FINALLY we have met our match! After much kicking, screaming, and even some nasty name calling in regard to our outdated laptop computer, D.J. and I finally decided it was time for an upgrade. The final result of this 2 year long battle was the purchase of a new iMac desktop. We could not be more thrilled. No more 3 minute wait to access the Internet or silly little pop-ups telling me that I am fixing to lose the 22 pages that I just typed because there has been an error on script 52. Gone are the days of viruses, spy ware, and worms.

"REJOICE, REJOICE, AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE: THE GANNONS HAVE FINALLY MET THEIR MATCH"

"My mom is a never ending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune." ~Graycie Harmon

Over the years the relationship that I formulated with my mom has been one of the most rewarding blessings that has been placed upon my life. The blessings I have received from being raised by a woman of unconditional love go far beyond any word I could ever imagine. My mother has played multiple roles in my life; cook in the kitchen, maker of the bed, cleaner of the house, driver to the movies, chaperon of the sleepover, benefactor to my entire undergraduate degree just to name a few. However, my most fondest memories of my mom have always been based upon love. As a child she comforted me when frightful dreams fled me from my bed, As a teenager she made chicken salad "to-go" sandwiches for me and my friends as we headed out to listen to our favorite band in concert, and just the other day she sent me such a thoughtful card in the mail telling me what a wonderful nurse she thought I was. See that's the thing about my mom, always loving, and always thinking of me.

"Mom I want to thank you for your unconditional love and always leading by example. I feel so lucky to have a mom who has always pushed me to "keep on, keeping on" in this crazy life. It is no doubt that any success that I have in my life have a direct correlation to you. I hope you have a wonderful Mothers Day."

"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides." ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show

With all of the recent rain our vegtable and fruit garden is starting to reveal the "fruits of our labor". With fingers crossed we will be blessed with; corn, lettuce, tomatoes, jalepeno and bell peppers, squash, watermelon, ocra, beans, cucumber, and in the early fall pumpkins.

"Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
We want to go outside and play
Come again some other day"

Check out these pictures that D.J. and I took yesterday while in Rock Island. The water is absolutely raging! It was a pretty impressive display of what "mother nature" can produce.

Attitude

You know, I really, really, really, like this quote.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. "~ Charles Swindoll

Heart Over Head

After a extremely tough few days at work this poem has seemed to put a smile on my face. As for me, and I think for so many other nurses, It becomes a constant battle to stay grounded and maintain sanity when you see so much sickness and heartbreak everyday. As a nurse you are constantly trying to be everything for everyone. Throughout the day I often find myself tangled up in obstacles that are almost irrelevant to my job, but are mandatory to my heart. Last night, after two years of nursing, I found myself once again venerable to a situation that I SHOULD KNOW was out of my control. However, my heart often takes over my head and I am left with with a flood of unknown questions for myself; "What could I have done differently? What signs did I miss? Did I really do everything I could to save a life?" The point is, you questions yourself and your abilities daily. You become your worst critic and sometimes your toughest battle. Just like the poem says I have a tear this morning, a tear for bottled-up emotions, for patients I've tried in vain to save,
and for commitment to the hope that I will make a difference in a person's chance to survive.


When the Lord made Nurses He was into his sixth day of overtime.

An angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order?

A nurse has to be able to help an injured person, breathe life into a dying person,

and give comfort to a family that has lost their only child and not wrinkle their uniform.

They have to be able to lift 3 times their own weight,

work 12 to 16 hours straight without missing a detail,

console a grieving mother as they are doing CPR on a baby

they know will never breathe again.

They have to be in top mental condition at all times,

running on too-little sleep, black coffee and half-eaten meals.

And they have to have six pairs of hands.

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way!"

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord,

"It's the two pairs of eyes a nurse has to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. "One pair that does quick glances while making

note of any physical changes, And another pair of eyes that can look

reassuringly at a bleeding patient and say,

"You'll be all right ma'am" when they know it isn't so."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model

that can talk to a 250 pound grieving family member whose child has been

hit by a drunk driver...who, by the way, is laying in the next room uninjured,

and feed a family of five on a nurse's paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the nurse very slowly,

"Can it think?" she asked.

"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the symptoms of 100 illnesses;

recite drug calculations in it's sleep; intubate, defibrillate, medicate,

and continue CPR nonstop until help arrives...and still it keep it's sense of humor.

This nurse also has phenomenal personal control. They can deal with a

multi-victim trauma, coax a frightened elderly person to unlock their

door,comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily paper

how nurses are insensitive and uncaring and are only doing a job."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the nurse.

"There's a leak," she pronounced.

"I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"That's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."

"What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's for bottled-up emotions, for patients they've tried in vain to save,

for commitment to the hope that they will make a difference

in a person's chance to survive, for life."

"You're a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there," He said.

A Little Birdie Told Me

Did you know that if you get caught speeding in Metro as long as you are going less than 15 miles over the speed limit they do not report you to the state or file the ticket with your insurance company?? That's what a little birdie who happens to work at the Tennessee Bureau of Traffic Violations told me. I promised her that her secret would be safe with me so "SHHHHHHHH, lets just keep it between you and I.