Hello!
Home at last, and how sweet it is! There's nothing better than coming home from a cramped up college dorm to a big, warm house and your dog. Although I love school and all my friends, it was definitely time to come home. I'm sitting here in my living room with the fire blazing to my right, a lit up Christmas tree in my front, and the Bruins game on to my left. Nothing I tell you, nothing, is better than this. The holidays give me the giggles :) I love everything about Christmas, New Years, birthdays.. makes me smile! Which brings me to... my presents under the tree-I'm eyeing them. Most of which have my name on em because yes- I'm an only child. The only time of the year I am ACTUALLY SPOILED! It's great, I love it. Funny thing- my mom likes to do this awkward tradition where she puts labels on all the gifts, some to Emily from Mom and Dad and others- to Emily from Simon (my dog that died about 10 years ago), to Emily from Virgil (my dead bird...) to Emily from Santa (cute). I dunno, as long as whatevers in those boxes are good.
We have a lot of good traditions in my family, which is one of the best parts about being home for vacation. (My mom is babbling away next to me, NOT listening, DON'T care) We go to my aunt's usually for Christmas Eve but- family dispute. so now it's at my other aunt's house, hah. That's always funny with millions of cookies and the yankee swap with the cheap (not funny) gifts. Then Christmas I stay here, Matty will probably come over nighttime for exchanging gifts (I LOVE buying gifts for people, so I'm excited). I already got my mom, dad and gram stuff, yezz. New Years Eve is dinner in Boston and hopefully First Night with Matt :) (My dad doesn't want us to go to First Night because supposedly "It's a mad house!"... we'll see about that dad) New Years day is my OTHER aunt's house for italian food! MMMMMM gnoccis, brasciole, raviolis, pasta, antipasto. YEZZZ. (we go in time slots, yes. time slots- oh. and it's by couple) I don't know what time my slot is, but I don't want cold food. THEN January 7th is ST. JOHN! I am sooo pumped. 80 degrees in January, baiii winter. Throw in a couple pond hockey games and home cooking and nothing's better during winter break.
I'm sure that was entertaining for you all to read, but I'm just way too excited for the holidays not to share it with everyone! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with your families, I know I will. I will try to write, but sitting on my ass and eating usually takes up most of my time. EWW the Bruins are losing and I'm pissed... It's time to turn Up on.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
some sad goodbyes
I'm sure people were expecting a goodbye blog to our fellow friends here at school, although they won't be leaving forever (because of visits of course)they won't be here everyday like the rest of us shmucks -I think that's how you spell it. So I thought I would post something today in memory of our friends leaving SHU, and because I'm too lazy to start studying in the library.
It's sad to think that one of my BEST friends in this world will be leaving after this semester to go home- Kassy. She always lit up the room with adorable smile- or mean/drunken smirk she would give random people in the room. (I know this sounds like an obituary, but I don't care) Kass has this remarkable personality that I have never seen in another person before. She can turn my day from sucking so hard to making me roll around on the floor laughing, in a matter of seconds- there's not too many people in the world that can do that to me, haha. I've met a number of great people here at SHU, but when I met Kassy on the night before my birthday last year, it's changed my life since then. She's done me many favors as I have done for her too, but she would drop anything in a second if I needed help. Although I have taken care of her drunken ass many nights- I loved every second of it, as well as recorded every second of it (I would never show anyone though- it's only for us to laugh at). Some favorite moments you ask? Well..
Her countless nights on the dog bed because he bed was bunked too high for her drunk ass to climb up on and late night trips to Merrit (me driving, and Matt riding shotgun) with Kass singing obnoxiously loud in the back, then suddenly soundless- face planted in the seat. Day parties in the silly suite playing knee hockey and random nights celebrating that our exams were over for the week (more excuses to get drunk). Mike driving Soltisha's car with me and Kass in the back going to Mcdonalds and blasting Blink182. I will miss the giant sweatshirts she has from her brother, because it was mostly what I chose to wear everyday. Recording obnoxious videos of us mouthing the words to Queen and then posting it all over facebook for the world to see. Bagel trips in the morning to get not one, but two bagels just because we thought the bagels were too small (validating our fatness). Me making egg and cheeses on Thursday mornings for us. Playing pong in eckart. Dave Matthews band concert and me dying in the car when my Dad picked us up, but still didn't tell my mom that I yacked all over her front seat. Slightly Stoopid concert and me dying on the dirt and throwing up in Jared's car, (I don't mix well with concerts, baaai concerts). - side note- everytime I see the word concert, I think concerta... is that bad? I'll miss cakefarts and movie nights. Basically it's gonna be really hard to see Kass go, but we know she'll be back to visit because working in the bowling alley is gunna get old real fast. (just kidding, love u) You mean a lot to us Kass, cheers to you, dad :)
Kiefer and Rob- I'll miss you guys a lot. I'm going to leave this one open ended because I'm sure one of your fellow silly suiters will want to write something for you guys. Rob- I will miss your mojo (and I mean that in both terms). Day 1 in Seton, everyone was curious as to WHO Rob Coloney was, his 25,000 songs amazed everyone in our building. He has an amazing singing voice and an enormous TV that I'm sure everyone will miss. I will miss the neatness of his room and his hot dad. I will miss his radio show- but I won't miss his loving of the Yankees or any New York sports for that matter, :). Rob, you better visit soon. QUEEFER- I'll miss your love for Boston and that we both love Will Wilson and Twaaaanks. We'll miss your nickname- QUEEFER and we'll miss your smile, because if I do say- it's the best one in the world. I'll personally miss of your awesome tattoos and I'll miss that we both love that wonderful 4 letter word that leads to trails behind Jhill or a golf course?
You guys are awesome, never change and visit lots!
CHEERS TO YOU DADS :) GOOD LUCK.
It's sad to think that one of my BEST friends in this world will be leaving after this semester to go home- Kassy. She always lit up the room with adorable smile- or mean/drunken smirk she would give random people in the room. (I know this sounds like an obituary, but I don't care) Kass has this remarkable personality that I have never seen in another person before. She can turn my day from sucking so hard to making me roll around on the floor laughing, in a matter of seconds- there's not too many people in the world that can do that to me, haha. I've met a number of great people here at SHU, but when I met Kassy on the night before my birthday last year, it's changed my life since then. She's done me many favors as I have done for her too, but she would drop anything in a second if I needed help. Although I have taken care of her drunken ass many nights- I loved every second of it, as well as recorded every second of it (I would never show anyone though- it's only for us to laugh at). Some favorite moments you ask? Well..
Her countless nights on the dog bed because he bed was bunked too high for her drunk ass to climb up on and late night trips to Merrit (me driving, and Matt riding shotgun) with Kass singing obnoxiously loud in the back, then suddenly soundless- face planted in the seat. Day parties in the silly suite playing knee hockey and random nights celebrating that our exams were over for the week (more excuses to get drunk). Mike driving Soltisha's car with me and Kass in the back going to Mcdonalds and blasting Blink182. I will miss the giant sweatshirts she has from her brother, because it was mostly what I chose to wear everyday. Recording obnoxious videos of us mouthing the words to Queen and then posting it all over facebook for the world to see. Bagel trips in the morning to get not one, but two bagels just because we thought the bagels were too small (validating our fatness). Me making egg and cheeses on Thursday mornings for us. Playing pong in eckart. Dave Matthews band concert and me dying in the car when my Dad picked us up, but still didn't tell my mom that I yacked all over her front seat. Slightly Stoopid concert and me dying on the dirt and throwing up in Jared's car, (I don't mix well with concerts, baaai concerts). - side note- everytime I see the word concert, I think concerta... is that bad? I'll miss cakefarts and movie nights. Basically it's gonna be really hard to see Kass go, but we know she'll be back to visit because working in the bowling alley is gunna get old real fast. (just kidding, love u) You mean a lot to us Kass, cheers to you, dad :)
Kiefer and Rob- I'll miss you guys a lot. I'm going to leave this one open ended because I'm sure one of your fellow silly suiters will want to write something for you guys. Rob- I will miss your mojo (and I mean that in both terms). Day 1 in Seton, everyone was curious as to WHO Rob Coloney was, his 25,000 songs amazed everyone in our building. He has an amazing singing voice and an enormous TV that I'm sure everyone will miss. I will miss the neatness of his room and his hot dad. I will miss his radio show- but I won't miss his loving of the Yankees or any New York sports for that matter, :). Rob, you better visit soon. QUEEFER- I'll miss your love for Boston and that we both love Will Wilson and Twaaaanks. We'll miss your nickname- QUEEFER and we'll miss your smile, because if I do say- it's the best one in the world. I'll personally miss of your awesome tattoos and I'll miss that we both love that wonderful 4 letter word that leads to trails behind Jhill or a golf course?
You guys are awesome, never change and visit lots!
CHEERS TO YOU DADS :) GOOD LUCK.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Power of A Smile.
I thought I would write a cute slash semi funny blogpost. I know I'm kinda slacking on this, but I am really really busy with school. ANYWAYS... to my point. For my nursing courses we need to go to clinical for part of our grades. Sophomore year we go to either nursing homes or elderly care facilities. I was assigned to a nursing home in Trumbull, which I really liked a lot. We go for like a couple hours and have a task to do when we get there. One was feeding and another was teaching our patient about one of the drugs they take. It can be hard, but really rewarding. You either walk out of there feeling like a million bucks after having a few laughs with these people or you leave feeling horrible knowing that these people go to this place basically to end their lives. Either way, the people in these homes are awesome. Enough of this sadness, my story is about feeding our patient's their morning meals.
My patient, Carol, is a wonderful woman. She has dementia and some other things that you probably wouldn't know about, but the main point is the fact that she has dementia. For those of you who don't know what dementia is, it's the loss of brain function. It makes you lose a lot of speaking, cognitive, and motor skills. There are different stages, and poor Carol was probably in the worst. She couldn't feed herself, couldn't voluntarily move her limbs, and couldn't talk (making sense). My partner and I would continue to feed her, as we were told, while my instructor came in and out watching our work. Poor Carol had the worst food to eat too, kinda like disgusting cafeteria food from middle school. Super cereal (pureed cereal) was her favorite and the soggy french toast deffinitely was not. She had an array of drinks as well, but it was especially hard pouring a drink down her throat without a straw (people with serious dementia are not allowed to have straws). Carol mumble many words and suddenly would shout here and there, but you cannot really answer these people because you don't really know what they are saying in the fist place. "Just continue feeding and do your best" was what we were told each time my instructor came in the room, but I was still curious- are we just supposed to ignore what these people are saying, just because you don't know what they are talking about? I did ask my instructor and she told me that you just need to keep going about your business and tell them that they need to "complete the task at hand". I understand that, but if I was couped up in one room for the rest of my life, I would want someone there talking to me even if what I was saying was nonsense.
Anyways, as Carol sat there mumbling and in between taking sips of orange juice or chewing her soggy toast- she would suddenly smile. In between everything, her abrupt shouts and even awkward silences were interupted with a big laugh and smile- directly at me. I would spoon her some food and she would look right up at me and smile, and of course... I would smile back. Sometimes people do not realize how much the power of a smile really means to someone. One of the first things I learned as a nursing student is to smile at everyone you meet, because you never know how much that smile helped them out. This woman couldn't talk, she could barely move, but she could smile. And I smiled back and she would laugh.
Before I left her that day, I told her I would come back and visit her even if I wasn't at clinical. I'm sure she didn't know what I was talking about, but she still went from looking down at her lap, right up at my eyes, and smiled and nodded. This woman has dementia, and even in the worst stages, she understood and she WAS able to understand the effects of a smile. She didn't know what I was saying, but she did learn that someone cared.
(By the way, nursing homes aren't all sadness, some of the men and women who live in this particular home are pretty crafty and joke around with you. Especially the woman who yelled at me from her room to come bring her her breakfast RIGHT AWAY because she was hungry! Yeah, yeah, get off my back lady... I'm not your butler.)
Anyways, a smile goes a long way... smile on. :)
My patient, Carol, is a wonderful woman. She has dementia and some other things that you probably wouldn't know about, but the main point is the fact that she has dementia. For those of you who don't know what dementia is, it's the loss of brain function. It makes you lose a lot of speaking, cognitive, and motor skills. There are different stages, and poor Carol was probably in the worst. She couldn't feed herself, couldn't voluntarily move her limbs, and couldn't talk (making sense). My partner and I would continue to feed her, as we were told, while my instructor came in and out watching our work. Poor Carol had the worst food to eat too, kinda like disgusting cafeteria food from middle school. Super cereal (pureed cereal) was her favorite and the soggy french toast deffinitely was not. She had an array of drinks as well, but it was especially hard pouring a drink down her throat without a straw (people with serious dementia are not allowed to have straws). Carol mumble many words and suddenly would shout here and there, but you cannot really answer these people because you don't really know what they are saying in the fist place. "Just continue feeding and do your best" was what we were told each time my instructor came in the room, but I was still curious- are we just supposed to ignore what these people are saying, just because you don't know what they are talking about? I did ask my instructor and she told me that you just need to keep going about your business and tell them that they need to "complete the task at hand". I understand that, but if I was couped up in one room for the rest of my life, I would want someone there talking to me even if what I was saying was nonsense.
Anyways, as Carol sat there mumbling and in between taking sips of orange juice or chewing her soggy toast- she would suddenly smile. In between everything, her abrupt shouts and even awkward silences were interupted with a big laugh and smile- directly at me. I would spoon her some food and she would look right up at me and smile, and of course... I would smile back. Sometimes people do not realize how much the power of a smile really means to someone. One of the first things I learned as a nursing student is to smile at everyone you meet, because you never know how much that smile helped them out. This woman couldn't talk, she could barely move, but she could smile. And I smiled back and she would laugh.
Before I left her that day, I told her I would come back and visit her even if I wasn't at clinical. I'm sure she didn't know what I was talking about, but she still went from looking down at her lap, right up at my eyes, and smiled and nodded. This woman has dementia, and even in the worst stages, she understood and she WAS able to understand the effects of a smile. She didn't know what I was saying, but she did learn that someone cared.
(By the way, nursing homes aren't all sadness, some of the men and women who live in this particular home are pretty crafty and joke around with you. Especially the woman who yelled at me from her room to come bring her her breakfast RIGHT AWAY because she was hungry! Yeah, yeah, get off my back lady... I'm not your butler.)
Anyways, a smile goes a long way... smile on. :)
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