Landscapes

The Sound

There are a myriad of sounds in a hospital environment. IV pumps beeping, call lights going off, and constant talking. But there is one sound that will always rise above the noise: the soul-deep sob of someone who has just gotten the worst news of their entire lives.

The average office worker, barista, pilot or librarian may never hear that sound their whole life. Even for a nurse, I would say it’s fairly infrequent. Most people take devastating news rather well in public. Some people are so shocked that no sound could come out even if they wanted to cry.

You may think you’ve heard it on TV shows or seen it in a movie. But not even the best actor in the world could accurately capture it well enough to shake the dark recesses of your psyche when you hear it just a few feet away.

There is not one other sound that I can think of that would put such a halt to a busy nursing station. Hearing “code blue” overhead would momentarily reset us into action. Hearing the fire alarm barely fazes us anymore. Some crazy person running through the unit screaming would startle us, but we’d immediately get over it and take care of the situation.

But when we hear the muffled cries of someone who is trying to escape the floor, we never know if they’re going to make it to solitude. It sends a chill down every single one of us and we are momentarily paralyzed by it. People are usually very guarded with their emotions. We don’t want to be vulnerable in front of a bunch of people we don’t know. So when we hear such a raw and primitive sound coming from another person, a stranger, it resonates very deeply.

Most are stunned into silence. What do we do? Do we stand there gaping at them, or do we turn back to our charting, our conversations? It’s disrespectful to gawk but then again, it’s disrespectful to go on as though someone isn’t falling apart 3 feet away from us.

If my coworkers are anything like me, it puts them into sort of a daze for the rest of the shift, too.

MC

<3

Gift Giving

My father-in-law opening his Christmas gift. That big box housed another box and inside that box was a really cool pocket knife that Chase picked out for him :).

The fun part of Christmas is giving the gifts not receiving. It is one way to express how much you love them so I try to make each gift special for each person. It is just so much fun!

Merry Christmas, Tad!

More Christmas

Mom got Chase and I this PD cookware. It is so nice!!!!!!

About 1 pm Christmas Day, Chase and I went over to his Mom's to do Christmas. Karla had made a big Christmas dinner that was very very good! It was Chase's parents and us so it was so relaxing and laid back. We watched movies (really I slept through the movies) and laid around. We had a really good Christmas. Hope ya'll enjoyed time with your families!

Sadie

My Christmas Cupcakes

My brother opening the Fossil wallet that Chase and I got him.

Opening his new cell phone

Christmas 2009

My Mom's pretty Christmas tree!! She always goes above and beyond on Christmas! All those presents were for Justin, Chase and me. When my brother and I were little we would have -no kidding- 15 or more presents a piece. I thought that since I am now 22 and Judd is 17 we would get just a couple a for each of us, but I was wrong. She is so good to us- better than she has to be. I love her so much. Justin got a new cell phone, jeans, shirts, a new wallet, and other stuff. Chase and I got PAULA DEAN pots and pans amoung other things!!!

Every year since this kid has been born I have had to MAKE him get up so we can open presents and nothing changed this year lol.

Presents!!

I love presents under the tree! I am still waiting on a couple gifts to arrive in the mail and I am expecting them tonight. Once I have them wrapped, I'll will be done shopping... I think. I keep remembering people I want to buy for lol.

Lately for some reason, I have found it hard to blog... I'm not sure why-this is a time of year where there are a lot of topics to blog about... I'm just tired, I think.

Chase is about to go help some friends move into their FIRST home!! We are excited for them. While he is helping them, I'm going to cook stuffed porked chop and green beans wrapped in bacon...

After Christmas I will have some pics to post and talk about :)

Cupcakes for Papa

Chase and I found out that his Papa would be out of town for Christmas and his birthday (which is the day after Christmas) so we thought we would head over there the other day to give him his b-day present early. I made cute little cupcakes and his present -a 5 yr old Juniper Bonsai tree-was in a birthday bag. We were all set. We drove over to Bull Shoals and pulled in the driveway.... only to find out he had to leave town unexpectedly...dang lol. So we will be taking care of the bonsai tree until he gets back. Of course we couldn't let the cupcakes go to waste! We ate a couple and I took the rest over to my Mom's. Moral of the story- call and make sure the birthday boy is home first!!

MC

Cuteness

Southern Living

For at least the past 8 or 9 years (probably longer) Southern Living has published a book at Christmas with the hottest decoration ideas, recipes, menu planning, and checklists to keep you prepared and organized for the holiday season. I absolutely love these books! There are so many recipes I want to try out with the family. I have two houses to crash on Christmas Day and they will certainly be my guinea pigs. I work the nights before Christmas and I won't be officially off until 7am Christmas Day so I can't make big stuff but think I can pull off a couple side dishes and desserts! Four-Cheese Spinach Macaroni, Broccoli Slaw with Cranberries, Fudgy Peppermint Brownies, Red Velvet Cupcakes, Key Lime Fudge.... My Dad loves sweets so I am planning to go heavy on those. Oh my, I loves this time of year :)

I hope everyone's Christmas shopping is going well. Online shopping has been our thing this year and there are good deals to find out there. We went to Springfield a couple days ago and hit Hobby Lobby-the BEST store ever- and they are having good sales as well!

Check out Southern Living!
Love ya'll