Tag Archives: schleprock

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My Major Award

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A little over two weeks ago I received a daisy nomination from my co-worker Ally for being a resource in endo and the care I have given to patients in the past by following up with them on the floor after procedures. That same day Kelly (she volunteers at Kesem Wash U with me as Nurse Needles) says to me, well I guess you didn’t get the Mission in Motion award. I looked at her very confused and she said I nominated you months ago for your involvement with Camp Kesem and I guess it’s all over with. Three days later Ally texted me to tell me I had won the award. I said oh please go to tell Kelly as I was off and I knew Kelly was working. Later on that afternoon Ally texted me to say Jodi wanted to know if I was working Monday so I said I better make sure my hair is in place for photos.

Monday came and nothing happened so I thought well I will make sure my hair looks good for Tuesday. On Tuesday the Chief Nursing Officer and two others showed up with a gorgeous Poinsettia and read to me what Kelly had said and that I had won this award. This is one of the highest honors a nurse can receive which honors employees who exemplify these values through their exceptional service and dedication to patients and their families both at work and in the community. Sadly, I do not have a copy of what she had written and of course it was months ago so she doesn’t exactly remember. However, it had to do with all the camps that I volunteer at and how much the kids love me. So the CNO then says to me, “you have your award right.” I was like no, so the charge nurse runs over to the managers office who it out sick and it is not there. I crack up laughing and say of course this always happens to me. I shared with them the story of it raining two inches the night before I was to visit Death Valley and the flood washed out roads and I didn’t get to see everything I had planned on seeing. So they assured me they would find it and give it to me.

At the end of the shift Sarah was checking her email and received a weird email so I said let me see if I received one too. Imagine my horror when I discovered the previous Friday was the brick ceremony and I received a brick with my name on it and was not there for it. I walked downstairs and found the brick and took photos. I then came back upstairs and was an emotional wreck. I also learned there was a luncheon that I also missed out on. The next day at work I emailed the CNO and the president of the hospital to let them know how upset I was that I missed that and that no one had told me about this. I heard back from the CNO a couple days later and then the president of the hospital called me personally a week later. When I looked at my caller ID and it said his name, my first thought OMG I’m in trouble. Then I said calm down and answered the phone. He was extremely apologetic and told me my award was sitting on the CNO’s desk. He offered to mail it to me but I said I am working tomorrow I can stop by and pick it up. He said that was fine and I said I would have to work up the nerve because administration is scary.

I told my co-workers all I wanted was a picture of me holding the brick. Clare and I had went down the next morning and discovered the bricks are not cemented in so taking it out would be very easy. I decided we should do this on a Monday when everyone is working including Kelly as I wanted her to share this joy with me.

Ally made a poster on Friday and on Monday she said she was hanging it up in the break room so it wouldn’t get messed up. I was like no one knows who Nurse Red is and she said “that’s ok, we will tell them.” I woke up at 4am as I was very excited and around 11:30 Kelly who was working in the room with me asked if it was ok for if she stepped out for five minutes to take care of something. I said sure but asked her what she was up to. She replied nothing and I said you are acting suspicious. As I was walking past the break room I noticed it smelled wonderful and thought anesthesia must have bought us food. Both rooms finished with morning cases at the same time so I said great let’s go do the brick. When they told me no let’s go to the break room first I became very suspicious. The food was for me and I had a cake and everything. The sneaky snakes I work with got together with the girls that get our patients ready and send home and planned a pot luck. Kelly had ordered pretzels which is why she needed to step out.

Dr. Cockerell joined us for lunch and went down to the bricks. The garden area where the bricks are located is just outside the cafeteria. So Ally is holding the sign she made and as we walked through the cafeteria and is yelling congratulations to our Mission in Motion winner. I like a little attention but this was over the top. I turned bright red but did indeed survive. We went outside and Dr. Cockerell took the brick out and handed it to me. It was so much fun.

No fear of destruction of property. And my favorite CRNA Matt is photo bombing us!
An awesome moment
Matt took the photo for us. I was so excited he could join us!
Ally who made the poster!
Matt, Clare and I
Me returning the brick as if nothing ever happened.

Somehow Nurse Needles did not see us leave so I demanded a photo with her because without her this would have never happened. As we walked back through the cafeteria rest assured Ally was still yelling congratulations to our award winner. I ignored the impulse to hide in the corner.

Nurse Needles and Nurse Red

I have the most amazing co-workers! They knew how devastated that I was for missing the actual award ceremony and created something one thousand times better! I actually love Camp Kesem and all of the kids. I do not do what I do for awards or recognition. I actually do this for the kids. If they do not have a nurse, camp cannot happen. It is also a great excuse to act as a kid as I participate in song circles, scream sing and do the hand motions. It is a nice throw back to when my kids were young and my church put on Kid Stuf. Yes, I would go without them because I enjoyed it so much. I had a really rough time after camp was over this year because someone I thought was a friend had lied to me about everything. I fully believe God inspired Nurse Needles to nominate me to remind me of why I do these camps in the first place.

Mole Moral ~ Good things come to those who wait.

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Nurse Red meets Schleprock

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Ten years ago Brian and I were celebrating our twenty-fifth anniversary and every crazy thing that could happen did. I’ll put the link to that blog at the end if anyone is interested in reading it. He gave me the nickname Schleprock which is a character on the Pebbles and BamBam show which was a spin off of the Flintstones. Schleprock always had a black cloud over his head and things always went wrong for him.

So today I left for Camp Kesem James Madison University in Virginia. I am pretty excited for this camp as it is smaller with almost fifty kids and I’ve never been to Virginia. The college is about a three hour drive from DC. I scheduled myself to fly into Reagan airport, take their metro link to the Mega Bus station and take the bus to campus and walk a half a mile to the hotel that is located on the edge of campus. I had a three hour lay over between the flight and the bus just in case I got on the metro going the wrong direction.

So I left the house at 3:30 this morning as my flight was scheduled to leave at 5:40. Just as I sat down on the bus to take me from the parking lot to the airport I received a text from Southwest saying my flight had been cancelled and they were working on rebooking. If I didn’t absolutely love Kesem and every single person I had ever met to date I would have said cancel and refund my money. However about thirty minutes later I was put on a direct flight with an hour to get to bus station that was ten minute by train. Oh and the flight didn’t leave until 8:40. So at 6:30 I decided I don’t care if I get sick and die, I’m laying on the floor and sleeping. I slept for about an hour.

No sooner than everyone boarded when the captain came on saying there was something wrong with the electrical system for the fueling cars and we needed fuel so we would be delayed. My first thought, “ what is it with me and fuel.” It took an hour to finally get fuel and take off so I knew there would be no way I would make it to the bus. I decided I would rent a car and drive the three hours to the hotel.

I land and there are no cars available at the airport. So I get on Apple Maps to see if I can take the metro over to Dulles airport to rent a car there. I go through Priceline and no cars are available. I’m now on the verge of tears but decide to change pick up time to 3pm. Yes Avis has cars available. I don’t even really pay attention to the price. I book the thing and then attempt public transportation. I do not see the metro stop anywhere on the outside of baggage claim. I realize I’m in terminal 2 so when I look to see how to get to terminal 1 the metro connection is over there. I walk forever but finally reach it. I know I look as confused as all get out because a nice worker asked me where I was going. Then told me I don’t even need a ticket I can use a tap to pay credit card. I finally get up to the train deck. The train comes and I get on it and think I really hope this is going in the right direction. Yes it was, finally a win.

It is now time to change from the blue line to silver. Just as I get on the escalator it stops moving. Half way down over the loud speaker I hear “There is an emergency in the train station. Please evacuate the station immediately.” I say out loud is this for real? Is this really happening? I look around and no one seems to care so I think F it and hop on the silver line. I made it to Dulles no problem and head to the rental car place via the shuttle.

As I am standing in line I look at my email and find this.

When my flight got cancelled I figured it was because the orginal plane was going to crash or something. I see this and I’m like it all makes sense now and the rest of the day will be uneventful. Little did I know what was heading my way.

After I checked into the hotel I walked around campus until Goose called and asked if I would mind dropping rental car off tonight and not deal with it in the morning. When she told me I didn’t need to be picked up until nine tomorrow morning I said “I love you people!” I was fine with dropping it off now. I told them I would have to stop and fill the car up. I just so happened to see a Buc-ee’s on the way and stopped there to also get dill pickle potato sticks. I’m not sure what happened but somehow I had to drive six miles to turn around on the highway. This would make me twenty minutes late which really upset me. Goose and Waves didn’t seem to mind but once again I found myself on the verge of tears. I see a rainbow to my left and I think this is all over.

The airport is tiny and closed but luckily they had a key return box and I dropped the key in it. I chat with the two of them back to my hotel. I instantly like them and know it’s going to be a great week. As I get on the elevator I realize I don’t have my phone. I go to my room and dump all my stuff out and no phone. I don’t know if I left it in the rental or Goose’s car. I am in full panic mode as I don’t know anyone’s number. I go to the front desk crying and the girl dials Emily’s number for me. I have her look to see if she can find Kesem’s hotline number and I know they could locate Goose for me. Emily finds the number and gives it to me. I ask the girl if there is a phone in my room. I go back upstairs to use it but do not have my room key. I go back downstairs she gives me a new key. I come back up and the phone won’t dial out. So I go back downstairs and she calls the Kesem number. No option for hotline so I remember I still have the emails from the girls so I call Emily back to hack into my email. Because we share locations she tells me the phone is in the girls car and they are running errands. I’m just glad it’s not in the rental.

So she goes to sign into my email which has two factor authentication. Luckily her phone number is a choice so she gets in and finds Waves number. I call and tell what happened. They are so sweet they swing back by hotel and give me my phone. So I tell Goose I am convinced Satan has been blocking me all day because something magical is going to happen. Will I see the hand of God? Maybe or maybe not. But if you have read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom you will know what I mean when I say I could meet one of my five or even better be one of theirs.

I know in my heart this will be an amazing week. I’ve said it a million times there is just something about these college kids that give so much of their time to Kesem and the kids. It’s such an honor to be a part of it.

Mole Moral ~ The best way to survive being a Schleprock is knowing how to navigate crazy situations.

https://lifewithmoles.net/2015/10/24/my-new-nickname/

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I survived week one!

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Some random thoughts from my first week.
1. Schleprock is alive and well
A. I stepped on the water pedal not once but twice (same day) and squirted water all over the floor.
B. I didn’t connect the water tightly and therefore water squirted all over the doctor. He said hey I’m getting wet and was very nice.
C. I dropped a 45K piece of equipment on the floor on day three.
D. Almost hit same doctor in the head with a wire.
2. I realized I was on autopilot with my old job and didn’t even think about what I was doing. So being 100 percent focused for forty hours is exhausting.
3. The drive does not involve 270 which is fantastic.
4. Working full time is for the birds.
5. I’m way too hard on myself.
6. I love all the people I work with. They are happy and fun.
7. Everyone over the age of fifty who does not have a screening colonoscopy is playing with fire.
8. Learning something completely new is intimidating (see number 5) but also rewarding.
9. You can teach this old dog new tricks.
10. Looking forward to week two  What disaster can Schleprock avert?

 

Mole Moral ~ Change is scary but better than misery!

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My new nickname

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imageBrian and I have a nickname for almost everyone we know. The more we like someone, the more nicknames we have. A few of mine are ma sqaw, not the mama (from a show called The Dinosaurs that was on when Emily was little), crabby for thirty years, Rach etc. About the time we hit Death Valley Brian started calling me Schleprock. After a couple of days I asked him what that was about. He loved The Flinstones when he was little so he told me that Schleprock was a character on the show that always had bad luck. He said Fred and Barney would tell him to go away.
I was the one who planned the vacation so I earned the nickname.

Here is a recap of our disaster vacation.
1. We went to pick up the rental car and the lady gave us two choices so we picked the bigger one. When we checkout a different lady says it’s a bigger size and we owe more money. I said that’s not happening that lady told us we could have that one. So I had to track her down in the parking lot and she attempts to blame me. I confronted her and she signed the paper so it was the same price.
2. At the end of the race my phone jams up and I did not get a picture with the bear.
3. Brian had heard about the California mudslides while I was running but thought surely it won’t affect us. Of course it did and that drive turned into nine hours.
4. Our first night we spent at sequoia it rained overnight. This caused the restaurant help to be severely understaffed from call ins. Therefore, breakfast took over an hour.
5. Some of the stuff we wanted to see was unavailable due to the rain.
6. On the way to Death Valley I look to see how much that park costs to get into and find out they had rain the night before. A bunch of people got stuck at Scotty’s castle and half of what we wanted to do was not available.
7. The place I wanted to see the most was badwater and it had already been closed from the rain the week before.
8. Death Valley had spotty cell service and our dog got lost. It’s our cell numbers on the dogs tags.
9. We arrive in the Grand Canyon to sleet and find out they usually have snow by Halloween.
10. We arrive at the airport three hours early and still almost miss the plane.

Although all this makes it seem like we had a horrible time, it really was the best vacation ever. Here are some positives
1. The plane didn’t crash.
2. It was fun to watch Brian be amazed by the trees, wildlife, and nature. He was in guy heaven.
3. I found an amazing ring made by Navajo’s.
4. I ran my race faster than I thought I would.
5. Many hours of quality time due to no wifi and cell service.
6. My dog was found and safe.

Brian bought himself some property so I told him I’m picking the anniversary trip. I think he was pleasantly surprised how man like it was. He loved the Grand Canyon tour and said it was more than worth the money. That says a lot more than I could ever articulate.

Mole moral~ When crazy things happen on vacation come up with a funny nickname and have fun with it. As we were booking down the hall to get on the plane I put my hands over my head and yelled I am Shleprock.