Gingerbread pancakes

I will use these few moments at the end of a looonnnnnggg night shift to update you as I'm struggling against the post carbohydrate I NEED A NAP feeling of having eaten pancakes - the boiler man had brought pancake mix (a poor substitute for the real thing as the texture isn't the same) but used gingerbread eggnog to mix it up and it was yummy! Apparently the vanilla eggnog works well too. Will have to try that with the real recipe at home.


Cheaper than a lawyer

Speaking of home I must tell you that I've found a solution to the TV volume vs studying problems I've been encountering. The life partner (he of noise induced hearing loss) is a compulsive channel changer with the remote and some channels are louder than others so it causes marital discord. I've found a much cheaper solution than a divorce....wireless headphones. He looks like a pilot wearing them, can retrieve a cold beverage from the fridge or put the cats out without missing a moment of the game, says they're a bit warm on his ears when he falls asleep in the La-z-boy with them on and of course is only allowed / required to wear them when I'm home to monitor the phones for him. They actually required that he (and the son) read the directions to get them operational so you can see how pleased he was with them. They were on sale for half price and I earned Aeroplan points for them - what is not to like?

The shore captain was collecting newspapers out of the recycling and when I asked the reason (we don't require wood fire starter) he informed me that the secretary apparently has been left as parrot keeper for her son's birds as he's been sent to Ireland for some kind of IT job and was asking for the papers for the cages. When I phoned the plant for some reason this week and she answered I asked "is this the parrot whisperer?" but I found it a lot more amusing than she did. However, I did consider myself fortunate to only have been left with an extra cat from kids moving out - not parrots, horses or dogs as others have reported.

Sounds like it's going to be a great day for sleeping as there's a whopper of a storm predicted with heavy snowfall, heavy rainful and a mixture for some places in the forecast. As long as we can make it home in the a.m. it is nice to not have to think of driving in it after that.

The quote for the day is.....
Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.  -
Sarah Bernhardt

So on that note I shall summon up some life energy and go help out with the morning work of awakening, prodding, measuring and scrubbing unsuspecting souls. Don't bother to do that with me unless you want to lose a limb when I get to be old!

And speaking of getting old...this piece sent to me from a friend:
Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old. This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!!
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Change the way you think.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. Release your children when they become adults, its their life now
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay cheque.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
16. Take a deep breath It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Just because you believe you are right, doesn't mean you are. Keep an open mind.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does
33. Believe in miracles.
34. Your job is to love your children, not choose who they should love.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come... (Can’t wait to find out what! )
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield..
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

It's decided then -- white and black

When I gave up the afternoon of a beautiful, mild Tuesday off to meet with the NSNU provincial president about the state of the union we were informed that.....the poll regarding which color uniforms nurses will wear was decided. To review the choices were... white top and bottom, red, teal, brown, grey and white top with black bottoms. Apparently white top with black pants won a resounding majority. So now we can get over ourselves. I could give a rat's arse what I wear to work as long as I get paid. There is however a problem with RNs wearing Lulu Lemon, t shirts, pajamas, hoodies etc to work so.... the intent is to give nurses back some identity and a bonus would be some respect. The request for proposals is out to uniform companies, there will be several styles to choose from and the employer is funding $100 to start. It's sounding as if the winter will see us standardized.

Speaking of winter (not that I'd like to think about it let alone speak of it) I heard a piece on CBC radio today as I was making my way home from my physio appointment. And actually I was discharged from my physio program as my back problem is completely resolved. I am the poster nurse for positive improvement from the injections it seems. I've been kicked out of better places than that. But I digress. The piece was regarding something called the Long John Index . Here's the link http://longjohnindex.ca/  and you really must check out the bar on the top which outlines how the LJI works. Made me think of our western daughter as I read the index.

Have had a couple of morning phone calls the past few weeks as she heads off early in the a.m. for her day and I'm just contemplating mine (at a more socially acceptable - to me - hour) so we can get caught up on the news. It's sounding like the index is already in use in Alberta.

Speaking of offspring I was forwarded a link from a proud mother. Her son has always been very bright and pushed the envelope (in many ways from athletics, music to academics) and the last I'd heard of the guy from Sydney Mines he was a PhD in Kinesiology and doing something with mice muscles. http://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/together/ It appears he's involved in research to regrow limbs - only starfish could do that until now eh? Nova Scotians are creative!

Today I shopped at the dollar store and Frenchy's and managed to pack Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes for shipment. I also put together some baby clothes/Snugli/blankets for a schoolmate of the daughter's who has relocated to Dominican Republic. Found a good home for all those 'can't leave them here, they're brand new' baby things from Frenchy's for her parents to take next week. 

The other evening the cell phone rang and the shore captain had an extensive conversation with someone which somehow didn't sound like the usual fish/crustacean chats he has. When I inquired as to who it was on the phone, he answers "Rachel who thinks I can answer all her questions". Apparently a couple (sound like left over hippies to me - but of course that's not a bad thing - with a menagerie of goats, dogs, cats, hens and more) of indeterminate age, she has a British accent, have moved to the community where the shore captain's fish plant is. They were directed to him by the lady they bought their place from to purchase fresh fish and so she had been calling daily (as unaware of the comings and goings of the fleet) about buying fish. The most recent call had begun with "well you seem really friendly, we don't know many people here and I thought you could help as we need a rooster killed". As the shore captain pointed out "well roosters do have a habit of being territorial" but it seems that the rooster had attacked the dogs, Rachel and some of the other critters so a contract was out on him. The life partner referred Rachel to a neighbourhood teenager who is a hunter and commented to me afterwards "it's a bit of stretch from being sociable to being a rooster murderer!"

At work on a recent shift I was chatting with one of our new graduates who commented on my pin on watch. I told her it was my nursing school graduation present from the (then boyfriend now husband) in 1976 and she said "that was before I was born". I could handle that part but when I wound the watch and she said "what are you doing?" I was gobsmacked and said "that's how it runs, you wind it up" but she was more amazed herself saying "how does it work without a battery?" And to think they'll be looking after us in the nursing home. Sigh.  

No matter what kind of day you're having remember it's got to be better than the poor guy holding up traffic on the Bi-Hi outside the city on the traffic report one afternoon last week. It seems his car was rear ended and in the ensuing commotion he locked himself out of his damaged vehicle. Each traffic report expanded on the situation as in "there are two policemen on site attempting to help him break into his car with a coat hanger" etc. FINALLY the poor soul was released from his 15 minutes of fame as the traffic was clear in that area on the final report. CBC usually provides a more documentary approach to information such as the piece I heard on Nance Ackerman and her cousin who are doing photo tours which 'give back' to developing nations. http://www.cousinsphototours.com/

luggage boxes are fun

Atlantic - looking for deer mission

view from the veranda

My photography is not so exotic I'm afraid it runs more to fat cats and shore sunsets at this point in my retirement planning. 

In closing I will advise that a really good read is the latest novel by Guy Vanderhauge who is a Saskatchewan writer - this one is called A Good Man. I downloaded it to my e-reader and finished it when I got home from vacation. It was worth spazzing about not studying but reading a novel instead. Enough ramblings.