Feeding the fish

I was talking with one of the residents today,a lady about 93 years old.She also has a sister in the same place she is. Her sister however is unable to speak and is not to aware of her surroundings because of a stroke she suffered some years ago.
Every time the one sister See's her sister she always wants to say hi, but also understand that her sister is not alert to her surroundings.
Today this resident was telling me how they are only 1 year apart in age and that she is the older one.She was saying they were the same age in school, because of not knowing English well there mom thought it would be better for them to be in the same class.
She went on to tell me at a very early age they traveled from Holland to the United States.I teasingly asked her if they drove.She looked at me with her deep brown eyes and said OVER THE OCEAN!!!! NO!! We came by ship. 14 days on the ship. She went on to say many many people including her mom got very sick on the journey too the U.S. I made the motions of throwing up and said you mean throw up? She looked at me and as serious as could be said Yes!!! They feed the fish!!!It was a good thing I had just been to the bathroom because I was laughing so hard I could have wet myself.My boss came out of her office and others around were asking what was so funny.I was still doubled over laughing so one of my co-workers who heard this conversation taking place explained it to others.
Imagine a 93 year old person referring to vomiting as feed the fish.
This my friends is what can make my job rewarding. It was better then the lady who was slapping my arms and trying to bite me earlier today.(remember the one who slapped my face some weeks ago).I am starting to think that lady does not like me. What do you think????
Please say a pray as there is a chance of a change of jobs within the Orange City Health Systems for me. I will tell you mare when I find out more about it, should be next week.It would mean no more Sundays!!!!!!!!!!Not sure about Saturdays yet.

Josie time.

Okay ladies and gents, I figure if you may talk about your kids I may talk about mine too (even if mine has four legs).I understand that not everyone is a dog lover Okay I do not understand but I accept that.
Josie has gotten so at ease at home in just one week. She has found her favorite spots to lay.Either on my buffalo belly or on the rug by the front door.She loves to chase Charlie around he growls at her and goes to lay where she so far is unable to get at him.I give her a week and she will be getting to his safe zone.
She continues to be such a cuddle bunny.She loves going to grandpa and grandma. The other day I stopped there with her and had to physically carry her out of the house.She was so relaxed getting loving from grandpa and grandma.I think I could actually see my mom relaxing and looking better when I left.She is good therapy for mom,with a very bad heart and high blood pressure and not to mention arthritis as well, she needs some good T.L.C.
My neighbor who teaches at MOC-FV and has my other neighbor for a student had to come see her because all Rachel could talk about is Josie.I have suddenly become popular with all the neighborhood kids again. I never knew they liked me sooooo much. There is just one thing that confuses me though,they come to my door say hi Brian then all I hear and see is them playing with Josie.One of the little gals said we need to pet Charlie too.I was impressed with that considering she is only in first grade.
All in all Josie is getting the peeing thing down well, however we need to work on the other end a little.No I need to teach her to come when I call and not run away.Typical kid.
So far she has not asked for an allowance!!!!!

OKAY here you have me!!!

I saw this on an other blog and thought it looked fun. A good way to get to know more about me.
1.Can you cook? Yes and pretty good. I just do not do a lot for myself.I enjoy it though.
2.What was your dream growing up?To be a hooker driver... LOLOL no not that kind to drive a wrecker (tow truck). I was thrilled seeing a wrecked car. Yes I know VERY VERY strange.
3. What talent do you wish you had? Hmmm that is hard to say since I wish I has several.Maybe be able to read music so I could play piano.
4. Favorite place? Sitting by a lake on a warm (not hot) summer evening by a bon fire.
5.Favorite vegetable? Fresh corn on the cob.
6.Last book you read? Shock by Robin Cook.I love a good mystery.
7.Zodiac sign? Libra
8.Any tattoos or piercings? NO and no desire to have any either.
9.Worst habit? I guess I worry to much or maybe low self esteem take your pick because I do not want to make you upset with me. See that is how I am.
10.Do you know others out side your blog? Only a few.
11. Favorite sport? I am not a fan of sports.
12.Negative or optimistic attitude? Mostly optimistic about 98% of the time.
13.What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator? Depends on how long, for sure sweat a lot since I am always warm.
14.What was the worst thing that ever happened to you? My severe depression and hospital stay. Yet it also has made me a stronger person too.
15.Tell me a weird fact about you? Not sure if it is weird but I m a real home body. I do not care to travel or go away much.
16.Do you have any pets? Yes two dogs Charlie a 13 year old part Yorkie part i do not know wild dog and a 4 month old Havanese named Josie that I just got a week ago. She is so calm and lethargic it is amazing.
17.Do you know how to do the Macarana/ No thank goodness. I hate that song and dance.
18.What time is it right now? Almost time for bed 4:45a.m. come to early.
19.What kind of bubble gum do you chew?I very seldom chew gum.
20. What is your favorite bar to hang out at.Not my thing to hang out at bars.
21.Do you think clowns are cute or scary?I never gave it much thought, I guess thay are cute.
22.If you could change one thing about your looks what would you change? Hmm only one thing? Drop about 50 lbs.
23.What color are your eyes? Hazel.
24.Ever been arrested? Like I am going to tell Becky??? No I am kidding Never and I hope to keep it that way.
25.Bottle or draft beer? Bottle.
26.If you won $10.000 dollars today what would you do with it? put a deck on my house and give some to the church and buy newer used car.
27.Do you believe in ghosts. No
28.Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Sit outside with my dogs and read a book.
29.Do you swear a lot? Not anymore at my job.No more factory mouth,now it is old person language.
30.Favorite swear word? I guess it would be shit.Not the worst and after all I do see lots of it in a day.
31.Biggest pet peeve? People who do not use common sense!!!!!!!!
32.In one word how would you describe yourself.That is always hard to do since I have low self esteem. I guess maybe I would say sensitive.

One more picture

Josie and Mr.Brian.
Thank You Becky for taking the pictures for me,and sending them to me.

New Family Member

May I introduce to you Josie.Josie joined the De Jong home yesterday (Wednesday March 21). She is a four month old Havanese. A co-worker who shows dogs has a friend who had her for sale.She was to be a show dog however her coat is not curly as it should be she does not have enough fur around her mouth area and her nose is not black enough. Like I care about those things.
She is a very calm and sweet loving girl,(like all girls are?.
So far she and my other dog Charlie get along just fine.
I am thinking she will be a good dog to take to the nursing home to see the residents, as some of them love to have a dog come sit on their laps.
Josie is named after A very special resident who touched my heart and loved dogs.... My dear sweet Johanna who passed away last month.
May Josie bring as many smiles as Johanna did.

I've got news!!!!

Stay tuned for further details.
My family is about to grow,pictures and more information soon.
Gasp OHHHHHHHHHHHH what is it?
Before you get to excited I'll tell you it has four legs.
Stay tuned.

House for Sale

The time has finaly come> My parents have decided to down size.They are going to buy a condo that is going to be built this summer.I am thrilled that they have made this decision,as I have been wanting them to do this for some time now.It is to much work for them.Steps everywhere, and my mom's health is not the greatest so it is very hard for her to do all the steps.Between her arthritis and a bad heart she is very limited in what she can do.MY dad also has some health issues among other issues.
It is overwhelming for them to think of moving,after 45 years in that house.The stuff collected,memories,and just the thought of packing and moving.
I am trying to be a good son and help and encourage without coming off as being bossy.I am sure there will be lots and lots of tears and stressful moments these next months.
Their biggest fear is having to move twice since there new place will not be ready until late summer,(Aug-Sept).You know if someone is wanting to move in sooner you best do that then to lose the sale of your home.
Please keep my folks in your thoughts and prayers and pray that God makes it clear to them that this is the right thing to do.

The Preacher's Wife

Picture it, it is a bright sunny day.Things are going great!!1Your day has been good, residents are in a good mood.Your coworkers are happy.Then it happens!!!!!
You enter the room of a pastor's wife.They served in churches for years.She was the model preacher's wife.She loves to sing,she recites scriptures.There is only one major problem......She is demented as can be.
If you think back this is the women who said after I asked if she wanted to wear my Santa hat...."No God Damn it,Jesus is the reason for the season.She has also called me a damn fool in the past.
Today was again no exception.She was in one of her sailor talking moods.We have a student nurse who is doing her preceptor with us and she was working with preacher's wife today too.The student also works as an aid so she is aware of this ladies behaviors.Preacher's wife called this gal a stupid idiot and told her to shut the hell up.LOLOLOl I was pushing her to a meal today in her wheel chair and she was yelling at me to slow down, slow down you damn fool.(By the way I was not going fast).I just LOVE when Preacher's wife says these things.I guess the thought of a pastor's wife talking this way makes me laugh.
I think I know why she does this.She is really perfectly fine,no dementia, no problems at all. what it is is years and years of pented up anger and frustrations of being the pastor's wife and not being able to say what she wanted to.So now she pretends to be demented and all is OK. Everyone says OH she does not know what she is saying,she has dementia.Nope not at all she is just letting out what was held in for years and years of being nice to everyone.LOLOLOLOLOL OK maybe not but I always say if you say nasty things to people someone will say..... they do not know what they are saying.It's dementia.
I'm kidding I know many of these people would be shocked if they knew how and what they were doing and saying.I've known some of these people for years and they were the kindest nicest people you could ever meet.

Name calling

One of the more entertaining resident that almost always makes me laugh was on a roll again the other day.
I was getting her up and dressed we were talking.Mind you this is the lady who talks like a farmer all the time,saying things like piss and poop and so on.
As I was getting her up she was fussing and asking me what i was doing. I told her I was going to get her dressed and as I removed the covers from her in bed she starts yelling.I'm cold as ice cold as ice.Why you doing that. I said I needed her to get dressed and get going and to go to the bathroom. I decided to do her bathroom talk and said I need you to go poop in the pot. I asked will you do that please, to which she responded....you look like poop in the pot and stomped on my foot.Once I regained my composer and stopped laughing I tried to make small talk with her.She went on to tell me I looked like a Bull Dog and she was going to bite me in the butt.
Laughing and almost laying on the floor I was laughing so hard, i finished getting her dressed and met my next challenge for the day.
This my friends is why my blog is called All in a days work!!!! You NEVER know what to expect.
I guess her mom never taught her it's not nice to call people names.

Not sure what it is.

I am not sure if if is spring fever,the time change, depression,or just a bad case of the poor poor pitifully me.
Are any of you feeling this way too?
I just feel like I could rip into anyone for any reason.(But I know I will never do that).I've been putting on my Dutch Front and I am real tired of doing that.(Dutch front pretending all is OK when it is not).
Lately I've not been enjoying my job and I keep thinking maybe it's time for a change.Then I think but I like these old folks.I am tired of being worried about paying bills.Stretching the $$$$$ till next payday.And now I need to go to the dentist too. Big expence, and no dental insurance.When will it end??
Maybe I need some cute lady to serve me strawberries dipped in whipped cream.(Like that would help). Maybe I need to be told to stop the pity party and buck up.But mostly maybe I need to start taking my antidepressant medication again.I just always think I am feeling OK and do not need it.Hmmmm maybe I am feeling good because I am taking it??? You know sometimes I can be a real goofball. I need to accept the fact that I need the medication all the time in ordered to feel good.But when I start feeling good I think I do not need the meds.....Duhhh you're feeling good because the meds are doing the job.Why do I always do that, not to bright on my part.
I need to do as it says accept the things I can not change change the things I can.
And that means start on my medication again.
Thanks for letting me rant rave and vent and talk to myself.
No scolding please I know I've been a bad bad boy.

Skateing Fun???

My church had an all church family skate night tonight.This is the second or third year we have done this and it seems to be enjoyable to the young and not so young.
Watching those little hot shot kids fly around on skates is so much fun to watch.It sure does bring back memories for me and as I talked to other adults them as well.Yes I guess I am in that age group that we all grew up going skateing on the weekends. I can remember as a 5th-8th grader or there about that age,going skateing almost EVERY Saturday.And there was a cute little gal there I would always try to skate with when you had to choose someone for a couples skate.LOLOLOL (Did I just confess that to you people what was I thinking?)
Anyway back to the present...Watching some of these people skate I think just brings back the memories of the good ole days,We were care free..... enjoyed life.... not a lot of stress...The alults were for the most part VERY GRACEFUL!!!
I did not see any of the old folks fall (myself included).I maybe only skated for about an hour and decided to call it good but it was fun.Seeing a variety of ages all enjoying each other and a time of fun fellowship was good by me.
When I got home and tried to get out of the car I thought you crazy fool what were you thinking.I was kind of was getting out like grandpa would.You know VERY SLOWLY>then the pull up on the steering wheel and door frame to pull yourself up
I am now going to go take some IBUPROFEN relax and hope I can get out of bed in the morning.
I better be carefull at work,my coworkers may mistake me for a resident if I am to stiff and sore.And put me in a wheel chair and feed me pureeded food.UGGH!!!Not to eye appealing.

Self Esteem

I just finished reading a friends blog on her being the what if lady.What if this or that happens, she said how she often lays awake being worried about things.
I was right up there too with her. I would wonder if my friends were mad at me ,did I upset them. What if they just are pretending to be my friend because they feel sorry for me.(Yes I would truly think that too).
I always have and am sure always will have very low self esteem.I always feel others are so much better then I am and smarter and just have there life in order better then I do. Please do not get me wrong deep down I know I am just as good as the next person,however it is very hard to think that way all the time.
Now for what I think is the reason....
Growing up in a Dutch community and in a small town everyone always has the dreaded "FAMILY SECRETS". My family was no exception.In my family it was always we will not tell your dad.Lets not upset dad.No my dad was not an abusive man physically, but verbally he was and still is.The reason being he is an alcoholic. Has been for as long as I can remember. Dad would come home from work fix a drink and just keep drinking all evening long many time till he was passed out or almost passed out on the couch.I remember being embarrassed when I would have a friend over (and I did that seldom) because I knew it was not NORMAL for someone to be drinking all the time like that. I would also worry about what others would think and if he was going to say something stupid.I seldom got encouragement from him and hardly ever remember him playing outside with us kids.When I see dads and kids playing now days and relationships kids have with their dads it still hurts.I so wanted that too.A good friend of mine helped me to try get over the anger I had by telling me that his drinking problem is an illness just like my depression was. As a child I always just wanted to hear an I'm proud of you.Yes there is still some anger but I've decided I have to Let go and Let God take over.My mom and I often talk of what pain and hurt he has caused her too. When I hear of the things he has said to her I feel my blood pressure rise. I want to go tell him what I thin how I feel and what I think he should do. But I know it is up to him and from what he has said he has no plans of stopping. I think if it came down to it he would chose his alcohol over his family.
So parents do me a favor..... Always tell your kids how proud you are of them even when they screw up.Take time to listen to them,encourage them and tell them you love them.But most of all take time to do things that will build a lifetime of memories for them.
Thanks for letting me vent. I did not write this for self pitty or attention but just to share my heart.
I think self esteem starts at a young age and it can depend a lot on the upbringing to how good your esteem is.
I've gotten better over the years and truly feel my job I have now has helped. I feel I am making a difference in someones life.

Should have ben named Trouble

I love my dog Charlie very much, and he has brought much entertainment into my home since I saved his life when adopting him from the pound.It did not take me long to realize why he was at the Humane Society.He can look at you with those big brown eyes and make you smile. But he can get into more trouble then I could have ever imagined.

I remember one particular time some years ago. I had run across the street to a friends house for a few minutes.Since I was not going to be gone long I did not close Charlie in a room like I normally do when I leave the house. Big Big mistake!!!!! In the 15 minutes I was gone he got into a package of Oreo cookies on the kitchen counter pulled them off the counter and onto the floor.He then proceeded to eat almost the entire package and or hide the cookies through out my house.Yes I found cookies in the couch cushions,under a large pillow in my bay window,in a chair and under pillows in my bed.Maybe he was thinking putting them under my pillow in bed would give me a midnight snack if I wanted one.

Yes he often gets into things yet and he is maybe around 12 years old.

I can not imagine life with out a dog and I know when he goes to dogie heaven he will be replaced.Well maybe not replaced because I hope my next one is a little calmer then Charlie.

Yes Charlie is my baby just like Buster is Sue's baby.

Dogs never ask for money,ask to borrow the car,keep you up late wondering when and if they will be home. And the best reason for a dog is UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!!!!!!! THEY ARE ALWAYS HAPPY TO SEE YOU NO MATTER HOW CRABBY YOU ARE.1

A little humor to pass along

My Aunt Mary is often sending me fun jokes and stories via the good old

e-mailing. I found this one to be extra cute and thought I would share it with all of you.

A little boy opened the big family bible.He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages.Suddenly something fell out of the bible.He picked up the object and looked at it.What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.

"Mom look what I found,"the boy

called out.

"What do you think it is dear?"with astonishment the young boy's voice answered,"I think it's Adam's underwear."

Did i hear her right?????

This post is a mixed bag of goodies. Some are things I have heard and one is from a reminder of my friend Joel had when he was working.
Please do not take offence to any foul language used in this or any blogs. as it is strictly a repeat of what I heard not me speaking.
Joel reminded me of the time one of the two nurses was looking for the other one and asked over our walkie talkies we use Joyce where are you? Now Joyce was with a female resident who acts like an old time farmer.You can picture the type,not very feminine,walks and talks like a man.Not your average Mrs. America.Anyway after the nurse asked for Joyce's where abouts Joyce held the button on her walkie talkie and waiting for this lady to do her usual chanting and making strange sounds as she almost always does.This time NO!!! No strange noises but a very very loud and clear,
KISS MY ASS!!!!! LOLOLOLOLol yes so all of our other employees and if in with a resident at the time residents too heard this not so charming response.One of the funnier things with this is the nurse that was in the room with this resident is always MRS. do it right professional. Do not get me wrong Joyce is a great nurse just very by the book.
Today this same resident asked me when I was helping her in the dining room. Do you go piss in the street???
Ummmm No I try not to.This is the same lady who once asked me if I piss in bed too!!!!You think she is obsessed with peeing???
I was doing my MR.Charmer talk today with an other lady and said to her ,You are so beautiful! She looks at the aid sitting next to her and said.... I bet he says that to all the women

Whapppppp

It finally happened! I have been pinched, spit on, cursed at, called names (buffalo belly) and today I can add slapped on the face to my list of work experiences.
Yes I was slapped on the face today by an upset not so pleasant demented resident.
She was in the doorway of her room asking for the nurse. I said I will get her for you but lets sit down in your chair.She is very very unsteady on her feet and needs to use a walker at all times.She started to turn and walk to her chair without her walker so I kindly moved it in front of her and said oh lets use this please.She took her walker slammed it down on the floor.I picked it up and said please use it and sit down and I will get the nurse. She looked at me with the most evil look and then slapped my face and started yelling get out of here you*&^%$#).Needless to say I got out of there real fast.
I brought her a dinner tray later on and she still was in a tizzy. I set her dinner tray down and got out of there real fast.As she was again yelling I don't want in now GET OUT!!!
Hmmmmm could it be P.M.S.?????LOLOLOLOLOLOL at 90 years old.
I am sorry I just had to add that last part. I was once told P.M.S. means putting up with men's
Sh_T.