I had THE BEST time this past Saturday night. I went to a dear friend's birthday party...chicks only. She was celebrating an over 40 under 50 party and there were 8 women there. It was wierd because most of us new OF each other, a couple of us had met before but generally we were all strangers with one friend in common. We were from all walks of life...professional actress, opera singer, writer, nurse, 30 year old ( yes that's a category when you're in a room with all mid 40 year olds!), dental assistant, stay at home mom.
What was unique about this evening was that everyone seemed to have equal voice/equal status. You know what I mean? For some reason ( ok maybe the red wine helped) there didn't seem to be anyone prettier, skinnier, funnier, smarter, richer, nicer, better, etc etc. Now, of course there WAS someone skinnier, funnier, smarter etc etc but it didn't feel like it.
Everyone shone. We laughed so hard. We danced so hard. We ate so much. We drank a little too much. We were ON! Did we solve global warming, world hunger and the war on poverty? NO.... we sure could have - but we were just having too much fun being comfortable, care free, smart, funny, pretty, skinny, powerful women.
Happy Birthday Rhonda!!!!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
I write the songs......
I've always wanted to write a song but thought you had to be a really good poet or writer. Apparantly not. Have you listened closely to the words of songs????
" there were plants and birds and rocks and things" And things? And not even a name for the horse?
" That's the way uh-huh uh-huh I like it uh-huh uh-huh...." Men just don't kow how to communicate
" everybody wang chung tonight"?????? OK!!! ( look around to see what everybody's doing and copy them so no one figures out you don't know how to wang chung)
" a doo doo doo, a duh duh duh that's all I want to say to you" Again...men and communication
" skinna ma rinky dinky dink" Hey did you hear about that guys dink?
" You're once, twice, three times a lady" Did you just call me fat?
" Muskrat Suzy and Muskrat Sam, do the jitterbug...". Is that code?
" Knock 3 x on the ceiling if you want me. Twice on the pipe..." There's a prisoner in his basement.
" there were plants and birds and rocks and things" And things? And not even a name for the horse?
" That's the way uh-huh uh-huh I like it uh-huh uh-huh...." Men just don't kow how to communicate
" everybody wang chung tonight"?????? OK!!! ( look around to see what everybody's doing and copy them so no one figures out you don't know how to wang chung)
" a doo doo doo, a duh duh duh that's all I want to say to you" Again...men and communication
" skinna ma rinky dinky dink" Hey did you hear about that guys dink?
" You're once, twice, three times a lady" Did you just call me fat?
" Muskrat Suzy and Muskrat Sam, do the jitterbug...". Is that code?
" Knock 3 x on the ceiling if you want me. Twice on the pipe..." There's a prisoner in his basement.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
I've got a funny feeling.....
I had a conversation at work about women's intuition the other day, and how it ties into nursing. You see, I had a nursing instructor who was working on her Master's and she was doing her dissertation on male nurses vs female nurses and the use of "woman's" intuition. She didn't think male nurses had "woman's" intuition and therefore couldn't be as effective a nurse as a female.
I've been a nurse for 20 years now..I've worked ER, ICU, medicine and surgery and I have to say I've used intuition on a number of occasions. The vital signs are fine, everything on paper looks fine but I've got a "funny feeling" about this one so I'll watch him/her a little closer this shift and what do ya know....the patient crashes at about 3 am with a big bleed or something.
Most of my female nursing friends have stories of their " funny feelings" and how those intuitions have even saved lives.
I was working triage in ER one night and a 40 something female came in complaining of mouth pain. She said she had TMJ ( a joint in the jaw is inflammed) and it was acting up. Vital signs were fine. She also had sore arms but she'd been moving and lifting heavey boxes all weekend. She felt tired but hadn't slept alot due to the move. The doc I was working with was all ready to prescribe some pain meds but I had a " funny feeling" so ordered an ECG ( heart tracing). The Dr thought I was wasting time and money and got kinda pissed at me ( an ego thing too...thought I was disobeying Dr orders) Well....you guessed it- this woman was having a massive heart attack!!!
I have worked with alot of excellent male nurses in my career. Love working with them and boy do they know their stuff...but...I've NEVER heard a male nurse say" I've got a funny feeling about this patient". In fact I don't think I've heard ANY guy say...." I don't know what it is but something about that guy gives me the creeps!" Do guys get "funny feelings'? Do they consider them not concrete enough to mention? I'd like to know.
Ask your male friends,family members,co-workers, neighbours, nurses, Dr etc. if they have "funny feelings" and if they do, do they act on them or ignore them?. Let me know by commenting on this blog or send them my way.
Wait, if no one comments I'll think I have no friends .......
I have a funny feeling ........
I've been a nurse for 20 years now..I've worked ER, ICU, medicine and surgery and I have to say I've used intuition on a number of occasions. The vital signs are fine, everything on paper looks fine but I've got a "funny feeling" about this one so I'll watch him/her a little closer this shift and what do ya know....the patient crashes at about 3 am with a big bleed or something.
Most of my female nursing friends have stories of their " funny feelings" and how those intuitions have even saved lives.
I was working triage in ER one night and a 40 something female came in complaining of mouth pain. She said she had TMJ ( a joint in the jaw is inflammed) and it was acting up. Vital signs were fine. She also had sore arms but she'd been moving and lifting heavey boxes all weekend. She felt tired but hadn't slept alot due to the move. The doc I was working with was all ready to prescribe some pain meds but I had a " funny feeling" so ordered an ECG ( heart tracing). The Dr thought I was wasting time and money and got kinda pissed at me ( an ego thing too...thought I was disobeying Dr orders) Well....you guessed it- this woman was having a massive heart attack!!!
I have worked with alot of excellent male nurses in my career. Love working with them and boy do they know their stuff...but...I've NEVER heard a male nurse say" I've got a funny feeling about this patient". In fact I don't think I've heard ANY guy say...." I don't know what it is but something about that guy gives me the creeps!" Do guys get "funny feelings'? Do they consider them not concrete enough to mention? I'd like to know.
Ask your male friends,family members,co-workers, neighbours, nurses, Dr etc. if they have "funny feelings" and if they do, do they act on them or ignore them?. Let me know by commenting on this blog or send them my way.
Wait, if no one comments I'll think I have no friends .......
I have a funny feeling ........
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
La La Land
Well, this wouldn't be my blog if I didn't write something about my dreams. No, I don't mean my hopes and dreams- I mean dream dreams, the kind you have when you're sleeping. I'm what some call "The Dream Master"!!
I dream EVERY night usually several dreams per night.
My dreams are like motion pictures / in color/ stereo sound/ ....a plot, a beginning, middle and end. There's usually some conflict or dilemma (with me usually the hero) solving said conflict (or waking myself up!).
Sometimes I'm not even in my dream...I'm just an observer...I lurk around "watching" my dream but am not in it in any way shape or form. " I'm just watching the show, don't mind me!"
Just the other night my dream was like a " Murder She Wrote" mystery. There was a little old lady, there was some type of mystery and there was alot of solving to do. Although I wasn't a character in my dream, I was trying to solve the mystery not unlike you do when you watch a murder mystery movie or read a book !! I wasn't "in" my dream and I really didn't know what was going to happen next....it was so exciting!!!
I'm a bit of a musician and once composed an entire symphony ( in my dream). I conducted it too....I knew what I was doing, knew where the oboes/french horns and trumpets sat in the orchestra pit. It was a really moving and beautiful piece....lost forever in la la land.
I do have a recurring theme in alot of my dreams. Almost everynight one of my dreams will involve some type of building with many rooms to explore. Usually the building is my home or a home I'm moving into or a previous home that I'm revisiting... ( but WAY different than the actual home, you know how dreams are.....it was my house but it wasn't my house type of thing). In the dream I'm usually wandering the house discovering rooms ...beautiful rooms.... hidden in some corner of the basement will be this little door, I'll open it and voila a beautiful room with a fireplace and a grand piano. I'll be like "Huh?, I vaguely remember this but I do remember a little room upstairs" and off my dream takes me up these stairs to another door and voila... a room with windows galore and plants and window seats with colorful pillows...etc etc.
I'm sure we all experience heightened emotions in dreams. You know , where just a little touch of the hand has you panting and all quiverry !! My emotions are "explosive" in my dreams. I avoid conflict at all costs in my waking life but in my dreams I'm physically violent. I've beaten my husband. I punch, slap, kick with every ounce of strenght and it still doesn't seem hard enough! I've never cried so hard as in my dreams.....gut wrenching sobs that rip out of my body in waves....laughter that actually wakes me up because I'm making some kind of strangling noises!!
I'm a horrible mother in my dreams. I have forgotten to feed my infant daughter for about 4 days because I can't find her...I can hear her, but I can't find her.
I'm a horrible nurse in my dreams. I had a trauma quadripalegic patient, newly admitted, requiring ventilation. It was 6 hrs before I actually assessed him because I spent 6 hrs looking for a pen! (I had this dream the night before returning back to Spinal Cord ICU after a 9 month maternity leave.....do ya think I was a little nervous about going back to work?!)
I fly about once a month. I do the breaststroke. Not the most graceful Peter Pan type of flight...legs frog kicking, arms flailing about, but it gets me where I'm going and feels GREAT!
I run alot....running, as we all know is very hard in dreams.....try this.....go backwards! I discovered this in a running dream....I was in a marathon or something and of course had that heavy feet like running in deep water feeling and for some reason I turned around and started running backwards! EASY!
I don't know what it is and why I have such amazing vivid dreams but I LOVE it! I go to sleep everynight anticipating what my dreams will be. If I wrote them all down I'd have a library! I remember at least parts of one dream per night. I know I have way more than that. I'm so lucky!
I dream EVERY night usually several dreams per night.
My dreams are like motion pictures / in color/ stereo sound/ ....a plot, a beginning, middle and end. There's usually some conflict or dilemma (with me usually the hero) solving said conflict (or waking myself up!).
Sometimes I'm not even in my dream...I'm just an observer...I lurk around "watching" my dream but am not in it in any way shape or form. " I'm just watching the show, don't mind me!"
Just the other night my dream was like a " Murder She Wrote" mystery. There was a little old lady, there was some type of mystery and there was alot of solving to do. Although I wasn't a character in my dream, I was trying to solve the mystery not unlike you do when you watch a murder mystery movie or read a book !! I wasn't "in" my dream and I really didn't know what was going to happen next....it was so exciting!!!
I'm a bit of a musician and once composed an entire symphony ( in my dream). I conducted it too....I knew what I was doing, knew where the oboes/french horns and trumpets sat in the orchestra pit. It was a really moving and beautiful piece....lost forever in la la land.
I do have a recurring theme in alot of my dreams. Almost everynight one of my dreams will involve some type of building with many rooms to explore. Usually the building is my home or a home I'm moving into or a previous home that I'm revisiting... ( but WAY different than the actual home, you know how dreams are.....it was my house but it wasn't my house type of thing). In the dream I'm usually wandering the house discovering rooms ...beautiful rooms.... hidden in some corner of the basement will be this little door, I'll open it and voila a beautiful room with a fireplace and a grand piano. I'll be like "Huh?, I vaguely remember this but I do remember a little room upstairs" and off my dream takes me up these stairs to another door and voila... a room with windows galore and plants and window seats with colorful pillows...etc etc.
I'm sure we all experience heightened emotions in dreams. You know , where just a little touch of the hand has you panting and all quiverry !! My emotions are "explosive" in my dreams. I avoid conflict at all costs in my waking life but in my dreams I'm physically violent. I've beaten my husband. I punch, slap, kick with every ounce of strenght and it still doesn't seem hard enough! I've never cried so hard as in my dreams.....gut wrenching sobs that rip out of my body in waves....laughter that actually wakes me up because I'm making some kind of strangling noises!!
I'm a horrible mother in my dreams. I have forgotten to feed my infant daughter for about 4 days because I can't find her...I can hear her, but I can't find her.
I'm a horrible nurse in my dreams. I had a trauma quadripalegic patient, newly admitted, requiring ventilation. It was 6 hrs before I actually assessed him because I spent 6 hrs looking for a pen! (I had this dream the night before returning back to Spinal Cord ICU after a 9 month maternity leave.....do ya think I was a little nervous about going back to work?!)
I fly about once a month. I do the breaststroke. Not the most graceful Peter Pan type of flight...legs frog kicking, arms flailing about, but it gets me where I'm going and feels GREAT!
I run alot....running, as we all know is very hard in dreams.....try this.....go backwards! I discovered this in a running dream....I was in a marathon or something and of course had that heavy feet like running in deep water feeling and for some reason I turned around and started running backwards! EASY!
I don't know what it is and why I have such amazing vivid dreams but I LOVE it! I go to sleep everynight anticipating what my dreams will be. If I wrote them all down I'd have a library! I remember at least parts of one dream per night. I know I have way more than that. I'm so lucky!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The truth and nothing but the truth
Wouldn't it be funny if whenever we're asked " How're ya doin?" , we actually told the truth? No one does and if they do answer with a " Oh not so good today" we usually wish we didn't ask and quickly butt in with a " Oh I'm sure it'll get better- bye now!"
Imagine a truth serum slipped into our bottled water just one day....here's how it might go.....
Hi, how are you? Reply-" oh feeling a little icky....my heavey day"
Hi how're ya doin? Reply- " Oh a little sore...sex went on a little longer than usual last night."
Hey, how's it going? Reply- " well, I just threw up a bit in my mouth when I saw you coming and was just getting some gum to freshen my breath- and you?"
Hi, long time no see! Reply " Whoa, I see you've packed on a few since I last saw you , what, 15 lbs in a month?"
Hi , I'd like you to meet my new boyfriend. Reply-" yikes, you're even creepier looking than her last one. The one she chopped into little pieces and buried in her back yard."
What would you say today???
Imagine a truth serum slipped into our bottled water just one day....here's how it might go.....
Hi, how are you? Reply-" oh feeling a little icky....my heavey day"
Hi how're ya doin? Reply- " Oh a little sore...sex went on a little longer than usual last night."
Hey, how's it going? Reply- " well, I just threw up a bit in my mouth when I saw you coming and was just getting some gum to freshen my breath- and you?"
Hi, long time no see! Reply " Whoa, I see you've packed on a few since I last saw you , what, 15 lbs in a month?"
Hi , I'd like you to meet my new boyfriend. Reply-" yikes, you're even creepier looking than her last one. The one she chopped into little pieces and buried in her back yard."
What would you say today???
Wine expert
I wanted to title this entry " Wine Conissuer" but as you can see I can't spell connissuer (argh!).
I had two couple over for dinner last night. We consumed about 6 bottles of wine. Wine that I bought on sale. I'm no wine connis..(expert) you see. I knew we all liked red wine and I knew my neighborhood liquor store was having a sale. I bought a case of beer, and about 8 bottles of wine for under $100!! I bought wines with really neat lables and names. Fish Eye, Wally's Hut, Painted Turtle, Jacob's Creek. "These are cool" I thought. Well now I know what the "conniseurs" know - that if you have a Painted Turtle with a fish eye in Wally's Hut you'll feel like you drank from Jacob's Creek after someone peed in it!!!
Ugh!
I had two couple over for dinner last night. We consumed about 6 bottles of wine. Wine that I bought on sale. I'm no wine connis..(expert) you see. I knew we all liked red wine and I knew my neighborhood liquor store was having a sale. I bought a case of beer, and about 8 bottles of wine for under $100!! I bought wines with really neat lables and names. Fish Eye, Wally's Hut, Painted Turtle, Jacob's Creek. "These are cool" I thought. Well now I know what the "conniseurs" know - that if you have a Painted Turtle with a fish eye in Wally's Hut you'll feel like you drank from Jacob's Creek after someone peed in it!!!
Ugh!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Go Edmonton!!!
I've lived in Vancouver ( ocean, beaches, mountains, mild climate).
I've lived in Calgary ( 15 minutes to Banff, chinooks that bring warmth to cold winters).
I presently live in Edmonton ( um......my home town).
Recently Edmonton has had one of the wildest, rapid rises in housing costs that I have ever seen!
We bought our little bungalow about 6 years ago. Two years ago if we sold our home we would have made about $100,000.00. If we sold it today we'll have made about $350,000.00-$500,000.00 !!!!!
Yes, Edmonton. The average house is selling for over $400,000.00.
We have no mountains, we have no beaches, winters are cold, summers are hot with thirsty mosquitoes...why is this happening? Why are we more expensive than say parts of Vancouver Island?
Well, we have -
- oil( there are big wars fought over that stuff!).
- lots of land to build more homes.
- lots of jobs
- some of the best arts opportunities in Canada -opera, symphony, theater, and gallery art, a top notch School for the Performing and Visual Arts for grade K-12 ( seriously, I read that in Macleans or something!)
- the finest in health care ( our research facility developed Cold FX...a possible cure for the common cold!!!!, pancreas transplant, stem cell research, etc etc).
- clean air.
- blue sunny skies ( most of the time)
- no traffic ( a 40 minute drive home from work is considered a traffic jam)
- friendly people
- all the amenities of a really big city with the attitude of a small town ( we are the Capital City of Alberta ya know!)
What we don't have
- threat of earthquakes
- big city traffic
- days and days of rain or no sun
- dangerous bugs ( ok mosquitoes don't count!)
- PST
- mold growing on our sidewalks and roof
- bad pollution
Edmonton's not too shabby. No, it's not the most beautiful or metropolitan of Canadian cities out there but it's my home town and worth every cent I paid 7 yrs ago!!!!
I've lived in Calgary ( 15 minutes to Banff, chinooks that bring warmth to cold winters).
I presently live in Edmonton ( um......my home town).
Recently Edmonton has had one of the wildest, rapid rises in housing costs that I have ever seen!
We bought our little bungalow about 6 years ago. Two years ago if we sold our home we would have made about $100,000.00. If we sold it today we'll have made about $350,000.00-$500,000.00 !!!!!
Yes, Edmonton. The average house is selling for over $400,000.00.
We have no mountains, we have no beaches, winters are cold, summers are hot with thirsty mosquitoes...why is this happening? Why are we more expensive than say parts of Vancouver Island?
Well, we have -
- oil( there are big wars fought over that stuff!).
- lots of land to build more homes.
- lots of jobs
- some of the best arts opportunities in Canada -opera, symphony, theater, and gallery art, a top notch School for the Performing and Visual Arts for grade K-12 ( seriously, I read that in Macleans or something!)
- the finest in health care ( our research facility developed Cold FX...a possible cure for the common cold!!!!, pancreas transplant, stem cell research, etc etc).
- clean air.
- blue sunny skies ( most of the time)
- no traffic ( a 40 minute drive home from work is considered a traffic jam)
- friendly people
- all the amenities of a really big city with the attitude of a small town ( we are the Capital City of Alberta ya know!)
What we don't have
- threat of earthquakes
- big city traffic
- days and days of rain or no sun
- dangerous bugs ( ok mosquitoes don't count!)
- PST
- mold growing on our sidewalks and roof
- bad pollution
Edmonton's not too shabby. No, it's not the most beautiful or metropolitan of Canadian cities out there but it's my home town and worth every cent I paid 7 yrs ago!!!!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
What the #$%?
I think I finally understand that "sports parent" thing that people are on about. You know, the parents who swear at the refs and yell at their children for missing the net or something. I think I became "one" this evening. My cute little 9 yr old blonde haired angel...I digress....he plays in-line hockey. Some little 9 year old shit purposely shellacked my little angel and it took everything in me not to run into that rink and kick him in the nuts!!
I didn't. Instead I yelled " Nathan sweety are you ok, honey?"......he's not speaking to me right now.
I didn't. Instead I yelled " Nathan sweety are you ok, honey?"......he's not speaking to me right now.
oops, I forgot to introduce myself
I guess I'll start by introducing myself.
Hi I'm Dilys.
I'm married to Kevin ( 11 years!!) have two kids Claire 11 ( no we didn't HAVE to get married) and Nathan 9. I love being a mother!!!
I work parttime as a nurse.
OMG!!! this is so boring!
O.K. I sing in the opera! I'll tell you a funny story about my first year with the opera. I auditioned ( no, it wasn't an "American Idol" phenomenon moment! as I had never been to an opera, didn't know the title of ONE opera and seriously didn't think I'd be considered) and they liked me, they actually liked me!!!! I was in!!!!
Soon I received an invitation to an opera party! The party's theme was based on the first opera of the season-Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci by Verdi with a clown/circus theme. It said " Send in the Clowns" come one, come all...blah , blah, blah......DRESS UP or COME AS YOU ARE!!!!
What was I to do?????
Do I dress up? Do I not dress up?
I didn't know anyone in the opera ( having never been to one!) so didn't have anyone to call for advice. I asked friends, I asked family and got mixed responses from ...."I'd die before I dressed up in a costume" to " Go for it, they're an artsy bunch I'm sure" so.....I borrowed a playschool teacher friends clown costume complete with giant blue shoes, bells for buttons and orange wig, made my potluck potatoe salad and jingled my way to THE HOUSE. Now the host of the party was in the opera, a very wealthy lawyer with a Judge wife ( not judgemental....JUDGE as in your honor!) and the house was a mansion. The judge opened the door and smiled in a non-judgemental way in her little black dress with a teeny, weeny clown pin on the left breast!!! I jingled further into the castle and found myself ...alone....amongst tiny clown earrings, brooches and nice little summer dresses!
I'll have you know that I stayed the whole party in that get up, I jingled up to small little groups of opera talking people in cute little sundresses and made an impression.
I'm fun damn it!!!!
Hi I'm Dilys.
I'm married to Kevin ( 11 years!!) have two kids Claire 11 ( no we didn't HAVE to get married) and Nathan 9. I love being a mother!!!
I work parttime as a nurse.
OMG!!! this is so boring!
O.K. I sing in the opera! I'll tell you a funny story about my first year with the opera. I auditioned ( no, it wasn't an "American Idol" phenomenon moment! as I had never been to an opera, didn't know the title of ONE opera and seriously didn't think I'd be considered) and they liked me, they actually liked me!!!! I was in!!!!
Soon I received an invitation to an opera party! The party's theme was based on the first opera of the season-Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci by Verdi with a clown/circus theme. It said " Send in the Clowns" come one, come all...blah , blah, blah......DRESS UP or COME AS YOU ARE!!!!
What was I to do?????
Do I dress up? Do I not dress up?
I didn't know anyone in the opera ( having never been to one!) so didn't have anyone to call for advice. I asked friends, I asked family and got mixed responses from ...."I'd die before I dressed up in a costume" to " Go for it, they're an artsy bunch I'm sure" so.....I borrowed a playschool teacher friends clown costume complete with giant blue shoes, bells for buttons and orange wig, made my potluck potatoe salad and jingled my way to THE HOUSE. Now the host of the party was in the opera, a very wealthy lawyer with a Judge wife ( not judgemental....JUDGE as in your honor!) and the house was a mansion. The judge opened the door and smiled in a non-judgemental way in her little black dress with a teeny, weeny clown pin on the left breast!!! I jingled further into the castle and found myself ...alone....amongst tiny clown earrings, brooches and nice little summer dresses!
I'll have you know that I stayed the whole party in that get up, I jingled up to small little groups of opera talking people in cute little sundresses and made an impression.
I'm fun damn it!!!!
Testing ,testing, 1.2.3....Is this mike on??
Wow! I've spent the entire afternoon reading peoples blogs. So entertaining and funny! I wanna do this!!! My friends and family tell me I'm entertaining and funny!!! I'm worried about the " American Idol" phenomenon though. You know, during the auditions people say they're the next star, they say their friends and family tell them they're amazing...they sing....and ......THEY SUCK!!! My friends and loved ones tell me I'm funny and entertaining too. What if they just don't want to hurt my feelings? What if I'm a big ,fat, BORE??
Well this blog will be the test.
If people like it I'm auditioning for Saturday Night Live!!
Well this blog will be the test.
If people like it I'm auditioning for Saturday Night Live!!
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