Archive November 2008

Thanksgiving Morning

It's 11:00 AM on Thanksgiving day and Steve and I already have a nice holiday glow. 


It's our tradition, on major holidays, to sleep in, then have cinnamon rolls and mimosas for breakfast. I guess this year, the champagne and orange juice went down a little too easy. At least it made the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade easier to watch. Speaking of which..... 


Why the hell can't NBC just shut the hell up and show the parade?  On thanksgiving morning, I want to see a parade, not cuts from every awful show on broadway. The whole thing has become just an ad for the new york theaters. (At least on NBC). I switched over to CBS about half way through, and their coverage wasn't much better. But at least they didn't cut away from the parade every 5 minutes to televise some (poorly) lip synched performance by the cast of the latest Disney stage horror. 


This afternoon, we'll be heading over to Steve's sister's place for dinner. It should be interesting, since it's the first holiday since Steve's step father passed away on November 16. Holidays with his family usually involve some sort of drama, I can't wait to see what this brings. 


Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  I hope you have a great day no matter which family you choose to spend it with. 


Nov 27, 2008 11:05 AM

Recent Events

Where to begin? 

It's been a busy couple of weeks, with little time to sit and think, let alone write. A week of endings, beginnings, and of things finally feeling right after feeling wrong for a while. 

An Ending: 

One week ago today, we buried Steve's step father, Ron. He had been ill for a while, dealing with the aftermath of a botched knee replacement surgery (MRSA infection), congestive heart failure, and declining health after 70+ years of not taking care of himself. In the end, it was pneumonia that caused his death on November 16th, just a few hours after being removed from the ventilator he had been connected to for 7 days. 

The funeral was small, attended by close family and friends. Ron had 3 children from a previous marriage in addition to Steve and his brother and sister.  Steve is doing OK, and his mother is starting to adjust to life without the drama of having an ill spouse to occupy your time.  

My feelings are mixed. Ron was a bigoted, opinionated bastard at times, full of bluster and ego. This led to times when I just could not stand to be around him, declaring at one point that he made Archie Bunker look liberal.

But, he was a good provider and husband for Steve's mother, marrying her when she was a single mother with 3 children, providing a home for them, and raising them like they were his own. I guess that's no different than any of us. We balance our good side with our bad side, and in the end all we can hope to say, or have said of us, is that we did our best. 


A Beginning: 

We found out in August that Steve's niece Karie is expecting her first child in April. This past week, we saw the first ultrasound pics of the baby. It's a girl, and her name will be Haiden. I can't wait to be a "great uncle bear" and have already suggested to Karie that she rent a copy of Auntie Mame to see just what she's in for. I fully intend to make sure that two of little Haiden's first words are "Prada" and "Tiffany's". Every child should have an "Uncle Mame"


And lastly, from the Things Are Finally Right department: 

I'm back on my 36 hour / week schedule at work. For me, that means that everything is back to normal after my awful experience with that other job. Things are finally back to where they before I left. I'd forgotten how nice it was to have days free during the week. Working 12 hour shifts and working every other weekend is a small price to pay for only having to work 3 days a week. 
Nov 26, 2008 7:58 PM

Politics

I'm VERY happy about the outcome of the presidential election. I keep hoping that this is truly the death knell for the religious domination of the republican party, and not just a fluke.  

The passage of Prop 8 in California however does NOT please me. But I have to wonder: Where the fuck were all of the people protesting when  anti gay marriage amendments passed 4 years ago in Ohio and a few other states? No one seemed to care then, but now that it's happened in California we are ALL supposed to be outraged? 

Typical west coast / east coast homo mentality: Nothing matters unless it happens to them. Fuck the rest of country. Well, you know what?  Welcome to the reality that 75% of the rest of the gay country has to live with every day.

Did anyone stop to think that if we were not so hung up on the word MARRIAGE, with all of it's religious connotations  that we might actually have equivalent civil partnerships by now? Nope. All these loud mouthed homos seem intent on wanting to be just like the straight folks next door.  

And here's another hint California: Tell Gavin Newsome to shut the hell up. His comment about gay marriage coming wether anyone "Wanted it or not" probably did more harm than you know. 

Nov 13, 2008 11:30 AM

Is it November Already? 

Time to play catch up: 

After 3 months of hell, (3 months that i will never get back) I decided that I needed to leave the staff development job I took last July. It turned out to be more of a human resources job than a nursing job.   I was miserable, and in spite of the fact that i had decided to give the place 6 months before deciding to leave, I know deep down that the outcome would be the same. I gave them as little notice as possible, and went back to my old job, where they were only too glad to have me back.  I should have gone with my gut reactions about the job. I would have saved myself a few weeks of misery. 


The month of October was spent getting back into the groove of actually being a nurse again, working odd shifts (Had to take what was available since I went back with little notice.) and shaking off the dust of the hateful place I had been at for the previous 3 months.   I did manage to get a little outdoor time in. Here are a couple pictures of the fall color around these parts: 


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The colors this year were kind of dull. Not as spectacular as years past. We had a dry summer, so that probably had something to do with it.

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Now it's November, and I'm back to working mostly days shifts on a new skilled nursing unit ( Skilled = rehab patients, few dementia patients and more complex cases) that was just opened. I'm loving being a hands on nurse again, and don't see myself leaving. I'm going to use the time to finish my RN studies while I have a stable place to work. 



Nov 13, 2008 10:57 AM