Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates, You Never Know What You Will Get

Having a new house means getting a new heater. Thank God, I made the previous owners have it checked and serviced as part of my agreement to buy or else the dead as a door knob heater would have given me a grand and expensive surprise come this winter season.

The heater had not been serviced since 1999 and was well over forty years old which caused me to be just a little suspicious about its ability to actually heat a house. Whether or not the previous owners were trying to pull a fast one over me will never be known. Nevertheless, it became their responsibility to replace it as part of settlement and so on Friday this was accomplished. To other fun news.

I saw my surgeon Thursday and he gave the injured shoulder a shot of cortisone. He also put me out of work until I see him again in two weeks. I guess sitting in front of a computer monitor and handwriting Quest Diagnostic and Lab Corp forms for eight straight hours did not agree with the dominate right arm. Who would have known? So much for restricted duty. In all honesty, I believe the only folks happy to see my return to work last Monday was the insurance company. Between Human Resources and Management it had been determined that I should not come within five feet of a patient which in medical terms means no patient care. They felt that if a patient was to faint, I would not be able to catch them. Now, I have been working here twenty years and I do not recall many patients fainting in my presence and if they did I doubt I would have been able to catch anyone anyway even before this shoulder injury. Let this be a lesson; never get into a battle with an old man in CCU. You probably will not win.

What I love about my family is that you never have to worry about what comes out of their mouths because it always will no matter what, which was the case with two particular conversations I had recently.

In the week of my move, I needed a new toilet in the upstairs bathroom and my brother Frankie and my Dad were nice enough to come down to replace. When I asked Frankie what he thought of my new house he said and I quote, "It is a nice house if you want to live in this neighborhood". I call this a back handed compliment.

Then I spent a morning at my old house which I shared with my ex-husband for twenty-one years before we divorced and I moved out of. While, packing up some of my grandmother's dishes, Joe told me that his brother Anthony suggested Joe have a social and invite my sister Marianne because he missed her. Well, in an effort to cover up my shock at this suggestion I asked Joe if Anthony missed his sister-in-law of twenty-four years, you know me? If you guessed this question was answered in silence then you guessed correctly. I am thinking none of his family miss me. So much for being part of it for twenty-six years.

Today we take a break from all things called work and we will celebrate a family milestone. My youngest son Joseph is twenty-three. When I spoke to my five year old grandson Shaun the other day, I asked Shaun what kind of cake should we have for Uncle Joe's birthday. Shaun told me I needed to make a blueberry cake because he (Shaun) loved blueberries. Then I asked Shaun what if Uncle Joe does not like blueberries. This was his answer, "Then make it half blueberry and half chocolate because I like chocolate too MOM MOM". Out of the mouths of babes.