Ain’t that the worst? I recently was given a minor promotion at my workplace, and now all of a sudden people that I thought were my friends are bitter enemies. What did I ever do to them? I certainly didn’t change. The only thing that changed was my title (and paycheck). No one knows how much more I am getting so why the sour grapes? It is just plain hurtful to know that I am the subject of such hateful gossip and backbiting behavior. What is more? I am a nurse. This very profession that thousands of individuals seek out because they love helping others…well, I suppose that doesn’t apply to co-workers. “Love your patients, not your co-workers!” – that should be the nursing motto. I know of one young nurse that was disparaged against by the same co-worker that feels bitter towards me. Why should anyone be doing anything else but lifting up this young woman and helping her
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The railway carpenter (Ballinamore, Ireland)
E.M., born in 1880, was a fellow living in rural Leitrim county, Ireland. His father was a farmer in one of the townships of Ballinamore, as were all his brothers and sisters. E.M.’s birth record lists him as being born in the Poor Law Union area of Bawnboy, yet his census records all list him as being born in Leitrim county. A little research shows that the Bawnboy workhouse located in Cavan county did serve the population of Ballinamore. More on the workhouse will be posted later, as this mystery is still being investigated and I know very little about workhouses in general; it unusual to me that E.M. is always listed on the census records as a carpenter while the rest of his family are recorded as farmers. He was the youngest son of this family. In 1901, E.M. was living in Leitrim county, working as a carpenter. By 1909 he had married my great-grandmother. In 1911 he was
Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, Ireland
Every now and again, I will renew my interest in the genealogy of my mother’s family. My father’s family has been traced to 1824 where the trail ends. So I journey to New York, Ellis Island, hop back onto the RMS Celtic, and travel back across the North Atlantic Ocean to Liverpool, where my Irish ancestors changed their history. My mother’s paternal roots are from Carrickmacross, and her maternal roots are from Ballinamore. I started with the Ballinamore roots as I felt she was closer to her mother’s side of the family, going by the memories she shared with me. I started looking at vacation rentals there. How different the houses are in Ireland! I am just not used to seeing the driveways surround the foundation of the house. In America, we always have the earth go right up to the foundation. I wonder if it wouldn’t be better this way having the pavement meet the house. Less chance of
Anxiety product review: TAZO Calm Chamomile
So, I actually had a pretty good day today. I sat around in my chair a lot, read trashy romance novels, and only worried about life a little bit. I am down in cash a bit, but not in a terrible way. I took my kids to Target, which usually costs me a big penny at this time of year, but due to Covid-19, I am not really spending a great deal on school supplies because they will be at home for a lot of the time, according to the latest news sent out by our school system. Funny how they no longer need supplies!! So later on this afternoon, I needed to go grocery shopping as I will be working three 12-hour shifts in a row this weekend and will need to provide food for the three voracious teenagers at home as well as meals for me at work. I took one of my voracious teenagers and off we
Deep Breathing for Anxiety
I took a holistic nursing class recently, and discovered a relaxation technique called “deep breathing”. Basically, this technique focuses on slow, deep breathing using the diaphragm muscle to calm and relax a person’s respiratory rate, with the additional relaxation of the neck, shoulder and upper chest muscles to help improve oxygenation and soothe the mind and body. Driving back to the mainland of North Carolina from Hatteras Island is not for the faint of heart if you are manning an older vehicle with over 220,000 miles on it. See this bridge in the photo above? This is the Marc Basnight bridge that spans the Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks. It had my heart pounding; I could feel it throbbing in my throat as it flipped over and over (in reality, those were just stress-induced premature ventricular contractions). My knuckles were clenched to the steering wheel in anticipation of whatever vehicular decimation my old mini-van was going to attempt as
Anxiety is ruining my life: the single mom saga
I need a better way to be. Jesus promised us his peace, why can I not allow it to flood my existence? Has He not gotten me through the last 5 years of being a single parent? It is the constant fear of the unknown. Every surprise bill that hits my mailbox (remember when we were kids and would LOVE to get the mail?), every piece of this house that crumbles without any monetary support to repair, every struggle, illness, every dream that dies…isn’t it all to the glory of God? Why can I not allow that to just BE? I was on vacation this week and the very first day I was there, my car broke down. It was easily repaired, but after that I kept EXPECTING it to break again and no longer enjoyed my trip. I quickly realized that the only thing that can prevent this from happening again is a FAT bank account. An anxiety free
Thoughts on jury duty #2
Please hurry up. Please don’t put pungent, odorous evidence next to the jury box. Yes, I’m laughing at you. This is ridiculous! Do you really think scanty evidence/witness/testimony is worth all the time and money this is taking? Again, please hurry. For the love of everything that is pure and clean, please place hand sanitizer canisters in the hallways!
Thoughts on jury duty
It is sooooo obvious when you act like you just can’t tell the truth for the sake of the law. You are lying to get out of jury duty and that’s that. Unfortunately, it always works, because no one wants the wild card. So kudos to you for having the guts to be a Corporal Klinger. Playing the dumb card also works, but I despise you more because it TAKES MORE TIME for the dang selection process. I loathe you. If I can do jury duty as a single mom with three children, one of which has special needs, then so can you. We don’t want to hear how your mother’s cousin Dellie is sick with the gout and no one can take care of her. You had an entire month to plan, just like I did. Don’t waste time. Please bathe. Ladies, if you hover over the public toilet, even though seat protectors are provided, please wipe up all
I guess this is getting old?
I am settling more and more into learning about local nature, native plants and animal species, and sustainability. Always been interested in the outdoors around me – but now, now it seems imperative that I DO something about this love. Is this what 48 looks like? I like it. I have lived in this neighborhood for 20 years, and see many of my neighbors that moved here the same time – meaning they are probably my age – still indulging in fast cars, loud parties, blaring music…I wonder if they are still caught up in trying to stay 21? I wonder what personal fulfillment means for other people. This neighborhood is one of those “starter” neighborhoods. An old trailer park was sold, dissembled, and turned into a new neighborhood. We were newlyweds searching for our new home. We had our children here. Some of the families moved on to other places. But most of us are still here. In the
I bought a car yesterday
I am TERRIFIED of it. I started out looking at used cars on local sites like NextDoor, Craigslist, etc. Then I went looking at certified pre-owned. Then end of the season 2019 models. After 4 weeks of this madness. I drove over to a Kia dealership, found the PERFECT car for me. It is a model that works for my family, exact color I wanted, all the extra little bells and whistles that make a new car nice. It is the first NEW new car I have ever owned. Here is the list of cars I have owned: Cadillac Cimarron (lemon), Chevrolet Celebrity, Dodge Colt (lawsy, I HATED that one), Mazda B2200 pickup truck, Chevrolet Lumina, and my last beloved car – 2004 Honda Odyssey. It is so scary to own this new car. Why can’t I just enjoy my first new car? Because so many things can go wrong! I can wreck it. Some other idiot can run into
