Day Two: Hanging with the Teenager

Yesterday was a lot of fun, even tho' we were both exhausted by the end of the day. Took the 9 am bus from Nashua to South Station for a day of fun in Boston. We hung a left after leaving the station and walked over to Chinatown. Stopped for a strawberry smoothie with black pearls (black tapioca) at a local restaurant on Tyler St. that had dead ducks hanging in the window. Stopped at a little schlock shoppe where Anna bought a little dragon to remember her Chinatown adventure. Of course we couldn't miss the Chinese bakery (I kid you not) where Anna chose a slice of mango mousse cake and I got some pineapple bread to take home. Anna was amazed that we were the only round-eyes for blocks around. I think the Chinese were just as surprised to see two Caucasian ladies wandering around at 10 in the morning. It really is a fascinating part of Boston.

We walked everywhere! Up to Downtown Crossing where we wandered around Macy's checking out the $350. purses and trying on $300. sunglasses and glamorous hats. We went Tremont St., stopping at King's Chapel to listen to a lovely flute and harp concert for a while, then on to Quincy Market for lunch and window-shopping. We wandered along the waterfront, visiting with the seals outside the Aquarium and watching a 3-D IMax movie in their theater. We continued on down the waterfront, past the gorgeous hotels and prime waterfront property, back to South Station and the Boston Express Home.

Today we stayed closer to home and visited the Butterfly House in Westford, MA, had lunch at the 99 in Lowell and then took in a film (The Bridge to Terabithia) at 3 pm. Another nice, nice day for the two of us.

Sleeping on the Job

While working last night I found one of my two new aides dead sound asleep outside one of our more "active" patient's room. My supervisor was already on the unit helping me with the monthly editing (don't even ask. . .) so she went down the hall and had to literally shake the aide to wake her up. The aide was sent home by the supervisor at 1:30 am. "But I worked a double shift!" So what? If you're going to work two shifts back-to-back, you'd best be able to give both shifts the same effort. My demented patients aren't going to care or even know that you're exhausted. They still get up out of bed, stagger around, and fall on the floor. The aides are there to keep this from happening and keep the residents safe. Can you imagine explaining to some family member why their loved one has a broken hip or fractured skull? "Oh well, you know--Jane was working a double and was just so tired she had to sleep a while. Of course it's understandable. Grandma should have stayed in bed." Right.

I slept all day today and I am still tired (it's 10:15 pm). I picked up Anna in Milford at 8 pm and we're headed to Boston tomorrow morning. Here I am thinking about the North End, and she wants to go to Chinatown. Okay. I guess we'll be eating dan dan noodles for lunch.

Jack and I took a hike through Mines Fall Park yesterday. We had been there the day before on our cross country skis, but the snow was a bit slushy and icy for successful skiing. It's lovely and peaceful place in the depths of winter. One of the old power canals that used to run to the fabric mills and a portion of the Nashua River flow through the park so the sound of gurgling water is never far away.

Megalomaniac! The Sims 2!!!

I am hopelessly addicted. No rehab facility can fix this. I spend hours directing the lives of my Sims, building them mansions, finding them gorgeous furniture, giving them the benefit of my many years of decorating experience--and do they appreciate it?? No, they don't. They love to crash my computer when I get them some bit of furniture or wallpaper or shrubbery they don't like. Miserable little Simulatees. And when you think of all the Simoleons I spend for them--hmph! I must have spent 5 hours on the computer yesterday trying to find the download that kept this game from loading up. Frustrating as heck, but I'm ba-a-a-ck! (A little tip--to get rid of a Sim you can't stand--just build a nice swimming pool, direct the Sim to take a swim, then remove the ladder. He drowns and a headstone appears on his front lawn. No kidding.)

This coming week is school vacation in New Hampshire, the lovely state where I have lived for 37 years. (God, am I old or what?) My granddaughter Anna is going to spend a few days with me this week and we're planning to go down to Boston and "do the big city". There's a new bus service from Nashua to Boston that goes there and back every 90 minutes and costs onl $5.00 one way for the next month (then it goes up to $10.), so old Grammy doesn't have to drive and burn up gas ( and take her life in her hands in Boston traffic.) I think we'll start in the North End and see the old North Church, the Paul Revere House, any number of Italian bakeries (o dear God. . .) and then trundle over to Fanueil Hall and poke around all the shops. Anna is 15 this year, so there won't be many more years where she'll want to be hanging out with her old Grammy. I love her to death--we get along like a couple of old pals and never disagree. There's a huge difference between being a parent and being a grandparent.

I'm working tonight. Sigh. . . Well, it helps pay for treats like the above.

This is a photo of me taken in October, 2006, at the wedding of a cousin's child (some child--he's well over 30.) I tried to get this photo to appear in the Profile section of this blog, but to no avail. Anyway, this is what this 59 year old blogger looks like. My relatives say I look just like my mother. Sometimes, I think, and sometimes just like my Dad.

Eleven to seven in the Dementia Unit

Well, another night in Paradise. I'm an 11 to 7 charge nurse in an end-stage Alzheimer's unit in Lowell, MA. I love the nurses I work with (with an exception or two, of course!) and my nurse's aides are quite simply the best. A nurse is only as good as her worst aide, so I am so appreciative of my "regulars" who take such great care of the 42 patients on our unit. It's a good thing, too, since I'm always up to my arse in paperwork. My supervisor always jokes that the day staff think we midnight nurses sit around eating bonbons, reading movie magazines, and painting our nails. Frankly, I could really use a pair of roller skates and maybe a unicycle. . .

My night is pretty much filled with paper, and concludes with a two hour med pass before I leave for the day. Yesterday I started the med pass 15 minutes early, thinking I would be able to finish up my nurses' notes and other nightly patient documentation and then get the heck out of there. Sure. A small crisis arose and set me back by an hour. You just can't win.

I fit right in with these demented souls. Any of them can bring up a subject right out of the blue and ask me a question about whatever and I just go with the flow. There's nothing like the feeling I get when a resident's face just lights up with a big smile when she sees me. They know I love them.