any lightning but we did talk about

plans to get out of the water to wait it out, just in case.

We were still about 2 hours from our car but thankfully 

the big bully cloud passed over the river 

behind us and swerved around us. 

We were grateful.

Softer, gentler clouds came over us.

And sunshine warmed us once again.

Oddly, that was when we got rained on.

It was just sprinkles, really.

I turned my camera straight up toward the sky.

The drops appeared to begin high up in the clear sky.

We could see them falling toward us but

they just look like a couple of white ghost drops in the photo.

It was cool.

I tried to capture it to show you,

but you get the idea.

It was a good day.

Almost Like Star Trek

 I am soooooo excited! As I've mentioned, I have been trying to learn Spanish to help me better serve our Spanish-speaking patients. Last Fall I enjoyed a Spanish for Nurses class. Since then I have been working, rather off and on, with this...

It is called Instant Immersion and I really enjoy it. I actually find it rather relaxing. That is part of the problem, I suppose. I would try to work on it after a long work day and I often dozed off! 

Still, I felt I was learning a lot of words. However, I have not put enough time into it to be able to count on remembering what I've learned. My occasions to use it have been too few and far in between. I do plan to keep working at it. It's fun! If you are interested in learning a language on your own, they offer it for many other languages as well. It is rather inexpensive and definitely worth the money.

However, if you are like me and need something a bit easier sometimes, here's some news!

I just found another really, really useful tool! It is called iTranslate and it is for smart phones, both Android and iPhones. There are several others like it, such as Google Translate. I can't speak to which one is best but they all remind me of Star Trek!

Remember, they could use that device and understand all languages? It seemed like an impossibility at the time... just Sci Fi.  Well, I have almost that same power in my little phone now. I can speak a sentence and have it translated into other languages. It shows up in print, both in English and the chosen language for translation. I can check to make sure it heard me right before I show it to the person to read in their own language.  For many languages I can also click to have it speak the translation. That is wonderful in case the other person does not read well, is too young to read or maybe can't see well. Below is an example in Korean.

This is just a few more of the choices.

I was just so excited, I wanted to share my new fun with all of you! You are welcome.

Now, I have a little side note for Allen, who is having his 10 year check-up after his heart transplant:

  Best wishes, Allen! 

I won't be surprised if they make you 

the poster child for heart transplants!

Just Say Jesus

Sung by 7th Time Down
Pictures in Video by Donna Wallace

Time With Jennifer

Last night we all went for a picnic near the river. It was Jennifer's last evening in Wyoming and we wanted to spend a bit more time with her.

We watched a kayaker playing in the river.

It made me rather nervous when he purposefully flipped upside down.

Elise wasn't interested in our picnic but she

loved being outside.

She was happiest when we were walking and exploring.

Grandpa let her get her toes wet.

Sam got some text messages...lots of them I think.

I'm not certain he even knew we were on a walk.

Cordelia got to get her feet wet as well.

Jennifer may have been thinking about the 30 hours of travel 

she had ahead of her. Australia is a long way from Wyoming.

Eric told her tales of the Old West.

Sam did more texting.

I love seeing these two together...

It makes me remember a sweet 

time in our lives, just starting our family

and enjoying the gift of friendship.

Jennifer and her parents were our guests for Maria's

first birthday, over 31 years ago.

We had some really fun times together.

But look at these girls, friends from birth!

Here they are at age one.

They absolutely loved being together!

I think this photo was taken by Jennifer's Dad, Jim.

They formed a bond that withstood 

both years and distance.

This photo was for sure taken by Jim.

Safe travels, Jennifer!