Advice

I knew full well going through nursing school that when people find out you are a nurse they want "free" advice on everything. Not that this is usually a big deal, I’m glad to help others when I can. But somehow the concept has seemed to escape some people, that nurses are not doctors. Yes, while many of us feel we know more than some doctors, we are in fact NOT doctors and we really aren’t able to diagnose you. I don’t know what that funny looking thing is growing around your fingernail is, especially when you are trying to describe it to me over the phone. I really don’t know what cause that rash on your skin, especially when it comes and goes at different times but hey, I will give it my best shot. I can always take a look at your problem, or listen to your lungs, I do have a few skills up my sleeve, but its always hard to know what is going on when you are trying to describe your symptoms over the phone. I also, strange as it may seem, cannot tell you what is wrong with someone just by looking at them, when I don’t know a single symptom. I know I carry a magic wand, but oddly enough I haven’t figured out how to work the darn thing. Oh, never mind, there it goes!

What do I take? The blue ones or the red ones?Well that depends...what are you taking it for, what are you allergic to, what is wrong with you, what is your favorite color really? LOL Never mind I will figure it out....you seem to be suffering from a serious case of hypochondria and the only chance you have at survival is if you take the red pill and blue pill at exactly the same time all while jumping backwards and saying an Indian rain chant. Do you see what I’m getting at?

I seem to go both ways with people. I have people who think I know everything and want me to diagnose every little problem. On the other hand, people like my family don’t think I know a thing. Occasionally they will come to me for advice, but for some reason they never trust what I say. But my mom is quicker than anyone to send me over to someones house who happens to go to church with them, because somehow I will be able to tell them what is wrong with their child. Again, the magic wand problem...if only I had a crystal ball. I don’t mind you coming to me with your problems, I really don’t. But just don’t expect me to have ALL the answers. I do have a vast amount of knowledge in my brain, and some things I am excellent at, like drugs for instance. But I'm still working on my diagnosing skills and I definitely can’t do it over the phone, via email, and not always over text. Work with me people, I am a nurse, im not wonder woman! I do what I can with the knowledge I have been given, believe it or not we are not taught EVERYTHING in nursing school, a lot of what I know has come through training and experiences. I am not saying that no one should talk to me about their problems, that would be silly. I love to help, and I do it whenever I can. All I ask if for realistic expectations from me. Come to me,and I will kiss your boo-boos and make them all better, I will do what I can, cause I AM THE NURSE!

Some things never change

My mom was looking through some old things trying to write some family history about a year or so ago, and she came across this letter that I wrote to her when I was around 10 years old and it was just too cute not to share with everyone else. I put this on my myspace blog about a year ago, so those of you who read that, may have already seen this.

Dear Mom,

I have to ask you a few things like why do I have to go to bed so early. In my life I don't think I have met a person who has the same bedtime as me. Some people don't even have an assigned bedtime but if they do it's about 10:00 at the earliest not 8 or 9. If I do have to go to bed when I'm not a bit tired I should be at least be able to talk since my body is all ready resting. I don't get it why you tell me how long I have been in bed as though I am supposed to fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow. The reason why I want to stay up is not because everyone else is doing it. It is because I'm just not tired. I sleep in late because I am not tired when you put me to bed so when I try to stay up the next night you try to put me to bed even earlyer (haha even back then I sucked at spelling) so I won't sleep in and it just doesn't work. And now that I have to earn to spend the night with someone and my T.V. privleges were taken away until Sunday I might as well die this week. At home there is nothing to do except watch T.V. Its really hard to do anything because you babysit till six sometimes even till 6:30 and I have til 8:00 to live my life. I only have 4 friends so it is not like I have many sleepovers anyway. Another thing is you get mad at me when I talk. Well thats my way of showing you that I'm mad. When you are mad you scream and rant and rave and I just say something back. Right now im a little confused. Because I'm not a child but I'm not a teenager or an adult so I never know what to do when we have people over for dinner because I can't listen to the adult conversations but I am not going to play with little kids.

Could you help work something out with me?

Love,

Rachel
Taylor

LOL, I guess some things never change with me. I love dramatic children, and I was one of them. I guess going with out TV might as well lead to death. LOL

I was wondering...

It's been brought to my attention, that some people may actually be reading my blog. So... you are not required to leave me comments, especially because I know that many of my posts are just meire ramblings, but if you could just leave a comment just once so that i know you are reading. I would love it! It encourages me to keep writing on this thing, if I know its not just going out to cyber space never to be heard of again.

Thanks!

PS. This means you too Grandma, you can leave anonymous comments you don't have to have a google or blogger id. Click anonymous and leave a comment just be sure to sign it so I know who its from!

Frustrating

Last night, right after I posted my blog, my computer just up and died on me. Not like died, just needs more battery power, or just needs a break, like dead dead. No bringing it back to life. D.O.A. I had only had my lap top for about 18 months, and wouldn't ya know I didn't get the extended warranty. I called dell but all they could do was have me pay 50 bucks over the phone and they could try and diagnose my problem over the phone. If that didn't work then I could pay for someone to come out and look at my computer and if they determined nothing could be done, then well...I was screwed. I tried the typical, unplugging it, letting it rest, taking the battery out, etc. No measure of life saving techniques I possessed brought my laptop back to life. To some this may not be a big deal, but to me, my computer is my life. Well, other than my cell phone. But I cannot survive without these two things.



I can't explain this "need" to my mother, she just doesn't get it. She would be just fine if she didn't have her computer for a while. And while I know it won't kill me, (I have had to go months without a computer of my own before), I don't want to risk it to find out. So I sucked it up and bought a new laptop. While I admit my new Hp is very pretty and Im sure will eventually be a lot of fun, it is no fun getting a new computer. I had the old one configured just how I liked it. I knew how to work it, I knew where things were. This one I have to re-download everything under the song, I had several hundred songs on itunes that will all have to be re-downloaded. Its just a hassle. Now im just crossing my fingers that it wasn't something stupid that killed my other computer, and could be easily fixed.

Memories from my childhood

Whenever I think about my childhood, there are few memories that return to my mind like the times I spent as a child playing with my sisters. For a large portion of my life, Sharon, Lauralee and myself were the only kids in the family. We spent a lot of time together, as children do, we even all shared a room for a large portion of our "growing up" years. There were many hours that we spent in each others companies, lost in the world of imagination. It was there that we had our greatest times together. But to this day, our favorite memory of the games we used to play was a game we called "homeless".



I know, go ahead and laugh, I do thinking about it, but it was our favorite game. It started off as a game Sharon and I would play to pass the time when we were at my grandfathers bike shop. First he would ask us to gather these little BB type things which he would in turn give us money. We thought we were doing him a favor that he in turn would pay us for, it wasn't until I was in my early 20's that I realized that the bead we had to find, were actually no use to him. They would fall out of these parts, but were not replaceable, it was just something he did to help us pass the time. After we collected our 2 or 3 dollars we would go next door to the day old bread store. We always bought a loaf of white bread and sometimes a package of powdered donuts. Then we would take our purchases and go to the back of the bike shop and climb on top of the bike boxes and there would begin our day. We loved to imagine that we lived there amongst those boxes, that we had no where else to live, and our bread was our only food and we had to make it last as long as possible. We would eat it a half a slice at a time, and then we would ration. Our conversations were a little like "Is it time yet" "No, we have to wait a little longer, we have to make it last." We could make it last all day, I'm sure it made the babysitting job quite easy for my grandfather. As time went on we moved to Texas, but the game continued. I was 9, Sharon was 6 and Lauralee 3. We would pack a few snacks head out to the driveway and we could play for hours. We had it all worked out in our heads, to earn money we would roller skate on our drive way, "people" would give us tips and that way we could buy food. In order to get this food, we would get on our teeter totter and we would go to "Turkey" And "Hungry" the two places one would go, if you were hungry, right? Lauralee was always the "mom" of the group, I always loved to be the baby. Mostly because when you were the baby your mom would wait on you hand and foot. It was a great little arrangement we had. It provided many great memories...what imaginations we had back then. Kids now days have no imagination!

Weather Forcast

One thing I really enjoy and have often taken a few moments out of my evening to indulge in is gazing at the stars. This particular time out from the real world often occurs when I am out with my dogs. I always take out my dogs before going to bed for the night, it usually occurs between the hours of 3-5am. Its a wonderful time, when all the world is asleep and its relatively quite and I am just left with the beautiful night sky. I'm always at awe at its beauty. Its so beautiful, wide and open. It goes on for forever. The clouds are so high and the stars are so beautiful and bright. Stars are one of my favorite things. They are just so magical and wondrous.


But I guess not all weather is magical and wonderful as the beautiful night sky. There has been a lot of talk about Hurricane Ike and its intended path for Texas. Many are afraid that it will be another Katrina. All the red cross and other "rescue and aid bringing" company's are preparing for the worst. I some times feel as though that is what I am doing. I feel like I know bad things are coming and I am putting up the sand bags and preparing for the worst. I had built up "levee's" around my heart, things that I thought would protect my heart. I wanted to be sure that I would never have to experience heartache. I was always going to be prepared for the worst. But I let down my guard, and I let someone in, and although it was a fabulous time, in the end, it was a disaster. I had my own "hurricane Katrina." It may have not been as disastrous but it was detrimental none the less. And over the last month I have done my best to rebuild, but I feel like I must prepare for another "hurricane Ike" or the next bad thing to come along. But I don't want to be this way... I want to just allow myself to enjoy life. I want to enjoy God's beautiful creations, I want to stare at the night sky and think of happy times. I am going move forward and enjoy life, and not just think of the bad that could be coming, but know that for now I am protected. I am safe and protected from harm, and I can only hope that my leaks have been mended and I can one day soon let down my guard, and let someone in again. For there is nothing in the world that could ever make me happier. I want to enjoy the beauty that is around me.

No more teflon

Dear Oprah,
I am uncertain of exact numbers, but it is my understanding that your audience is roughly 75% women. I have a question for you: Do you really believe all of those women are just plain dumb?

I have seen news shows reporting you have chosen not to have Governor Sarah Palin on your show. Obviously you get to make any choices you want, just as I will be choosing to tune you out until the end of your reign. Let me be clear, I am not turning the channel on you because you will not have Sarah Palin on your show. While I think Governor Palin would make an interesting guest (given the challenges she faces as a working mother of a special needs child and a pregnant teen...which seems right up your alley as far as programming topics),like I said, you not having her on your show is not at all why I am turning the channel. I am making this choice because you are dishonest.

You have said you do not want your show to become a political forum. By not having Governor Palin on your show, that is just exactly what you are doing. Especially given the fact that Barack Obama has been on your show. Yes, I know it was before he was an official nominee, but let's not split hairs. The very thought of you portraying your empire as non-political is asinine.

The reality is you are a Barack Obama activist. You support him. You have made your choice. You stood at a rally in Iowa and told us all the reasons why he is the candidate for you. That is not my issue. If I tried, I could not care less who you support in this election. I think for myself. I have never bought into the Oprah fanaticism. I do not diet because you decide it is time. I do not read a book because it has your stamp of approval. I do not buy products because they are good enough to grace your list of favorite things. Most importantly, I would certainly never vote for someone just because the all-mighty Oprah says so. All of that to say again, I do not care who you throw your name behind in this election.

What I care about is that for some reason you will not woman up, you will not truly be that powerful, woman of integrity you sell to us mere mortal women everyday on your show. Why not just look into the camera that has made you who you are and say: I support Barack Obama. I can't have Sarah Palin on my show because he probably would not appreciate that.

You won't do that because you are not the woman you sell to us on television and radio each day. That woman you sell is one who preaches and teaches strength, truth, and empowerment. You only live what you preach when you are standing at a podium in Iowa surrounded by people that, without a doubt, support the candidate you endorse.

It must be so tiring and tough to be you. How difficult is must be to walk the fine line between embracing your candidate and keeping women of different demographics happy. Because isn't that really what this is all about? You can't possibly put it all out there, not like you did at the rally in Iowa. You are afraid of what the stay-at-home white mother of three might think. You can't be that honest with her. You have to sell her feel-good, make-her-cry books and stories. You have to sell her diet tips and celebrity interviews. Tell her how to do self breast exams, and what jeans look good on her.
But stand up and say, look ladies I am sure Sarah Palin is fascinating, but I can't have her on because Barack is my candidate...no, you can't say that because you don't have the guts, and that is the bottom line.

So, I simply ask that you stop trying to sell me a gutsy woman. It borders on false advertising, and is quite insulting that you think I will buy her. And since you and I both know you will never stop, I am turning the channel. I know of others who will do the same. We weren't asking for much, just truth. Unfortunately, your truth changes depending on your audience.

Frankly, your Messiah complex was tiresome and boring to me years ago. I have long been both frustrated and baffled by the women who bow down at your Manolo Blahniks. You have been dubbed the "Teflon Diva", inferring that you are untouchable, indestructible. For your information, I don't care who thinks it is the best product around, I am tired of "teflon" and I won't be buying it. Oprah, you do not speak for me.

I am calling on the TRULY strong, honest, powerful women in this country...women who will never grace the cover of a magazine or a list in Forbes. I am calling on wives, mothers, daughters, friends and sisters. I am calling on single moms, stay-at-home moms, working moms, and women who want to be moms.

I am just one person, the most typical of typical. But, I refuse to be fed dishonesty and distractions any longer. Oprah, that is why I will be turning the channel on you this Thursday, September 11th. I do this in honor of the real Teflon Divas of America, the most typical of typical.

Sincerely,
Natalie Anderson