Lots of Spills and Sunshine

Lots of Spills and Sunshine

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Meet Azlan



MEET AZLAN!


yes I named her after the Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe





this picture makes her look so much bigger, she is less than a lb and is only 8 weeks old!!! I randomly decided I needed a kitten today, found her for free and fell in love! I am also aware that the lion is a boy and she is a girl but boy names for girls are my kind of thing.
Reasons for Azlan....
I was in the play the Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe as a kid
I love the symbolic meanings that Azlan represents
There are four children in the books, 2 boys, 2 girls...
It just seemed right and then her middle name Sparrow! For none other than Jack Sparrow.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Hats

HATS! Currently I am sporting a few different hats, they can be a tad heavy and sometimes overwhelming but eventually my goals will be accomplished and hat juggling shall be put to rest. None of which are as hidious as Princess Beatrices :)

Hat 1: I got a phone call today from the charge nurse on the IPU (in patient psychiatric unit) offering me one of three coveted ESN(employed student nurse) positions!!! I said Yes!

Hat 2: I am a Psychiatric Mental Health Assistant on the IPU! Love it I get to entertain and support the patients in the IPU.

Hat 3: I am 11 months away from being a Registered Psychiatric Nurse and this entails more school work than I ever could have imagined.

Hat 4: I am doing my clinical on the Med/Surg floor which terrifies and excites me each day.

Hat 5: I have temporarily retired this hat of hairdresser as I only have 7 days in my week :( Except of course for my children who shall always have coiffed hair!

Hat 6: I am a mother to the most awesome kids, this of course is my favourite hat! They make the above 5 worth all the sleepless nights and night shifts(which by the way are not so fun to recover from).

Hat 7: I am a wife to a wonderful man!

I am looking forward to the future and I am blessed to have the opportunities to be employed with awesome nursing jobs while in school and I cannot wait to be done essays, calculations and post conferences!!!

I was thinking of taking pics in all my different roles, but alas I cannot find my camera and so you will have to imagine :) As a hint they typically involve scrubs, minimal makeup, nursing clogs and pics of my kids in my pocket.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Night Shifts

I have 'worked' night shifts as a mum :) up all night with kiddos especially when I brought the twins home on my own and I had 4 under 4! I literally slept for 15 minutes here and there, but tonight is my first big girl night shift! And since they just phoned me at 730pm to come in at 11pm and I have been up since 7am :) it may be a doozie!!! Wish me luck...

Monday, May 9, 2011

A little bit of love for purple orchids

When I began nursing I was sure I would not enjoy the geriatric psych rotation as much as the others but.... the more I took care of those wonderful people the more I realized they were just like little children, the main difference being a body that was no longer cooperating and a mind that was too tired to function.
They require the same TLC, body care and attention as little children, their attention spans are that of little children( not much at all :) ), they require redirection, and plus plus prompting, smiles and activities. The psych component makes them all the more interesting and multi dimensional.
Still coming off of my mothers day emotional roller coaster :) I started my new job at the IPU and I had the pleasure of caring for a woman who seemed to not 'be there' anymore, her speech was disorganized, she spoke mainly in German and her body was frail, she was confused and did not recognize anyone , even me after a few minutes and required 1 to 1 care, it broke my heart. But when she looked at her tiny little flower pot she would cry and whisper like she was talking to a little baby, for whatever reason that purple orchid reminded her of someone or something, she would stroke the leaves and place is so carefully by the window and she would cry as she told it how much she loved 'the little baby'. Even in a time and place where are minds cannot function in a recognizable way, we don't know what day it is or even who we are, there is always something or someone that can trigger emotion and memories. I have seen it in patients who supposedly have no ability to remember or recognize, in patients that are about to die, in patients that are so encompassed by their mental illness and so on.
I need these small reminders that there is hope even in the darkest of moments, that even purple orchids can make someone who "cant remember", remember.
The hardest part of becoming a psychiatric nurse is that I cannot cure and save people, there is no magic wand that can take their afflictions away. I don't think I will ever understand why people have to suffer so much, it truly breaks my heart, to see people overcome by hallucinations, delusions and panic. I ask why? a lot...
What I am grateful for is the opportunity to learn and grow while caring for psychiatric patients, it is truly tiring and rewarding all wrapped into a big bow!
I don't understand why when people break their legs we give sympathy and support in the form of crutches and cookies and when people have schizophrenia, major depression or suicidal ideation we judge, scoff and call them "crazy'' ? You cant snap out of schizophrenia just as much as you cant snap your broken bone back in and miraculously recover. I guess I am just on a mental health rant because one of the major hurdles for psychiatric patients is stigma and it is something that we can all stop.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mothers Day 2011

I don't know if it was the 1500 milligrams of penicillin or the fact that I just closed the door on a 10 yr chapter of my life or if the emotional-ness of being a mum just got to me or if starting a new job tomorrow has hit me ....but.... today was an emotional roller coaster! Strep throat, fully booked at the salon, not being able to spend mothers day with the little ones that made me a mother, tendinitis in my shoulder flaring up with a dash of monthly mother nature and BAM! Tears...
I love my kids and I cant believe that Ty made me a mum nearly 7 years ago and then 12 months later Rylie and 2 years later Noni and Livie:)
Today was bittersweet I was offered s job while I am in nursing school as a Psychiatric Mental Health Assistant and it starts tomorrow! It is a great opportunity for me and pays WAY more than doing hair so it was a no brainer, but I am going to miss my co workers and clients so much. In an ideal world I would be able to stay home with my kids and finish school but since Todd still cant work I have to work as well so I need to make more moola and be away less, and this job will give me that opportunity.
I am grateful that Ty is proud of me for going back to school and he thinks its cool he will grad from Grade 2 when I grad from nursing school. I am happy Rylie is in her own world and loves making daisy chains and custom artwork for Carissa:) ( I miss working with you already)... I smile when I think of how Noni is obsessed with green and how teeny tiny Livies bum looks in leggings. I love that my kids are forgiving and loyal, that each day they give me the opportunity to be their mum and love them!
FYI- strep throat is awful and it makes your tongue turn green.... eww totally gross, I hope this bug never enters my body again, when the Dr looked in my mouth he said "it looks like when you sour cream is four weeks past its date!'' I dont know why I felt like sharing that but I did :)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Health-A-Mungus

Rylie and Haiden getting ready to rock out to the health a mungus pre work out!

Jasmine S., Rylie, Annika, Jasmine M., April


Rylies Kindergarten class in front of tons of other K's. It is nice having 2 weeks off school because I can participate more with the kids school activities, it has been lovely.


I remember some of my field trips when I was her age and I hope she remembers the fun she had today :)

It was such a super cool activity that the instructors dressed even cooler!


Lots of love in this class, group hug after group hug


This is my favourite pic! Rylie and Alex.... Rylie wants to marry Alex so she can make sure people are always kind to him. I am grateful for her kind heart and how she doesn't seem to see differences and how she has an extra place in her heart for 'special' children.


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