Fikas and more

Well a mid week update calls for the news of the day. Work wise pandemic pandemonium reigns which only promises to worsen. The pandemonium that is, as I will be the only member of a team of four covering the entire health district for both occupational health and infection control. Now considering the current state of global infectious diseases this could be an interesting week coming up.

To give you an example of how out of control I am, I’ll share a story. Yesterday as I was making my way to the staff lounge to buy a mid morning muffin I passed the classroom which was full of racks of brightly colored clothes. Since this is where uniform sales are often held I barreled in to window shop but…something just didn’t look right so I backed up to read the sign on the door more carefully and found it actually read ‘Easy Living Comfort Clothing’ so I exited quickly. The Recreation Assistant from the attached nursing home was just arriving with one of the residents in a wheelchair to shop and she said “what’s the matter – you’re not ready for open back wear yet?” My nerves.

One of our staff who is presently off work dropped into my office while waiting to have his eyes checked and was asking where I lived as he thought he’d seen me walking the dog when he was driving by with a friend. I corrected the statement to ‘the dog walking me’ and yes, yes that was me. He was chuckling as he said I had my hood pulled up and was marching purposefully along and when he named me, his colleague said “you know her? she looks really serious” He assured his buddy this couldn’t be further from the truth and was still slapping his knee when he told me. I explained that I did look pretty intense due to the work situation and the dog walking was life preserving therapy (someone else’s).

To cheer me up the Swedish daughter sent along this link which is funnier to cat lovers than haters for sure:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/toolbar/#url=http%2525253A//www.catswhothrowupgrass.com/kill.php

She also sent word of her clinical which she is enjoying and has learned that coffee breaks are fikas and important to nurses in Sweden. She’s picking up some Swedish and enjoying herself so all is good.

Last evening I made it to scrapbooking (determined to NOT miss it again) for the first time for months with my scrapping friend and I was putting a page together with an outline of a sun (think Japanese flag and you get the picture)I wrote a title on the yellow sun of Land of the Midnight Sun and Fun. Now I must REALLY like this phrase because when I flipped back about five or six pages I noticed I had this exact title on another page. This required ripping off the sun and replacing it with a non titled one as I don’t want public record of my failing brain. But I consoled myself with the thought that it has been ages since I scrapbooked and there has been a lot going on.

Today when I was visiting the nursing unit, the ward clerk and I were having a discussion about some notes left and that there was perhaps some confusion and I told her that I was in a permanent state of confusion. One of the extremely pleasantly confused patients said “me too, and today’s been just awful” I very sincerely told her that I couldn’t agree more.

But enough whining - the following was a cheerful note in my email inbox and it even came with a discount offer:

Grand Princess
September 5 - 19, 2009
14 nights Europe
London to Rome

Grand Princess
September 19 - October 1, 2009
12 nights Greek Isles & Mediterranean
Rome to Venice

Sun Princess
October 17 - November 14, 2009
28 nights Australia
Roundtrip Sydney

Coral Princess
December 7 - 22, 2009
15 nights Panama Canal
Los Angeles, CA to Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Sun Princess
December 10 - 17, 2009
7 night Tasmania
Roundtrip Sydney

Sun Princess
December 17 - 29, 2009
12 night New Caledonia
Roundtrip Sydney

Coral Princess
December 22, 2009 - January 6, 2010
15 night Panama Canal
Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Los Angeles, CA

Star Princess
January 5 - 17, 2010
12 night Cape Horn
Valpariso to Buenos Aires

Coral Princess
January 6 - 21, 2010
15 night Panama Canal
Los Angeles, CA to Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Sun Princess
January 11 - 23, 2010
12 night New Caledonia
Roundtrip Sydney

However, the life partner is determined to go to Cuba next winter and that is a plan that is hard to argue with.

Well, I must head off to start my library book as I’ve received Where the White Horses Gallop by Beatrice MacNeil which comes highly recommended and looks like a great read. When I picked it up at the library I was scanning the reading list for the book club which I used to attend (seems like another life time ago) and there wasn’t one of the list I’d turn down. I was gazing sorrowfully out the window at the pouring rain while on a call today and thinking ‘if I wasn’t here I’d be home on the sofa with a blanket, a cup of tea and that book calling my name’.