Friday, October 29, 2010

Slow but steady

Slow and Steady
a snail in our front yard


As I've mentioned in my previous post, I've signed up for my first e-class.  But due to a rather stressful week, I haven't really had a chance to do much with the daily prompts.  That is, until now.  Our dear Bubba is doing much better today, which has given me a chance to scribble a few notes while listening to him take a much needed nap.

I've picked up a new notebook (one of three I'm currently writing in regularly) and I've finally had a chance to read through the prompts.  I already have a lot of ideas scribbled in my notebook, but yet have to flesh them out.  I'm starting out a bit late, but my hope is that, just like the snail above, I'll eventually get where I need to go.  The first prompt: questions and answers.  I really liked the idea of creating my own FAQ on this blog, something quite handy for any new visitors out there.  I'm planning on playing around with it for a bit and then maybe adding it as one of my pages here.  For now though, a few answers to a couple of the more common questions I do get.  


What are you? (ethnicity) / You're not local, are you? 
The scene: I walk into a patient's room, they look at me, assume I'm one ethnicity.  They see my name (Russian), hear me speak (no local accent), and then the question comes.  "What are you?" or "You're not local."  I've been correctly identified as Filipino and mistaken for Guamanian, Japanese (huh?), and Thai among others.  Back when my maiden name (Indian) was on my badge, it added even more to the confusion. 

The easy answer: I'm Filipino and I am local.  No, I was not born in Hawaii, but I've been living here since 1992 and I can't see myself living anywhere else.  I was a military brat who moved here after my father was transferred to Pearl Harbor.  Before that, I lived in Great Lakes, IL, Charleston, SC, and Baguio City, Philippines.  I occasionally have a southern drawl when I speak to Southern folks, and I still use "y'all" and "Ma'am" frequently.  I (apparently) have a Filipino accent when I'm talking to my mother on the phone.  Otherwise, I have no accent (maybe American?)   


What kind of nurse are you?
 I'm a registered nurse board certified in maternal-newborn nursing and I work on an ob/gyn floor that is also the hospital's catch-all.  I started out with the perinatal special care unit where I took care of the women with high risk pregnancies: pregnancy induced hypertension, gestational diabetes, pre-term labor, etc.  I also work/worked with pregnancy and infant loss.  From there, the unit took on medical/surgical gyn patients:  hysterectomies, mastectomies, metorrhagia.  Then came the gyn oncology such as cervical and ovarian cancer.  And when the ER picks up a patient who is too unstable to transfer to another hospital, we take patients with pneumonia, asthma, or cellulitis, among other things.  Now we take care of brand new moms and their babies.  I suppose you could say I'm a Jill of all trades and a master of none.  But don't call me about your diverticulitis or your son's runny nose.  Just call your doctor. 


How many notebooks do you have, and what do you write about?
I'm currently writing in three notebooks regularly but I have several that I write in intermittently.  I write about anything and nothing.  I have a notebook for my morning pages (three pages of long-hand stream of consciousness in the morning), a gratitude journal, a notebook I keep memorable quotes and poems, a notebook on books I'm reading, and now a notebook for True Stories.  And those aren't even all of them. ;-) 

Any questions?


 

4 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading the answers to your questions, what an interesting life you have. I loved Hawaii, especially big island, haven't been to Oahu though.

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  2. I love your response to the first prompt, it was really interesting reading your FAQ. And I am the same with notebooks;)

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  3. I have only just started to catch up too.
    Love your question/answers

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  4. Great post. So glad you are finding a little time this weekend to work with Shimelle's prompts. I've really enjoyed journaling with them this week. I also have several notebooks that I'm always writing in, similar to yours. I have a gratitude journal, a journal for quotes, a journal for layout ideas, etc. Thanks for sharing your FAQs!

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