Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Keeping Up

So tonight I attended an EMT refresher course. In order to keep up my certification I need to have a certain amount of training hours every 3 years. I became an EMT waaaay back in the olden days (1987). When my current certification expires I will have been an EMT for 32 years--now I feel old.

As you might expect things have changed--of course they did! Everytime a publisher felt the need to print a new book they changed the protocol right? Actually they are doing scientific research and with the new machinery they have to study your insides they have found better ways to treat trauma to the human body.
 They've also changed the protocols for CPR, the olden days of high school students cackling over "kissing a dummy" are almost over.  We now have a machine (he even is named--Lucas) on the ambulance to do the chest compressions for us and giving breaths is sort of the last thing on the "to-do" list.
Then they had to go and change the backboard protocol, just when even the by-standers knew what you meant by "please hand me the back board".  Our standards now tell us that it is a rare occasion when it is in our patient's best interest to transport the patient on a backboard.

There is science to back all of the new changes, but it is going to be very difficult for this lady to walk a patient wearing a collar ---to my litter.

In another part of my life, I edit a newsletter for adoptive and foster parents. Most of my subscribers do not have regular access to the internet. I share things that I find helpful and they write stories from their lives. Today one of my subscribers sent me a newspaper clipping of an advice column. It was by a psychologist whose first name is John. In his column he is giving advice to a couple who is considering adopting a child, possibly a teen. The new child would be their third child- it's not clear if  this would be their first adoption.

Mr. John encourages they to adopt (so far, so good) but then he pooh pooh's the idea of attachment difficulties. He states "there is no reason to believe that adopted children are any different from non-adopted children in that they have memories, however deep-seated, of their first months of life. That oft-repeated claim simply cannot be objectively verified." His next paragraph basically says if you expect to have problems of course you will. So by that then I might conclude --if I expect to have no problems, then I won't?

 No I don't think that we have fragile little creatures- as he implies, quite the contrary, they are survivors! But survival skills do not make for a calm family environment. Yes, firm discipline is what I have in mind, but from the tone of his article, I don't think we are on the same page on that one either.

It is interesting that some of  the same technology that is making me learn new EMT skills is also responsible for making us learn new parenting skills. I know we do not parent the same way we did 25 years ago because of the technology that allows science to see how trauma affects the brain. There is technology that shows how well an infants brain develops and how much they are aware of as early as  six months gestation. I'd like to think Mr. John that being proactive instead of waiting until you have a problem is as effective with my patient that was hit by a car as with my child that was hit by emotional and in some cases physical trauma.
Went to the grocery and did a double take--they forgot their arm!

Visited Ben on Sunday and the girls were spying on the neighbors...they need to work on their skills!

Playing diaper store, we still need to overlock some of them, but if they can sell a couple of dozen meanwhile, why not?


Then today a chicken truck dumped the entire load when it shifted as he took the curve close to our place. Chickens everywhere--yeah that is the white stuff you see on the ground!
No humans were injured. This curve is nasty to tractor trailer trucks, another truck dumped his heavy equipment a few months ago at the same spot, the road still has gouges in it.
Now do we blame it on the road, the trucks....or?


Quote of the month:
One of the kids: Dad why didn't you get mom flowers on Valentines?
Dad: Well,Valentines is a heathen holiday, so I got her flowers on Ground Hogs day instead.



Friday, February 10, 2017

Snow Day

First snow day of the year
The girls didn't even go outside--"too windy and cold" they said.
OK, then we have good reason to keep warm by washing dishes...no 
not really. Dishwasher is on the blink. Hopefully hubby diagnosed
the problem correctly and he can get the pump repaired.
Meanwhile I have a willing assistant. I still need to teach her to clean all the counter tops afterward,
but for now I'll take the cheerful help.

Since it was a cold wintery day, I tried a new recipe. I was looking for a Romanian/Moldovan
recipe to use for our potluck on Sunday at church. We are packing bundles for CAM after lunch and 
thought we could experience some of their foods too.
Cabbage, potatoes, meat, rice and sour cream seem to be staples. I think I could like that
with a few pizzas thrown in every now and then.
Tried a cabbage "cake" from here  There wasn't much left over.
Not sure I'll try it for church though, cause inverting it onto a plate is fraught with danger.



Stuffed Cabbage Cake


Ingredients
·         1 head of savoy cabbage, it has pretty lacy leaves ( I used regular)
·         1½ pound of good quality ground beef or turkey ( I used sausage-chopped it up)
·         1 onion, diced
·         1 small red pepper, diced (skipped)
·         2 carrots, diced
·         4 cloves garlic, minced
·         ¾ cup of grated romano or parmesan cheese (and some mozzarella)
·         ½ cup of marinara sauce plus extra for topping mold and plating (tomato sauce)
·         1 cup of cooked rice
·         1 egg
·         olive oil
·         fresh chopped basil and parsley, a small bunch of each ( didn’t have)
·         salt and pepper
Instructions
1.      Core and separate the leaves from the savoy cabbage, then cook them in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, pat dry and set aside.
2.      Grease the bottom and sides of a deep souffle type dish (used crock pot insert) and then arrange the prettiest and largest leaf on the bottom. Place another leaf on top of that and up the sides of the dish all around.
3.      In a large saute pan cook your meat until you see no pink, if it needs to be drained of added grease do so and set aside.
4.      Add olive oil to the pan and cook the onions, carrots, garlic and diced red pepper until soft, then toss it all together with the cooked meat.
5.      Add the grated cheese, marinara and fresh herbs, toss til well coated, let it cool then toss in the egg.
6.      Put your first layer down, about ½ inch then layer a cabbage leaf on top. Repeat until you reach the top or run out of filling.
7.      Finish with cabbage on top making sure to tuck it in the dish all around.
8.      Drizzle the top with olive oil, salt and pepper and a sprinkling of romano cheese all over.
9.      Bake at 350 for around 40 minutes.
10. Let it rest then invert a serving plate over the souffle dish, then flip it over.
11. Cut into slices and serve with additional warmed marinara and more grated cheese.