Fist Pounds Are Professional

For those of you who don't know, I am a neonatal nurse. I provide nursing care to premature and sick newborns. Although this job comes with many challenges and frustrations, I really think that I have found my passion in caring for these tiny and fragile babies. Another part of my job that I enjoy is interacting with the parents of these sweet babies. While it isn't always easy dealing with hormonal postpartum mothers, I love being able to facilitate the whole parent-infant bonding process. Every once in a while, things just seem to click when I interact with these parents, and I feel that I have somehow made a difference during a scary and stressful time in their lives. There are different ways that I know I've made a difference--sometimes it is through a simple "thank you", sometimes it is through a smile, and sometimes it is through a hug or hand shake. Never through something like a fist pound. Well, up until a few days ago, that is.

If you're not familiar with what a "fist pound" is, check out this Urban Dictionary definition. Now I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

So the other day, I was answering a mother's question about her baby. I turned away from the mother for a second to look at the baby, and when I turned back around, she was holding her fist out waiting for a fist pound from me. It took me a second to realize what was going on (and that I wasn't about to get punched in the face!). So we fist pounded, and I immediately knew that I had clicked with this mother. Who says fist pounding isn't professional?! I may just start incorporating it into all of my interactions with my patients and their families.

If you live in the Birmingham area, you may have seen this UAB commercial about "A Well Timed High Five":



Don't be surprised when you see me featured in a new UAB commercial--"A Well Timed Fist Pound". That's strong medicine.

Black and Blue...and a Little Red in the Face, Too!

Apparently, everyone loves to hear a good story about someone falling and busting their booty. Unfortunately, I was that particular "someone" last weekend. I wasn't planning on making a blog post about my fall. I would usually consider myself a sure-footed type of person, so whenever I do trip and fall, I get extremely embarrassed about it. But the few people who have heard about my fall have gotten a real kick out of it, and since this blog is meant to make people laugh, I decided to go ahead and share my embarrassing story with my faithful readers so that everyone can enjoy it.

It all started when I told my mom that I wanted to buy some patio furniture. (Yes, I have finally ventured back out into my back yard since the snake incident!) My mom loves to spend my money for me, so she immediately sent me website links to some different patio furniture sets. I decided that I liked this set at Academy:



I think this set will look great by my pool, and I also think I will be safe from snakes as I sit in these chairs.

So I decided to go to Academy to check out the set. They had the set on display, so I got a chance to sit in the chairs and inspect the set up close. It looked great, and I decided to purchase it. However, the set came in this huge box, and I knew there was no way that box would fit in my little car. I left the store knowing that I had to come up with a new game plan. As I was leaving the store, I must have been really focused on developing a new plan, because I didn't see that someone had spilled milk (yes, MILK?!) in the middle of the aisle I was walking down. I remember sliding a few feet, but the next chain of events is still just a blur to me. All I know is that one second I was sliding down the aisle, and the next second I was totally on the ground and my body was contorted in some strange way that I know I could never repeat. Sometimes falls like this one seem to happen in slow motion. Not this one. I slid, I fell, I jumped back up. I was back on my feet just as quickly as I had gone down. I then did what anyone would have done in this situation. I quickly scanned the immediate vicinity to see if anyone witnessed my horrible fall. Much to my dismay, two young male Academy workers were standing about 5 feet away gawking at me. I didn't have a mirror on hand, but I just know my face was a nice shade of maroon. After what felt like centuries, one of the guys asked if I was okay. Because I was so embarrassed and because I needed something...anything...to blame, I very matter-of-factly told them that they "might want to clean up that spill". Once they realized that was the reason I performed what looked like a rendition of an ice skating routine gone terribly wrong, they very swiftly snapped into action. At this point, I was so embarrassed that I was practically running out of the store, with milk dripping down my legs and my flip flops sloshing with milk in them. I'm sure I was quite a sight. The workers were chasing after me making sure I was okay and apologizing. I didn't even look back at them. All I could think of was that I needed to get out of that store, and never return. I'm pretty sure that even if that fall had paralyzed me, I would have found a way to get up and run out of that store. It's funny what a little embarrassment will do to you.

Shortly after this incident, I called my dad to see if he would buy the patio set for me at the Academy in Mobile and load it in his truck on his next trip up here. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never step foot in Academy again. Being the nice, caring person that he is, when I told my dad about my fall, he was really concerned and kept asking if I was okay. And then he handed the phone to my mom. And she laughed. And laughed. And laughed for a good five minutes straight. And when she finally composed herself, she asked, "But you're okay, right?".

For anyone who may be concerned, I have recovered from the fall pretty well. I was a little sore and my knee was a little bruised up:



Luckily, I think the biggest injury was the serious hit to my pride.

Another Stephanie Birthday!

You may remember that one of my awesome co-workers, Steph G., celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago and that in honor of her birthday, Michael Jackson made a brief return from the grave. Last week, another one of my awesome co-workers, Steph A., celebrated her birthday. We all knew that it would be difficult--if not impossible--to top Steph G.'s birthday. But that didn't stop us from planning a great birthday celebration for Steph A...

The plan was for us to eat at this great new restaurant called Chuy's. We were all really excited about checking out this new fun place. Until we got there, and we learned that we were facing a 3-hour wait. The people who were lucky enough to be eating at the restaurant didn't seem too phased by our sad looks of hunger, so we decided to eat elsewhere. We ended up eating at a new restaurant right next door called Flip Burger. I wasn't all that impressed with the food at Flip Burger, but the view was just amazing.



Yes, that would be the entrance to Chuy's. So while I was eating my less-than-spectacular burger at Flip Burger, I got to see the extreme looks of satisfaction on every person's face as they left Chuy's. It was like someone was playing a cruel joke on me.

Even though the evening didn't turn out quite as we had planned, a fun time was had by all.

Here's Luna, Bev, and me:



Bev, me, Jonathan, the Birthday Girl, and Steph G.:



Caitlin and Viv:



The wonderful Stephanies:



Happy Birthday, Steph A.!!!

My Bag is Packed, and I'm Ready for Duty!

As I have mentioned before, I am Auntie Ann to three adorable little 2-year-olds, Piper, Henry, and Rosemary. I have posted this picture before, but I think it deserves another glance:



Piper is the one on the left. She is the sweet and always overly-cautious child. Rosemary is the one in my lap. She is the child who knows no fear. Henry is on the right. He thinks I am his girlfriend, and since I seem to have no other prospects, I just let him continue to believe that. Piper, Henry, and Rosemary's new little sister, Penelope, is set to arrive any day now.

Since Piper, Henry, and Rosemary are my only "nieces" and "nephew", I am still a little new to this whole Auntie thing. But I have learned that being a good Auntie involves certain duties. A few weeks ago, I had a "slumber party" with the kids so that Heather and Gary (their parents) could make one of their frequent trips to the hospital for a contraction scare. Luckily, I was called in for duty after I had already made it home from work, so I was able to pack a few things and head over to their house. But then a few days ago while I was at work, Heather told me that she was having some contractions and hinted around that she might need me to come over for another "slumber party" with the kids after I got off work. She jokingly asked if I still had my packed bag in the car. Between you and me, I really don't think she was joking about that at all! Luckily, the contractions calmed down and a trip to the hospital wasn't necessary for them. But with Penelope's due date quickly approaching, I began to wonder if maybe I should have a packed bag in my car. Certainly a good Auntie would be prepared in this way. And since I want to be a good Auntie, there was no question about it. I immediately began packing my bag.

I went to the grocery store and headed for the travel-size toiletry aisle. I pretty much bought the entire aisle:



The TSA would be proud.

I now have my bag packed, and it is sitting in my car. And for anyone who may be wondering, my mom also has her bag packed in her car so that she will be ready to babysit her grand-dog while I go perform my Auntie duties.



Heather and Gary, Auntie Ann is ready for babysitting duty!

It's a Jungle Out There!

My backyard is a jungle. I have all different types of species that like to call my backyard home. I have frogs, I have lizards, I have dragonflies, I have butterflies. I have birds galore. And I don't think I need to remind anyone that occasionally I even have snakes.

When my mom began my backyard landscaping project, I think she was determined to turn my backyard into a bird paradise. She worked a bird bath into the landscape:



She also bought me a bluebird house, but I don't think we've had any baby bluebirds--yet.



And then there are the hummingbirds. I started out with one hummingbird feeder.



But the hummingbird fights got so bad that I had to purchase another one.



I have come to realize that keeping these hummingbirds well hydrated and fed is a full time job. I boil sugar water for these birds once a week. I have to refill the feeders at least 3 times a week. The hummingbirds go through about a quart of sugar water each week. But I think it's worth it to see these beautiful creatures.











Hummingbirds are FAST. And they are not always as sweet as they look. Whenever I take the feeders down to refill them, I often come close to getting attacked by the hummingbirds. When I am out in the backyard, the hummingbirds will dart at my head so quickly that they are gone before I even realize what has happened. So not only do I constantly have to look down for snakes when I am in my backyard, but I also have to look up so I know when to duck if a hummingbird is darting toward me. It's a challenge.

I also often see other types of less dangerous birds in my backyard.









As sad as it is to admit it, I think I may have turned into a bird watcher.

Occasionally, I will see lizards in my backyard, like this one climbing along my fence:



And often I will see a beautiful butterfly flutter by, like this one:



Yes, I do enjoy my little backyard jungle (sans the snakes).

Colby May Not Be Perfect, But He Is My Hero

Since this previous post, I have come to accept that my dog isn't perfect. Every now and then I am reminded of his flaws, like the other day when he decided to relieve himself on a puppy pad, and then tear the puppy pad to shreds while I was at work. Or how he insists on urinating on this one particular plant in my back yard to the point where the plant, and every plant around it, have now officially bit the dust. Or how he ran up and down my flower bed along the fence in order to spy on my neighbors, crushing every plant in his way (but the verdict is still out on this one...I have a hard time believing my dog would do something so un-perfect).

But while Colby is not perfect, this afternoon he officially became my hero. I was enjoying a nice, peaceful afternoon laying in my pool. The sun was out, I was getting a tan, and I was enjoying a nice nap. Colby was inside enjoying the A/C. Life was good for both of us. For whatever reason, Colby decided to come outside and join me, and the sound of the doggy door woke me up. I noticed that Colby stopped by one of the flower beds about 20 feet from where I was laying in the pool, and he seemed REALLY interested in something in the flower bed. Usually when he is REALLY interested in something, it's never good. So I sat up to try to figure out what he was looking at, and about that time the longest snake I've ever seen (okay, it was probably just about 3 feet long...but does it really matter?!) came slithering out of the flower bed, and it was headed toward the pool. I froze, thinking that maybe if I was completely still I would be invisible to the snake and it would go the other way. That snake wasn't slowly slithering--it was almost like it was jumping toward the pool at rocket speed. When the snake was about a foot from the pool and looked like he was about to jump in, I knew it was time to take action. I jumped out of the pool, screamed in such a high pitch that if I weren't so preoccupied with trying to save my life I would have been embarrassed (sorry I made fun of you for screaming "like a girl" that time, Gary...now I totally understand), and ran for my life toward the house. I assumed Colby would run after me to seek shelter in the house. But, no, my fearless dog chased after the snake and ran him out of our yard. While I appreciated his efforts to protect me from the evil snake, I was worried about his safety and started yelling at him to come inside. He just looked at me in disgust that I would make such a suggestion when there was such an important job to be done outside. Colby succeeding in chasing the snake out of the yard, and then strolled inside and took a nap. I, on the other hand, was shaking uncontrollably, while still dripping wet from being in the pool. I called my mom and told her what had just happened. After hearing the story, she said that she would fully support me if I decided to put my house on the market. She also suggested that I go to the E.R. and get a valium (I guess I was pretty shaken up when I talked to her). I asked her if she thought snakes could crawl through doggy doors, and she immediately said she would google it, and hung up the phone. I'm still pretty traumatized, and it's going to take me a while before I build up the courage to walk out into my back yard again. At some point I will have to go out there and empty the pool and get my towel. Maybe in a few weeks.

Colby is my hero. He was there to alert me to danger, and then he protected me from that evil snake. All in a day's work for the Super-Dog.

I've Been Shown Up.

A few weeks ago, I made a post about my new pool. While watering some of the plants along my fence the other day, I happened to peer through the slats of the fence into my neighbor's back yard and was shocked by what I saw:



Upon closer inspection (with a ladder), this is what I saw:



Now, for a refresher, here is a picture of my pool:



It seems as if I have been shown up.