workin’ for a livin’

After an extended medical/maternity leave, Holly is returning to work today. Hopefully she won’t encounter folks like these on her first day back.

Show a little love today to your barista, okay? She just might be a single mama with a butt-load of bills to pay.

what I want

Right about now I could really use this kind of coffee.

nurses always get the best swag

This past May 6-12 was National Nurses Appreciation Week and although I was off work missing the festivities, I still got myself a bit of the awesome swag that was passed out to show just how special and appreciated we are.

Over the years I have seen the good, the fabulous, the bad and the downright ugly when it comes to the nurse week swag offered to us by way of the hospitals, the vendors and the doctors. I have enjoyed the catered luncheons and dinners, the hand and neck massages, the free CE classes, the gift certificates for scrubs and nursing conferences, the t-shirts, the coffee mugs, the lunch boxes and even the cheap-ass calculators from the Dollar Store. It boils down to the fact that although we are overworked and underpaid in comparison to the hospitals, the vendors and the docs, we are appreciated by the the hospitals, the vendors and the docs.

So although I missed out on the festivities, if there were any in my workplace, I did recieve this awesome travel coffee mug that I can add to the cupboard full of travel coffee mugs here under the Big Top. It’s a very special coffee mug. I know this because I read the special message on the bottom of the mug.

Nothing says you are valued and appreciated for all you do like a lead based travel coffee mug. I can’t wait to use it.

from now on please address me as “Laura” with two “a’s”

Overheard while standing in line at my local Starbucks:

Barista: (taking the rather complicated drink order from the lady with the fake Yves St. Laurent bag in line in front of me) And your name Ma’am?

Lady with Fake YSL bag: It’s Kristin, with two “i’s”. Or is it Kiirsten? Or maybe Krstiin?

I’m sorry, but I did laugh out loud just a little bit. I also got my drink order before she did. She was visibly annoyed over that one. Sorry lady but the kids at the ‘bucks know me as Mommy~Dearest. They know what Mommy~Dearest likes and what Mommy~Dearest likes is not too complicated.

So dish right here and now, what is THE absolutely most annoying thing that gets to you while you are standing in line anywhere.

it’s ba-ack! wisdom in a coffee cup

Remember when I shared wisdom from a coffee cup? I love reading these things on my Starbucks cup. One way or another, they manage to provoke a little thought and as confused as I am capable of being, I need all the thought provocation I can get.
Yesterday proved to be a cool, blustery day with the promise of the next season just around the corner so I forsaked my usual summertime vente non-fat iced white mocha no whip for a hot non-fat white mocha no whip. Of course this confused the baristas because Holly wasn’t there but soon enough, I had my hot cup of caffeine goodness as I headed off to work. Once there I took the time to read the latest installment of The Way I see It. This was so good that I just had to share it with y’all. So here you are, a little wisdom from a coffee cup:

All children need a laptop. Not a computer, but a human laptop. Moms, dads, grannies and grandpas, aunts, uncles ~ someone to hold them, read to them, teach them. Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred previous generations. Loved ones who will pass on to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes and their dreams.
~General Colin L. Powell
Founder of America’s Promise~ The Alliance for Youth

Speaking of reading…
Today is Read Across America. Share your lap with a child you love and read together!

Monday Photo Shoot: Mugged

John Scalzi writes:

Get ready to rummage through your cupboards for this week’s Photo Shoot:
Your Monday Photo Shoot: Take a picture of one or more interesting coffee mugs you might have. Because it’s my experience that people have coffee mugs with interesting stories behind them. At least, I do

.
Interesting? I dunno about that. I do know that we have a rather eclectic collection here under the Big Top. We also have too many as they seem to be spilling out of the cupboards lately.
Like these

Holly works now for almighty Starbucks which is a good thing because I am a tool for Starbucks. She gets paid pretty well and has access to some pretty decent benefits which is a good thing to have when one is 20 years old and a student. She also has access to some pretty cool swag to purchase at a discount like mommy’s Police cd, Dave Matthews cd and mugs like these.
Oh, and the coffee isn’t bad either.
Speaking of all things Starbucks, Holly-Bear, mommy needs more tea to fill these lovely mugs! How about bring home some Zen or Berryblossom White? Pretty please?

more wisdom in a coffee cup

Growing up , my parents always said, “You will leave this world the same way you came into it; with nothing.” It made me realize that the only things we do in this world that count are those things that make the world a better place for those who come behind us.
~Tyrone B. Hayes
Biologist, Herpetologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

I am surrounded by things: the laptop, my camera, tv, dvr, my car, Bill’s car, more clothes than I need, this house that I have worked so hard to make into a home, books, photographs, scrapbook albums and on and on. I am surrounded by so much stuff! It’s all nice and I am truly grateful for those things that seem to make my life easier.
But still it is all just things.
None of it really reflects who I really am. None of it really can change the world for the better. So ultimately none of these things really matter.

But my children do. The sick and premature babies and their families whom I care for do as well. They represent the potential to make this world we live in a better place. They are what matter most.
I am so thankful, so very thankful to have the opportunity to make my mark on this world in this way. No matter how small that mark may be, it will be indelible.
Thankyou for making your own mark supporting WalkAmerica TeamDaniel.

more coffee cup philosophy

Well I am back.
There is still paper to shred but like our laundry, I imagine it will always be there.
LOL
Who would have thunk I would have had so much fun with an office supply tool?
But honestly, when it came to writing, I felt sort of dried up. Stuff still happened because it always does but I just could not figure out a way to put any of it into words. So I took a big ol’ stack of papers to the shredder and shredded. I guess I needed to do this.
But I am back.
Thanks for missing me.
:::::group hug:::::

I came across more coffee cup philosophy last night on my way to work and as someone once said, timing is everything. This bit o’wisdom really spoke to me given four years ago today was our adoption finalization.
I still get emotional remembering this icing on the cake day in our family’s life. That has to be why I got teary as Daniel and I sang Danny Boy together this morning on our way to school. He loves that song almost as much as “The Wheels on the Bus”.
I can’t tell you enough how much this boy has made life under the Big Top the way it should be. He is the son that makes every day a son-shiny day. I’ve started to tell him that he is my “sonny day” when he announces in the morning that it is a sunny day. Just like his four, fabulous sisters, he is a perfect addition to my family circus. It wouldn’t be a circus without any of them.
So, in honor of today’s little anniversary, I give you more coffee cup wisdom:

I wish couples who desperately take every means to conceive a child would realize that adoption is a wonderful alternative. A child who becomes your child through adoption completes a family. Just as when you commit to your spouse or partner there are no biological ties, yet a family was formed. This child enters a family the same way! It is not blood and flesh that form a family, but the heart.
~Michele Johnson~
Starbucks customer from Wamego, Kansas

This touched me, naturally, as an adoptive mother. It also touched me because it reminded me of something Bill said to me 24 years ago. New in our relationship and commitment to one another, he emphatically told me that I was his family, we were our family. The details are fuzzy and really don’t matter anymore but he basically stated that as close as he was to his parents and siblings, together, we were a family first. There was no blood bond but a bond was formed in our hearts and yes, we were a family together. Years later, I look at the seven of us here under the Big Top and I can honestly say that blood lines just don’t connect us. It is our hearts that have somehow melted together to form this amazing family circus.
To anyone who ever found themselves pondering, “hmmmm….I wonder about adoption…”, I challenge you to check it out. If it ends up that it is not for you or your family, then so be it. But I can promise you that out there, there is a child waiting for the right heart to take a leap…which is what we did when we first connected with our spouses or partners.
To my son-shine, I love you!

And because I am getting so excited about WalkAmerica, I have to invite y’all to come join TeamDaniel!
Thanks to Becky and the boys for being the first to sign on. We love you!

coffee philosophy in a cardboard cup

I swear everytime I see a Starbucks cup I hear Mandy Patinkin singing Coffee in a Cardboard Cup.
I do enjoy a good non-fat white mocha with whip to start my shift at work. It is my little treat for me….and you thought Vampira, the night-shift nurse drank blood! No, it is a double non-fat white mocha with whip. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Starbucks. But one advantage of being the corporate monolith is they are open when I need them the most.
I also get a kick out of these little philisophical, sometimes comical views of the famous and infamous that are printed on their cardboard cups. Yes, I do read them.
Here is the one I read last night before I started work.

I’ve learned in climbing that you don’t “conquer” anything. Mountains are not conquered and should be treated with respect and humility. If we take what the mountains give, have patience and desire, and are prepared, then the mountains will permit us to reach their highest peaks. I believe a lot of things are like that in life.

-Ed Viesturs

All hail almighty Starbucks!

While out for my evening blog jog last night, I came across a rather interesting and thoughtful blog. I can identify with Chewymom….perhaps it is the five kids thing….but I have also been labeled or accused as a crunch, chewy granola type mom…trust me, I am only semi crunchy and by the time Daniel came into the picture my cloth diaperin’ breastfeedin forever and co-sleepin’ days were gone….well, we still do co-sleep…or at least, mom Jodie and Daniel do after Daddy leaves for work at o’dark thirty.

You did NOT just read that honey The kids DO sleep in their own beds!…LOL!

But I do like what I see over at ChewyMom’s place.


I especially enjoyed her post about The Starbucks Phenomon. The basic point of her post was that everyone treats themselves to a few things, and that is good. We all work hard, we ordinarily make wise purchases, and so we deserve this little treat now and then, whether it is a fancy coffee in a cup with a logo, organic foods from a beautifully laid-out store, or whatever. She goes on to write that she is guilty herself of the occasional treats but lately she has been struggling with how much she/we treat ourselves and how much it really costs us.

Interesting food for thought.

I thought about it and I admit that, yes, I did feel convicted a little about being guilty of this too. Sometimes I do justify little extras like stopping at Starbucks before work as a treat for me because, gosh darn it, I deserve it with all that I have to juggle. I thought about it long and hard while I was boxed in for 25 minutes this morning at the Starbucks’ drive-through.

Is it right that I blame Starbucks for my being late for work this morning? Maybe I just need to curb my personal treats.

I think I will be reading Acts 4 again tonight.