A cold, a gift and snow

Potsdam, Germany
08:20 pm
Snowy, cold

A coughy hello to all of you,

Finally, a couple of days away from work. My Christmas was nice. I spend the 24th at home waiting for my sister to give me a call. She had to work and I volunteered to pick her up and take her to Berlin. The day was spend wrapping presents, writing cards, watching Christmas movies (I watched 3 different versions of Dickens’s Christmas Carol) and drinking hot chocolate.
By a quarter to 7, Marina called and we were on our way to spend Christmas eve with my parents and my great-great aunt in Berlin. We had potato salad (which I made) and sausages, our traditional dinner. Afterwards presents were exchange. You should have seen my moms face. This year my sister, my dad and I all put our heads together. She got 4 presents in this order: a red dot on her forehead, a 40 € worth gift certificate for a popular fashion store, a Soundtrack called “Bharati” and last but not least, 2 tickets for the musical “Bharati”. Mom was speechless. There’s always a first time for everything.

Mom and I will go see it on January 1st.

I had to work prior to the 24th and on the 25th and 26th as well. But my mom stayed with us and we had a fabulous goose on the first Christmas day as well as some old movies like “Pyjama For Two” with Doris Day, played some cards (I won – hehe).

It started snowing today. Very lovely for about 5 minutes. It’s not cold enough to stay on the ground, but I can always wish for a white 29th of December.

BTW, the coughy hello comes from me having another Bronchitis. Been coughing for about 6 days now, but I have been treating myself with some ACC and Ibuprofen for the headache, as well as a good old bath. I’ll be up and about in no time.

Good night and have a safe and Happy New Year,
A.

Christmas Is Coming To Town

Potsdam, Germany
04:55 pm
Icy, cloudy day

Yawn,

I’m back on my couch, cuddled into my favourite blanket. This weekend I had my annual Christmas celebration. Usually my closest friends come to bake Christmas cookies, decorate my Christmas tree and to have dinner together. This year I bought a 6.8kg (about 13 pounds) heavy turkey, because I was expecting a lot of people.

To those who came, thank you, I had a lot of fun and enjoyed having you here. To those who told me that they couldn’t come, I am sorry that you were not able to make it this year. To those who did not give notice, I am simply disappointed, please consider at least calling me next time.

Despite that, I enjoyed it very much. Jana, a former colleague and now dear friend, brought her nearly 4 month old toddler, Yannick. He is such a character already, smiling and flirting with everyone. The wee one was the highlight of the party.

We did “stehrumchen” (roughly translated “stand-arounds”). You take something from home, which you don’t use anymore or never have used before (which is standing around) and wrap it beautifully. Use one dice: 6 is take a present, 1 give someone a present, 3 everyone hand your present(s) to the person on your right. You can add things like: 2 roll the dice again, 4 everyone hand your present(s) to the person on your left, etc. Set a time for 30 min. up to an hour. We loved it and the present everyone wanted (a beautiful blue box) was probably the ugliest - LOL.

If I am not able to blog before Christmas:

I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hold tight to your families. Give love to those who are without it. Remember our loved ones who can not be with us.

Ho Ho Ho,
A.

Thoughts and Flashbacks

Potsdam, Germany
10:10 pm
Cozy cold and starry dark


A warm hello,

Sitting on my couch I’ve been reflecting on my last two days. I have been “given” to another ward (Kids age 6-17), which I did enjoy. The kids are older and I am able to properly talk to them, no “yes, you are a good baby. Yes, you are. “. LOL.

The other ward is calmer, less stressful. It’s been a change of pace. The kids were grateful for being entertained and I was happy to be entertainment. We currently have so called “S1” students on many of the wards. They have started their education to become a nurse on October 1st and this is their first practical assignment. At the ward I help out, S1’s are not considered useful but a burden. They do the dirty work, like cleaning stuff, making the beds etc. and are pretty much bored. In my eyes, nurses should start training the students from day one on. If I give a little of my knowledge to the students, they are able to take some load of me by being able to help.

Jennifer is one of those students, who I “dragged” behind me for the early shift. Granted, I did a lot of explaining, showing, controlling and some stuff took a bit longer. But at the end of the shift, Jennifer was exhausted but happy, having been able to learn more on 1 day than in the last 2 weeks and I was happy, because our work was done.

You give a little and you are able to receive a little. It’s as easy as that. During these 2 days I took my time to talk to the S1 students on the kids ward, because not so long ago I was in the same situation

My second practical assignment was on that ward and 2 days into it, I was crying after work, actually thinking about dropping the whole education, because obviously I was useless. Jennifer admitted that she, too, had cried the first couple of days at home.

I wonder whether the big part of those nurses will ever change. For the sake of good nurses in the making, I hope so.

Tomorrow I will be back on my ward (toddlers). The colleague I will be working with is the oldest nurse on the ward and every other nurse has gone through her hands. She’s sweet but intimidating at the same time. When an unexpected situation turns up, she goes into stress mode, which in turn makes me go crazy. But it’s only 8 ½ h. It’ll pass. Hopefully.

Love ya all,
Good night and sweet dreams
A.

Christmas Joy and an Angel gets his Wings

Potsdam, Germany
08:30 pm
Freezing cold and dark

Ho Ho Ho,

I am so much into the Christmas season. My lights are up and I made my own “Adventskranz”. My apartment is decorated by candles. Here I am sitting on my couch, wearing my new snoopy PJ’s and Christmas socks.

A very good friend of mine works at the Christmas fair in Chemnitz and got me some “Children’s Punch”. I love that stuff. Yum Yum .

The last weeks have been as stressful as ever, although I had 4 nightshifts, which I prefer. The whole ward is quiet (most of the time). Children sleeping, no nagging parents. Just me, the second nurse and my work.

We are currently dealing with a lot of kids that have a Rotavirus, which causes them to be ill and have diarrhea. Oh, btw, it hit me too. 2 days out cold. But with the proper meds and a bit of TLC, tada, all better.

I am lighting a candle for baby Paul, who died two nights ago. We love you sweetheart and know that you are now free of pain and smile upon us. We will remember.

Money is nothing compared to a tiny smile of a shy babe.

A.