Saturday 9 & The Final Happiness Post

Good morning! I'm hoping to be able to get this posted before heading off to work. I'm still adjusting to my new schedule. (Can I just say how much I love not getting up at 3:45 to be at work by 5:30? Cause I really do!) I haven't had to work on a Saturday in years. I can't say I love having to work 2 weekends a month or the thought of working on holidays, but I do like the job. Working with dementia patients is proving to be very rewarding and I am learning so much about the disease.

You didn't stop by to hear about that so here's the Saturday 9. I'm linking up with Sam and the gang so if you thought this was fun, please stop over at the site and find out how to play along and see links to the other players.

She Works Hard for the Money (1983) 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a woman who works hard as a waitress. What's the hardest job you've ever had?

Physically, it was probably the summer before my senior year of high school. I spent it in the Pocono's working for the Youth Conservation Corp. We went MILES on our knees "grubbing" hiking trails (pulling every weed and blade of grass and removing any stones that were sticking up), mucking out ponds, building stone dams to create better trout fishing, picking up garbage (people throw some pretty disgusting stuff out their car windows!), and doing whatever else they found for us to do.

Mentally, it was the week I worked as a telemarketer. That's all the longer I lasted. Worst job ever.

2) The lyrics tell us she has worked at this job for 28 years. What's the longest you stayed with one employer?

That would be the 12 years I was with the bus company I just left.

3) Donna Summer was inspired to write this song during an awards show. She ducked into the bathroom and met the elderly ladies' room attendant, whose job it was to make sure the room the spotless, the complimentary hairspray and moisturizer was abundant, and there was a hot towel for every celebrity who used the facilities. "Wow," Donna thought, "she works hard for those tips." Who is the last person you tipped?

The delivery driver who brought our pizza last night.

4) Early in her career, Donna was in the touring company of the musical Hair. It played in Munich for so long that she became fluent in German. What's the longest you have ever lived away from home?

I guess it would be when I was in college. I've never gone on a world tour, run away with the circus or anything exciting like that.
  

5) Sam's dad is naturally outgoing and enjoys striking up conversations with waitresses, librarians, the checker at the supermarket, etc. Sam is always polite but more private. Are you more like father or daughter?

I am definitely more like Sam. I suck at chitchat and never know what to say to start a conversation with people I don't know. I'm not particularly good at or fond of it with people I do know, either. I find it boring most of the time.

6) A little more than 10% of the American workforce is self-employed. Have you ever been your own boss?

I suppose, if you count things like selling AVON.

7) Labor Day weekend may offer a golden opportunity for napping and sleeping in. Do you snore?

My husband assures me I do.

8) Will you be attending a Labor Day picnic or barbecue? 

Not that I know of, but if we do, it'd just be getting together with my mom and stepdad and our daughter and her family for a meal. I'm not imagining anyone will be wanting to do much outside, though. The temperature is supposed to be at 90 or above on Monday with very high humidity. When you consider the heat index, it's going to feel like about 100 degrees. I imagine we'll all be home in our air conditioning.

9) Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of the fall. Will you be adding any new fall clothes to your wardrobe?

Not specifically for fall or this weekend. I just had to buy a lot of clothes I can wear for my new job and I still need a few more things. Too bad my position doesn't wear scrubs. I've seen some really cute matching sets since I've been working and they're so easy to care for and they're sturdy. Of course had they told me to wear scrubs, I'd probably wish to wear regular clothes.

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And before I forget. Again. Here's my final offering for the August Happiness Challenge.

Day 31

My mom loves her great-grandchildren, but doesn't get to have much one on one time with them. My son just doesn't come around all that much and my daughter is a little nervous about leaving her son with her, because he's a toddler and she is worried he'll be more than Mom can handle. 

With me back to work, my daughter has had to start depending on Mom a little bit. She has asked Mom to babysit twice this week. Once while she was mowing everyone's grass (she has taken up mowing hers, ours, and Mom's since we all live in a little cluster) and once while she went to a doctor's appointment.

Anyway, what made me happy yesterday was seeing my grandson give my Mom a huge grin and run to hug her....and the HUGE grin that put on Mom's face.

Happiness Challenge: Day 30

Wow...this month went FAST! I can't believe there's only one more day of the challenge and the month. I usually try to find the happy in any situation, but it's been a good thing to find one specific thing every day and share it with you.

I don't even know where to start. I got to work with the dementia residents all day today. When you learn their histories and who they were and what they did before dementia started stealing parts of their minds it really hurts your heart. Many of them were highly intelligent and held high positions in their fields. They were heads of nursing, nurses, teachers, store owners, secretaries, and farmers. Every once in a while who they are will peek through and each one has their own personality still.

They get frustrated, angry, scared, and they hurt. Often the only way they have to let us know is with ugly words or behavior.  I've been around nursing homes in one way or another all my life. One grandmother had a massive stroke and lived existed in a nursing home (the former building of the home I now work for) for 11 years paralyzed on one side and unable to talk. The other grandmother worked in the kitchen of a home and often took me to work with her to visit the residents when I was young. Later she became a resident in that same nursing home.

This home, I am working for, is so far ahead of anything else I've ever seen when it comes to caring for it's dementia residents. The main goal of the dementia unit is not to keep them quiet and out of trouble until they pass, but to try to give them a reason to get up each day and hope. We are constantly evaluating what we see so the rest of the patient's health care team can look at it and see what they need to do. This job is actually far more than just singing songs and playing games. We try to address their physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual needs.

There are so many moments that made me happy today: two ladies who hadn't been participating then got up and DANCED; the man who says plenty but makes little sense, reading the whole 23rd Psalm out loud; the lady who was lost in her memories, but telling us all about them (we had no idea what or who she was talking about) and laughing and giggling like she was with her girlfriends; the former nurse who was pacing the halls and asking for her husband and telling everyone she loves him over and over; the woman who never woke up, but sang along with every song we played.

I'm not saying some of their behaviors aren't frustrating, because they are, but you have to keep those times above in mind. They are still human beings who think (just differently than we do) and feel and I swear there isn't much better in this world than causing one of them to smile. THAT made me very, very happy.

Happiness Challenge: Day 29

I still had a lot of training to sit through at the job today, but a couple of things made me happy. 

It's employee appreciation week and today they had a very nice catered picnic outside of the corporate headquarters. Thanks to how sore my broken tooth has made my tongue I couldn't really enjoy the food, but it was a nice chance to meet and talk with some of the other workers.

I also got to meet some of the residents in the dementia wing (where I think I will work most of the time). Some of them are so sweet. One woman grabbed onto my hand and we talked and when I had to go, one of the other aides assured her I would be back and she said, "Good, because she's just lovely." Awww.

Happiness Challenge: Day 28

Even though my first day at the new job was pretty boring...lots of films and talking about fun topics like fire drills, blood born pathogens, hepatitis, resident rights, abuse, safety, etc....I'm happy to finally be getting started. I'm happy that everyone I've met seems so nice and genuinely happy in their job. I'm happy it seems like a very positive work environment. I believe that has something to do with the fact that organization is faith-based, affiliated with the Hungarian Reformed Church (and yes, they celebrate that heritage and now and then you will hear folks speaking Hungarian). It is a huge, sprawling modern facility where concern for the residents' rights, dignity, and care reign supreme. I'm happy to be affiliated with such a place.

Today I will finish up my orientation and then start my training. I can't wait for that. One little blip in all of it...that tooth I had the root canal done on last week. Yesterday as I finished lunch my tongue brushed up against something that didn't feel quite right. Further probing revealed that while the filling the dentist put in the tooth is still there, the entire back of my tooth broke off! It doesn't hurt, but there's a sharp edge that is constantly rubbing the side of my tongue and making it very sore. The office is closed today so I back tomorrow afternoon...which meant I already had to ask to leave work early. I hate starting off on that foot.

But tooth aside, I'm happy, happy, happy!

Happiness Challenge: Day 27

Hey, even Elvis liked Poodles!

I'm sitting here in the cuddle chair looking over at my husband on the couch. He's got the poodle cuddled up beside him and is absent mindedly petting her over and over. He always professes to hate her, while she adores him without end in spite of the fact that he generally ignores her....so she is pretty much melting with bliss over there. This makes me smile on the outside (and laugh long and loud on the inside).

Happiness Challenge & Some Monday Motivation

Oops! It's a 2-fer this morning because I forgot to post over the weekend.

Day 25

Sitting in the "new" cuddle chair with Colton. Daisy took over the arm rest beside me, so Colton got his stuffed dog and put it on the arm rest beside him. I'd say the chair's a success.

Day 26

Dinner out at a new (to us) restaurant with friends is always a happy time.

I want to leave you with some little thoughts to begin the week.

• As students across the country begin another school year, pray for them. Pray they have a safe place to learn, lessons that excite them and stir their desire to learn. Pray they are safe from bullies and that they are not bullies, themselves. 
• Pray for the teachers. Pray they are still excited about teaching. Pray they are coming into the schools refreshed and eager to help shape who the next generation becomes. Pray they are involved with their students and paying attention to the little things, that they will not hesitate if they suspect abuse, neglect, or see bullying. Pray they have wisdom to help and also that they, themselves, are protected.
• Pray for the school counselors. They are dealing with issues most of us had never seen back in our day. The world is a much harder place for today's children and teens. Pray these counselors are compassionate, but not enablers. Pray they have wisdom.
• Pray for all the support staff that hums along in the background to keep the schools running. The secretaries, the aides, the custodians, the nurses, the coaches, and the bus drivers.
• Just cover it all. We've seen so many terrible things in the news in recent years. School administrators, teachers, students, and parents are all struggling with how to deal with and handle these situations and how far to go in preventing them. Pray that our schools are safe havens.
• Pray for the students who feel marginalized or bullied. Pray they reach out or that someone recognizes they are at risk before it's too late.
• Pray for the parents, who send their children to school every morning. Pray they are reasonable when dealing with those whose care they are releasing their children into. Pray they will be involved at the schools, working along side the staff to make them safe, healthy, and happy.
• Pray for the drivers on the roadways. Pray that they stay off their phones and are alert and paying attention. Pray that no driver runs the stop lights on a school bus. 

Children in today's world probably spend more time with those people I mentioned above than with their parents so school is a big, big deal. 

Rise and shine and get out there and make this a good week! Choose to be happy. Choose to make a difference. Choose to love.

Happiness Challenge: Day 24

It's Friday. 'Nuff said....but I'll say more because I've never been accused of being brief. In fact, I get yelled at regularly because texts are just supposed to be abbreviated little bits and not several complete paragraphs. Picky, picky. Good thing I never took it up back in the days when you had to pay extra.

So, I had lunch with a friend. That was good. I don't get to see her much since her grandkids stopped going to public school and riding the bus...and well, I really won't see her now.

This afternoon I watched Woodlawn. I've wanted to see it for several years and finally bought it last year, but this is the first time I watched it. Wow! Another really good and very inspiring movie.

I also mowed ALL the grass. With the push mower. Usually I only use the push mower to trim around things or maybe to get the grass shorter in the area where Daisy goes potty. My hubby does all the rest with the John Deere. I am feeling a bit like the Tin Man in the Wizard of OZ...."Oil. Oil can." My joints are not thrilled with me and letting me know it, but it was worth it. I like the satisfaction that comes from accomplishing something.

That's where I'm at tonight. Happy...and tired!

Happiness Challenge: Day 23

I have liked the movies in the God's Not Dead franchise. Way back at the beginning of the year I heard there was going to be another one released around Easter. Then I heard nothing more. Apparently, it was released into theaters with very limited showings. It also had the bad luck to be released at the same time as I Can Only Imagine and Paul, Apostle of Christ both of which, were huge Easter hits. I kind of forgot about GND: A Light in the Darkness.

A few groceries were needed yesterday, so I stopped at Wally World (Walmart) on my way home from my dentist appointment...and you know how it is at Wally World, there is no quick zipping in, grabbing the items you want, and zipping back out. It's like an unwritten law of the universe, Thou shall not enter any Walmart without browsing aimlessly it's hallowed aisles and spending $100 on divinely inspired items that you didn't know you even needed until it was revealed to you via seasonal display or the almight price rollback.

I had just finished wandering through the book aisle (the selection there is getting smaller and smaller...though they are now selling ebooks and digital audio books) and was pushing my cart past electronics with no intention of looking or stopping. I failed. I turned my head to catch the titles of the new movie releases and stopped in my tracks. There sat God's Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness.

I bought it. I spent the time waiting for my face to regain feeling watching it. It's not quite as good as the other GND movies, but it was still pretty decent. I always like to see what actors or actresses show up in these films. Among others, this one included Ted McGinley (Married With Children, Happy Days, Dynasty, Revenge of the Nerds), Jennifer Taylor (best know as Chelsea on Two and a Half Men), Tatum O'neal, John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Sex In the City), and the rapper Swayze among others (lots of cameos).

Anyway...finding it and watching it made me happy.

Happiness Challenge: Day 22

I made arrangements with our son to have Tim deliver the two recliners from our living room to his house on Friday after work. I had planned to give him one because my daughter wants to give me back the big Amish rocking chair I lent her when she was pregnant and moved into her own apartment.

Now I'm giving him both because a friend is getting new recliners for her living room and to make room for them, she has to get rid of her "cuddle chair." It's one of those recliners that's a chair and a half wide....bigger than a regular chair, but not quite as big as a love seat. It's super comfy so when she asked, I said I'd take it. It will be just right for me, Colton, and Daisy to watch Puppy Dog Pals or maybe for a little cuddling with the hubby.

Anyway, our daughter gets the rocker out of her way, our son gets two recliners that he really, really likes, and I get my rocker back and the cuddle chair. Everybody's happy!

Happiness Challenge: Day 21

I finally got my poodle groomed today. She no longer looks like one of those poor, abandoned pups in those horribly sad videos on Facebook and she feels better...you can see it in the way she acts. Making her feel better makes me happy.

She had a boyfriend at the groomer's place today. The groomer's own Pomeranian. He was such a cutie and wherever Daisy went he was glued to her side (the pups are allowed to roam loose when they aren't being groomed). When we left I could hear him crying. For her part, Daisy never even acknowledged his existence.

Puppy love? 

Happiness Challenge: Day 20

Today I am happy that we have dental insurance. I've been doing the dance with a painful tooth for over a week now. It hasn't been constant pain, but often enough it has brought a blinding flash of pain that, for a moment or two, stops all rational thoughts of anything else in their tracks. I called my dentist last week for an appointment knowing that once a tooth begins to make itself known, it's only going to get worse. Yesterday was the first appointment they could give me.

Unable to identify exactly which tooth was causing the pain for my dentist, caused him to tell me which one is at fault. According to him, it is the last molar on the bottom right. A 40 year old filling cracked and he said that was allowing liquids to get down into the tooth....which is dead...EXCEPT for about half of one root, which is where the pain is coming from.

I need a root canal, but it's going to be a production because of the location of the tooth and will take nearly an hour. He didn't have time to do it yesterday, so he drilled a bit of a hole in the tooth, poked down into to the live root (to make sure that was causing pain...it was), and put a temporary filling on top. He said that would keep me from having pain until I go back on Thursday.

The shot he gave to numb the right side of my mouth before doing all that was apparently the most potent one I've ever had. I've never had one that numbed my face so completely, not even when I had a tooth pulled. Even my tongue was numb. Well, half of it...it was split right down the middle, half numb, half not. Talk about a weird feeling. Plus, any time he's numbed me before for root canals or extractions or whatever, it's always worn off in a couple of hours. Yesterday I was still totally numb at 5:00. I was getting worried and thinking of calling his emergency number, but at 5:30 it just stopped being numb. There was no gradual wearing off. It was just gone.

And the pain was back. It hurt a lot at first, but eventually subsided to a dull ache that has been continuous. So, either the tooth he worked on isn't the problem...or it's worse than he thinks...or there's more than one tooth involved. I guess we'll find out Thursday.

Anyway, frustrating as it is, I am very glad we have dental insurance so I can get the work done. I know far too many people who suffer through severe pain for as long as they can and then end up having the tooth pulled because that's hundreds of dollars cheaper than fixing it. Dental care has become something that isn't terribly common among the working middle class because of cost. We've been in that boat before. It sucks, but when it's $250 to pull the tooth vs. $1200 or more to save the tooth....you do what you have to do.

Way to go politicians and lawyers for creating a medical system that is so ridiculously expensive that many hard-working people can't afford needed care.

Done ranting....and still very happy to have insurance.

Happiness Challenge: Day 19

My husband was supposed to go in to work this morning for a little while...which amounts to the better part of the day since the job site is 2 hours from home. He surprised me by decided to stay home and go in a bit earlier tomorrow instead. We went out for breakfast and then picked up our daughter and grandson and went to a big indoor flea market. Then he took me to the Boost Mobile store and waited patiently while I got a new phone. Him actually taking a day off and putting me before work makes me very happy!

Happiness Challenge: Days 17 & 18

Day 17

I had to take some more things to my new employer to meet requirements and my daughter and grandson rode along. We went to the playground in Ligonier, known as Friendship Park. It is one of the nicest places for little ones that I've ever seen. Colton had a blast running around and made a few friends. I ran into one of my co-workers from the bus company and we had a good chat. It was just a pleasant day and seeing Colton have so much fun...that makes me happy.

Day 18

Colton LOVES the Puppy Dog Pals, but there aren't very many toys based on them yet (they're pretty new) so when I found a playset based on the show today and there were only 2 on the shelf, I went ahead and bought it. We gave it to him tonight and he went nuts! It makes me happy to give others something that brings them happiness.

Happiness Challenge: Day 16

BOOKS!!!! Ah, the aftermath of a birthday...getting to spend the money and gift cards. I had plans to go to Barnes & Noble today to see what I could spend a gift card on and then my daughter mentioned that someone had told her Ollie's was a good place to buy children's books at discounted prices. Well, yes, it is, but I rarely think of the place and it's been years since I've been there. So, I invited her and Colton to come along on my book trip.

We started at Ollie's and I got two study Bibles that I've been wanting, the Holman Rainbow Bible and the Cultural Background Study Bible. Both are pink and brown leather bound editions and I got them both for less than I'd pay for just one of them anywhere else! I used my birthday money from my mom to get those. I also got a book and 2 coloring books for Colton and a Christmas gift for my stepdad...a boxed 4-book set about America's Premier Gunmakers featuring Colt, Browning, Remington, and Winchester (only $6.99!).

At Barnes & Noble I was able to get three paperback cozy mysteries, a book called The Me Journal (just pages of questions and lists with room for you to write in your answers...something to leave behind for your family), and a paperback journal to record your reflections during your quiet times with God...there are prompts each day to get you thinking.

So, yes, BOOKS (and lots of them) made me happy today!

Happiness Challenge: Day 15

It's my birthday and I spent most of the day with my daughter and youngest grandson. We shopped at the mall all morning, had lunch out, and spent some time with my mom, who has the same birthday as me. Tim and I went out for dinner. And I got what seemed like about a million wishes for a "HAPPY" Birthday...it seemed kind of expected, so I had one!

Happiness Challenge: Day 14

It's the day before my birthday and my friends at Bible study blessed me tonight with cards, my favorite homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie (with frozen vanilla custard), a Barnes & Noble gift card, and a big, beautiful bouquet of sunflowers. And they sang to me and prayed for me.  I'm still smiling.

Happiness Challenge

Day 13

It was a dark and stormy day filled with booming thunder, jagged flashes of lightning, and great sheets of rain blown across the landscape to closed us off in our own little world, my grandson and me.  We snuggled and danced and sang and napped and played with cars and read books and watched movies. It was all part of a happy day.

Happiness Challenge

Day 11

I got to be home. Alone. With nothing I had to do. HEAVEN.


Day 12

We don't get to see our son and his family very much...maybe once every month or two. So my happy today was having all my family here and watching the three grandkids play together.

Happiness Challenge: Day 10

I saw a podiatrist today about my foot and ankle. How does that qualify for a happy thing, you ask? The answer is actually more than one thing.

• The doctor is a personal friend. He and his wife are in the same Bible study group that I'm in.
• He had x-rays taken so he'd know exactly what's going on rather than making an educated guess.
• He found a lot of arthritis, a couple of bone spurs, and the space between my shin bone and foot is narrowing. This is all good news because while the arthritis bothers me now and then, the rest of it doesn't. Yet. At least I know what's down the road....injections and probably surgery way down the road. Anyway, good news because none of that is my problem now.
• My immediate problem is tendinitis. The soft, compression brace my primary care physician told me to use obviously hasn't been helping so today I got a big, black, brace that laces like a high-top sneaker and has plastic stays in the sides to stabilize the ankle. It's ugly and not the most comfortable thing, but it sure kept my ankle from leaning in and supported my arch. No pain all day while I was wearing it.
• When I was out at the desk to square up, he told the receptionist to waive my copay. How nice was that?!

So, I know exactly what's going on, got a brace that helps, and it didn't cost me anything out of pocket. That's why it qualifies as my happy today.

August Happiness Challenge: Days 8 & 9

Day 8:

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon watching videos of how people do their Happy Planners and then working on mine and organizing my supplies.  I don't know how organized it's going to make me, but it's so darn fun to decorate!


Day 9:

Today is the first time since he's been walking that I had Colton ALL day.  We took his momma to work this morning and picked her up this afternoon...and we did just fine. He went to my dr's appointment with me, we shopped at Walmart, he took a HUGE nap, we had lunch, blew bubbles, and watched a movie. I loved every minute of it!