Weekends Update
It's been a while since I've given a Weekend Update. I'll try to think back to the last few weekends...
Three weeks ago, dear sweet AliGail invited me to Martinis and IMAX. I couldn't convince any of my friends to join me, so I went alone. It was fun. One of the most interesting things was running into a brother that I hadn't seen in over 10 years. At one time, I was very good friends with the cousins of this brother. They moved away years ago and even though we haven't kept in touch, they still hold a very special place in my heart. So, it was nice to see him and even more surprising that he remembered me. (That Bethel really builds fine qualities into people.) I think that was probably the weekend that we did the Pioneer Dinner, too. Our bookstudy fed the pioneers after their congregation meeting. We have so many pioneers, that once you included their families, the elders and their families and our bookstudy, we had almost half the congregation to feed. But it was nice.
Last weekend, I was invited over to a pioneer sister's house to play cards. That was nice. My partner and I won after trailing for most of the game. I've tried very hard to quell my competitive spirit over the years, but it is still fun to win. Saturday, I had to go down to show Stinky Garbage Trailer to some people who actually kept their appointment. They liked the house and made me an offer. I accepted the offer and was scheduled to go over the terms with them this past Saturday (as in just two days ago). You'll find out why I had to miss that later...
After showing the house, I called AliGail's family to see what they were doing. They never don't have plans, but I thought I'd try since I was three blocks away. They were home (surprise, surprise) and of course told me to head on over. They were scheduled to attend a housewarming party later that evening. When I found out who the party was for, I invited myself along. They were going to a party for a brother in their congregation who I used to work with at my old job, in the same department. I knew he wouldn't mind if I crashed the party. It was strange seeing so many people from my old congregation. In reality, I only left there about 15 months ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago. I think AliGail's family were partied out (they had been to a small lunch gathering earlier in the day). We left after about an hour and headed to the movies. We saw "Pursuit of Happyness" which I have wanted to see, but could never get around to. It was good - I really like Will Smith.
Then on Sunday, our bookstudy had hospitality. There were only a couple of us able to do anything. We kicked around the idea of having lunch at someone's house, but eventually just decided to take them out. After the meeting, so many in the bookstudy cancelled that my brother-in-law and I (my sister was at home with a sick kid) had to recruit from outside the bookstudy. We had a nice lunch - the speaker and his wife were close to my age and grew up not too far from where I used to live in Florida.
This Friday, Frau Adorable and Number 11 called me to go to Thai for dinner. We had a nice time. The place has some new music which distracted me terribly. Instead of the traditional Asian remakes of American songs, they've got Karaoke remakes (in English) of American songs. The person singing is pretty good, but not quite as good as the original singer. So when the random woman was doing a Karen Carpenter song, I was a little bit impressed but disappointed at the same time because I'd rather just hear Karen. She (or another woman) did a fair Whitney Houston impression until she missed a few key notes in "I Will Always Love You." Then a man really committed the ultimate crime by trying to sing a couple of Queen songs. No one can match Freddie Mercury (though George Michael is a decent second choice).
Saturday I was woken up by a phone call from The Doctor telling me that Mama was in the hospital. I got down there at 9:00 am and stayed with Mama until Daddy relieved me at 11:30 pm. It was a bad bad day for Mama. The hospital staff were not very concerned about seeing to her needs in a timely manner. I also got attitude from her nurse when I tried to relate Mama's medical history. The nurse told me that she wanted to hear it from Mama and no one else. That made me so mad. I understand that Mama is best suited to tell her about the current symptoms. But she doesn't know my mother. She doesn't know that Mama couldn't tell a story in order with an accurate level of detail if her life depended on it. Add to that the fact that Mama had received at least two doses of Morphine already... It still makes me mad thinking about it. The nurse got a little nicer, but she was still in no hurry to take care of Mama. The only people earning their keep are the "techs" - the ones who take vital signs, assist patients in the bathroom and clean up. I suspected that a piece of equipment they had hooked up to Mama was not working, but I didn't push them about it. It was one of the techs who finally noticed that it was, in fact, not hooked up correctly. She called it to the nurse's attention after I left. Once it was finally connected - at least 10 hours after it was painfully inserted into my mother - the equipment began doing its job. This medical system stinks. You have to fight tooth and nail to get the kind of attention that you deserve. You cannot assume that "they" know what they're doing. "They" don't always know best.
Three weeks ago, dear sweet AliGail invited me to Martinis and IMAX. I couldn't convince any of my friends to join me, so I went alone. It was fun. One of the most interesting things was running into a brother that I hadn't seen in over 10 years. At one time, I was very good friends with the cousins of this brother. They moved away years ago and even though we haven't kept in touch, they still hold a very special place in my heart. So, it was nice to see him and even more surprising that he remembered me. (That Bethel really builds fine qualities into people.) I think that was probably the weekend that we did the Pioneer Dinner, too. Our bookstudy fed the pioneers after their congregation meeting. We have so many pioneers, that once you included their families, the elders and their families and our bookstudy, we had almost half the congregation to feed. But it was nice.
Last weekend, I was invited over to a pioneer sister's house to play cards. That was nice. My partner and I won after trailing for most of the game. I've tried very hard to quell my competitive spirit over the years, but it is still fun to win. Saturday, I had to go down to show Stinky Garbage Trailer to some people who actually kept their appointment. They liked the house and made me an offer. I accepted the offer and was scheduled to go over the terms with them this past Saturday (as in just two days ago). You'll find out why I had to miss that later...
After showing the house, I called AliGail's family to see what they were doing. They never don't have plans, but I thought I'd try since I was three blocks away. They were home (surprise, surprise) and of course told me to head on over. They were scheduled to attend a housewarming party later that evening. When I found out who the party was for, I invited myself along. They were going to a party for a brother in their congregation who I used to work with at my old job, in the same department. I knew he wouldn't mind if I crashed the party. It was strange seeing so many people from my old congregation. In reality, I only left there about 15 months ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago. I think AliGail's family were partied out (they had been to a small lunch gathering earlier in the day). We left after about an hour and headed to the movies. We saw "Pursuit of Happyness" which I have wanted to see, but could never get around to. It was good - I really like Will Smith.
Then on Sunday, our bookstudy had hospitality. There were only a couple of us able to do anything. We kicked around the idea of having lunch at someone's house, but eventually just decided to take them out. After the meeting, so many in the bookstudy cancelled that my brother-in-law and I (my sister was at home with a sick kid) had to recruit from outside the bookstudy. We had a nice lunch - the speaker and his wife were close to my age and grew up not too far from where I used to live in Florida.
This Friday, Frau Adorable and Number 11 called me to go to Thai for dinner. We had a nice time. The place has some new music which distracted me terribly. Instead of the traditional Asian remakes of American songs, they've got Karaoke remakes (in English) of American songs. The person singing is pretty good, but not quite as good as the original singer. So when the random woman was doing a Karen Carpenter song, I was a little bit impressed but disappointed at the same time because I'd rather just hear Karen. She (or another woman) did a fair Whitney Houston impression until she missed a few key notes in "I Will Always Love You." Then a man really committed the ultimate crime by trying to sing a couple of Queen songs. No one can match Freddie Mercury (though George Michael is a decent second choice).
Saturday I was woken up by a phone call from The Doctor telling me that Mama was in the hospital. I got down there at 9:00 am and stayed with Mama until Daddy relieved me at 11:30 pm. It was a bad bad day for Mama. The hospital staff were not very concerned about seeing to her needs in a timely manner. I also got attitude from her nurse when I tried to relate Mama's medical history. The nurse told me that she wanted to hear it from Mama and no one else. That made me so mad. I understand that Mama is best suited to tell her about the current symptoms. But she doesn't know my mother. She doesn't know that Mama couldn't tell a story in order with an accurate level of detail if her life depended on it. Add to that the fact that Mama had received at least two doses of Morphine already... It still makes me mad thinking about it. The nurse got a little nicer, but she was still in no hurry to take care of Mama. The only people earning their keep are the "techs" - the ones who take vital signs, assist patients in the bathroom and clean up. I suspected that a piece of equipment they had hooked up to Mama was not working, but I didn't push them about it. It was one of the techs who finally noticed that it was, in fact, not hooked up correctly. She called it to the nurse's attention after I left. Once it was finally connected - at least 10 hours after it was painfully inserted into my mother - the equipment began doing its job. This medical system stinks. You have to fight tooth and nail to get the kind of attention that you deserve. You cannot assume that "they" know what they're doing. "They" don't always know best.
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3 Comments:
Amen, to that. It was like that when my grandmother was in the hospital. I think they would have killed her a couple times over if my mom and aunts hadn't been there giving them h - e - _ - _ at every turn.
I'm very sorry to hear about your mom. I'm glad that you & the doctor are there for her. I'm also glad that you will be selling the trailer. Perhaps we should have a send-off.
Amen and Amen. Hope your mom is doing better...
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