Saturday is a special day

My grandma Irma will be 102 years old next month.  As you can see she is still pretty spry.  She loves to feed the geese.  However, these birds are pretty spoiled and grandma is going to have to step up her game if she wants to impress them.  I'm thinking a souffle or a quiche.

 This morning my niece asked if she could borrow one of my old prom dresses that she had secretly been eyeing.  I was flattered.  I knew my taste was timeless!!  It made me feel young and hip...for a moment.

 Until I was reminding my grandma how she came shopping with me for one of my prom dresses.  My 102 year old grandma went on about how long ago that was and that she couldn't remember....because it had been way too long.  Funny she recollects details from the great depression and WWII.... but not 1999.

Look at these cute babies!  Surprised to see two?  Well what do you expect it's springtime!

 Ellie Rose on the left is only 11 days old and Gabe on the right is 11 weeks old.



This is kind of random, but the hospital I work for put out a message in their weekly newsletter encouraging staff to write thank you cards to the troops and the hospital would send them with a reporter heading overseas.    My co-worker Connie was sweet enough to take it one step further and make these cute cards for everyone on our floor to sign:

 Our hospital is in the midst of a very busy/complex move, but everyone was happy to take a minute and say thank you to our troops.

It meant a lot to me that they would take time to do this.  Have I mentioned that I really like where I work?

On a side note I chatted with John Boehner's cousin today.  If you don't know who that is maybe you should google it.  On another side note--if google can't find it you are out of luck!  My co-worker likes to advertise that I'm really good at google...hey I'm also good at ordering pizza! 

I am a woman of many talents!

Foreclosed on Filing Cabinets

The hospital I work for is on the move.  We are moving down the street into a huge state of the art brand new hospital.  It's exciting. 


...and chaotic!

The regional HR manager handed me a stack of labels this morning to track down furniture in various parts of the hospital that will be moved with us into our department.  In other words they are taking furniture from one department and giving it to a different department when we move.  It's an interesting concept and I'm sure there is a method to the madness.

In the meantime I armed myself with the HR secretary as a navigator to help me track down this rogue furniture.  Ha!  It didn't stand a chance!

That is until I came upon a tiny office with 1 filing cabinet.  It must be a very special cabinet, like Indian in the Cupboard special; because when I tried to tag it with my label the current owner looked like her home was being foreclosed on.  Not wanting to be a bureaucrat or a cold heartless banker I did the right thing...I did not label it! 

Yes that is correct I am a defender of foreclosed on filing cabinets.  The smile on a secretary's face is all the thanks I need.  No no no I'm not a hero.  Just an average ordinary office furniture labeler. 

I should also give credit to my trusty navigator without whom I would have been lost in the wilds of a hospital in transition. 

The Boa Constrictor Upstairs

There is a snake living upstairs.  At least I'm pretty sure there is a snake living upstairs, because Maren spotted a large aquarium with heat lamps through the window.  Why does she have to be so observant? 

I'd rather being an unsuspecting victim than a suspecting one.  Now I'm watching my back, looking under the bed, checking the ceiling vents, the toilet, the shower....ugh!  You get the idea.

I keep expecting to come home and find a snake stuck inside my dog's crate because once it ate Molly it couldn't fit back through the cage.


However, my dad did a pretty good job of convincing me that the snake couldn't get through the plumbing or the ceiling vents.  That is until he told me to see how difficult it was to lift the grill off of the vent...I did it with my pinky finger.  Eek!  Back to panic mode!!!!

Well, I may be forced to move after all...gulp!

Colleen Forestire

I knew her as Grandma Colleen. I grew up thinking that she was somehow my biological grandma, but in actuality she was a close friend to my grandmother Irma. 

I can't remember when exactly she became my pen pal, but I have very early memories of pulling out my mother's old type writer to respond to a letter my grandma Colleen had written me.  Her letters were always typed up on two cards that came from the ASPCA.  She had an abundance of cards from them, because she donated to their organization. 

She would always send pictures of the things she was doing and people who came to visit.  Her letters were always very interesting and filled with details. 

She had a real passion for traveling and sent me a detailed account of a trip she took to the orient.  She sent me a beautiful necklace from Tibet that I treasure, because of the story behind it. I think she may have been an influencing factor in my desire to travel and see the world.

Now that I'm older I realize how spoiled I was by the lavish attention that she paid me.  I'm so grateful for that experience of writing her letters faithfully for years in my childhood.  The letters began to dwindle as I became a teenager, and got too busy with all my extra curricular activities. I'm sure I must have appeared ungrateful at that time, but I hope she knows I recognize the handprints she's left in my life.