I'm going to miss every single one of them

My friends from my hospital took me out to dinner tonight. There were a total of 19 coworkers there in all. WOW! I was taken aback by the number of people that came to wish me well and good-bye. With each person's arrival, my heart was touched way beyond I can ever express in mere words. Thank you all for all the love, kindness and support that you have shown me throughout my time spent with you. Each of you hold a very special place in my heart that will never be taken by anyone else.

They showered me with gifts that were so absolutely wonderful and extremely generous of them. I'll need to photograph all of them but I got the knitting pattern a day calendar, silver and garnet (?) heart shaped earrings, a beatiful handmade afghan, a precious moments figurine and MORE!!!!! Like I said, I'll have to take pictures of it all. Thank you all so much for everything. Every single gift touched me and it was obvious how much thought and care went into picking each one.

The best though was that they put together a beautiful scrapbook for me. Pictures of all my friends, some absolutely lovely sayings and everyone wrote in beautiful words of friendship and encouragement. You all are such an extremely special group of people and it has been a pleasure and honor to work with each and every one of you.

Here are just a few pictures of the evening:







I am really gonna miss you all.

This feels so much better.

So, I was feeling pretty down after my last post but then Amy sent me a link to

The great thing about this is I truly think that many people live so unaware of how very little human contact they have in their lives. You see, I am a hugger. I hug everybody. Really. I hug my family, I hug my friends, I hug my coworkers, I hug my patients, I hug my patient's families. I hug everybody.

I hug everybody because it feels good. It feels good to hug someone and feel that moment when they relax against you and take it in. It feels good to have someone hug me and feel like "I matter" and this person is acknowledging that.

So, good for this young man. I know that he is 24 years old and from Australia. He was featured on Oprah and on local newscasts in Australia. He has been the inspiration for "Free Hugs" campaigns all over the world (LA, Tel Aviv, South America, Korea, etc.).

How long has it been since you have hugged someone other than your family? Would you take a moment to hug someone you have never hugged before? OK, not comfortable with a stranger, then how about a coworker, a neighbor, a fellow parent from your child's school?

Give out a hug today to someone who may not have expected it. See what happens. You might be surprised.

Once again, WHY?????

I know that I have written about this before but I can't help it, here we go again!

I got a message from a friend about a site that tears people's blogs apart. I am not even going to give them any traffic by disclosing the URL but, trust me, it's out there and it is horrible.

Here is a group of people that sit back and judge, criticize and ridicule others for their blogs and their LIVES. Their LIVES people! This group of individuals relish in pulling bloggers lives apart and mocking them over what they have posted ON THEIR PERSONAL BLOGS.

WHAT's WITH THAT???

I just don't understand how anyone can justify themselves when ridiculing and tearing others apart. They all comment on how sanctimonious and self-serving "these bloggers" are and yet, I ask, and that makes them different how????

Here's the difference: the difference is that anyone that posts on their personal blog about their own life and their life experiences are expressing themselves and are making themselves vulnerable in doing so. They are exercising their right to speak their minds. The BOZOs on this other site are cruel and horrific. They are actively choosing to be uncaring and callous. And mostly are a bunch of cowards since many use pseudonyms or post as "anonymous".


If you don't like someone's blog, what they are writing in their blogs or who they are (judged by what they are writing) then just DON'T READ THE FREAKIN' BLOG!

Let people be for heaven's sake.

It's horrible when I know bloggers who are thinking of or actually HAVE created 'anonymous' blogs because of the viscious commentary and personal attacks that result from their posts on their PERSONAL BLOGS!

What in the world have we all come to when we feel a need to attack someone because we don't agree with their lifestyle, their personal experiences or beliefs?

It is all so horribly sad.

Knitting on the big screen

How cool is this???


Yeah, I can't wait until it comes out.

Happy Halloween!

OK, so I tried to upload this picture on Halloween night but the witches and goulies must have been messing with blogger b/c it wouldn't let me do it. So, here it is now.

Pretty creepy huh? Not too shabby considering that as of 0700 on Halloween morning I had NO COSTUME and no intention of dressing up at all. Then the following conversation ensued:

DS: "So Mom, what are you going to dress up like tonight?"
Me: "I wasn't going to dress up."
DS: "But you ALWAYS dress up to pass out candy." (A true statement)
Me: "But I am not passing out candy this year remember? I'm going trick or treating with you since your Dad is in NC"
DS: "Oh, OK" (said with the saddest voice and look in his eyes EVER!)

So, off he went to the neighbors to go to school and I got in my car and drove to work. Now, the whole trip to work I was seeing his dejected little face and thought to myself "how many more halloweens do I have before dressing up TOTALLY embarrasses him and he acts as if I'm from outer space?"

So, what did I do? What any respectable mother would. I racked my brain on what last minute (and yet 9 year old 'cool') costume I could put together at the last minute.

Result?

ZOMBIE NURSE!

Funny thing was that when I picked him up from school I told him that I had figured out a costume so that I could dress up and that it would be a surprise for him. We went home, had dinner and started getting ready. I got dressed and did the whole she-bang in my bathroom, away from him. When I was done I called him to my room and walked out of the bathroom. His reaction? That nervous little hesistant laugh that kids get when they are scared but are trying to play it off. It was so cute and so sweet at the same time. I said "you know this is all just make-up and fake blood, right?" He said "MOOOOM, I KNOW that. Geez." and walked away.

Yeah, OK honey.


Tee hee.

We are getting close to the home stretch. . .

No pun intended with the title of this post but we are down to just 5 days until the closing! Woo hoo! Then, we will have just 7 days until the house here is packed up and taken away and we all (2 adults, 1 child, 1 dog and 5 fish) climb into the SUV and head on down to our new hometown. Speaking of SUV, have any of you heard this song? OK, deep down inside I KNOW that I should think of getting something other than an SUV however, who else is going to haul all my mulch, plants, appliances, furniture, etc. that we buy???? Do you know how often we haul stuff for other people as well??? I actually USE the SUV as a truck. Truly. (I must say though that I still feel guilty about it whenever I go to the gas pumps). Oh and by the way, I do NOT weigh 90 pounds. (Don't I wish I did though!) >wink<

So, back to my topic. 5 days people! Yeah! Of course, our house here has yet to sell (rats). I'm still prayin' that it will. We are blessed that DHs relocation package allows for our house to be "assumed" by the relo company but we will get a better deal if we sell it ourselves so, that's what we are still trying to do. My new mantra is "the buyer is coming this week", "the buyer is coming this week". Repeat with me as you see fit.

I actually HAVE been knitting (believe it or not). I've done a little on the little leaf scarf, a little on the twinsie socks (twins of my good friend Caroline) and a little on the Dave from Chub Creek size 11 (crapola) socks. I just haven't focused enough on any single project to finish one up. Too much distraction going on.

Speaking of which: y'know how you make choices and changes in your life and often times you wonder "Was that the right thing to do?" Sometimes, well, most of the time, that question is never answered and you just go on with your gut feeling that it was right (or at least with the thought - "hell, it's too late to turn back now") but. . . . . .everyone once in a great while, God, the cosmos, kismut, karma or whatever else you believe in jumps in and let's you know that YES this is the right thing to do. Well, we are having these moments about our relocation.

First, and most important, DH is SOOO much happier with this job. He is finally able to do his job and see the appreciation and get the accolades that he is deserving of. His boss and coworkers are great people and are truly interested in DH as a person and not just a body there to do their bidding. He has quite a bit of responsibility but he is being given his due respect and everyone is truly appreciative of the hard work that he is doing. That was the first true "sign" that we are making the right move.

Next, we found a house that meets pretty much all of our 'wants'. We wanted a certain square footage, number of rooms and layout/look to the home. Check. We wanted a home in a community with a pool. Check. We wanted a flat, fenced in usable back yard. Check. We wanted to be close to the schools. Check. I wanted to be close to the church. Check. So, that was our next sign.

NOW, I had a huge sign from God as well. This past Thursday, my hospital did some restructuring. 42 open positions were frozen and aren't being filled. 37 people were either let go or displaced to other positions in the hospital. Out of 9 hospital based Nurse Educators, they shaved that down to 5. Seniority-wise I would have been out of that group. Had I not been leaving already, I would have probably had to take the severance package and find another job. Whew. Now, it was kind of awkward on Friday b/c I know that had it not been for the fact that I was leaving on 11/7 anyway, I would not have had a job but, MAN was I ever glad that I was leaving. I would have been offered options on some of the open positions but the shifts would not have worked for us and I would have had to take severance and look for other work. I am so blessed to be going to NC right now. And God is making sure that I know it. Isn't it awesome when you DO get the answers to the doubts?

Thanks again for the reassurance God. You always let me know that things will be OK.