So this is a post that I meant to do a few weeks ago for my Dad's birthday, but obviously didn't get it done. But I am getting it done now so better late than never, right?
Anyway, "Bones" was the name of one of my brothers' and I's all-time FAVORITE of all favorite games to play with our dad when we were younger. We used to beg and beg for him to play it with us just about every Sunday summer evening.
The Rules of Bones:
We kids would line up along the rock wall we helped my dad build in our backyard and then my dad would stand about 30 feet away from the wall holding a nerf ball and yell "Bones!" and we would start running back and forth along the wall trying to guess where he was going to throw the ball and trying to fall to the ground or jump out of the way if it came hurling towards you. Because if/when the ball did hit you, you lost whatever limb (bones) it hit. So if it hit your left arm you had to hold it behind your back for the next round. If it hit your right leg, you had to hop around on just your left leg.
The 2 worst situations you could be in were: losing both of your legs (because then you had to just walk on your knees), or if you got hit in the head (because then you had to close your eyes and you were as good as dead in the coming rounds, although sometimes Dad would just leave you there dreading the inevitable for a few rounds before killing you off).
It is important that you remember that we kids used to beg and beg for him to play this with us because if the game sounds a little like abuse to you, you should know that it was abuse that we BEGGED for. :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Nurse Katie
So I realized yesterday that I haven't told a lot of people about my new job. So here is the background on Nurse Katie.
Right before Christmas I quit my home health nursing job. It was defnitely a good and necessary move.
Anyway I came back to Boston in January without a job. About a week after I got here, I got an e-mail through our ward e-mail list or whatever about a nursing job opportunity at a private Catholic school. I figured, "Hey. Why not?" So I interviewed and the interview went really well. And they knew I was Mormon because the family that referred me to the job is Mormon. And anyway, they called me and offered me the job the next day but then I told them about the 1-month vacation I have planned with my family and that I would understand if they couldn't give me the job because unlike a hospital or something, there just isn't the same type of coverage built-in. They said that they thought they would have to give the job to the other candidate. Fine. I mean, I wanted the job, because I needed a job and I like kids (especially in cute little plaid uniforms) but it wasn't my dream job or anything or I would have considered cutting the trip short or something. But then they called back on Monday (the offer was made on Friday) and offered the job to me again and I took it.
I only work 20 hours a week. Usually 9:30-1:30 or 10-2. So I try to supplement that with doing 20-30 hours of work on this research project for the VA Hospital and University of Utah that I can do from home on the computer (kind of like the one I did last summer).
The school is great. It is K1 (pre-school) through 8th grade. They have uniforms. The teachers are all way cool and really care about the students. And one of them I think might actually turn into a real outside of work friend. (Which is good, because that was the only sad part about quitting my last job, was leaving the friends I had made behind.)
I mostly work with the younger kids (I mean, think about how many times you went and saw the nurse when you were in middle school) and they are SO cute. There is this TINY little K1-er that I love and that comes in every day for some medicine he has to take and then sometimes comes in other times because he misses his mommy and we get to read books together. There is another kid in 1st grade who I LOVE. He is black and has lived in England until last year and is SOOOOOOOOO cute. He usually comes by to tell me what good things he ate for lunch. And I know I probably shouldn't have favorites, but I guess I kind of do.
And yeah, that is pretty much it. They call me "Nurse Katie" or "Miss Katie" which I also love.
The actual nursing of it isn't exactly my dream. I mean, I was made for the ER, and so bloody noses, bumped knees and paper cuts don't really do much for me. But I do like the pediatric aspect of it. And I feel like I get to use a lot of creativity which is something that I missed about the ER. (For example, a little girl came in a couple of weeks ago that had been eating her crayons. (Luckily they were non-toxic) Try getting crayon out of those back molars without a toothbrush. Trick? Gum.)
New trick tried today: my rolling desk chair can serve as a perfectly great wheelchair for transporting wounded basketball victims
Right before Christmas I quit my home health nursing job. It was defnitely a good and necessary move.
Anyway I came back to Boston in January without a job. About a week after I got here, I got an e-mail through our ward e-mail list or whatever about a nursing job opportunity at a private Catholic school. I figured, "Hey. Why not?" So I interviewed and the interview went really well. And they knew I was Mormon because the family that referred me to the job is Mormon. And anyway, they called me and offered me the job the next day but then I told them about the 1-month vacation I have planned with my family and that I would understand if they couldn't give me the job because unlike a hospital or something, there just isn't the same type of coverage built-in. They said that they thought they would have to give the job to the other candidate. Fine. I mean, I wanted the job, because I needed a job and I like kids (especially in cute little plaid uniforms) but it wasn't my dream job or anything or I would have considered cutting the trip short or something. But then they called back on Monday (the offer was made on Friday) and offered the job to me again and I took it.
I only work 20 hours a week. Usually 9:30-1:30 or 10-2. So I try to supplement that with doing 20-30 hours of work on this research project for the VA Hospital and University of Utah that I can do from home on the computer (kind of like the one I did last summer).
The school is great. It is K1 (pre-school) through 8th grade. They have uniforms. The teachers are all way cool and really care about the students. And one of them I think might actually turn into a real outside of work friend. (Which is good, because that was the only sad part about quitting my last job, was leaving the friends I had made behind.)
I mostly work with the younger kids (I mean, think about how many times you went and saw the nurse when you were in middle school) and they are SO cute. There is this TINY little K1-er that I love and that comes in every day for some medicine he has to take and then sometimes comes in other times because he misses his mommy and we get to read books together. There is another kid in 1st grade who I LOVE. He is black and has lived in England until last year and is SOOOOOOOOO cute. He usually comes by to tell me what good things he ate for lunch. And I know I probably shouldn't have favorites, but I guess I kind of do.
And yeah, that is pretty much it. They call me "Nurse Katie" or "Miss Katie" which I also love.
The actual nursing of it isn't exactly my dream. I mean, I was made for the ER, and so bloody noses, bumped knees and paper cuts don't really do much for me. But I do like the pediatric aspect of it. And I feel like I get to use a lot of creativity which is something that I missed about the ER. (For example, a little girl came in a couple of weeks ago that had been eating her crayons. (Luckily they were non-toxic) Try getting crayon out of those back molars without a toothbrush. Trick? Gum.)
New trick tried today: my rolling desk chair can serve as a perfectly great wheelchair for transporting wounded basketball victims
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Quoting from one of my favorite books (and movies), Anne of Green Gables, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." And I am going to imitate my friend Erin, (and hopefully flatter her as well) and copy her goal of reading 50 books in 2011 and in order to track that have posted a list on the side of this blog (which is nearly EXACTLY like her's so copy copy copy cat Katie).
I think I will mostly just put the titles up there. But if you want to read my thoughts and feelings about the books, you can check out the book review blog I started with my friends.
PS Yes I am embarrassed about book #2 for 2011 and almost didn't put it up, but because I am a little nervous about meeting the goal. I decided to count it. BUT just so you know, I found the book at the bedside of one of my patients while working an overnight shift and thought that it might help keep me awake. Which it did, but does not help the embarassment. However, I recognize that I probably do need help in that department, so it was probably a good decision overall. Just a little bit shameful.
I think I will mostly just put the titles up there. But if you want to read my thoughts and feelings about the books, you can check out the book review blog I started with my friends.
PS Yes I am embarrassed about book #2 for 2011 and almost didn't put it up, but because I am a little nervous about meeting the goal. I decided to count it. BUT just so you know, I found the book at the bedside of one of my patients while working an overnight shift and thought that it might help keep me awake. Which it did, but does not help the embarassment. However, I recognize that I probably do need help in that department, so it was probably a good decision overall. Just a little bit shameful.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Christmas Eve Tradition
This week's family memory will be about what our family does on Christmas Eve.
So we always do the put on the traditional Chrismas play (which turns out to be I guess not so traditional because there are only 3 of us kids, and a lot more roles than that, especially since we always do the BofM part of it too (Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy of the birth of Christ) so that may have to be its own blog post for another day). But after the play, at the sole request of our mom, we always end up singing some Christmas songs around the piano. Mind you, the only one in our family who is not completely tone deaf is probably my brother Sean, so it's always a somewhat painful experience.
After that, we always get to open two gifts. One of which is always the stereotypical Christmas pajamas. The thing that isn't so stereotypical about them though is that for some reason, years ago, my mom decided to start using the food storage machine to can them so we actually have to open it with a can opener. Now that I am writing this, I am realizing how weird of a tradition it kind of is, but let me tell you, that it must be a good one, because the years she has forgotten or not been able to get them "canned" we've all complained. So I guess the lesson to be learned here is if you are looking for a way to spice up the Christmas Eve pajama idea, you might try putting them in a can. After opening our cans, we all get to open one more gift which is always a children's book and then Mom makes us each read them.
After that, we always put out hot cocoa and cookies for Santa (and yes, even now, when the youngest kid is 21 years old) and then we all go and sleep in my room. We used to all sleep in the guest room bed because it was the biggest, and then I got a queen sized bed in my room too and so we started just sleeping in my bed, and then as we got older, I made the boys sleep on the floor next to my bed and they would just drag in blankets etc., but now as they have gotten older as well, still unable/unwilling to stop the tradition, but also unwilling to sleep on the floor, they have started dragging their mattresses into my room. It's a tight fit, but always fun and it made it easier for us to be able to coordinate who would go into Mom and Dad's room each hour on the hour starting around 2 am to ask if it was time to get up yet.
So I realized today that I really don't have any pictures of our family at Christmas, so I'm going to have to work on that when I go home this year. This picture was the only one I could find, that was Christmas-related and really isn't that great other than the incredible bow I have on top of my head (yes it does match my shirt, thank you mom-made clothes and accessories) and the lite-brite in the background which is probably one of the greatest Christmas gifts of ALL history.
So we always do the put on the traditional Chrismas play (which turns out to be I guess not so traditional because there are only 3 of us kids, and a lot more roles than that, especially since we always do the BofM part of it too (Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy of the birth of Christ) so that may have to be its own blog post for another day). But after the play, at the sole request of our mom, we always end up singing some Christmas songs around the piano. Mind you, the only one in our family who is not completely tone deaf is probably my brother Sean, so it's always a somewhat painful experience.
After that, we always get to open two gifts. One of which is always the stereotypical Christmas pajamas. The thing that isn't so stereotypical about them though is that for some reason, years ago, my mom decided to start using the food storage machine to can them so we actually have to open it with a can opener. Now that I am writing this, I am realizing how weird of a tradition it kind of is, but let me tell you, that it must be a good one, because the years she has forgotten or not been able to get them "canned" we've all complained. So I guess the lesson to be learned here is if you are looking for a way to spice up the Christmas Eve pajama idea, you might try putting them in a can. After opening our cans, we all get to open one more gift which is always a children's book and then Mom makes us each read them.
After that, we always put out hot cocoa and cookies for Santa (and yes, even now, when the youngest kid is 21 years old) and then we all go and sleep in my room. We used to all sleep in the guest room bed because it was the biggest, and then I got a queen sized bed in my room too and so we started just sleeping in my bed, and then as we got older, I made the boys sleep on the floor next to my bed and they would just drag in blankets etc., but now as they have gotten older as well, still unable/unwilling to stop the tradition, but also unwilling to sleep on the floor, they have started dragging their mattresses into my room. It's a tight fit, but always fun and it made it easier for us to be able to coordinate who would go into Mom and Dad's room each hour on the hour starting around 2 am to ask if it was time to get up yet.
So I realized today that I really don't have any pictures of our family at Christmas, so I'm going to have to work on that when I go home this year. This picture was the only one I could find, that was Christmas-related and really isn't that great other than the incredible bow I have on top of my head (yes it does match my shirt, thank you mom-made clothes and accessories) and the lite-brite in the background which is probably one of the greatest Christmas gifts of ALL history.
Family History
So this month's visting teaching message was about doing family history and temple work. Family history is something that I have been feeling pretty guilty lately about not participating in and so I set some goals of things I can do to start doing my part a little more. Most of my goals are about finding things about my ancestors, but I also set a goal to be better about leaving things for my posterity (I guess I should say POSSIBLE posterity) to have to know more about me and our family. So I am going to write in my journal at least once a week (I realize that for some of you, this may be a shockingly low aim of a goal, but it would be a definite improvement for me from where my journal writing is at now) and I also am going to try to write about a family memory, tradition or something of the kind on this blog at least once a week (you all can monitor me and chastise me if needed on this part of the goal).
Monday, December 6, 2010
Random Funny
Sign posted in the bathroom in the building of one of my patients says:
"When you are finished using the tolit (underlined two times), Please Flush the Tolit!! If everything dose not go down, it is your (underlined 5 times) Responsibility (underlines 3 times) to plung the tolit (underlined three times. Thank you (underlined once)"
I like to think that the person actually pronounces toilet as two-let and that the number of underlines is an equivalent ratio to how loud their voice would be raised to emphasize that word.
"When you are finished using the tolit (underlined two times), Please Flush the Tolit!! If everything dose not go down, it is your (underlined 5 times) Responsibility (underlines 3 times) to plung the tolit (underlined three times. Thank you (underlined once)"
I like to think that the person actually pronounces toilet as two-let and that the number of underlines is an equivalent ratio to how loud their voice would be raised to emphasize that word.
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