The Cart Before The Horse

Today is my daughter in law's baby shower. It was planned since November and was to happen 1 month before the baby's birth. Instead it is happening one month after. We are all looking forward to the party as it has been a rough month. It has not been easy for her to visit the hospital everyday and then leave behind her son when it is time to go home. It has not been easy for my son to go to visit after work and stay there until 3am. They have been handling things so well and I am so proud of them. Today will be a time for celebration and happiness. The baby is now 5lbs2oz and is getting ready to come home. After today, he will have received all of the gifts that will make his homecoming easier.

Different Circumstances

My grandson is still in the NICU and he is doing great. He weighs over 5lbs and will be coming home very soon. His room is ready and waiting. He has become the favorite of the NICU nurses because he is so easy to take care of. He is never fussy and when he cries it means he is hungry. When they feed him, he looks around and "socializes". He went into NICU due to no fault of his own or his mother's. She did everything right during her pregnancy and watched her health more than most. Not all mother's do. The baby next to my grandson is detoxing. She is a beautiful little girl who was brought into the world addicted to drugs. That is so unfair. She had no say in her addiction, but she is the one who must live through withdrawal. It will take 5 - 7 days. After that Child Protective Services will decide if she goes home with her parents or if she goes to foster care. Two babies, side by side, under such different circumstances.

Stockpiling

After Hurricane Sandy, I promised myself that I would never again stockpile the food in my refrigerator. When the storm came, I found packages of frozen foods that had been dated more than a year before. I threw out food that I thought I would eat, but somehow never made it to my plate. After I purged out my freezer, I made a promise that I would only buy foods that I would eat that week and would not buy extras. I looked into my freezer this morning and saw that old habits never die. It was once again filled with foods that I intended to eat. After taking a close look, I do not even remember how some of the food got in there in the first place. I think that while I am in work, someone comes and puts strange foods in there. I decided I will cook all of the surplus this week and only eat what is there. I will try again to keep my promise and see how it works out in a few months.

Honeysuckle

Every year, I know that summer is approaching when I smell the honeysuckle plants. The border of my yard is surrounded by them and they have such a wonderful sweet smell. If you pluck a flower off of the bush and put it in your mouth, you can taste the sugary flavor. I guess that is what attracts the bees. I love the smell of honeysuckle, but only in its natural form. I do not like it in perfumes or lotions. When I smell it in the morning, it starts my day off right.

The Talk

Today, I will have to have "the talk" with one of my new workers. When I hired her she looked great "on paper". She had fourteen years experience as a medical office worker. Fourteen years working for the same doctor. After having her work for me for a month, I am wondering if she worked in a closet, locked away from all other human beings. Either that, or her co workers were deaf. She is distracting and annoying to my doctors and my other office staff. She comes in every day screaming that she is hungry and forgot her food, but does not want to order anything to be delivered. For the next five hours she complains of hunger. The other day she forgot her glasses. If a carpenter came to work without his hammer, he would have a hard time getting his job done. She is almost as needy as my patients and that is not good, considering I work for psychiatrists. So, today I will put her on notice. Shape up or ship out. I do not have the time nor the energy to coddle anyone that is not a blood relative.

Too Early

I got up at 5am this morning. I am taking friends to the airport, then going straight to work. It feels like winter again at this time. The seasons seem to be a bit confused. The other day I was wearing sleeveless and today I need a coat. I do not mind taking someone to the airport. Somehow, nobody seems to mind spending thousands of dollars on a vacation but spending $75 on a taxi ride to JFK is annoying.

Off She Goes

Nothing is more exciting than seeing a baby take her first steps. I saw my grand niece over the weekend and she just turned one. She has taken a few steps, here and there but she is not walking consistently. Her parents were away for the weekend and we had her all to ourselves. As much as we tried, she would not take more than four steps. When her parents came home she was so happy to see them. Each of them sat on the floor on the opposite end of the room and put her in the middle. All of a sudden she went running to her mother and then reversed and went running to her father. She walked the full length of the room each time. We were mesmerized by the "best show on earth".