Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, mom. Here's a rose from your garden.

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever."

~ Unknown

just not the same...

I did something today that I haven't done for about a year. The ritualistic working on Sunday, followed by a stop at Bread Co to pick up lunch. After my father died 5 years ago, whenever I would work on Sunday, I'd call up my mom on the way home and ask if she wanted me to pick up lunch from Bread Co. Her answer would always be, "Do they have black bean soup?" Yes, that was one of the selections of the day. So, we'd have a late lunch together, sitting in front of the television, watching some sort of Lifetime movie--or the baseball game.

Today was different. Just not as exciting eating the lunch as it used to be. It's been almost a year since my mom was last at home. I can still see in my mind, those lunches with my mom, watching her savor her bowl of black bean soup. One of the little things she enjoyed, and one of the things I didn't mind doing for her, even when I had to park down the street and then go stand in line and wait for our order. That was a tradition. I hope they don't ever stop selling that black bean soup. It's one of my favorites, too.

"I miss thee, my Mother! Thy image is still the deepest impressed on my heart."

~Eliza Cook

Say Whaaaaa?

Sheesh. Where's the year going? I'm going to just tell a quick story about something that happened tonight, just so I don't feel bad that I haven't entered something in a while.

I went out to dinner tonight with a friend--a place called Chinese Noodle Cafe. A short plump server came up to the table and said, (in a kinda Chinesey accented English) "Are you Chinese, Korean, or..."

"Nope, I'm Japanese," I replied.

She added, "Oh, well you look like you might be something."

"Hey, I'll be Chinese if it'll get me a discount," I quickly responded. I laughed and looked at my dining companion. He smiled at me and grinned.

Why can't I keep my mouth shut? I dunno. Chinese, Japanese--we all look alike :)

Spring

The sun was shining.

I wish the weather would stay like this all the time.

Today was a beautiful day.

Indeed it was.

The end.

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want -oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"

~Mark Twain

One track mind

I'm up. Fell asleep watching "new moon" and forgot to turn down/off my phone, again. And my sister decided to send me a fb message, which made my phone ding to notify me of my inbox message.

Since I'm up, I've decided to type up a quick entry. No pic. No quote--unless I get some wild hair and decide to throw it in later. Today's entry is brought to you courtesy of one of my patients.

Here it goes...I was working with one of my patients in her room yesterday morning, helping her complete her morning self care routine. We were up at the sink with the curtain pulled, when one of the doctors came in the room with her entourage of short coats. Mind you, these rooms are small enough for two patients, but to cram this group of cornheads into the room was quite ridiculous! The thin curtain giving my patient barely enough visual privacy kept moving as those dorks kept filing in. I was so tempted to jack one of them up through the curtain, but I kinda like my job.

"Can you feel me when I touch you down there?"

My patient and I quickly looked at each other with odd looks on our faces, as if to make sure the other had heard the same words.

"What the heck is she touching down there?," my patient "whispered" as quietly as her dysarthric voice would allow. It was all I could do NOT to start cracking up.

I missed what the doctor had said next, but my patient whispered, "They've got vibrators over there, too!"

Later on, as I heard her retell the story to another therapist, she added, "Yeah, I heard the doctor say, 'tell me when you feel the vibrating stop' and I was like what the fuck...???" I know it was totally inappropriate, but I just couldn't keep from cracking up this time.

Ahhh...sometimes I "go there" courtesy of my patients. It's nice how some people can keep their humor in the midst of a life-altering ordeal.

Let's Give Them Something To Talk About...

Ok, as I was walking around the zoo the other day (yes, I go to the zoo quite often), I was at the penguin and puffin house. I saw these two penguins following each other around the outside display. Kind of cute how they fought over this one piece of dried grass. It got me wondering...are these two penguins siblings, friends, or lovers? I hear penguins mate for life. Kinda awkward when you live in a small area and you don't really get to choose who lives with you. I'm thinking that they were mates. Actually, I did see two of the others doing the naughty. It was kind of funny because I didn't realize what they were doing at first. HELLO! Oops, shouldn't have been staring at them. No privacy! But maybe they like people watching them. Ick.

"Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night, you gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light."

~Sarah McLachlan

"Do what you will, always walk where you like, your steps do as you please, I'll back you up." ~Dave Matthews Band (I'll Back You Up)

lunchtime

My sister is in town and I took her to the zoo so she could try out a new camera that she had bought for one of her daughters. It was a beautiful sunny winter day.

On our way out, we stopped at the sea-lion pen just as feeding time was about to begin. The sea-lions were frolicking in the water, as if their internal clocks sensed the event that was about to begin. As the woman who was going to feed them unlocked the gate, the sea-lions all went and assumed their fish-eating positions. I noticed that one of the sea-lions had taken position away from the others, on a rock, eyes closed, head swaying left and right--looking as if she was doing her best Stevie Wonder impression. What the heck? It was mealtime and why wasn't she bobbing up and down in the water with the rest of the sea-lions? I pointed out my observation to my sister and questioned whether the sea-lion was blind.

It was entertaining watching the keeper toss each sea-lion fish, making sure each one got a portion of the meal. The sea-lions would catch the fish, flip it in their mouths, and then swallow it. Even the one on the rock would do this, eyes closed and all. Occasionally, a fish would slip beyond her reach and fall to the bottom of the pool.

After the feeding, the keeper asked if there were any questions. My sister asked if the sea-lion was blind. Indeed she is blind, and has been for two years. Nothing traumatic or exciting to cause the blindness. Just age-related, something the twenty year old sea-lion was experiencing.

Here is a sequence of pics showing the blind sea-lion catching, and eating her meal. I swear, in the last pic, it looks as if she is smiling at the camera. Could life not be greater?

Here comes the fish! You can see it flying in on the left side of the pic.

Searching under the water for it...

...finally grabbing it under water...

...the above water flip...

...a perfect catch, and down the hatch!!!

SMILE ☺

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."

~Frederick Koenig