Tag Archives: fun

0

Do you wanna buy a duck?

|

Summer camps are finally over and I’m exhausted and need to consider my age before I attempt to do this much next year. It ended with my favorite in Maine. Every year when my plane lands in Bangor I feel like I’m back home. I just love it up there.

I brought about one hundred ducks with me to camp. I asked Melody to loan me a pillow so I would have room in my suitcase for all of them. This year we gave medicine to campers in the cafeteria. Normally they come to the nurses cabin but due to circumstances beyond our control I did not feel this was a safe option. Anyway at breakfast the first day I brought them with me. Icy and Swiftie asked for one. I said not yet but if you two want to set them on up on the table for me that would be great. That had a lot of fun arranging them for me.

All the kids picked one out and eventually Bambi asked if he could have one. He’s one of the guy counselors who has been there for three years. He’s the one whom all the kids love and pick on non stop. So needless to say most of the counselors have one too. This idea came from Dr. Pickles who brought them to JMU camp and they were a huge hit.

Bambi

At some point during the week Bambi realized how easy it is to pick on me and get me all worked up. I’m pretty sure I told him he was exactly like my husband. He came over when kids were not around and told me that I called him the hard R word. I said absolutely not, my girls banned me from using that word a long time ago. Nurse Pooh (from Texas camp this summer who I recruited to do this one with me) joins in and they attempt to punk me. I said wrong answer I called you gay. That shut him up because he has been dating Moose (the awesome girl who has ran camp the past three years) for probably that long. I said and by the way in my generation gay means stupid. For crying out loud don’t mess with Nurse Red. He teased and tormented me until I threatened to take his duck back.

The night before the talent show Swiftie asked if she could use the rest of the ducks for the talent show. I said yes of course. She is the sweetest and most kind hearted kid I have ever met. She even wrote me a warm and fuzzy and said she enjoyed watching me make friendship bracelets. So the talent show comes and she brings Bambi, Yoshi and Icy up on stage with her. I can’t really hear what they are saying but the next thing I know Swiftie and Icy are throwing ducks at Bambi and Yoshi. Yoshi is another incredible male counselor. He is currently working on his masters in something that is so foreign to me (obviously not medical) that I couldn’t even say what it was. He is planning to get his PhD. He is actually part of a different Kesem but has come to Maine for three years to help fill guy counselor spots. He is wearing his Yoshi costume which is so cute. Anyway the next thing I know everyone is throwing ducks around. The audience is throwing them at the four of them and they are throwing them back. It was controlled chaos and since no one was hurt and nothing was broken it didn’t happen.

Yoshi in his Yoshi costume which the kids love!!

Paper plate awards are one of my favorite part of camp. Everyone gets one and the ones for the kids are usually spot on. As usual so was mine.

I cracked up laughing and will remember it forever.

Some of the camps do this thing that goes

Do you want to buy a duck?

A what?

A duck.

Does it quack?

Yes.

This gets repeated down the line like telephone. I can’t remember exactly how it ends but the kids love it. I find it to be totally obnoxious but if they enjoy it, then I willingly participate.

I’m glad the summer is over. It was a hard one for me but out of difficulty growth occurs. I’m not sure I needed this but maybe in the future it will become clear.

Mole Moral ~ When kindness shows up, great things happen.

0

Who Says You Can’t Have Fun at Work

|

In just two short days it will be FIVE years since I started in endoscopy. Say what? I vividly remember thinking what in Sam Hill are they going to talk about for a week in RNO (RN Orientation). I’m so happy this was pre Covid and all the classes were in person. Now days you sit at home behind your computer and it’s done via zoom. Anyway the entire week was like a review of everything I had learned over the past thirty years of my nursing career. I found it very interesting and learned a lot. After that week, I started the actual job.

The first year was total hell. For starters I left the floor I had worked on for eighteen years. I knew everyone, I could do the job blindfolded, and I had the most seniority. I found myself in a foreign country not knowing anyone or the language. I came home every night mentally spent because I had to think about what I was doing every second I was there. Then Covid hit and I felt called to go help in ICU and so I did. It was better for my mental health to know I was doing that every day then be sent to other areas of the hospital to help or screen people as they came in. This also greatly improved my self confidence.

As I reflect over the past five years, all of my original co-workers have left except for Chris who is now semi-retired and works on Mondays only. Somehow I now have the most endoscopy experience which is both comical and scary. Because I only work part time, I am not at work enough to fill the role of the highest seniority. Luckily Sarah and Kelly fulfill this role perfectly and I often go to them when I have no idea how to fix something or do some random rarely done procedure. They are both amazing and if they leave to further pursue their careers I will be screwed.

The current group of girls I have worked with for over a year now are so much fun. It’s like working every day with my own daughters. Halloween the past two years have been a lot of fun in endo. I was off last year when they decided to dress up like the doctors as a surprise. They sent me photos and it was amazing.

This next photo cracks me up every time I look at it. No, it is not a real patient on the stretcher. I think it might have been Sarah pretending. But anyway Clare has Dr. Heavey down perfectly and Dr. Heavey has us down perfectly. Although we don’t have ear buds in when working in the room but if it is a boring colon we may be messing around on our phone. Dr. Heavey never wears scrubs so seeing him in our scrubs is a hoot.

This year Dr. Aymerich decided we should dress up as Pirates for Pirate Booty since we deal with butts all day. Everyone was sure that he would get up late and not participate but he did as well as everyone. We had quite a good time. For the first time ever Dr. Aymerich was actually hot and had the endo room set at 65 instead of 75. He needs to wear his costume every day. Here was our set up outside the room. The treasure chest had pirates booty snacks inside it. Now that has always been a hot commodity in the snack bags for Big Stuf camp. It also worked perfectly with our theme.

Because of the day and how our cases fell we all couldn’t be in the same picture at once. Also the weight loss doctor decided to add an out patient case to our schedule on his non block time so we made him participate as well. Of course I snuck and took his picture while he was busy scoping so he looks super serious.

We are still waiting to hear if we won the Halloween costume contest. I mean I know we should have. However even if we didn’t, we are the most fun unit at St. Clare. We certainly had a great day and I am not going to lie when I came to get the patients for their procedures the looks on their faces when they saw me was priceless. When I sent these to our family group chat my husband immediately responded Big Red (that’s me) looks like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite.

I took one look at this and absolutely could not stop laughing. My husband can be quite funny.

Mole Moral ~ If you don’t have fun at your job, perhaps it’s time to find a new one. Hopefully these girls will stick around until I retire because it will be the best time ever.

0

Disney Day

|

This week is spirit week at work. This reminded me of when my girls were in grade school. Today was Disney day and the endo girls informed me I was to represent endo. Well Disney is one of my favorite places so I took the challenge and ran with it.

I wore my favorite Disney running shirt from the Disneyland half marathon. Of course it is orange and short sleeves and a favorite. I dug out my monsters inc scrub cap I made during the first few months of covid and my Mickey ears from when Emily and I went three years ago. I was proud of how I looked until Sarah told me I looked like a psycho. Well everyone knows I’m psycho but I try to not look the part so I skipped having my picture taken. I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to how insane I actually looked.

I ended up being assigned to washing all the scopes all day which meant no one would see my ears. They are pretty tight on my head so I avoided a headache. Amanda told me since it’s Disney day I should listen to Disney music so I dialed up Disney sing along songs and had a great time in the scope room. Not only was I singing but dancing as well so I’m sure I looked like a complete psycho but I had a wonderful day.

It dawned on me that when I was young my dad took my sister and I to quite a few Disney movies. Cinderella, The Apple Dumpling gang, Pete’s Dragon and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang all came to mind. This is most likely what led to my love of Disney movies.

I was 17 the first time I went to Disney World. My parents divorced when I was five but remained good friends. My mom called my dad to tell him of her plans and he said he always wanted to go to Disney so how about if he comes with us and pays for it. My favorite memory was conning my mother into riding space mountain. She nearly had a heart attack and never forgave us for talking her into it. The three of us loved it and rode it at least two more times. Epcot was the only other park back then and we were not that impressed. Not enough rides and walking around the world showcase was beyond boring. I know my mom liked that part but us three six flag lovers wanted the rides. I do remember after the trip was over I understood why my parents were friends but not married to each other.

Today was a good day, full of wonderful memories of my childhood and my kids childhoods as well. Before I started endo anytime I got up early to work at seven I would sing “Prince Ali, Ababwa strong as ten regular men check it and see.” I had no idea I even did this until Emily pointed it out. I can’t sing at all so it’s a good thing I stopped this since I’m up for work three to four times a week.

Mole Moral ~ If you don’t have fun at work, perhaps you are not in the right place.

0

We’re all connected

|

Last night was our fourth subdivision block party. Every Saturday from 6:30-7:30 pm one of the original homeowners who is also a DJ plays music. He has super powerful speakers as it can be heard all over our street. I had received an email stating the news would be coming as well. I persuaded Allyson to come out with me for a little bit. After she left, one of the neighbor girls hung up a sign that said, “Fur suiters welcome here”. I read it like five times to make sure I read it right. So I went home and told Allyson what the sign said and she should put Prince on and come surprise the kids. I assured her no one would know it was her. She wasn’t so sure at first but when I came back with the ice cream she was almost ready to come out. If you are wondering what a fur suit is, you can read about her fur suit creations here.

So Allyson arrived

27198502-B89F-4005-9B6F-109207E51194

and at first the kids weren’t too sure about this. Allyson has an original character named Prince and commissioned a girl to make the actual head. The fangs make him look scary but indeed he is just a kangaroo with a really long tail. The girl that posted the sign was so excited she wrote Prince a note asking if they could be friends. Of course Prince nodded yes. Then she got her suit on as well and they had a great time interacting and playing with the kids.

86FA09D2-4527-40DB-B6E3-C8A145C7440E

Also way over a year ago at church a guy came up to me and informed me he was my neighbor. He lives in the very first house. He is not the original occupant (that man I believe is in jail) but bought the house to stay at when the Rams played. His wife passed away a few years back from cancer. I chat with him at church and wave when I see him on the road. A few months ago he introduced me to his friend at church and then I noticed that a car was at his house a lot. (Yes, you all know I am a stalker with mad door way assessment skills.) Yesterday before the party he told me that she was his girlfriend. I was so happy for him! It made my heart skip a beat. Last night I was chatting with the two of them and discovered their first date was at The Local House. This is where Allyson is a bus girl! I must be getting old or soft or something because it made my whole evening. This morning when I ran by his house, this was in the front yard.

7582C62E-07DD-4773-BDE8-F036D5D6A135

What a nice surprise for him! He is so nice and has been so nice to me that I am glad someone brightened his day!

I was so proud of Allyson last night that of course I told all the adults who it was. Our neighbor said she should hire herself out for kids birthday parties, she could make a fortune. Back in middle school she performed for an assembly and I was told she was a huge hit!

Mole Moral ~ In a world where everyone seems isolated we really are all connected in one way or another!

 

0

Not everyone knows my name

|

Sometime within the last month the girls at work were giving me the business about my obsession with Pokémon Go. I was talking about the raid bus and one of the second year Ob/Gyn residents joined in the conversation. Let’s flash forward to yesterday my first day back from camp.

The same resident is at the desk and he was talking about how he was at Queeny Park on Saturday with his kids when a bus pulled up into the parking lot. He thought that was really random given the time of the day until he saw me get off the bus. Then he knew it was the Pokémon bus I was talking about. I was cracking up. He left and I went on to give out some pain medicine.

A few minutes later I hear Amy answer the phone and she says just call her Pokémon girl, everyone will know who you mean. Apparently he didn’t know my name. I was cracking up and this made a great day even better!!

 

Mole moral ~ It’s reassuring to know that I’m not the only one terrible with names and I always enjoy a good nickname.

0

Cruise Notes Episode 1

|

CruiseKayla and I had a really good time on our cruise. I decided rather than trying to jam the entire week into a single blog, I would do short little ones. I decided I would start with the professional picture sitting. This was on Tuesday night after dinner. The cruise had all of these areas set up to have pictures done. As we were walking by the all white one, the guy asked us if we wanted pictures done. I said sure why not and then remembered we have not had family pictures done since Allyson was 18 months old. First thing he told me was to relax. OMG I quickly realized I was as tense as if he was personally touching me or hugging me. So I tried to relax a bit and he continued to work with me.

The best part was this picture.

Cruise 1

He asked me if I could sit on the floor. I wanted to say dude I ran a marathon less than two months ago but I said sure. So we sit and instantly become so stiff it isn’t even funny. He then tells me to stick my chin out more. Well he mimics what I was doing and I die laughing. I mean it was insane but I did finally relax. Then another gal walks by and bumps his butt on accident. He asked her why she was pinching his butt. We were all dying. It was so much fun.

The next day Kayla and I picked out the ones we liked and actually he was behind the cash register. He instantly remembered me and gave me the stiff neck look from the day before. I told him the photos were awesome and he agreed especially this oneCruise 2

and he talked me into ordering a 16×20 canvas which was ready the next day. It turned out really nice and now I just have to have it framed. I certainly spent more money on pictures than I did anything else but I am glad I did.

 

Mole Moral ~ It’s much cheaper to have ugly children! Ha