Another New Identity

For many years, I have been known as the "rug lady" by some in the community. I began weaving rugs in 1991 and have sold lots of them. Trouble is, they last too long. The last couple of years have seen my sales drop off, and I have been reluctant to go out of the area to larger shows to sell. So, my rug business is dying out, and I may declare it dead in the next couple of months.

I have loved being a stay-at-home mom and wife for many years, but I seemed to be developing a restlessness in myself. I began to feel like I had too much unstructured time. It was time for me to move on to something new. Since hearing Jill tell all about her studies at nursing school and her time in the hospital, I discovered I have a keen interest in the hospital environment. I decided in May to look into volunteer work at the local hospital, DuBois Regional Medical Center. It is about 8 miles away.

My first station to learn is in the Hahne Cancer Center, which is part of the hospital. I continue to go there on Fridays. I escort the patient from the waiting room to the area where they have their radiation treatment. After their treatment is done (appointments for treatments are scheduled every 15 minutes, so it doesn't take long), I take them to the area where they have their weekly time with the doctor, weigh them, and get their chart out for the nurse. In between patients, I make phone calls to remind people of their doctor appointments, and do other simple paper work.

I have learned several other stations, too. I have worked at the main desk, the triage desk of the ER, and the surgical waiting room. A couple of days ago I trained on the short-stay floor, where they get the patients back from cataract surgery, and other same day "drive-through" surgeries. I am hoping to get a regular shift at the short-stay unit.

Who knows where all this may lead? Perhaps a part-time job? Maybe even some schooling? Time will tell!! Maybe it will just be a two shift a week deal until I get tired of it!

On another subject, I actually managed to get a "Home Sweet Home" picture put up on the top of my blog! At first I couldn't figure out how to get my lettering of my title on it, but then I realized it was actually still there, but the color of the writing was white and did not show up on the sky! Duh! Oh, the things you learn in the mid-fifties!

And speaking of home, sweet home, I have been remembering a couple of workers quoting those words at convention from Home on the Range--"where seldom is heard a discouraging word". They said how nice it would be if we could say, "where never is heard a discouragin word". That's something I need to aim for!