the slumber party

hi all. just though id stop by and fill you in on my weekend escapades.

saturday i got a phone call from ann, (my sons gf, & mother of my next grandchild). she asked me if id like to come to a slumber party that night. it would be her and 3 of her good friends. come in your jammies and bring a pillow. well, i went.

when ann and i got to lanies, she opened the door and snapped a picture. great way to start a party. we had pizza, cookies, & gobs of junkfood of all sorts, pop, candles, no TV, no men, no kids, played 'spin uno', and 5 gorgeous women blabbin and blabbin. and of course, lanie kept the random snapshots going thru out the night. what more could one ask for as ingredients for a perfect party? i mean......REALLY!!!

of course, i was the oldest, 59 1/2 yrs old. there was one 40-ish lady, two 30-ish ladies (ann, being one of them), and an l8 yr old. what a range of ages, life styles, and personalities. maybe im delusional, but i felt that each one of us clicked and 'fit' as soon as we met. i must remind you all that i was the only "newbie". the other gals all knew each other for some time. like i said, i may be delusional, but i felt accepted immediately and completly. it was so much fun. i did begin to wind down around 1:30 AM and decided to drive on home and sleep in my own bed. believe it or not, i wasnt ready to stop partying, but they were pooping out and trying to decide who would sleep where. i had so much cappachino in me that i could have kept up with them for a few more hours. weiners!! young wippersnappers!!

as i said before........lanie was a great lil hostess, the company couldnt have been better, nor more fun. im so grateful to ann and lanie for inviting me. in my humble opinion, theres no greater time that laughing till your face hurts. i did that many times thru out the evening. to all 4 of the lovely ladies who attended and made me feel as tho id known each of them all my life.................thanks!! thanks!! and thanks again!!

we spend our lives looking for a place to "fit". saturday night, i went to spend the evening with 3 women i didnt really know. today..... i would no longer call them strangers. sure, i still dont really KNOW them, but for that night............we all "FIT"!!! there was no outsider, and i dont believe anyone felt left out at any given moment.

wouldnt it be great if we all allowed ourselves to be the "newbie" without fear of rejection, and if we could be like these 4 ladies were to me..........accepting and comfortable. ahhhhhhhhhh!!!

flash a smile at someone, today, who looks like they need one. say a 'shotgun prayer' for a stranger. be the kindest you that you can be "just for today".

IBKARYN4U :)

my job and stuff

good day to ya'll. surprised im back so soon? me too, actually.

i just thought id fill you guys in on my job. i wear several hats on my job. in the AM i pull and put away charts for therapists and doctors, keep things straight in there, split/purge charts and a bunch of other lil stuff under the title of organization. i do this in a little room with wall to wall charts. there is a window in there so im not disconnected from the outside world. however, i do shut the door and kinda honker down in there by myself, turn on the radio, and rock and roll to the peru classic rock station.

i think i have the best of both worlds in my job. in the AM i can close myself off and enjoy peace & quiet, and of course i "rock on". i dont really have to deal with any human beings if i dont want to. great way to start a day, huh?

in the PM i go downstairs to the in patient unit and round up my patients for relaxation/acupuncture group. those that are here for detox can get the acupuncture. its really great. i 'needle' myself daily. its so relaxing and for me, it stimulates my imagination, by means of my senses. my ability to imagine aromas is greatly increased while 'needled'. my sense of physical touch is too. for instance i notice every little hair that moves on me, my nose tends to tickle a lot, it breaks 'stuff' up so my smokers cough is productive. (ew, gross) ive had patients tell me all kinds of stuff that the acup does for them. oh yeh, after i get the detox pts 'needled' we all put our feet up and many of the pts bring their blankies and pillows. some take naps, and and others choose to remain alert but relax. when everyone is comfortable, we turn out the lights, and i turn on a water feature that looks like a candle flickering, and turn on soft relaxation music. then we have about a half hour - 45 min to just 'chill'. i must explain that this is aricular acupuncture, not full body. i use 5 needles in each ear. (the front outter part of the ear)

anyhoo, after relax group is over, we go to what they insist on calling activity group. also led by me. this time we go into a room (with lights on, he-he) with tables and chairs and i teach on something. self esteem, more about relaxation techniques, thought processing and ways to learn to have control over your own thoughts and behaviors, we play games, we simply blab, when the weather is nice we go outside and play croquett, blow bubbles, write on the sidewalk with big hunks of chalk, play horseshoes, and i try to go with the flow with the type of pts we have at the time. i love it. as a kid, i wanted to be a teacher. never in my wildest dreams did i think it would take this kind of turn. i get to teach from my own life experiences. how ive screwed up and got better, (or not) and how to not screw up in the first place. what a great job i have. ive been here at trinity almost l8 years. coworkers are mostly recovering addicts and alcoholics and are so much fun to work with. sometimes we catch the patients watching us, and wondering why they are on 'that' side of the desk and we're on the other. ive had the same immediate supervisor since day one, and shes one of the reasons im choose to remain. to have a boss that really cares and doesnt hide out in an (as she calls it) 'ivory tower'. and im not butt kissing either. we all feel that way about her, and we're all pretty verbal about it.

soooooooooooo, after group and charting on each pt, i come back up to my little office and either score psych tests, or read/go online and create and put together new things to teach and present to the patients. i have a very strong 'yearnin for learnin'. creating new lessons, keeps my mind open to new and different views.

well, folks, i know i tend to get pretty long winded, but i do that more when i talk. so consider yourselves blessed that youre only reading my words, not having to listen to them. lol!

gonna go for now.............you all have a great day, and be extra kind to someone today.

:) ibkaryn4u

just checkin in

i know its been almost a month since i first introduced myself to you, and im so sorry about that. actually, i forgot that i created this site. i dont know what brought it to mind today but once it got in my head i couldnt get it out till i finally sat down and got in here to talk to you all. THEN, i couldnt remember how to get around on this site. i told you guys that i was less than apt in the "puter knowledge" department.
not much has been happening that has been extra-ordinary.
me, my son (aaron), his girlfriend(ann), my grandson(joshua), and my childhood buddy, janis, all went to the civil war re-enactment in hartford city on sat. God kept the weather cool especially for me, cause i sure wouldnt have gone if it had been hot and humid. it was a really nice day and a very pleasant time.
by the way, janis is someone i need to introduce you all to because we hang out and some of my most exciting adventures have been places where we've gone. janis is a gal that i went all thru grade school, high school, brownies, & girlscouts with and she was a bridesmaid in my first wedding. over the years we lost track of each other when she moved to california, and had a hollywood life. she even married an actor. she also divorced him. typical hollywood, huh? this lady is such an independant woman, and its so great to have her back in my life. we reconnected when she was put in charge of our last class reunion. we've stayed in touch and hung out ever since. shes the editor of a newspaper and she hears of places to go and things to do that i would never hear of. we've been to a forensic day at a museum (like CSI), where we spent the day attempting to solve a murder with all the clues they provided for us, we spent another day at an independant film festival..........really cool, we've spent lots of time with "harlo hickenlooper & curly meyers" who hosted tv shows for kids WAY back when she and i were kids. if youre any where near the age of 60 yrs old, then you probably remember these 2 guys. harlo was known especially for his 'happy, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy biiiirthday, and so on and so on.......song'. very dorky, very memorable. as are he and curly. gooey sweet older gentlemen.
well, i think i'll get the heck outta dodge, for now, and hope to check back with you all much quicker than i did this time. i guess i could safely say, "ill catcha once a month", but i had really intended to visit with you a little more often than that. hey, they say it takes about 3 wks - 1 month to form a new habit or break an old one. i guess you could say ive had my 3wks, huh? lol! id tell you all that i'll blab atcha, again, when i get around to it, but some genius would send me a bunch of "round tuits". actually, i think i have a few in a drawer somewhere.
anyhoo, you all take care and be safe in all your comings and goings. and God bless!!!
:) karyn