Sometime Last Week

A week ago today I had a pretty full day that I really had wanted to blog about sooner.  Work schedules, home schedules, holiday schedules, blah, blah, blah schedules all threw me off!  So here's a "throwback Thursday" post...throwback to last Thursday.  My day started off with my BFF Donna stopping to pick me up and take me on our annual  "Bath Home and Garden Tour".  Bath, Ohio is near Akron and it's chock full of lovely homes and gardens that open up for the public as a fund raiser.  Throw in a fashion show during the luncheon and you have a complete girly girl day!  Thanks Donna for a fun, fun day!  Most of the homes were super fabulous and I can't even imagine living in any of them.  A few were different....and one gave me the creeps...and a tour of a Bed and Breakfast was the historic home this year.  Photos are not permitted indoors so my shots were all outsiders.

Perhaps large and lovely with a pool is your taste.

I could live in the pool house!

This patio was made for outdoor entertaining! Looks like a Tuscan Villa!

Maybe a pond is more "You"?

Attach it too a garden and I'm all in!

Come and enjoy the historic "Whimsical Pig" B & B...tons of antiques...like the one in pink on the front porch!

The backyard was charming!  When it was over Donna and I headed back to burn down our own homes and start over!  Nah, we both love where we live and frankly, most of those places were way too big.  I'll stick with the Pines!  That evening we were invited to Summer's 17th birthday party with family.  My son and her Mom are divorced but get along and Summer wanted everyone together so we all came and had nice evening.

She read every card and exclaimed over every gift...she's a fun kiddo! Happy Birthday cutie!

Anthony grabbing a piece of the cake Summer made herself!

Cameron made it home from soccer just in time!

We even got to see Driana.  She's a hard working, busy little adult!  She's decided to go to nursing school since working at a nursing home.  They need good nurses!  Good luck Dri!  So that's how my last week went...and now schools are out tomorrow and Monday for Summer vacation.  Snow is just a long ago memory...bring on the Summer Days!

Thank You

I learned a few things about Memorial Day today.  I learned that in 1971 it was declared a National holiday.  Wow, to me 1971 isn't that long ago and I guess I thought it had been declared that much earlier.  It was known as Decoration day on May 30th.  A few years after the Civil War, people decorated the graves of the soldiers who died in that war on that day.  I did know that...I don't want you to think I'm a complete ignoramus!  Then in 2000, the National Moment of Remembrance Act was signed.  At 3pm on Memorial Day we are to stop and have a minute of silence to remember those that gave their lives in all the wars.  That I did not know....so I'm glad I learned more about this special day and how to honor and say "Thank You" to those who sacrificed for us to keep our freedoms...freedoms that are not "free".  I hope all of you remembered.  We attended our town's annual parade.  The weather cooperated too.

Here's Jack talking to our good friend Greg.  Greg served in Vietnam...in the Mekong Delta...he's a hero to me!

Time to start the parade!

All kinds of units marched.  Even motorcyclists.  These were all Veterans.  Thanks guys and gals!

Little Cub Scouts who may one day grow up to join the military.  I pray that peace will be happening by then.  It seems I've had that prayer all my life.

This year the parade gave special honors to the Korean War Vets...well deserved!

The Civil War was represented.  Because of this war we have Memorial Day.

You never know who might show up at our parades.

Today it was Pres. Eisenhower....he was guest speaker.  This is an Ashland resident who does many historic figure reenactments...he and his wife own a B&B called The Jenny Wade house.  Jenny Wade was  killed in the Civil War. Anyway, he was impersonating this President and giving a speech at the cemetery.   After the parade we headed back home and prepared for family to stop by later in the afternoon for a rib cookout.  Guess who never took a single pic? Yep, that would be me.  Here is a shot from last night on our deck.

After everyone left today I went out to sit on the deck and enjoy a lovely evening.  Only a certain cat decided it was also a lovely evening to sleep....on the couch.

Well, I took a seat in a chair and decided I earned a special treat...homemade icecream.

Don't worry, I made sure to put walnuts on top of the homemade hot fudge sauce because I'm healthy like that...hehe.  I hope this day was good for you and I hope you stopped to remember, as we did, how lucky we are to live in this free country and for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can.  I stole this last photo from Pioneer Woman's  blog.  She posted it a few years ago after a contest for a military picture.  I think is sums up Memorial Day the best..and I always get teary eyed when I see it. Thanks to all who served and who serve our country today.  God Bless America!

How Do YOU Spell Ketchup?

I spell it "catch up"...as in blogging!  I've been running crazy the past week and weekend.  Work has been weirdly busy, especially after hours.  We've done so many appendectomies I think there can't possibly be any left in Ashland!  In fact, I worked until 10:30pm last night and we had to ship the third surgery of the evening because all our hospital beds were full up...weird!  But what wasn't weird was the weekend.  My niece, Amy and her hubby, Eric, and kiddos stopped to visit on Friday.  They had been zoo hopping all week!  They were coming from the Columbus zoo and were headed up to the Cleveland zoo before going back home to Chicago.  We had a nice dinner and the weather cooperated so we could have a fire in the pit and s'mores for the kids.

Phil is admiring his fire building skills.  Boy Scouts wasn't a waste of time!

The gang's all here.

The cousins hit it off.  Amy and Eric have 3 kids ages 1,2, & 3.  The baby is asleep but here is Parker, Lexi, Addy and Ella.  Addy and Ella became best cousin friends!

Time for yard games!

Some instruction was needed.  That's what older cousins are for!

Look Ma, no hands on the ball!

S'mores were the fun, gooey part of the evening and I'm not sure what Addy was doing with that silly look, but I'm sure it was something good!

Sun had set and we enjoyed the time by the fire just talking and watching the kids play. Toad catching was a big hit!  I was really happy they stopped to stay with us and we did a bit of "catch up" since the last time we were in Chicago all their kids were sick and we didn't get to see them.  They love visiting Ohio and enjoyed all the zoos too.  We loved having them! ( Sometimes the Pines is like a zoo!)

Hospitals

Last week was National Nurses Week.  Our hospital is celebrating it this week to coincide with:

Happy National Hospital Week.  When you think of a hospital, automatically Doctors and Nurses come into mind.  They are a vital part of the idea of  "Hospital".  I work with a great group of both...especially the nurses!  Nurses like my BFF Donna:

The Eye Queen..not because of her beautiful eyes, but because she's the ophthalmology clinician.

Nicki who's fairly new to our group...if you haven't worked here for 30yrs that makes you the newbie!

Here' a motley crew! Melissa in front (who's 8mo. preggo!) The tall drink of water is Margaret and next to her is Carla (a fellow surgical technologist...one of 3 who work here.)

Kim..surgical tech #2...then me who makes 3! (I should have taken a selfie I guess!)

This is Kris...she's not a nurse or a surgical tech. I'm really not sure what her official title is but I'll tell you this..she's there at 6am daily and runs here tail off transporting patients, getting the instrument sets up and ready for our cases.  She cleans, she stands tall (6ft!) on the operating table many days to wipe blood off the ceiling,  she helps set the rooms up for surgeries,  she helps with patient care where needed, and I could go on and on...I'm sure she can leap tall buildings with a single bound!  But hospitals are made up of many other players who must know their parts or else confusion and mistakes can happen.  From the moment a patient walks into our facility they meet and greet many who are instrumental in making their outcome positive and healthy.  I want to tell you about a few.

This is Donna, our housekeeper. But if you think all she does is clean, you would be mistaken big time.  She also comes in the OR and will pitch in to help move a patient even though she could say: "That's not my job".   But we're a team and we are very grateful for her skills and I'll tell you that she keeps our area shining and spotless. We really miss her when she's not here.  Thanks Donna!

This gal is Marita. She works in the cafeteria.."Sam's Café".  I've promised her all year I would feature her in my blog.  National Hospital Week was a good time to do that.  She always amazes me because she will remember people's names, department, what they normally eat for breakfast without even looking at their plate, and if they have a badge number to charge their food, she remembers that too!  I have a hard time remembering my pin numbers or passwords!  She has a smile and a great sense of humor.  Thanks for all you do and I know you know what's in my takeout container!

The other players are here discussing the menus I'm sure!  This week they had special freebies for staff.

Breakfast treats on Monday that we had no trouble grabbing.  Free desserts on Tuesday.  Yesterday they made a special picnic cookout for everyone that was also free! Steak and chicken and all kinds of greatness.  We couldn't survive our days without these special folks that you probably never see if you're in the hospital. I know hospital food can have a bad rap, but our little Samaritan Hospital has really good food made with love! The rest of this week had special events for staff. Things like raffles for free gifts and even another food extravaganza put on my the head of the departments.

I guess food is a really important thing around here! Thanks guys!  If you have to be in a hospital this week, stop and say hi and thanks to all who make it a place to get well. It can be scary and if it's huge it can be also impersonal...but I work in a small community hospital that gives great service,  good outcomes, and kind and caring attitudes to those we serve each day.  There should not be anyone who is more important than anyone else in a hospital...except for the patients who trust us to care for them and their families.  I hope we can always be worthy of that trust.

Happy Nurses Week and National Hospital Week!

Weekend Of Celebrating!

Happy Mother's Day!  Whether you're a Mom or you have a Mom, it's a day to celebrate.  I don't know what memories you have of your Mom but hopefully they are good, fun, instructive, and loving ones.  Besides celebrating Mother's Day this weekend we also celebrated another birthday.  My son Phil turned 35 on Saturday.  He went from this:

A mad 22 month old kiddo! To this:

A loving Dad of two little munchkins of his own! Happy Birthday Pip! You are one of the reasons I get to celebrate today! Thanks for being the best #3 son in the world! Now on to Mother's day.   I was blessed with 4 awesome sons who made me feel special today.  Craig called from Portland and we had a wonderful chat, then Jackie, Phil and Jordan had a nice late lunch with us.  I never even took one photo! What the What?  Yep, I just sat back and enjoyed the food, the laughter, and the truth about some crazy happenings in the past...sometimes I guess it's better to find things out 20yrs. later!  It was a great day and I must also shout out to my wonderful husband and thank him for the nice gift of music he gave me! Thanks Babe! 

Three out of the four...and of course:

Jordan! Love you guys! You made motherhood a blast...(I'm getting old so I'll just say I've forgotten and forgiven any past mishaps...I hope you'll do the same for me! Ha!)
I would be a bad daughter if I didn't give my fabulous Mom a big Thank you.  She's so amazing!

She was the hardest working Mom.  She raised 6 kids and worked full-time at the hospital.  She was a wonderful wife to my dear Dad and today she is still there for all her kids.  We enjoy visiting her and love it when she comes to visit us.  She sacrificed a lot so we could succeed and I'm sure that even if she was attacked by a bear, she would make sure we were all OK!

Love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!