Here's the rest of the toilet paper story

I had taken my morning lasix...and just after choir practice I ran to the toilet....Aaaaaah, just in time. It was then I realized that I had a new problems. The toilet paper roll was over half way used and the end of the roll was wrapped tightly against itself. I took my hand and angled it toward the roll...with the tips of my fingers I slowly spun the roll so I could reach the loose edge...I couldn't find it...Rolled, looked, yes, there was that little end, still snug against the mother roll. Reached in again straining against the plastic cover, with the tips of my fingers I rolled it again...The plastic toilet paper container must have been installed by a vertically challenged custodian because I had to lean way over to inspect where that end had gone...Now it was on top. People are coming in and looking throught the crack for the toilet stall wondering why I am almost standing on my head...Umph, they shouldn't be so nosey! I noticed a small loose end on the outside of the roll that just maybe I could grab and proceed with my need... Now I have red marks where the edge of the plastic cover has pushed into my wrist...Forget about using a thumb..It was way to short for this task...So once more, gently turnning th roll I grabbed the end! I almost wanted to jump out of the stall and give high fives.. Short fingers...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Love, Mom

Attack on the toilet paper!

When I need to wear gloves I usually wear Large due to the wide palm that I have. This sometimes leads to little flaps waving off the tips of my fingers; my fingers are very short.

This sometimes causes a certain challenge, these short fingers. I remember when Sue Pankey, my nursing director at Keosauqua hospital tried to show me how to check a new mother to be for effacement and cirvical dialation. Now you have to understand that Sue was very tall and had these long thin fingers that any piano teacher drools over. She carefully demonstrated the proper technique to glove, KY and exam. There she was with the palm of her hand clearly visible..."Now, you do it." I got the glove, the KY and the exam began. However, by the time I was able to feel this poor woman's uterus I noticed that I was up to my elbows!

Somewhat the same thing happened when Ms Sue taught me how to do IV s. She instructed me to watch her...I did.. When she held the IV catheter you could easily see the blood backflow into the needle when you accessed the vein, right there between the thumb and index finger! Looked easy to me! Then I tried...there comes the short fingers again...For me to hold the needle the up was up under the palm of my hand...Oh, well I got the hang of it eventually..got quite good at it, too.

Stopped for "drunk" driving

It was about 1 am. I had been out talking to a family about the signs and symptoms of their loved one's approaching death. I had been working all day and this was a late night "on call" visit. I was driving my company car with the UT HOMECARE logo on the side. Since I had been picked for speeding the month before I had placed my cruise control on the strait stretch before the left hand turn onto Hattie Branch Road. I tapped my breaks to release the cruise and toggled the wheel slightly to the right in preparation to make the left hand turn. That's when it happened. The vehicle behind me started flashing blue lights at me! I quickly pulled over, rolled down my window and reached for my driver's license.

When the officer got to my window he was laughing!.."What I got me was a tired homecare nurse!'' He said.."The way you started right then left made me think I had a drunk driver! I would not have stopped you if I had seen the sign on your car sooner. Do you think you can get home safely?"

I assured him I could.. and breathed a sigh of relief..glad that he had not tried to smell my breath for alcohol...I had eaten a onion covered hamburger to keep awake just a few minutes earlier. That may have caused a nasty surprise for him.

When the pager went off thirty minutes after getting home alerting me to another late night visit I had T get up and take me. I was not sure the officer would let me off so easily if he saw my car weaving on the road again..

time stops too often

There are times that I problems with my watch not working. For a while I had to use the old style wind up wrist watch because the battery watches would spin it's hands too fast. I first noticed this after I moved to Iowa from Tennessee. This story is about my watch stopping.

I was on call that night and looked at my watch when the pager went off. One of my own had died and I quickly got dressed to go to pronounce. The patient's home was about 65 miles away. T insisted that he drive me; he knew how tired I was. When we got to the van I checked my watch to record the time . That is when I realized that my watch had stopped. I borrowed T's watch.

When I got to the patient's home I talked with the wife. She reported that he was calling to Jesus when he died; his hand held up in the air like he was taking someone's hand. Then he dropped back into his bed and was no longer breathing. That was the same time that my watched stopped.

Time stopped. Time is relative. Time goes on anyway. Love, Mom

The Malibu

Hollis was very proud of his Pontiac..I'm not sure what year it was but he kept it washed and waxed..The car came to an end when the engine blew on our way home from Ames to Keosauqua. His parents were very kind and co-signed with us at the Cantril Bank to buy a new Malibu...We drove it for the next 7 years...Hollis was proud that he paid it off . We talked about getting a new car but he did not want to do that. His reasoning was he did not want others to know that we could afford something new. He was financial clerk and knew that his salary at RCA gave him a better income that most of the other 3rd Ward members. The Malibu was still in excellant condition even though I had stripped the chrom off the right side when trying to back out of the little garage. It was a Sunday morning and Hollis was already at church..I was just sure he was going to yell at me.. I thought I deserved it...but he got back to the house someway..I was too upset to remember what churchmember drove him.... He looked at the predicament of what I had done with the car and was able to manuver it back out into the driveway. Later, when I asked why he was not angry with me his response was that it was too late to be angry it just needed to be fixed. I think he was able to snap the chrom strip back into place..the car was none the worse for wear.

I still hate backing out! I will do a 5-6 point turn in a small driveway so I do not have to back out!