LA-Eileen

Jacqueline, the actress

2010-04-08T13:55:00.001-07:00

Jackie acted in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Baldwin Park Playhouse. We went to see her act. She is getting better and better. Her friend came along with us to see her. We all went out to dinner afterward.

The girls had their own table by the fire. Fit for an actress!

Twin's birthday: the weekend before

2010-04-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Dan came down the weekend before the party. We went out to the Elephant Bar.

Yolanda hand made them knitted scarves for their birthdays. The twins loved them. So soft and warm. It was a nice dinner, even if it was the wrong weekend.

Who says we don't have seasons in So Cal?

2009-12-11T16:37:00.001-08:00

Last night was the ICU Christmas Party. I was out late, ate a great dinner, drank wine, and danced. After I was home snug in bed it rained the rest of the night. I was off today, slept in, and woke to a cold, damp, grey day. I did not feel like getting out to run. By noon, the sun came out. I enjoyed my run. OK, my jog. I don't go fast enough to call it running. The air was crisp, cold, and clear. I looked around my neighborhood and wondered why people think we don't have seasons here in So Cal.

When I got home from my run, still thinking about the seasons we "don't" have in So Cal, I thought, "Well, I'll probably never wake up to snow right out my front door."

However, if I drive 10 minutes.............

I hopped in my car and decided to take a little drive.

Four minutes from my front door, I see the sign, "Entering National Forest."

Around the bend, I see that
Mt Baldy is straight ahead, Upland, right.
I pull over into a turn out to look at the lovely fall scenery.

Check out these little red flowers dressed for the season.

Fog hides the mountain ahead.

Pine trees and fall foliage contrast with the granite rocks.

Wow! What's that? Almost missed it! A little snow left on the ground!

I continued on my way. Ten minutes from my front door I am in another world. Mt. Baldy. Pine trees. Snow on the ground. OK. I'm getting into the Christmas spirit. Ten minutes later, home again! That was a nice mini-vacation!

Night of the living dead

2009-11-01T19:24:00.001-08:00

It all started innocently enough....I received the beautiful gift above in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Intrigued, I opened it up to find....................
A poem! (See above.) It was actually an invitation. To the Pollard's haunt. However, there was one caveat... It clearly stated that "no living soul shall enter......."

Oh, well. Must have been a mistake!

Well, I had been feeling under the weather the past week. In fact, just in time for the Pollard's haunt, I died from the H1Ni flu! You can see me here post mortem hanging out with the other poor dead souls who decided to visit the Pollards haunt for All Hallowed Eve: Madame Curie, Janis Joplin, the Devil herself, and an angel.
It didn't take long for the She Devil to have a little talk with Dick Tracy.
What DID SHE SAY to him? Dick Tracy tries to get away, but unfortunately for him, the car had a few parts missing.
A famous golfer hung out with this cute young hippie.
A BIG leaf, Scarlett O'Hara, and a Zombie hung out with the She Devil. She really got around! She made sure we had a hot time!

Jesus showed up too. Here He hangs out with a monk, Father Time, and Madame Curie. NOOOOOOOOOOOO, it can't be!!!! Father Time is taller than the monk!

The hostess with the mostessssst!
(We didn't leave until about 2am! Fortunately, time stands still when you are no longer among the living!)

CERN

2009-06-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research,

is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It is headquartered in Geneva.

So, what's the big deal? Have you seen the movie, Angels and Demons? Part of it was filmed at CERN. But of course, as in all movies, a tiny bit of truth was overblown into a fictional dramatization and declared "based on the truth." In reality, there are 6 major experiments being conducted there. They are basically looking for the Higgs boson, also known as the "God particle."

Most of you are probably aware that Joseph is a grad student at UCLA, studying particle physics. According to Joseph, this is where the most exciting research is being done in physics right now. So he is in Geneva, visiting CERN for the first time. He will return to UCLA July 3, spend two months studying for comps, and then return to CERN for about 4 years to work on his PhD. (I miss him already.)

The "God Particle" is so nicknamed as they are trying to simulate the Big Bang and hoping to detect the theoretical "particle or set of particles, that might give others mass..." (In other words, as I understand it, this would be the particle that turns energy into matter.)

"To look for the particle, researchers must smash other particles together at very high speeds. If the energy from that collision is high enough, it is converted into smaller bits of matter -- particles -- one of which could be a Higgs boson. The Higgs will only last for a small fraction of a second, and then decay into other particles. So in order to tell whether the Higgs appeared in the collision, researchers look for evidence of what it would have decayed into." (This is quoted from the CERN website.)

What follows is one of many images that Joseph's team is working on. Aren't you glad that it's Joseph that has to interpret this and not us?

I am not sure how it all fits together, but this is a link to an earlier brochure from CERN, for those who are interested in learning more about it: http://cdsmedia.cern.ch/img/CERN-Brochure-2008-002-Eng.pdf

PS. Interesting factoid. The WWW started at CERN 20 years ago.

(Also from the CERN website:
"Geneva, 13 March 2009. Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee returned to the birthplace of his invention today, 20 years after submitting his paper ‘Information Management: A Proposal’ to his boss Mike Sendall. By writing the words ‘Vague, but exciting’ on the document’s cover, and giving Berners-Lee the go-ahead to continue, Sendall was signing into existence the information revolution of our times: the World Wide Web. In September of the following year, Berners-Lee took delivery of a computer called a NeXT cube, and by December the Web was up and running, albeit between just a couple of computers at CERN¹.")

Grandma's Brag Book

2009-06-07T11:50:00.001-07:00

WARNING!
PUT THE COMPUTER DOWN NOW!

Go get a nice hot cup of coffee before viewing this blog. You will need it!
This is Grandma's Brag Book!

This is Cayleigh, the birthday girl after eating at her favorite restaurant, Macaroni Grill! MMMMM! That was good!

Another shot of the birthday girl by a nearby pond. Isn't she beautiful? The pond is pretty too.

My darling daughter, Christie, and her darling daughter, Cayleigh, the birthday girl. My darling daughter did the honorable thing. She squeezed herself into the tiny space in the back seat between the two car seats and let me have the front seat. Besides, she is so tiny now, it is easy for her to fit!Here is the artist at work on her pottery. She started with a blank white tile. Scary! Unless you are the creative type. Which she obviously is. I can hardly wait to see the fired product.

My "darling" grandchildren at a nearby park in Richmond Hill.

Happy Ninth Birthday, Cayleigh! I can't believe you have grown so quickly! Cayleigh just finished third grade. She received her report card that day, and BRAG....She received STRAIGHT As!

Another shot of my "darling" granddaughter. Isn't she cute?
She never wears her baseball cap this way.
Grandma made her do it!

This is my little M&M. He is such a character! Smart as a whip. And oh, such a boy. So competitive. He tries to beat dad! Race me, Dad! Cayleigh too. He's a real charmer.

We went to Macaroni Grill for Cayleigh's birthday dinner. (They had arrived home from Paris midnight of the night before. A big party was out of the question.) Anyway, we played hangman while waiting for dinner. Aiden, who just finished first grade, guessed my word, "macaroni," with only 2 letters, the "m" and the "a."

So I had to think of a harder word for him. Can you guess the 14 letter word above? BRAG: Aiden did. And this is after being up 24 hours, getting to bed at midnight the night before, then rising at 5am! Poor Mom!! (The answer is at the bottom.)

Here are my little darlings!
(My! Grandma is showing her age!)

Here is a shot of their wonderful parents! I am in awe at what great parents they are. I wish I had done so well with mine. Aiden is a handful. He hardly needs any sleep since he was an infant, he is very smart, very strong-willed, and has "melt downs" if not well handled. They are both so patient and talk to him so kindly, giving him choices and following through so well that he has learned to control his "melt downs."

I fully expected several "melt downs" the day after he had been up 24 hours flying home from Paris and then getting only 5 hours of sleep. Two melt downs started but were averted. He never had a one while I was there. Anybody need parenting lessons? Talk to these two superparents! BRAG, BRAG, BRAG!

Have to watch out for snakes and alligators at this playground.
But it is so pretty there.

This is my big birthday girl on the bridge in the house. Isn't she looking grown up lately?

Little man!
He will be 7 in August.

We got to visit Dad in his big corner office.

These are my beautiful grandchildren the morning after being up for 24 hours. Aren't they beautiful?

Did I brag enough? This is my first Grandma's Brag Book. The goal is to brag so much I make you sick. But, gee, who can have that reaction with these darlings?
(P.S. The word was "TRANSPORTATION.")

My Morning Walk in Claremont

2009-06-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

I got a late start on my morning walk in Claremont. Joseph and I have a habit of walking, jogging, or running together 50 miles apart several mornings a week. We call each other in the morning to motivate each other to get out the door. Then we set out walking and talking on our cell phones. Sometimes we walk the whole route. Other days we walk for 5 minutes chatting to warm up, then hang up and run. When we finish running we call each other to check in. It has been wonderful motivation for me to get my exercise.

We were both up late last night and didn't get out the door until 8:30 this morning. Interestingly, it was cold, dark, gray and raining softly in Claremont while it was sunny with one small cloud in the sky in LA according to Joseph. Didn't know the weather could be so different only 50(?) miles apart!

I was on my last leg of the walk this morning going downhill on Mills Avenue. This is a big 4 lane highway leading up to Mount Baldy. I saw a coyote trot out in front of me, crossing Mills and heading down the sidewalk in front of me.
Now we see coyotes running down the street from time to time, but isn't this a little late in the day to be out, Mr. Coyote? And you are a little too close for comfort! (Last month my neighbor's dog was eaten by a coyote in his own backyard. No wonder my cat doesn't want to go outside anymore! My neighbor saw a coyote up on the brick wall between my backyard and hers 2 weeks ago.)

I glanced across the street at the house on the corner that the coyote had crossed over from. I saw another coyote on the sidewalk in front of the house trotting over to join his buddy in front of me. Except that he was BEHIND ME! Then a third coyote joined the second one BEHIND ME!

OK Now! This is really not cool! I've got one coyote in front of me and two coyotes behind me! I seem to be in the middle of the pack!

Fortunately, they didn't seem to be interested in me as prey. I saw the first one trot down a side street so I stayed on the safe big boulevard. Buddies number 2 and 3 followed #1. If I didn't get my cardio in with the walk, the coyotes helped me get it in anyway!

I went home and opened up my hometown paper, the Claremont Courier. It is printed twice a week and covers local news only. The day before my boss (who has heard my coyote encounters while walking before) told me she heard on the news that there was a bear in Claremont. Yes, there was the story with the picture below. A brown bear rests atop a tree in a backyard on Martin Way near Mills Avenue after wandering through north Claremont on Wednesday afternoon. The bear was eventually captured in Upland and released in Mt. Baldy.

Bear takes grand tour of Claremont
Claremont police spent much of Wednesday chasing a young brown bear roaming throughout the northern part of the city. “Apparently, it pretty much walked east along Base Line Road until it went into more residential areas,” Claremont Police Lieutenant James Hughes said.

According to the story, and to a coworker who lives in the area, the bear was first seen just south of the Towne Avenue exit off the 210 Freeway. The very exit you take when you come to visit me.

A street or two from where Christie and Noel used to live. Wonder if they encounter any bears in Georgia? No, just alligators! OK, I guess bears aren't so bad. They see deer in their backyard too.

This is a little close for comfort.
OK, I live off Baseline and Mills Avenue.

My beautiful picture of a hawk about to attack with talons forward and wings spread, just disappeared when I started typing. Where is the undo button? Oh well, you will just have to use your imagination.

Yes, that was the next article in the Courier...

Aggressive hawks pester Claremont residents

Swooping down from the trees above in a stealthy and silent attack, a hawk protecting its nest can pack a painful and powerful punch.

Apparently, it's nesting season and people are being hit in the back of the head with open talons just from walking by a tree with a nest!

So now I have to watch out for coyotes, bears, and scan up in the trees for hawks when I go out for my morning walk.

It sure is an adventure living in the city!

Aiden's/Cayleigh's Birthday Blog

2009-05-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is me airborne at the park. I can jump five feet!
This is Daddy's hippo. Do you like how everything is dark except for the hippo? I took this picture. It looks like the hippo is in a donut.
This is a Nascar Sprint Cup Series racecar. It's the Memorial Day car. I painted it. All by myself.
This is me and Cayleigh licking Cayleigh's birthday thingamajiggies. It was good!
This is Cayleigh's birthday cake. We decorated it with M&Ms to make the world. The orange is South America. The yellow is Africa. Blue is Antartica. (Not the light blue. The light blue is the ocean.) The brown is Asia. And the red is Europe. We just came back from London and Paris which is in Europe. Please comment my blog. Aiden

Hello from the birthday girl!

2009-05-31T05:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to do pottery.I chose it for my birthday.This is my dad with his colorful hippo.

This is me with my pottery ,once I was finished. I was one of the last ones to finish. It says, "Believing is great!" It's on a tile. The tile was pure white when I started it. How do you like my design? Once it is fired the whole thing will be shiny.
Aiden says "This is my pottery. It is Jimme Johnson in his Nascar. It is NO.48. He is in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series."
This is what Grandma Eileen made. When they fire it the black in the middle will turn into a chalkboard! I think it looks pretty. Grandma Eileen painted our names on the side. Do you think it looks pretty?Grandma is giving it to me for my birthday.
This is my mom's pottery.It says"Dream". There is a star on it. It will be very pretty when it is fired.

This is another picture of my dad's hippo!Do you like it? It is in a floaty.Isn't it cute!

Remember the Alamo!

2009-04-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

I spent Sunday and Monday in San Antonio, TX. It was quite a surprise to see how green it is there. From the air you can hardly see the buildings for all the trees!

I didn't realize the Alamo is in San Antonio. We got there 5 minutes before it closed and squeaked inside.

Out back is this huge oak tree.

From the Alamo, we walked down to the Riverwalk. It's actually a natural river that circles the city. It used to flood so in the 1920's the city started a project to control the river. They did a beautiful job! It doesn't even look real. It looks like Disneyland. It's a tourist attraction. It reminded us of Pirates of the Carribbean in some places. There are lots of shops and restaurants and waterfalls.

After a decadent dinner at The Palms (which I understand is famous), we took a boat ride.
Along the beautiful riverwalk we passed this mall, which our guide told us is the only mall in America with a river running through it.
This is a yellow crowned night heron, a Texas bird that swallows crayfish and spits out the claws. There were also tons of big black birds that looked like crows but sounded sweeter but very very loud. When we walked out of the restaurant, we thought there must be amplifiers in the trees playing bird sounds.
While we were on the boat ride, we had an encounter with one of those copious numbers of loud black birds. Splat! Got three of us! Fortunately, we had 5 Star accommodations to return to for the clean up!

It was amazing to be treated so well in this economy!

A Grad Student's Apartment

2009-04-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, after the Richard Nixon Library
visit, I drove out to visit Joseph at UCLA.
The first place he took me to was to visit Dad.
I haven't been to the cemetery since the funeral
in 1974. Apparently, Dad's grave is within eye
sight of Joseph's apartment. Unfortunately, the
guard closed the gate just as we walked up.

I visited the site of much studying and calculations of the particle physics type.

Then we went for a very long walk around his "neighborhood."

Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car when we visited the UCLA campus and his office. "Next time," he grinned. Yeah, right!

The Nixon Library

2009-04-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went to a nursing seminar. It was held at the Richard Nixon library in Yorba Linda. Now I was never a Nixon fan, but I've never been to a presidential library before either, so I was curious.

We ate in the ballroom and toured "Army One," the helicopter version of "Airforce One." It was put into service by JFK and served 4 Presidents. Somehow Nixon ended up with it.
This is the house Nixon was born in. The doctor came to the house to deliver him. His dad built this house from a kit. Pretty nice for a kit house! It was about 1000 square feet including the second story which consisted of one bedroom with just enough room for 2 beds touching.

The tiny master bedroom where Nixon was born. His mother was a college graduate and his dad dropped out of grammer school. What a mismatch. The picture frames over the bed were handmade by the future president himself!
This is the table that Nixon learned his debating skills with his 4 brothers and his dad.
They had an ice box. Mom and Aunt Dot always talk about their ice box.
Nixon and his wife are buried on the property. I didn't know that. I thought the Presidents all end up in the Arlington Cemetary.
The Presidential Limo.
All in all, it was worth the visit.

April Birthdays Duris style

2009-04-20T21:33:00.001-07:00

Virginia is for Lovers

2009-03-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

I just dropped and broke the handle off my very favorite coffee mug. It fits in my hand perfectly and holds just the right amount of coffee. It was a gift from my sister, Dorothy. She gave one to my sister, Janet, too. So it is more than a mug. It is a connection! Boo hoo! Don't you hate breaking your favorite mug?

Guess, this means I will have to come out to Virginia to get myself another one!

The California Desert

2009-03-28T13:41:00.001-07:00

I've never been a fan of the desert. In fact, the desert is the last place I like to visit. Give me green trees, waterfalls, babbling brooks, forests, lakes, and seas. But pleeeeze, not the desert!
I reluctantly agreed to drive through Joshua Tree with Melanie on the way home from our evening at the Integratron.

Hey, who said the desert is nothing but hot sand and cactus? I've been misled! The desert is actually beautiful! Above is a rock that people were rappelling on. There was a guy at the top. Above is a Joshua Tree. Strangely beautiful. They actually get as big and bushy as the trees we think of as trees.

OK. this looks like a nice picnic spot. You call this the desert?

Like I said, I like green. But hey, look at the variety here.

Yes, at times it was breathtaking.

Melanie and I found Skull Rock. It was very windy. I had to brace myself to take these pictures.

There were even flowers in the desert if you looked closely. Yellow, white, purple. I'm holding one of the yellow ones to take a picture because it was so windy.
Well, when I switched to Preview I see that the flowers disappeared! One of the problems that I seem to have frequently when I use this blog site. Anyone else have this problem?

We stopped for lunch in a Mexican restaurant in Yucca Valley before heading home.

The last shot is of the back of the Rocky Mountains as we head back home to the coast. Probably the back of Big Bear. I'll never think of the desert the same way again!

The Integratron

2009-03-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went with Melanie to "Venus Rising", a celebration of the arrival of Spring, at the Integratron in Landers, CA. It was quite an interesting weekend. A little bit of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, a little bit of back to the 60's and the Hippie era, a little bit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), quite a few artists and their art, music, and a touch of UFO's thrown in.We passed the future of energy (Wind Power) on the way out to Landers.
We stopped nearby at the property Melanie inherited from her parents. There was a cabin on the property and Melanie remembers many happy weekends there with her parents during her childhood years. Unfortunately, there was a fire and the cabin burned down. We found the foundation and Melanie described the rooms to us. This is Melanie and Carol next to Melanie's mother's rock garden.

Melanie and I in front of the Integratron, a dome shaped structure in the middle of the desert. I was amazed at how many people came out here to the middle of nowhere for this event!
Inside the Integratron we attended a "Sound Bath." It was a meditative experience of relaxation and healing listening to tones played on 9 different sized quartz crystal bowls. They claim that each bowl is keyed to the different chakras of the body. It was very relaxing.
The guy who originally built the Integatron, believed in UFO's and held regular meetings of UFO affectionados. Funny enough, as the sun went down, I looked out one of the windows of the Integratron and saw my own UFO!
As the sun set, several of us relaxed in the dome. The guy in the middle is playing a Hang Drum. It is actually shaped like a UFO. (Don't know if he believed in UFOs.) I was told that you can only get this drum in Switzerland and you must go there to buy it. Anyway, the sound was enchanting. It did not sound like any drum I have ever heard before. It had a range of sounds from deep metal to tinkling. Very melodic. He played it very well. At the point the picture was taken, he was joined by a guy on a more traditional drum.
After the drum playing there was another very interesting piece of art. One guy sat at a laptop and projected images on a screen while interesting music played. The images faded from one to the next. They started with celestial shots of galaxies and ended with DNA dividing to form primitive one-celled life forms which slowly evolved into more advanced life forms until finally man appeared. All the while a second artist was drawing unrelated pictures over the images. You can see him drawing above. It was very interesting to see him draw as his images emerged. Most of the time you saw the first guy's images integrated, sometimes the background receded. Then the second guy's drawings somehow became embossed, then looked like negatives, then turned back into images like above. Quite an interesting art experience!

We decided to join the crowd outside where the band was playing and ran into this interesting character. He was actually all lit up in blue lights. A giant insect walking around on stilts! Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of him without my flash which drowned out his interesting blue lights.After the band stopped playing, we stood around metal barrels with interesting cutouts filled with wood fires to keep warm in the cold night desert air. The sky was so beautiful with stars we never see in the city. Then the fire dancers came out. This guy has 2 hula hoops on fire, one around his waist and one around his neck! He had an open mesh top on! Hardly fire retardant.There were 3 fire dancers, 2 men and one women. They performed separately and then together. The woman was doing an exotic middle eastern arabian-type dance. Very beautiful. The last guy who is furthest away in the picture was wearing only a vest on top. Shortly after I snapped this shot he caught on fire! Fortunately, they had attendants who ran out with blankets and quickly put out the fire. Then the show went on!!

All in all, a very interesting experience!

The last twin birthday story for 2009

2009-03-07T22:18:00.000-08:00

We're really getting some mileage out of the twin's birthdays this year. I got them tickets to the dinner theater in Claremont for their birthdays. I took them to see 42nd Street today. It is a musical with all the songs from their era. It also had a lot of dancing. Tap dancing. What a great way to lose weight. What a lot of energy tap dancing takes. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed once the show started.

I guess I was a tad underdressed in jeans.

We were seated right up front row next to the stage. However, we weren't in the center. When I explained to the theater staff that it was their birthday and their birthdate was 2-22-22, they moved us to the perfect location. Back far enough and exactly in the center!
Can you see them at the table watching the guitarist playing during dinner before the show started?

Enjoying Mimosas. They chose vegetarian meals and had hot fudge sundaes for dessert.

Still going strong and enjoying life at 87!

Twin parties for the twins: The second party

2009-03-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

Lunch at the Happy Veggie Garden Restaurant on Sunday 2/22/09. Tim and Liza have taken the twins to this restaurant a couple of times and they love it! It's an all vegetarian Chinese restaurant and it was good. I don't know how they make those veggies meats and fishes so realistic, but they are darn close! The taste and texture is so realistic you wonder if it's really vegetarian.

Tom joined us.

Aunt Dorothy blows out the candles on her vegetarian cake. It's made out of a squash and very similar to angel cake.

We also had fortune cookies and enjoyed reading our fortunes. Mine was: "There is excitement to be found everywhere you go." I found that very exciting!

Tim picked up the bill. Thank you, Tim.

Another wonderful celebration for our wonderful twin mothers.

Celebrating 87 years x 2

2009-03-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

After a day of partying they are still going strong!

In fact, Aunt Dorothy, who successfully recovered from a broken hip, is ready to clean up the floor after most of the partygoers left! Hope I am that flexible when I am 87!

Janet told the story, so I'll just add a few more pictures...

Rather than tring to artfully arrange them, and having half of them disappear on me, here they are....

A good time was had by all, especially by the birthday girls!

Six month anniversary

2009-02-21T07:24:00.000-08:00

Last night I got together with some of my classmates to celebrate six months of being Masters! We had a great time catching up and supporting each other in our career challenges and aspirations. Michiko came all the way from Japan! Since our class has such a cool graduation date: 080808, we decided to get together on our anniversary: 080809.

The fun part of my job

2009-02-21T06:18:00.000-08:00

The educator half of my job is the most creative and fun. It's the part that meets the need to nurture the next generation. We hold a critical care symposium every year. This is the first year I have been on the planning committee. (Confession: I joined after all the work was done. Don't think I"ll get away with that next year.)

Anyway, this is the first year we have had poster presentations. We have 3 hospitals in our system. We had a total of 5 posters: one from the hospital in Glendora, one from Covina, and [BRAG] three from my units! The first picture is of Ruby and RZ, a husband-wife team who created a poster on prevention of hospital acquired infection from central lines (a type of IV). Ruby works in the DOU (a step down from critical care) and RZ works in ICU. They both work the night shift. They are leaders.

This is a picture of some night shift nurses from CCU with me. They are the stars of a poster on Core Measures. One of the night shift nurses developed a simple form to help nurses be sure we are meeting all the marks. It was intended to be for our 4 units. However, administration liked it so much that it is now being used in all 3 hospitals! How could I not be proud of our nurses!

This is a picture of Gail, one of our night shift
nurses in DOU, explaining his team's poster on preventing the development of pressure ulcers.

This is a shot of some of our nurses who attended the critical care symposium Thursday. You can see they made me sit front and center. How embarrassing! I am so proud of them!

There's a New Place in Town

2009-02-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to Piano Piano, a new place in town. It is a dueling piano show that really gets the audience going. The show is totally based on audience requests. Teams of 2 to 4 musicians take requests from the audience and tips can determine how quickly they get played or if a song gets killed altogether.

They got these two guys to come up and dance in front of the crowd by promising them a free drink. (I hate it when pictures disappear. The guys were pretty funny.)This lady being serenaded by one of the piano players was celebrating her 86th birthday. Of course, her family went wild. Gave me thoughts about two 87th birthdays coming up.
As the night wore on, it got pretty lively. You can see we were sitting on the "party side." Defintely an entertaining evening!

Another twin story

2009-02-14T07:58:00.001-08:00

Last evening when I got off work, I stopped by Long's drug store

(recently bought out by CVS; this I know from my son, Matthew, who works at Long's in Fresno [and BRAG: was named "Employee of the Quarter" after his first quarter on the job!])

to pick up Mom's meds.

Mom has a lot of meds so it takes awhile to process the order. I asked the clerk to change the tops to the non-childproof type, so it took even longer. The clerk and I had a chance to chat. I told her Mom's birthday is coming up. She will be 87. Her birthday is on 2-22-22! The clerk was delighted and reached under the counter. She pulled out "2" pens and "2" pill containers for her!

Then I told the clerk Mom is a twin. There are "2" of them! "Two" with the birthday "2-22-22"! The clerk immediately reached back under the counter and pulled out "2" more pens and "2" more pill containers for her twin!

When I got to the twins' house and told them the story, then pulled out the "2" gifts, both were absolutely delighted! They were thrilled to receive these simple gifts!

PS. If I was a real blogger, I'd have had my camera with me and taken a picture of the "2" of them.

Weekend with the twins

2009-02-09T21:49:00.001-08:00

Shopping for groceries at Stater Brothers. It rained as we got home. The plan was to go out to Riverside for lunch. Aunt Dorothy would like to see Uncle Gene's grave. She's so cute. She said they didn't leave enough room for her! The gravestones are all too close together. She will have to be cremated.
The rain interfered with those plans. We'll have to go another day.
Aunt Dorothy insisted I get in the picture too!

Snow in Covina!

2009-02-09T20:49:00.000-08:00

It's always so pretty after a rain. This morning I took this shot as I pulled out of the driveway leaving for work.

It started getting gray when I got to West Covina. This shot was taken passing the West Covina Fashion Plaza.
The sun came out again. This is the parking lot behind the hospital. The white tower is full of liquid oxygen.

I had to go over to our other campus in Covina, Inter-Community for a meeting.

Palm trees for those who miss them.

The Covina campus.

Getting off work tonight, the snow level was down to 2000 ft. The mountains were all white! Impressive. Beautiful. Hard to see in this shot, but by the time I got up high enough, it was too dark for another picture. Big Bear had over 2 feet. Two more storms are headed our way. Well, we sure need the rain. Last week it was 80 degrees!

Change

2009-02-03T21:28:00.000-08:00

We got a new CEO two months ago. That's a good thing. I was ready to change buses. This guy is taking our bus in a new direction. He is taking us back to good!

I just heard today that our Chief Nurse Executive is gone! Even though I agree with this decision, it takes my breath away. Like a gut punch. Twenty of the top administrators got their pink slips. Things are shakin'.

One of those disappearing photos

2009-02-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

This one was worth another post!

Atlantic Coast Highway

2009-02-01T09:02:00.001-08:00

I called Christie this morning. Noel answered. Christie is not home. She is in Raleigh visiting her friend, Mel. That girl gets around! She and her friends always meet in a different city!

Anyway, Noel remarked that I haven't updated my blog since I was in Georgia. Right! I have been wanting to. So here goes...
A strange site for us Pacific coasters. Even Christie says she is still not used to seeing the Atlantic Coast Highway!

This is the part where I tell you about my visit starting with a relaxing morning on the Burgdorf's front porch. Unfortunately, the other photos I uploaded have disappeared!

Well, I am frustrated at trying to blog. About a gadzillion photos that I uploaded to blog about disappear as I try to write! And I certainly can't arrange them on the page once they are uploaded! Even when I try to move a tiny photo into a huge white space it won't move. Then when I look for the rest of the photos I uploaded, they are gone!!

So I am certainly not finding this a user friendly site! This makes it hard to convince Christie and Noel to assist Cayleigh and Aiden to blog. Even if it does help their creativity and story telling skills!

Any tips to help me would certainly be motivating. As it is, I am not sure how much future blogging I will do. Unless I upload the photos one at a time I guess.

So I will post another blog with the family shot of Christie, Noel and the kids.

This is my friend, Karen. I am sure you all remember her. We met when Christie was about 4 and her daughter, Jessica, was in Little Church with Christie. Then, when the girls were in St Christopher's School, we were much younger than the other mothers in the class so we ended up hanging out together. Karen also has a daughter one year younger than Christie and Jessica, April. Then she has a gap like I do.

Her son, Jeffrey, went to school with Joseph. Jeffrey is the one that was born with a major heart defect and ended up in Janet's unit at Children's Hospital with major heart surgeries. He also had to have a pacemaker placed while he was a teenager. Fortunately, Janet's team did a great job! Jeff is doing great! Living a normal life! In fact, he has a young man's dream job: playing video games for a living. He is a beta tester for one of the game developers!

Anyway, when Jeff was born with all his medical problems, Karen needed a nurse to translate when she went to visit the doctors. Enter me. Well, Karen ended up going to nursing school and becoming a nurse herself. She and I started the BSN journey together in the 90's. Karen finished in the 90's. I finished in 2006.

I continued on to the Master's program. Karen did too. We both finished our Master's in August of last year. However, when I finished, I was finished. Karen took a much more difficult route. She is now a Nurse Practitioner! She called me last Thursday to tell me she passed her state boards! Above is a picture of Karen standing by the door of the office she shares with the physician she now practices with. The empty space on the door is where her name will be very shortly!

And here we are celebrating!

This is what I have been busy with lately. I had to renew my BLS and ACLS as they expired at midnight last night. So Thursday night after work for 3 hours I was in class renewing Basic Life Support and yesterday, Saturday, I spent the entire day renewing Advanced Cardiac Life Support. We do not get paid for doing this. It is a "condition of employment." Unfortunately, we renew in the month they expire, we can't work without them, and the renewals weren't offered until the end of the month. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Hey, I'm lucky to have a job in today's economy. And fortunately, I love my job!

MLK Jr. Day

2009-01-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hello from Taco Bell!
Today was fun. I ate a soft taco. Yum Yum Yum

This is us at the Movie Theater.

We went to go see Marley and Me

WI -Cayleigh

2009-01-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Hello again!This is some of the stuff I used to fix the boxes.

Do you see the tape on the boxes? I did that!

This is me with Marley.

This is me trying to fix the box.

I did it!

GA-Aiden

2009-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hello, this is me going to bed before today.

This is a car wreck that I made.

This is a Thomas wreck with Duck's train and Thomas' train colliding.

This is Toby's train smashing into Thomas' train.

Aiden's Blog

2009-01-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

Hello, this is my first blog. In this picture I am typing on the computer at the library. I was trying to find a book to read.

This is me and Grandma Eileen in front of the library. Cayleigh took this picture.

This is me and Cayleigh playing after dinner in this picture.

This is me with my new dog. His name is Ill, Jr. He is named after my cousin, Joshua Kong's dog, named Ill.

This is my new Dale Earnhart Sr. NASCAR.

This is my blog. Do you like it? Bye Bye.

Cayleigh's Blog

2009-01-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

Hello, everybody!
This is my first blog.
I had a fun day today. This is a picture of me at Target. Grandma Eileen, Aiden, and I went to Target today to spend our Christmas gift cards from Grandma. Grandma got me this little dog. I named him Marley after the movie Marley and Me.

After Target we went to the library. Aiden took this picture.

Here I am looking for a good library book.

This is me and Aiden dancing and playing on the floor after dinner.

This is me making this blog. How did I do?

Hello from Georgia

2009-01-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

I flew to Georgia yesterday. Best flying experience I've ever had. No crowds, great tail wind. Arrived 20 min early on the first leg of the flight and 15 min early on the flight from Atlanta to Savannah!
They layover was a perfect 1 1/2 hours, so no rush for the next gate, time to get some exercise, relax.
Even so, it takes a day. I arrived last night after Cayleigh and Aiden were asleep. I went in to kiss them in their beds per their instructions. They returned the favor this morning, coming in to kiss me in bed before they left for school.
I have been slowly recovering from a virus I got more than a week before Christmas. I have never had such a tough time recovering. The doctor I went to last week said I'm not contagious (didn't want to share anything with the Burgdorfs), it's just a tough one to recover from. I've felt like I must have mono. But, thank goodness, it's not. And I am getting incrementally better every day. So, I have spent my first day in Georgia relaxing, resting, getting over my jet lag, and having a wonderful time not having to do anything for a change.

The first picture is probably too dark to see but it's Cayleigh sleeping. This next one I took sitting on a beautiful white rocker on Christie's front porch. Tomorrow Christie is taking the day off work, the kids will be in school, and we will have a mom and daughter day. That is until after school when we pick up the kids, grab some dinner, and she takes off with Noel to Charleston for the weekend!
They will be home soon, so I will start dinner now. I'll keep you posted on the adventures of "Meemaw" (check out Heather's post) and the grandkids. (Is that what Meemaw should be calling them?)

Beauty in my own backyard

2009-01-03T10:40:00.001-08:00

I went out to the backyard. It was cold and gray. I sat there with a cup of coffee while Tucker played. There was a shower of yellow leaves falling. It looked like it was raining leaves. Tucker pranced around and I realized there is so much beauty in my own backyard. I see it so often it's easy to take it for granted. I ran and got my camera. I see the world a little differently through the camera lens. I looked at my backyard from angles I don't usually focus on. Although this first shot is right out my kitchen window and I do appreciate it daily.
I love the contrasts of the plants in the yard. The older couple who owned the house before me did a lot in the backyard I was told by a neighbor when I first moved in. The older gentleman actually died in the backyard which he loved so much. If you believe in ghosts, there is a benevolent ghost in my backyard.
It's hard to see in this shot, but this is the last of the pomegranites hanging like big red Christmas bulbs on the trees with the yellow leaves in the center of the picture. This is also the view from my kitchen window and I really enjoy those red orbs every autumn.

The last rose of the year. When we first moved into this house, Matthew was about 12 and quite upset to be moving from his beloved first home. He had had a rose garden in our previous house and we decided to plant a rose garden in our new house. This is the only rose we managed to plant. The soil in Claremont is mostly rocks. It took all day and even help from his dad to get this one rose planted. It's pretty special. I can see it right out my kitchen window also.

This is a hidden part of the yard. Those green stalks grow firey orange flowers every summer. They are always a surprise and a delight.
This big old tree keeps my house so cool every summer. It also costs a small fortune to trim.
I really do not like birds of paradise. OK, usually I hate birds of paradise. But this morning, even the birds are pretty.
Yes, there is a lot of beauty in my own backyard.
Tucker has to be right beside me at all times. Here he is wedged beside me in my chair as I post this blog. His bed, on the floor right beside the chair is too far away. I think I forgot what it's like having a dog. Are they all this needy?

Linking

2008-12-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

Dorothy, I will try it. Give it a try. How did it work?

Links

2008-12-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

If anyone can tell me how to link to other blogs, please kindly send me directions. Thank you.

The brothers part ways

2008-12-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

This morning Matt and Katie and I were getting ready to make cinnamon nutmeg sweet and sour French toast with real maple syrup (Matt is quite a good cook) when Joseph and Chiaki stopped by to use the Internet. They Mapquested an address of one of Chiaki's friends in Santa Maria. Joseph and Chiaki couldn't join us for breakfast as they were headed up the coast. Chiaki is keeping Joseph quite busy with her itinerary. I gave Chiaki the insert on the Rose Parade from the LA Times today. The Rose Parade is on her itinerary. She was delighted with the "souvenir."

Matt and Katie are leaving tonight to go back to Fresno. Matt said he plans to come back for the Grandmas' birthdays in Feb. so the brothers parted til then. After breakfast, Matt and Katie headed up to the snow with friends. Tucker stayed behind staring out the window and wimpering. I finally figured out how to link to other blogs! At least I thought I did. Can't find the links now. Time to take Tucker out for a walk!

Meet the cat

2008-12-28T15:02:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when you try to introduce a cat to a new dog.

Even the dog ended up with scratches on his nose. He yelped, but was otherwise a lamb. The cat, on the other hand, is afraid to enter the house now.

Here Mom, you hold the dog now.

Meet the parents

2008-12-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

Matthew and Katie invited all four of their parents out to lunch yesterday to meet each other. Matt's treat! Mike declined the invitation, however, the rest of us had a great time. Cheryl, Katie's mom, is a first grade teacher. Her husband, Shannon, is a third grade teacher. Of course, they had to hear all about Terry, the third grade teacher in our family!

Cheryl and Shannon have graciously agreed to dogsit next month while I am in Georgia.

Winter in So Cal

2008-12-27T12:19:00.000-08:00

As I try to master the art of blogging, let me try writing before adding photos.

I tried taking Tucker for a walk yesterday. We made it three doors down. The neighbor's German Shepard was off leash in the front yard and the neighbor was no where around. Tucker, who never barks I am told, found his voice! We hightailed it back home with the German Shepard, "Chewie," on our heels. Chewie followed us right to my front door!

Today, we made it down the street and around the corner where Tucker promptly relieved himself! OK, maybe Toby spoiled me. Toby would never relieve himself in public. So I was unprepared. Back home we trotted for the necessary cleanup supplies.

Third attempt: After depositing Tucker's gift in the proper receptacle, we set off again. By then, I was getting tired. I barely recovered from the flu and came down with a sore throat and headache. So I am still recovering my strength. Good excuse anyway. Tucker and I walked around the block, not my usual two mile intervals. Beautiful day to be in So Cal. Cold, sunny, and brisk. Mt Baldy is covered with snow. For those of you transplanted So Californians, see what you left?

We miss you.

2008-12-26T22:10:00.000-08:00

Matthew and Mom and Tucker
Katie and Tucker
Katie, Mom, and Aunt Dorothy getting ready to hit the road.
Tucker gets comfy.

The Day after Christmas

2008-12-26T21:43:00.001-08:00

Matthew hates to part with little Tucker, who has won his and Katie's hearts. However, he knows Mom will take good care of Tucker for the next 7 months until their lease is up and they can move to a place that allows dogs.

Joseph and Chiaki.

Immigration interrogated her for over an hour when she arrived in America. Potential terrorist?

Matthew cooked fabulous special order omelets for all. Katie was nice enough to take our orders.

Relaxing and opening Christmas gifts after that fabulous brunch.

Afterward, Joseph took Chiaki to the DMV to renew her driver's license before they went out to dinner with some of her friends she hadn't seen since she lived here 3 years ago.
Matt and Katie took Grandma and Aunt Dorothy back to West Covina since they were meeting at Grandma Rose's house a few blocks away. Tucker and I stayed home and got acquainted.

2008-12-26T20:58:00.000-08:00

2008-12-26T20:46:00.000-08:00

And Janet just keeps turning out those pizzas!

What's going on up there?

Serious poker in the living room.

Hombres in the hall (Brian, Theresa's guy; Terry; Nolan; Taylor; John ).

Tim and Liza.

2008-12-26T20:21:00.000-08:00

Lori and Mike Leigh, Mike's son, Nick Leigh,
Dan and Pat

Melanie, Dorothy, Eileen, and Dan with his Mom

Jacqueline, Nolan, Carter, Lucas, and Jackson

Even Heather and Carlos joined us virtually!

2008-12-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

Tom, Dan, and Pat Reeff. Christmas Eve in progress.

2008-12-24T20:09:00.000-08:00

Man, this pizza is good. What a choice:
Thai chicken,
BBQ Chicken,
Pepper and Sun-dried tomato,
5 Cheese Tomato,
Artichoke Olive Caper pizza,
Pepperoni ,
Hawaiian,
and a mushroom-sausage-garlic creation!
And we're not done yet!!

John supervises the chef.

The kitchen.

The seating area.

Christmas Eve In Progress

2008-12-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

Hey!! Welcome me to the world of blogging. I've been wanting to join the blogging world. My sister, Janet, is here along with a lot of the family celebrating Christmas Eve. She is getting me hooked up with the blogosphere.

As you can see, Katie and Chris Stratton have joined us via their wedding wine bottle. Good wine it is!

It's cold here in So Cal today. Snow level is about 2000 ft. It's snowing on the Grapevine. So the pizza dough is warming by the hearth.

Cheers to Katie and Chris!

Serious pizza work being done here tonight! How's your pizza night going?

Waiting for the hot ones. Distracting their hungry tummies with Star Wars Monopoly.