Hospital Dorm Life

When it snows everything shuts down...everything but medical facilities. Life goes on for these people and patients.

First question: How many people does it take to run a hospital?

In order to have enough people to work both day and night, they must have enough dr's, nurses, pharmacists, cafeteria workers, housekeeping, etc to run for a full 24 hrs. That means two shifts worth of people. For example, to properly operate the 8th floor (the floor I work on) we need 11 nurses for day and 11 for night. That's 22 nurses for one floor not counting housekeeping and doctors. That's ALOT of people for the whole hospital!!! 

Second question: How does a facility get THAT many people to stay?

Glad you asked, they call a CODE YELLOW (i now HATE the color yellow). A code yellow represents an internal disaster, meaning, we need people here to take care of patients. 

Third question: So you stay there, like eat, sleep, pee, shower, brush your teeth, change in front of the girls you work with???

Yes, I did all of those things.

Forth question: Where do you do all of those things?

We stayed in conference rooms, offices, anywhere you could find an empty spot. They provided cots to sleep on. I was lucky and got to sleep on a lazy boy that popped back to the upright position when i moved the first night and an air mattress the second night. The conference room I stayed in was a couple of doors down from the patient's rooms that I took care of for two days. I was forced to walk my pretty little I-look-like-death hinny down the hall where i was expected to be a nurse to take a shower, potty, everything! 

Fifth question: What about food? That's the most important part.

They were generous enough to provide us with free meals for almost 2 days. It was decent food. I was weird seeing EVERYONE you work with doing normal every day activities. It was like college again except in a professional setting and outside is off limits!

That is Hospital Dorm Life for you. As for today, I'm so thankful to be in my PJ's, on the couch, watching movies, eating anything I want, drinking hot drinks, shopping online, downloading music, and looking at the pretty snow safe and sound! 

Diva Banana Bread

I . LOVE . Banana Nut Bread. So I'm always looking for a good recipe. I ran across this Banana Bread recipe and loved it... with some additions that make this bread totally diva.
*Before baking, mix in CHOCOLATE CHIPS and nuts of your choice.
*After pouring it into your pan, sprinkle the top with a thin layer of cinnamon/sugar combo.
YUM, YUM, YUM, YUM!

Food for thought: I don't know about you, but I was raised thinking that it's a treat to have homemade bread for breakfast (banana nut being my favorite). The more I bake, the more I realize that "breakfast breads" and "cake" are the same thing. So why is it not "ok" in my head to feed kids cake for breakfast? I've seen it at the hospital and I may have said some not nice things.

Body Warming Tomato Soup

This sherried tomato soup warmed my body. I'm not a huge tomato soup fan but this is da-lish. Go on the light side with the sugar. I went heavy and it was a little too sweet. You can always add more but it's hard to remove sugar from soup.

Dear Mrs. Ree Drummond,
Thank you for all you've done for my taste buds and kitchens around the world. Thank you for being bold about the Southern style of cooking. I'm sure you've endured harsh words concerning calories, fat, grease, sodium, etc. But I say, bring it on. It makes me happy!

Love, 

Amy Jo

To-do List for Week of 11/23

Days off: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

List:
Laundry-Tuesday
Pedicure and paint by me
Grocery Store-Tuesday
Brainstorm Valentine's Day
2nd chapter of He Chose the Nails
Take shower before 11
Wash car
No Bake cookies-Friday
Crock pot Pulled Pork-Tuesday
Dive into Unshaken
Stay focused on to-do list

End of 10, Beginning of 11

Let me catch you up with pictures and a few words:

It's a baby boy day: Colt Steven Gregg come to Aunt Amy

Happy Thanksgiving from Duncan

Happy Birthday Brian & Jacoby Christmas in PA

Merry Christmas from the Gregg Family

Breckenridge, CO

Christmas Whirlwind

I love my job. The reason for today is, if I plan my schedule right and maintain wonderful co-workers, I can do EVERYTHING I want to do when it comes to my personal life. 

Within the last month, I was able to work a full schedule and still have time to:

* Have Thanksgiving with my family + B.

* Enjoy the day after Thanksgiving due to low census at the hospital

* Conquer the stomach virus.

* Put up and decorate 14 trees for a dear friend. Needless to say, my house did not get decorated.

* Shop for good deals on the presents I wanted to buy, this takes time people!

* Spend my mom's birthday with her in Duncan.

* Get all the gifts I gave wrapped and delivered before 12/15. And put bows on all the family presents for my dear friend that has the 14 trees. 

* Take a trip to PA w/ B for 5 days. It was snowing for B's birthday when we landed, celebrated Jacoby Christmas, shopped, relaxed, ate, talked, laughed, it was fun.

* Spend Christmas Day in Duncan with my family.

And still to come:

*Next week my family + B and - Jenny will be going on a spontaneous (planned and booked within the last 5 days) ski trip to Breckenridge, CO. 

And that is why I am loving my job TODAY! The flexibility of my job has taught me SPONTANEITY. I may be busy at times but it's a wonderful feeling knowing the things I'm busy with, i've chosen. There's no one telling me when I will be study or testing and me having to plan around that. What I wonderful feeling!

 

Christmas Time Debates

1. Kindle or Nook?

2. Stick to the Christmas list or not while shopping for the loved ones?

3. Go ahead and pick out every outfit for the next two weeks  since it's going to be non-stop from 12/12-12/27? Wrapping and shopping will be done by 12/12.

4. How long can I go w/o doing laundry (normal & work clothes)?

5. Puppy chow or fun Christmas cookies?

6. Pro-duct-ivity vs. Christmas movies, cute pj's, and a hot drink?

7. What in the world do I get the soon-to-be mother? Baby-related goodness vs. enjoy the last Christmas when the world can still revolve around her?

So much debate, so little time. Give me your input on any or all the above debate. Hope you're enjoying the season, getting lots checked off the listS, and staying away from the upper respiratory junk/stomach nastiness.