END OF THE YEAR THOUGHTS

Well, thanks to a few suggestions. I know the blogs I have tried to access have been loaded with graphics.

I have also tried to clean up the computer. I cleaned the disc and emptied the recycle bin. I may do a defrag next. I want to delete the temporary files, but one thing I do not want to do is delete the files that contain my cookies to the sites I use. That is such a hastle.

Emily has gone to Cleveland....She left about two hours ago and should be getting there soon. I am glad she left before dark. With tonight being New Years Eve I a glad she will be at her Friends home before the nuts start coming out. The will have a party and everyone brings a dish. She got some dip mixes and was going to add low cal, fat free sour cream. I went to the store and say a plate of veggies so I bought them for her. It will go well with her selection of healthier choices. She thought maybe she could get a hair cut while waiting for her friends to come home from work.

This last year was really one for the record books. With all the closings, unemployment, stock market fiascoes and decreases in my retirement funds....I am lucky in health care, I can decrease my days and ease into retirement. I can also have to ability to purchase health insurance thru my employer. When you are in your sixties one never knows when you will need the health insurance. To quote Queen Elizabeth this certainly was a Annus Horribilus. Note to self, the spell checker doesn't recognize Latin so I hope I spelled it correctly.

On my list of hopes for next year. To eat healthier, get some exercise and lose some weight. We will all be working on that, or so that is the plan. To cut down my hours at work. To clean out two closets and go thru the boxes worth of twenty years of things that we could not do without but do not remember what is the boxes. To go through the clothes I have but no longer wear. Give what is usable to the thrift store, try to sell books at my new favorite used book store Half Priced Books. I know they (whomever THEY are, I guess the experts at these thing I suppose) say if you haven't used (whatever) in one year get rid of it. I think that would apply to a lot of things. It might also make a great thing for someone else to get. And work on my genealogy more earnestly. There are a lot of people I need to find.

For Christmas I found a lot of books for Emily. Two books on Nursing Diagnosis, that is what you can do for your patient that will aid in their recovery or make them feel comfortable. For example: if they are short of breath you would raise the head of the bed to make it easier to breathe. After your finish and graduate these things become second nature and you do not need to write them, and also, they have them in the computer programs so when you are a graduate you just need to run them off.

Guess that is enough for this year. We will go out to eat about five but be back before the crazies are out and about.

Photo taken at the greenhouse. Have a Happy New Year to all, all over the world.

QUESTION FOR YOU OUT THERE

Just a question...for the past few days when I click on a few of the bogs the whole computer freezes. These are blogs that I routinely read.....Is anyone else having the same problem?? I am to the point that I have to turn off the computer by pushing the button and not shutting it down via the start button...

Work was busy today....I was in the GI lab, most of them were having their stomachs examined. I am off tomorrow and Thursday, yeah.....For me New Years Eve is just a non event and I get awakened by all that noise at midnight. Anymore one day is just like the other.

Today was Emily's last day at work. They had packed the things and now they were doing inventory and shipping the things to where ever they go. I think it would be other stores.

She was down about it, said she feels like she is dependant on society now. I just laughed and said she had not even filed for unemployment yet. I told her she would be even more down if she were not going to school. She will be back at school on the 5th. She will now learn about disease and the processes. In April she will start her rotations. She will do her Psych rotation at a state mental hospital. They go for two days in a row and the students will stay overnight in the local hotel because it is about 45 miles from home. Four women in a room, can you imagine that. All of them trying to get in the shower and dry their hair.....

Flowers taken at the Mosside Greenhouse, last summer. Felt like I wanted to see a little color.

COMMENTS

Another movies I would like to see are Doubt, and The Day The Earth Stood Still,  Slumdog Millionaire,  The Reader and there are probably more but I can't remember them at this time.   Emily said the best movies come out at this time.  The ones are the candidates for the Awards.

We will see one this Saturday.

 

Movie Today

 

Today  Emily and I saw one of the most unusual movies ever.  It is entitled The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  The movie is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is about Benjamin who was born old and grew younger.   I think this will be an Oscar contender.   There are a few more out there that Emily and I would like to see, now that she will be off we can probably swing it now.

Something I have wondered

Elders Have Less Room for Bad Thoughts
As the Brain Ages, It Remembers Things Differently, According to New Brain Imaging Study
By Caroline WilbertWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Dec. 16, 2008 -- Older people may be less likely to remember emotionally negative things because the brain works differently as it ages, according to a new study.
A new study used brain imaging technology to see how participants' brains were working when they were exposed to images -- some negative and some neutral. While in the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine, participants ranked each image on a pleasantness scale. Negative images included things like mutilated bodies and attacking snakes.
Participants were later asked to recall the images. Neuroscientists looked at how the brain reacted during exposure to the images -- and then examined how that brain activity correlated with recall.
Half of the 30 participants were young (average age 24) and half were old (average age 70). All were women. The study was published in Psychological Science.
Researchers from the Duke University Medical Center found that younger women were more likely than older women to recall negative images. In both groups, there was greater memory of negative images than neutral images.
Although memory of negative images was linked to activity in the brain region involved in emotional memory (the amygdala), there were differences in the connectivity between the two age groups.
Older adults had more connectivity of the right amygdala; the younger group had more of the left amygdala. Older adults also has less connectivity between the amygdala and other memory areas of the brain such as the hippocampus, but increased connectivity with a different area of the brain.
"Perhaps at different stages of life, there are different brain strategies," Roberto Cabeza, senior author and Duke professor in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, says in a news release. "Younger adults might need to keep an accurate memory for both positive and negative information in the world. Older people dwell in a world with a lot of negatives, so perhaps they have learned to reduce the impact of negative information and remember in a different way."
View Article Sources
SOURCES:

Upon talking to older relatives I would mention something negative that had happened and they would not remember..........this explains why, I guess I am not old yet, I still remember negative happenings.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

"At Christmas play and make good cheer,For Christmas comes but once a year."Thomas Tusser


And the bills come shortly after.....

Merry Christmas to all....

Claudia

INDIANA PA AND CHRISTMAS TREES

 

I decided to look for Indiana PA to see what I could find.....What I found was Flemings Tree Farm and that looks like it would be a lot of fun.  And when you are finished with your tree they will recycle it for you.  Wow, what a town.

QUESTINS, ANSWERS, COMMENTS

I also have found out that the cats like to sit in boxes. I have to find the picture of my red Henry sitting in one. I came home from Sam's Club and put a box on the floor and asked Chuck how long did he think it would take for a cat to sit in it? It took about 3 minutes. Each one of them would come and sit in the box, but Henry likes it the best. And they too like to squeeze their big butts in the tiniest of boxes.


Chuck bought that tree stand a few years ago. We had a shallow dish with thumbscrews that you would tighten to hold the tree in place.....then on one of his forays to the hardware store (you know what I mean) he came home with the mother of all stands. Now here in western PA the tree sellers will drill about a 6" hole in the center of the tree trunk and the stand had the corresponding spike to fit the tree. It stands up straight and has not fallen yet.

About a 45 minute drive from my home is Indiana, PA. They grow most of the Christmas Trees that are sold in the USA for the Holidays. You can see them go down the highway by the truck full after Thanksgiving to parts unknown. An outing can be to go and chose and chop down your own tree. We have never done this but some of my friends do and it is cold, snowy and you have to take hot chocolate, or other warming beverage of you choice with you. Then you tie the tree on or in your car and hope it doesn't fall off or out till you get home.

Chucks dad Joe, started the Christmas Tree contests. Joe did not have a cathedral ceiling, but he always found the most rotund tree, sometime they were as round as they were tall . We always usually have one that is between eight and ten feet tall. With all the ornaments from his family we have enough to cover it.

I did purchase some new balls (plastic) but could not find any hangers. On my fourth place of looking I got the last package. I was excited, they are green to match the tree. I was about to think that I would have to make a note on September of 2009 to go and look for them and the flasher set of light replacements.

I have off tomorrow and there are only three rooms and five cases. I will enjoy my two days off. I do work on Friday, it worked out well, the people who wanted off Christmas Eve and the people who wanted of the day after Christmas all seemed to get what they wanted, it took a bit of swaping but everyone was happy.

WOW I'VE HAD THREE DAYS OFF IN A ROW

You have heard of The Cat In The Hat.....now here is the cat in the box. Cats seem to like jumping in and out of boxes..Emily took this one of Jenny who was having a grand time with her box searches.

I had three day off in a row. What a treat for me. I rarely have off on Mondays or Fridays. The OR schedule is very light this week. I am hoping to get off on Christmas Eve. We will draw names or that and if some one gets off on both the 24th and 26th and I get off none of them I will be quite irked.

I have most of my chores done for Christmas. I still have to wrap the presents but that will not take long. Emily is working till closing tonight, tomorrow and Christmas Eve. The store will have its final closing at 6PM on Christmas Eve. Then, on the 26th she will go in for packing and closing of the store. She will get 2 weeks pay, her vacation and extra hours for helping packup. Four of the woman have transferred to other stores in the area and Emily and one of the others will be eligible for unemployment. She is going to see how this semester goes and might get a job at the hospital where she does her clinical, she said they will hire the students to work as nurses aides.

It is VERY cold outside. It started at 3F this morning and probably went all the way up tp 10F. Will get cold tonight and up to about 36F tomorrow. That was a short lived cold spell, I am not dissapointed in that change of weather. At lease we didn't get snow, rather just a dusting.

NATIVITY SET

I realized when I looked at the photos that only about one third of it appeared.  So I repost it.    There was also camels, cows, camels, sheep that stood, and a few shepards and an angel or two.  Guess somehow they got destroyed.  With such a packrat that my father was I am surprised that he did not keep them anyway.

Had an eye exam today.   No matter when I schedule the exam it will be bright and sunny, even in the depth of winter in an area of the county that only has about 60 cloud free days.  That day I go the sun will shine.   Today was no exception, as soon as I left the eye doctors with my eyes widely dilated, out came the sun.   Even with the sunglasses it was bright.   I was going to go to the Mall but decided not to.

I went to the store to get some more lights for the candles and ended up buying some unbreakable balls.  But when I asked about the metal holder for the balls they were out.  I stopped two more places and not holders.   Guess I should start my search in September.   

When we were first married I got some that were covered with a silky type thread and now they are coming apart.   The cats like to knock the balls off of the tree and bat them about.   I have a few other places in mind for the hangers.

 

DECORATING THE TREE

This will be a visual memoir of the decorating of the Christmas Tree 2008.   Each year it was a competition between the kids and Chucks dad.  He would always strive to have the "best"  tree.  We would always go to his dads house on Christmas Eve and have a get together.

The last Christmas Eve was in 1995, his mother was in the hospital and the party was canceled.  She never made it home and Joe passed away the next June.  I had honestly expected him to live for another ten years or so but it was not to be...............

The preparation

Cats watching the proceedings.......................

Dragging in the tree from the deck......

Setting it up......

Leaving it sit overnight.

The finished tree.  I would love to have the tinsel on the tree but, one cat with a bowel obstruction from eating things was enough to eliminate tinsel was enough

The antique Nativity set, it is probably approaching 100 years old..............The Moor Wise man is the one whose head is decapitated......The cats were not much help, really...

Christmas Past

What is the earliest Christmas you can remember?   I do not remember  individual Christmases.    I remember The decorations on the tree.   The earliest were lights that were of the 9v size that would fit in the electric candle holders, my parents have some metallic star shaped forms that you had to take the bulb out and the form fit on the light with the base near the fitting.  They had a smaller inner layer of some sort of colored insert on the inside of the silver form.   It was pretty, next I can remember the bubble lights and how the would really bubble when the got warm, they were shaped like thing candles.  .

My father must have pitched those things after my mom died because when he died and we went thru things we did not find any of them..   He kept a lot of things but the things that would have brought big bucks at the Antique Store he must have thrown away.

Then sometime in the late 50's came the silver aluminum tree.  It was about six foot tall and the pine needles were aluminum and about three inches long.   We had colored glass green bulbs and a rainbow  four colored revolving color diffusing device that was set in front of a bright light so that the colors rotated slowly and the light would change with the revolutions.  My dad had a three piece raised platform made of plywood and he would set up the Lionel Train set and there was a small village with many house, trees, people who lived under the tree.   Also  was placed the Nativity Set.   My grandmother had purchased it a long time ago.   It was made from paper mache and was from Oberammergau Germany.    I still have the set but a lot of the pieces have been broken and one of the wise men has lost his head.   It has been glued several times but it still falls off. 

For a number of years I have perused Antique Stores and looked on Ebay but still have not found any like them.  

My mother told me of one Christmas when she was a child.   The German tradition was to put and light candles on the Tree.   Well, her parents did that and one of the candles tipped and set the tree on fire.   She remembered the fire and guessed that her Father had put the fire or either the tree out/outside.   Wish I could find the answer to that, I know the house did not burn.

Now we have a collection on ornaments from Chucks grandparents and assorted ones I have collected over the years.   What surprised me were those old ornaments are going for big bucks in the antique stores....

Thoughts of the Day

I have played around long enough with words of the day and now to get to some real information.   What ever that could be.   I got two new batteries for the smoke detectors, which are on Chucks desk.....It was time to change them, or so I thought.  

Well, I guess the unit is in agreement because a few minutes ago it started to chirp.   While I find its timing rather stellar what I do not understand is why it did not happen in the middle of the night.  That has happened to me two other time.    This chirping will begin and in my somnolent state I will wake up and try to figure out if a cricket got in the house....Once I locate the noise and what is the cause I can not reach it because I am 5 foot 2.    Then I need a chair and by the time I take it down I am wide awake and wondering why did I not change the battery at the autumnal solstice.

Since Emily is on hiatus from the orchestra, I had season tickets to the shows.   It is a major endeavor and long ride to go to the performances.  A minimum round trip of three hours is needed.   One of the doctors I work with is a native of Johnstown and I knew his mother like the Symphony, so I gave the tickets to him for his mom.    He sent me a tin of cookies as a Thank You.  The name of the company is Cheryl & Company, these are the best cookies that can be purchased from a company.   They even enclosed a card entitling me to 20% off of my next purchase.   I think they can get to be addicting....  It was so nice of him to send them to me.....

Today is the day to put up the tree  The decorations are in the attic.   The door to the attic was thru a small opening in one of the closets.   You have to be skinny to crawl thru there.    Then one day on an inspiration we decided to put a entry thru the hallway ceiling.   I wanted to have a fold down step unit installed   Chuck cut the hole and made an entry, twice as big as the original....but the steps would not fit the space between the rafters.....We got half the job done, and nixed the steps.   We do the next best thing, get out the 5 foot step ladder.  I now have the decorations in festive green and red plastic bins and all you have to do is look for the bins and pass them down the steps.

The retrieval of the bins is first, then dragging in the tree from outside is next and then we wait for the tree to settle its branches.   Chuck likes to leave it sit overnight.  The cats will be doing their usual inspection and trying to climb the tree.  We have a cathedral ceiling and he buys the tallest tree and then comes home and cuts $25 worth of tree off......I will catch hell after he reads this post.  LOL  LOL  LOL

We should be done by tomorrow night.  Good thing Santa doesn't arrive till Thursday.

 

Paul Potts

I had posted this before and it never ceases to amaze me......

Paul Potts and Opera

WOTD

Word of the Day
Meretricious (adjective)
Pronunciation: [mer-ê-'trish-ês]
Definition: (1) Gaudy, vulgar, especially attracting attention by being gaudy or vulgar. (2) False, insincere.
Usage 1: "Meretriciously" is the adverb and "meretriciousness," the noun.
Suggested Usage: This word asks to be employed in a variety of situations. "The meretricious holiday decorations in the malls have made me into a catalog shopper," "Her tenth-grader thinks that creativity is best expressed by meretricious outfits." In the other sense of "meretricious": "My husband thinks that my arguments for not hosting his family's Christmas dinner are meretricious and unfounded."
Etymology: Entered English in the 17th century from Latin meretrix, meretric- "prostitute" in turn from merere "to earn; deserve." (The idea of the "working girl" goes way back.) The same stem appears in "merit" and "turmeric" (from Latin "terra merita" via French). –Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

You are dressed so meretriciously today......

WOTD

Word of the Day
Colloquy (noun)
Pronunciation: [kah-lê-kwi]
Definition: A conversation or discussion, oral or written; a small conference or short course organized to discuss a narrow topic from different perspectives.
Usage: Today's word is used almost interchangeably with the Latin word it is derived from: "colloquium." The latter tends to be preferred in referring to an organized academic colloquy while "colloquy" is more likely to be used in reference to an informal discussion of an issue by disparate parties. The plural is "colloquies." The adjective, "colloquial," which describes common speech, also serves as the adjective for today's word. A participant in a colloquy is a colloquist.
Suggested Usage: Kids, here is a useful word that should capture and hold your parents' attention, "I think the family should indulge in more colloquy before deciding on where we spend our vacation." Adults should be able to find ample use for it in a world where things so often go awry for lack of communication, "The company would be doing much better were there more colloquy between management and employees."
Etymology: Today's word, as mentioned before, comes from the Latin colloquium "conversation, discussion," based on the preposition com "with, together" + loqui "to speak." The final [m] on "com" was subject to 'assimilation' in Latin, which meant that it took on the characteristics of the sound following it. So if the root began with an [l], it became an [l]; if it was an [r], it became an [r], too, as "relation : correlation." Latin "loqui" is a descendant of Proto-Indo-European *tolkw- which ended up in English as "talk" and Russian as tolki "talk, gossip." In Latin the [t] seems to have mysteriously vanished, scaring the [o] and [l] into switching places. –Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

I think, perhaps, we should have a little chat.....

wotd

Word of the Day
Flout (verb)
Pronunciation: ['flawt]
Definition: To mock or jeer at; to express contempt in one's behavior.
Usage: This word is often mistakenly replaced with "flaunt," which means "to show off," with results that range from misleading to hilarious. You may "flout the law" by breaking it, but to "flaunt the law" would require an ostentatious display of law-making. The noun "flout" may be applied to a singular piece of mockery: "That was a particularly telling flout, Cruella." Mockery in general is "floutage."



Suggested Usage: The spoken sense of "flout" is now less common: "Dennis was flouting the CEO to anyone who would listen and to several who wouldn't." More often the contempt is expressed by action: "That top flouts all standards of decency; don't imagine for a moment you're going out dressed like that."
Etymology: Probably from Middle English flouten "to play the flute," which can be traced only as far back as the Old French name for the instrument itself, "flaüte" or "fleüte." (These two different versions of the instrument's name account for the fact that someone who plays the flute is called a "flautist.) The connection with mockery may relate to the laughing tones of the flute since the same idea seems to have occurred to the Dutch, who use "fluiten" to mean both "to play the flute" and "to mock." –Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

It is not a good idea to flout a Pitbull.

WOTD

Word of the Day
Smite (verb)
Pronunciation: [smIt]
Definition: To strike with the hand or something held in the hand; to captivate as if by striking.
Usage: The English verbs "to hit" and "to strike" suffer an odd defect: neither has a correlate noun. You may hit someone but you can't give them a hit; you may strike someone but you cannot deliver them a strike. The nouns "a hit" and "a strike" have meanings all but unrelated to the verb. The noun semantically corresponding to both these highly common verbs is "blow"! If you hit or strike someone, you have delivered a blow. Blow? This verb is far removed from the violence of "hit" or "strike." Only in baseball do the verb and noun "hit" match, but even there the noun "strike" tells another story (swing-and-a-miss = strike). Now, the "smite" family is intact and we can use the same form as the verb for the noun. It is much simpler than the other two families.
Suggested Usage: "Smite" has all but disappeared from the language; hanging by the thin thread of "smitten" which, in most our minds, has nothing to do with striking—it means to be infatuated, "Millard, I think, is smitten with Madelein." Wouldn't it be wonderful to hear the announcer say, "Bonds has sent another over the right field wall with a mighty smite of his bat!" It would bring the sport to a new level while smiting down an awkward problem in the English language.
Etymology: This seems to be a Germanic word by and large. It was smítan in Old English, related to Dutch smijten "to throw, strike," German schmeissen "to throw, bash", Gothic gasmeitan "to smear." Cousins may be found in the Scandinavian languages with various meanings. Not much else is known. –Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

Do we smite flies and mosquitos when we swat them with a slyswatter?
I think I do, the smiter of insects TA DA

ADD ANOTHER CHRISTMAS PICTURE

I LOOKED AROUND GOOGLE

I looked around Google and did a search. What I did find were a lot of places with blog templates. Actually, it was sensory overload, my mind was boggled. I decided just to get rid of all the squares and intense colors, I will start with a cream color and go from there.

I am glad this work week is over. There were fifty cases on today. Everyone is exhausted and also glad the week is done. Next week is very light...I need to check how many vacation days I get to see if I can take any off.

Chuck is due home soon, and Emily is working till 11. Just a few days till the store closes. That will give her more time for study and going to the gym. She will be off for about two weeks. Guess I will make my to do list. lol

I WANT, I WANT, I WANT

I want a new blog idea, or template, I am getting bored with the old set up. I have previewed the templates and do not see what I would like to do. Maybe if I go into the bowels of Windows Writer there will be somethere. Some people had mentioned interest in this program, so, here is the link.....I have to investigate more myself.

http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/

OFF TODAY AND FINISHING MY SHOPPING.

White flowers need red lettering...After three grueling days at work I had today off.....I had a long list of things to do. And I might add I got them done. I bought things for Chuck and Emily but I can not tell because they read the blog...Guess I will save that for after Christmas. For my sibs I made copies of the picture of the six of us I have on the side and bought frames to put them in. Shawnna knows of this so I can print it.

Bought some sweets for the Short Stay Unit and Cath Lab in appreciation for the care Chuck received last week and will take them in tomorrow. This week has been very busy and week is very light. On Christmas Eve there are only three cases scheduled at this time. Maybe be as much as 10 when the Eve rolls around.

This is a map of PA. The weather in PA is divided into North and South of I80. The forecast is calling for freezing rain, sleet and snow from I 80 and north. I am glad I do not live above I 80. They get a lot of snow from lake effect snow off of Lake Erie. Last year the Great Lakes did not freeze. That freezing usually happens in January and February. Once the lake freezes the snow from the lake ends.

What I really wanted to do with this map was see if I could cut and paste things and how long they will last.

JOHNSTOWN SYMPHONY

Somehow, as usual, I can not get the hyperlink to work. So.........
http://www.johnstownsymphony.org/ Try this link if interested.

QUESTIONS, ANSWERS AND COMMENTS

I will tell Emily about all your congrats...Emily has a BA in Music and is a violist in the JOHNSTOWN SYMPHONY.    She had decided to go to Nursing School because of the lack of pay and jobs in Music.  She can find work but not enough to live independently.

She is enrolled in a Diploma School.  Which is a two year program for education to become a RN.   There are a lot of college courses required and most of her requirements have transferred from her degree to be utilized for her required college courses.   What she needed were Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology and Nutrition.   She just has the Physiology portion and Nutrition to go.   A total of about 10 college level courses are needed.

After graduation she will get her BSN.  I doubt that she will need a lot, and the hospital system will pay for it at that time.  

Wow I just found out that on Windows Writer you can add a watermark to your photo.....

 

BACK TO WORK TODAY

Today it was back to work, that is not unusual. But I only had one case scheduled  but that morphed into an additional four.     The schedule has slowed down.  People will wait till after Christmas because they do not want to spend the Holiday being sick.

Emily had her final in Anatomy and she got a B.    Her one Nursing course she got an A and her last test is later this week, she is hoping for another A.  Great Job Emily......

Next semester they start the disease and their processes and in April she will start her rotations.   That will mean going to other hospitals for different things.   Pediatrics, OB, ICU, OR, ER, and Psych.    I think she is looking forward to that.  

Here's another picture from the Phipps.  Next year I will go in the evening when the lights are on and you can see the darkness from outside.

 

I THINK I'VE GOT IT!!!!!!!

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."George Bernard Shaw

WHERE IN THE WORLD DO THEY GO?????

For the past twenty minutes I have been trying to add the flamingos with the last entry......I have added them about four times and this is my final entry....guess the flamingos are floating about cyber space.........hope they make it to my blog

Since the last time I was at the Phipps I had mentioned and posted pictures of the pink flamingos...........They were there again, they had several displays and this was one of them....I took a lot of pictures of them today. I looked in the gift shop and there was none of them to be had.........what a disappointment

VISIT TO SANTA CLAUS

Some where in the deep recesses of my brain I remember going to see Santa Claus, I must have been about four or so............I can remember standing in line with my mother and grandmother. We had taken a trip into the city for this occasion...........What I do remember is waiting in line; it seemed like a long time to me......and when I finally go there I remember climbing under his chair. I guess I was afraid of him, and I bet my mother was really angry with me. I do not remember much other than I did that.............I do not remember if going to see Santa was my idea or my moms...........wish I had asked her about that............

When Emily was young we lived in New Jersey. We had moved from Texas and unbeknownst to us we moved into a primarily Jewish community. When she was in first grade we had gone to the local mall and I asked her if she wanted to go to visit Santa. She told me that the Jewish kids had told her that he wasn't real and said hat your parents did that. We then had a talk about the spirit of Christmas, and giving and sharing.......but I also did ask her "What if you're wrong?" She said she would go and see him ...."Just in case..." I do not think she was disappointed, and she just told me no she wasn't really.....she said she feels no great loss that he had no place in her life.....I really did not push the Santa angle.....But, I added that day..."Do not tell your cousins of your suspicions........" She did not, actually she because she became a co conspirator in the story......

CHRISTMAS FLOWER SHOW

 

I made it to the Flower Show today.  The day dawned bright and sunny,  so I made my trip early.   It was a good thing because everyone had the same idea.  There was a young couple with a tripod and were taking pictures of themselves.   I suspect they were probably taking engagement pictures.   The back ground was great for that.

There were also many young families with young children whom I suspect were taking their Christmas Pictures....One young girl just would not smile, she had a angry face and would not cooperate for her parents.  I took a lot of pictures and I did find the pink flamingos again.....After Claudias photo shoot I went to the Mall, and I had said earlier that the Mall was dead, but today it was crowded and I guess people came out for their shopping,   finally.

QUIET SNOWY MORNING

 

Woke up early this morning,  I do not look at the clock, just do my business and and back to bed.

The light coming thru the bathroom blinds was so bright.  I open the slate with my fingers and looked out.  The snow was brilliant and in the back yard I could see three deer.  They must have heard the metallic noise of the blinds because they were looking my way.  They sensed no threat and continues on their way, jumped over the fence and left.

I had to see what time it was because I thought the deer bedded down for the night.  Alas, it was 4:45.  They get up earlier than I do.  The cats were up too and milling about.   I ignored them and went back to sleep.

Going thru pictures for Shawnna.  We had scanned a lot and she was searching for them.  They were on my external hard drive and I moved them again, but it lost some detail in the moving.  This was taken circa 1960.   My mom, my sibs and I.  Dad was taking the picture.   I was looking for Christmas pictures but didn't find any yet.

 

IT IS OVER

The cardiac cath that is. We had to be there between 5:30 and 6 AM. He was very anxious and wanted to get it done and over. I was getting anxious too. At about 8:40 the cath lab called and we went down. His doctor arrived and came to say HI and then with a kiss (Chuck , not the doctor) I went to eat and have a cup of coffee. In an hours time it was over and he was back in the holding area.

THE NEWS IS GOOD. The area that the doctor thought was poor perfusion was a shadow of the diaphragm on the heart, so the read perfusion study was not accurate. The old stent was open and everything is well. Thank heavens, he had sedation but said he was awake and felt no pain and the doctor was talking to him thruout the procedure.

At the time of the last cath he had to laydown flat with a sandbag on his groin for 6 hours. This was to prevent bleeding, now they can insert a collagen plug and this will seal the puncture of the femoral artery and he only had to lie flat for 2 hours and then we left the hospital. It can be a problem for people who take blood thinners, which he does....I do not know what the selection criteria is for the plugs..

Now all the angst and anxiety is over we can rest well.

Working

I am on my next to the last 16 hour shift. I have one in January to go. I finished up at 8:30 PM or so and going to write a little note. Tomorrow is Chucks Cardiac Cath and I hope all goes well.....Will post later this week or tomorrow if all goes well.

FAMILY PHOTO CIRCA 1880'S

I have just come across this photo.   It was sent to me by a member of Chucks extended family.    I figure it was circa 1880.   The older couple I think are Chucks great great grandparents.  They had two sons and two daughters.  That would account for the two younger women and four young men in the back.  Interestingly the fellow seated on the lower right looks like he was pasted in later.  I think they did that sort of thing then.  To expensive to take another photo.

My goal is to find out their names, although I have some ideas.

TUESDAY

I worked hard yesterday and I was too tired to do anything else. I had a student and spent the day doing five gyne cases. The same technique over and over again. She did well.

We went out to eat at a restaurant on the way home. I am getting to tired to even think of cooking on my late days. I wish I had more energy to do things.

Off today and went to the genealogy meeting. We just talked for about an hour and the went to lunch for the Holiday. I still have lots to do for finding my relatives, some of the people have been doing this for 20 years or so, and me for only two. It is funny that they are still making discoveries I guess in twenty years I will be a lot further ahead. Or at least I hope so......Next week is Emilys last week of school for this semester. Then she is off till after New Years.............I have been looking at my photographs and some of them are missing. They have been moved from the computer to hard drive to flash drives, where does this stuff go???

This is a picture from Germany, I guess circa 1915. The tall girl, holding the younger girl is my grandmother Anna Maria Johanna Bartels and her sister Johanna Anna Maria Bartels. That looks to me like a neighborhood kid photo shoot. I received a lot of old photos and I WROTE DOWN THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE I KNOW ON THE BACK OF THEM. I imagine we all have those ancestor pictures who have no names on the backs.... I think the photo was taken i Celle, Germany. That was the town that my great grandfather and grandmother has listed as their town on my grandmothers birth certificate.......

Pearl Harbor

 

Thanks to Beth who told me yesterday that I had the wrong date for Pearl Harbor .  I indeed did find information in the paper and on line today about the attack subsequent entry of the United States into World War II. 

I found this information to read and wanted to post it for people to read.  I guess I was off one day mostly because I wasn't there.  

My father said it was a warm and sunny Sunday and he was washing his car and the announcement came over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked and he thought there goes peace and he would be going off to war.

He indeed did get drafted and sent off to boot camp. After basic training my mother took a train to Goldsboro NC and they got married before he was shipped to England.  My father had a lot of mechanical aptitude  and he went to school and qualified to be a airplane mechanic and spent his time repairing and maintaining the Army Air Corps planes while stationed in England.

Here is their Wedding Picture.   My mom was about twenty one and dad twenty five....

PEARL HARBOR DAY

It dawned on me today.....It is the Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day and I did not see one thing mentioned on line. Will it become just another day of ancient history? Like WWI, The Korean War....do they still teach History in school......Or is everyone caught up in the current economic situation that is plaguing the world??

Emily outlines what she will get as severance, not much but it will help. One week for every year she has worked. Plus her vacation and sick time. She said what she will miss the most is the jewelry store discount...she said she can never buy retail again since she knows what it costs...........she is at work..........she told me there are 30 vacant stores including one very large department store that has been there for only two years. Is it dismal everywhere????

It is snowing outside and lo and behold I heard a salt truck outside. Most of the winter the truck passes my little street by. I have called and complained but it still does not get treated. It is not a main street, I asked one time how could I get a discount on my taxes since I do not get the services that my tax money is paying for??? The man on the phone did not think it was funny.

Chuck called and said they are seeing a lot of accidents because of the snow. He drove his Subaru to work, actually everyday for the past few weeks......We will go out to eat when he gets home........The cardiac cath is scheduled for this coming Friday....

SATURDAY MORNING

I am still in the mood to go to the Christmas Flower Show, but we have not had a sunny day for a few weeks.

My 16 hour shifts are a thing of the past. I read my journal entry's and all I do was moan and groan about them. It really is tiring, so I email my boss and told her I did not want to do them anymore....She said OK. I think I have a few but no more after February. Unless, of course, I want one.

Yesterday was busy, I did general surgery. The usual things, insertion of a port to be used for chemo, GB, and a laparoscopic colon resection. They take so long, I think I would like to have mine (if ever I need one) the old way. A good surgeon can have that done in about an hour and a half. The laparoscopic one was almost 4 hours and the man was elderly, and you have to tape him to the OR table so he does not slide of onto the floor. They have to place the patient practically standing on his head, the contents of the abdomen will fall by gravity and makes it easier to do the surgery. Of course this places a great strain on the heart and lungs, It is hard to breathe when your lungs are compressed by the weight of the abdominal contents. I prevailed and he did good.

Chuck had his lab work and chest x-ray for his upcoming Cardiac Cath. I hope all goes well. Every one who needs to have a procedure done worry about it. I guess the fear is the unknown....I gave anesthesia to a man one time who did not want to have it done. He mentioned the anesthesia. "I am just going to fight it..." said he. "Don't make my job any harder...." said I. Needless to say I won that battle.

I got done about 9 PM and then hung around till it was time to go home.

We had both wanted to retire soon, but now with the current economic situation I wonder if anyone is able to retire anytime soon? I do not think so, people are reluctant to give up their job (if they currently have one) The forecasts are more doom and gloom with every newscast. Emily will be done in about a year and a half. Now the applications to Nursing School are up. It is a profession that is needed in the down economic time. She still likes school and the work. Thanks heavens.

Questions, Answers Comments

I want to thank everyone for my congratulations on our Wedding Anniversary. It is interesting that my brother and sisters have been married to their first spouse too. The last one to get married was Shawnna 26 years ago. Maybe it was your upbringing. My father said when we got married to work it and no one was going to come back home.....LOL



When Henry knocked over the tree he just sat thee and looked innocent.....what an actor he is.

Emily just told me that her jewelry store will be closing. The last day will be Christmas Eve.....If she wants to make a little more money she can work and help clean up. Littmans asked the Mall to reduce their rent and the Mall Management said NO, guess they want another empty store front there......

She will be able to collect unemployment and she said that as a Nursing Student she will be able to work as an Patient Care Assistant, so maybe she will do that.......Sometime in life you just have to go with the flow......She will graduated from Nursing School in 2010 and then all will be well....Good thing she doesn't have many bills and lives with her parents.....

ANNIVERSERY DINNER

This evening we went to Sawa's Japanese Steakhouse  for our dinner.   The three of us went.  It is the typical Japanese Steakhouse where the chef throws the shrimp tails in the air and catches them in his hat.

I had shrimp and chicken, fried rice and vegetables.   Chuck had the same  as well as fillet and Emily had shrimp and scallops.  Chuck said "I like scallop, why don't we have them  at home?"    Because they cost $13.00 a pound......We could have them once in a while.......OK....Some special occasion I suppose.

The dinner was excellent, Emily said in three years she would have a party.....I told her taking us out to dinner would be good enough.

Tomorrow I am 16 hours and again I am in a room for morning into the evening.....I told my manager not to schedule me for any more 16 hour shifts................I am just too tired to do it anymore.............

So I hope my day goes well.....I do not have any other choice about it...LOL

 

ANNIVERSARY

Today is Chuck and my Anniversary. On this date 37 years ago, we were married. December had been cold and snowy. On this morning the temp was up to about 45 F and not a cloud in the sky. The sun was shining so brilliantly it hurt your eyes......

Why do some last and others do not. Is it because now people go into a marriage with the thought of I can leave when the going gets rough? There are moments in any partnership where you might feel like giving in, but the really tough partners will find a way to make it work.

So the only advice I have about marriage is "Teach him early when he is young and you won't have any trouble when he is old.."

Henry and The Tree

This is the second time I have tried to add this photo.....The first time I had scanned it, it appeared with the large border of white that was the background of the scanner. This time, I did a preview and then cropped the photo and then did a scan. I think it looks about 100% better......But this is the largest size that I can come up with on the blog. I have a lot of photos


Henry had been climbing this tree for a few days, I heard a gian whooshing sound and there he was looking all innocent and "I didn't do it.."

Rainy and Dreary Day yet Again

I would like to know how get that that glassy look no to appear on my animals pictures when I take them. The camera has a red eye reduction but it doesn't seen to work, I suppose it is because those eyes are not red. They actually look like alien cats. That is Henry and Jenny, they are waiting for the house woman to retrieve their cat toys from under the stove/oven. They each have their favorite types. The play all over the house and while playing on the ceramic tile kitchen floor, the toy will go sailing underneath. Then I get the flashlight and metallic yardstick to swat them out from under the appliance. When they hear the metallic noise on the floor they come running to watch the proceedings. The toys also get stuck under the couches. I need a helper to lift the couches to rescue the toy mice.

Thought: Do they have metersticks instead of yard sticks in the rest of the world?

It amazes me how the people in the USA refuse to convert to the metric system. The bozos here think the world revolves around them. In the hospital everything is metric. The really good thing is your weight in Kilos. You sound so much skinnier... If you weigh 175 lbs. in kilos you would be about 79 Kilos. That does sound much better....

How to determine your weight in kilos. Take your weight, say 190 lbs. divide it by two........that would be 95.......then you subtract the first number 9 from 95 and that will give you your approximate weight of 86 kilos. If you weigh more, say 210 lbs.......divide by 2.....105, then you would subtract 10 from 105 and your weight would be about 95 kilos. This was all about how easy it is to convert......One inch is about 2.5 cm. I will need my calculator or a pen and paper to go on with the height calculations. It is too early to think that deeply while typing.

The liquid measures are easy too. The difficult would be the temperatures, which is a difficult formula. Body temp is 37C, boiling point is 100C and freezing is 0C. My best suggestion on that is to stick your nose outside and determine if it is hot or cold.........

WOTD

Word of the Day
Alacrity (noun)
Pronunciation: [ê-'læ-krê-tee]
Definition: Willing promptitude in responding, eager and happy quickness or speed.
Usage: "Alacrity," "celerity," "dispatch," and "expedition" all refer to quickness or speed. "Celerity" is a rather neutral term for swiftness though the cleanness in its sound implies a smooth swiftness without miscue or stumble. "Dispatch" (or "despatch") refers to promptness in settling some business or finishing a project (The contract was written and signed with great dispatch). "Expedition" derives, like "expeditious," from "expedite" and hence refers to an efficient swiftness (This is a complex project which requires completion with all possible expedition.)
Suggested Usage: Both "alacrity" and "celerity" are beautiful words we should use more often. Today's word, "alacrity," refers to a cheerful, eager speed, particularly a prompt willingness in responding: "Private Winthrop reported for latrine duty but without any sign of alacrity." The beauty of today's word lends itself especially for festive, decorative occasions, "Everyone joined to decorate the house for the holidays with a sparkling alacrity befitting the season."
Etymology: From Latin "alacritas," the noun from alacer "quick, eager, lively" + -itas, a noun suffix. It shares a source with Old High German ellen "zeal, courage," Old Norse eljan "power," Gothic aljan "zeal." (Today's is another word that germinated in the Agora. We can only write up some of the words discussed there; for the rest, you must try it yourself.) –Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

Does any one want to have off tomorrow.........I do, I do....Is that an example of alacrity......sounds like it to me.....

QUOTE

"No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut."Sam Rayburn


I have to agree with Sam.....

WOTD

Word of the Day
Billingsgate (noun)
Pronunciation: ['bi-lings-geyt]
Definition: Nathan Bailey, in 'An universal etymological English dictionary' (1721) defined a billingsgate as "a scolding impudent Slut," but the word has gone on to refer, as well, to the stream of abusive speech used by these impudent women. Today it may refer to a woman who uses abusive language or the abusive language itself.
Usage: Today's word is no longer capitalized, having been thoroughly commonized by now. Its eponym is the Billingsgate fish market in London, which has now moved into a modern new building where most of the sales staff have improved their speech. Here is another word that ties even more vividly that others to our history.
Suggested Usage: Of course, we suggest you never use billingsgate yourself but if you would prefer using an authentic English word instead of the usual borrowings from French and Latin, such as "vulgar," "profane," "abusive," in referring to it, this is the word for you: "If I ever hear that kind of billingsgate emerge from your mouth again you will be grounded for life!" Of course, it is empty hyperbole, but it is an attention-grabber, isn't it? "I love golf but 18 rounds of a billingsgate sermon from George is more than I can abide."
Etymology: No one really knows how Billingsgate received its name but it was one of the two water-gates to London from the Thames (between the Tower and the erstwhile London Bridge) when the open fish market was proclaimed there in 1699. The Billingsgate fish market thereafter became known not only for the smelly fruits of the sea on sale there, but for the rancid language of the fishwives who mongered them. In 'Vanity Fair,' Thackeray wrote "Mr. Osborne . . . cursed Billingsgate with an emphasis worthy of the place" and by 1799 even Thomas Jefferson had acquired the word: "We disapprove the constant billingsgate poured on them officially." Now it is your turn. –Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

I do crossword puzzels and love to play scrabble, but, I have NEVER heard of this word before......

STRESS TEST

On Monday Chuck had a stress test, cardiac test that is......The EKG looked good and no changes. Yesterday the cardiologist's office called and today we went to see him. He has to have a cardiac cath. No emergency, but it has to be done shortly.......With the stress test first you have a heart scan after injection of some nuclear material, then you walk on the treadmill for seven to eight minutes and then they scan your heart again. The results of the scan are not instantaneous......it showed some area of ischemia so hence the cardiac cath

. http://md.gehealthcare.com/patient/diaguide/cathexam.html

This is done with sedation and a catheter is inserted in the groin and fed up thru the heart. After going thru the chambers it is inserted in one of the coronary arteries and dye is injected, x rays are taken and any narrowing is shown as a constriction in the artery........He already has a stent and either the stent is constricted, or there is a new blockage....This test will tell. He was upset but I and the doctor said, he has not had a MI (heart attack) and there is not any damage to the heart. So, what ever is the problem it can be repaired with the cath. There is about a 1% chance that he would need an Open Heart with a coronary artery bypass
graft, unlikely so we will go with the flow. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/coronary-artery-bypass-graft-cabg-surgery

He has to set a date, but it probably will be in the next few weeks.

OFF TODAY AND THANK HEAVENS

 

Yesterday was exhausting....I spent all day doing orthopedics.....We had five cases, which was not bad but we also had five "add on's"  that means that sometime during the previous day, night, for the present morning people broke something.  Or got into some other dire straits...

Well, there were five of them added.   The whole operating room schedule was jammed pack and nothing could be moved.  Moving cases is very common.   In order to utilize the time, and staff some cases will be moved to another room.   We have twelve OR's, to have them empty is a loss of money  not only for the staff salary but loss of operating room time as well.

I started at 6 AM and did not get finished till 6:22 PM.   Everyone was totally wiped out.   I would have been there long but the last case got moved.   If I were a beer drinking person I would have gone home and had a beer or two......

There is not really a good way of predicting how many people you will need.   The cases are scheduled in advance but there is no accurate was of predicting the "add on's".  What is commonly done if the schedule is light is to "staff level"  They will tell the personal that tomorrows schedule is light and do not come to work, you can either take a days vacation or go without pay. 

In the meantime, 10 emergencies can be added and the skeleton crew left just has to deal with it.  This makes for an unhappy day because you do not know when you will get relieved and be able to go home.  Yesterday every one was working and no one relieved me so I just had to stay.    I have decided at 62 I am just to tired to deal with this frenetic pace much longer.......

 

BACK TO WORK

Today I was back to work after being off for a week. I think I need a week to rest up after being busy last week. I also got tired of looking at a yellow back ground...........Thought I would do it in shade of red and green but that would require a little too much energy for today.



Work was busy, I was again in the GI Lab......Mostly stomach exams, I guess no one wanted their holiday weekend ruined by taking the Sodium Citrate, soft diet and trotting the bathroom this weekend.........I would not want to do that either.



After the rainy weekend it has gotten colder and there are flakes drifting down.....no accumulation that I know of. Emily is back to school tomorrow and Chuck will be back to work. Have you ever been to Venice? Emily sent me this link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/3538914/Venice-under-five-feet-of-water-as-the-city-suffers-its-worst-floods-in-22-years.html Venice is one of my favorite cities. The art work in unbelievable and so is the entire city. I keep trying to make a new paragraph but the blog post will not let me do it. Guess I will sign off for now....................