Saturday, October 30, 2010

Isn't my sister pretty?
























This picture was taken at Eat! The restaurant in Aqua Books, which has delicious food as well as Manitoba Rooibos, which is a beautiful tea.

They also have cool tea pots.





























Chuck was also at Eat!


Funny stories from the nursing home:

Male resident sitting in the dining room chewing on his breakfast toast exclaims to no one in particular: "Excuse me! Umm, I think I have the wrong teeth."

A male resident is sitting in the dining room, having just finished his lunch. As I passed by his table, I asked, "Hey, how are you doing?" To which he responded, "I'm fed up." I was surprised because usually this particular gentleman is quite amiable and happy, so I asked, "What's the matter?" The resident responded, "I just ate lunch." I paused, and pondered whether the lunch was particularly bad that day, until my brain finally caught up. I love puns.

A female resident in a wheelchair leans towards another male resident sitting in a wheelchair next to her. She asks gently, "Excuse me, are you going to the dance tonight?" To which the gentleman responded, "Well, I suppose so." The lady asked hesitantly, "Well, would you like to accompany me? We could have a lot of fun. I'll give you my number." I looked at the male resident, curious as to his response to this invitation, and discovered that he had fallen asleep.

Sidenote: There is not a large selection of available men at the nursing home, and I am quickly learning that this poses a slight dilemma for the women who are, well, looking.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

It's windy.

Confession: I have a strange personal satisfaction with reading comments of CBC news articles and agreeing or disagreeing with them. It is almost as satisfying as voting. Which I did, at exactly 7:59pm tonight, one minute before the polls closed. After I had turned in my ballot I celebrated with a fist pump and a "YES! I made it."

Sam Katz won by a 20,000 majority....but I have been consoling myself by disagreeing with all the narrow minded comments on CBC.

Have you noticed that I have just expressed a rather blatant political opinion on my blog? Usually I avoid controversy and stick to the middle ground. Jennie is growing up.

In other important news, I found out that Halloween costumes are mandatory for work on Friday. I am thinking of ideas for a cheap costume that has a creative element, and does not scream status quo. It's a tough road.

This week's funny story at the nursing home:

While playing Bingo, a rogue resident wheeled herself around the tables during one of the games, and pulled a tablecloth off the table, which in turn knocked the dishes onto the floor, fully disrupting the exciting Bingo game. The dedicated staff worker that I am, I engaged the situation with attempts at bribery and begging, urging the resident to give back the tablecloth which she had tied around the arms of her wheelchair and connected to a chair. The resident began pulling the chair behind her in noisy semblance of delight. Despite my pleas for the resident to hand over the tablecloth, she denied my request with an air of stubborn indignation and a few words that will not be repeated. After exhausting my list of reasons why this lady should give me back the tablecloth, and to no avail, I had an inspiration. I admitted that I was interested in the tablecloth for business related reasons, and that I would be very interested in undergoing a trade for the tablecloth. The resident responded that such a trade would only be acceptable if she were able to see the item that would be given in exchange. I faltered. But only momentarily, for I remembered where the hand towels were kept. I offered the resident a crisp, white hand towel, freshly laundered, and still slightly warm. The trade was completed successfully, and the tablecloth was returned with no bloodshed, and only a slight prickle of sweat, and trickle of tears. On my part.

Monday, October 18, 2010

I need to clean my room

I'm cold despite my long johns and wool socks. I suppose this is a foreshadowing of future cold evenings in Jennie's bedroom. Sort of romantic in a depressing, Jane Eyre sort of way.

I need a heater.



I am enjoying my job.

This week's funny stories at the nursing home:

Two elderly residents both with Alzheimers have a particularly close connection with one another, although both are married to other people. The female resident whispers to a staff member in a dreamy voice: "____ has been very attentive lately, I think he may propose marriage, although I need to make sure that he gets baptized first."

A staff member is showing a resident to her room, and the resident remarks, "My, what a nice street this is. I'm so glad that I live in this area of the city."

Monday, October 11, 2010

I am thankful for my family.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

October's got those orange eyes...

I had a dream of giant red sunflowers the other night. They were tall and looming and beautiful...and then I realized that they were growing in the middle of a swamp, and the only way that I could pick them would be to swim in brown, murky water that had steam rising from it. I tried to google the meaning of this dream...but alas, red sunflowers do not occur very often in dreams apparently.























That was random.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Went for a walk...



"Everything dies, they say,
Everything dies,
Their colours pierce the branches."
-Margaret Atwood-







"This is 'poetry', this song
of the wind across teeth..."
-Margaret Atwood-