Sparks Fly

I feel that I've let down a few of my devoted readers lately... maybe even all three of you. There are days when I feel that I've lost my creative spark. And then there are days like today. Days when I think it would be a crime for me to not keep a blog. Here are a few of the highlights from my day so far:

I walked into my office a few minutes ago and there was a lady sitting in my chair. With her pants down. Insisting that I shut the door behind me. Great.

I had a male resident roll up to our beading activity this afternoon whistling, asking if I was married. I told him no, and he said something along the lines of, "Well hot damn! How'd they miss out on you?" Thanks for the compliment, if it even was one. It'd be more flattering if it wasn't coming from a 70-year old man who just told me last week that his favorite activity in the building is the female CNA's giving him a bath. Chills.

I walked into my office last week to find one of my favorite male residents, an all-American UT football player, learning how to paint and shade a red heart from a female resident who is leading a weekly painting group. I looked at him quizzically as to why he was attending the arts and crafts group, and he just shrugged his shoulders at me. He is typically not one for crafty activities, as you can imagine, but his dementia causes him to accept an invitation to just about anywhere. This female resident clearly took advantage of that while looking for potential students to teach. I returned 20 minutes later and every time the resident instructor would turn her back to him, he would mouth to me "HELP!" or "Get me out of here!" I was convulsing with laughter. I finally helped him to weasel his way out of the painting group, and we laughed all the way back to his room as if we were college pals who had just skipped class together.

"All that I'm after is a life full of laughter..." -C. Daughtry

Water Parks Are Not My Friend

Go ahead, call me un-American for not liking water parks. I like water rides, I despise water parks. I feel somewhat guilty admitting that, but it's true. I'm 26 years old and I find it hard to believe that my aversion to water parks is going to change at this point in my life. It's time that I come clean. But as you all know, my sister Deirdre and her boyfriend Will were in town a couple weeks ago and Schlitterbahn was at the top of their list. They were coming all the way from Washington D.C. to visit me and I knew that I needed to put my strong feelings of disgust aside and plan a trip to the water park. Schlitterbahn has been voted the "World's Best Water Park" ten years in a row. Out of all (four) of the water parks I have visited, I would have to agree with this. However, there were a few things that helped to sustain my severe dislike for all things water park. First off, the long lines. I'm not talking 30 minutes... we're talking hours. We waited in line for about 35 minutes for the most talked about ride in the park, only to find out that we had 2 1/2 more hours to go. That should be a crime. I would rather sit in a baby pool filled with toddlers in dirty diapers than wait three hours for a 30-second water ride. That's a strong statement, but I'm not backing down. Secondly, you are wearing only your bathing suit and sandals while in line and walking around the park. Hello, chafing of the inner thighs. And lastly, it is easily 100 degrees on a typical summer day in Texas. It is so hot here that I'm almost positive my contact nearly melted on my eye last week. Unless transportation around the park is by a lazy river or helicopter, I'm not up for it. I will say that Schlitterbahn did a very good job of keeping you in the shade while waiting in line, but they should really consider pairing you up with a personal assistant who will mist you or provide you with a bottled water whenever thirsty. And I will also give Schlitterbahn props for the fun factor and length of their rides. We waited in line for a good hour and a half for a ride that almost made the wait worth it. It lasted for about 40 minutes, and had periods where we slowly cruised down the lazy river as well as fun slides, dips, and chutes. As far as water parks go, this wasn't the worst experience I've ever had. Luckily, I was with good company and that makes all the difference. And the best part of my day was getting to yell "SCISSORRRRR" in the wave pool with Deirdre. It's been a long time since we've gotten to scissor. The day might have been better if we hadn't been accompanied by someone who appeared to be on speed. I'm not certain that he actually was, I just think he had the energy of a six-year old on a Fun-Dip sugar high combined with a huge ego and love for his own voice. No, I'm not talking about Deirdre's boyfriend. We went along with another group for a friend's birthday, and the energizer bunny somehow made the cut. Needless to say, I was ready to go by the end of the day. Although the day included great people-watching, good times with Deirdre, Will, and Firas, many laughs and rolled eyes in the direction of E-Bunny, and a few enjoyable rides... once again, the water park had gotten the best of me.

When I say "Taco", You say "Deli"

It's official, folks: I have found my favorite place to eat in Austin. Well, let's be honest... I have probably been to only 3% of the noteworthy restaurants in this city, but for now, Taco Deli is my favorite. There are so many taco joints in Austin, I don't know what to do with myself. One thing I'm certain of is that I will have trouble eating Mexican food on the east coast whenever I return. I have been exposed to the most authentic Mexican dishes through both restaurants and co-workers at my building who often prepare a meal for staff and are kind enough to share with this all-American girl. Talk about the good stuff. However, Taco Deli's creative twists on their tacos and their whole wheat tortilla option helped to win me over. And I believe it won Deirdre and Will over too, considering Will asked if we could come back to Taco Deli for every meal the rest of their trip. Firas first brought me here on a Saturday afternoon, and the place was slammed. It is definitely an Austin gem. Here are a few examples of their famous taco fare...

Frontera Fundido Chicken - Grilled chicken with sauteed poblano pepper and onion strips glazed with melted monterey jack cheese.

Cowboy Taco - Cowboy-rubbed beef tenderloin with grilled corn, carmelized onions and roasted peppers, topped with guacamole and queso fresco.

Puerco Barracho - Slow-roasted, succulent pork braised in tequila and sherry and seasoned with fresh basil and pasilla peppers.

Scallops Tacos - Grilled scallops toasted with roasted red and poblano pepper, grilled corn, and a garlic lime mojo sauce.

Plus, they have white cheese queso - yum. Double plus, they didn't judge us as we dragged our dehydrated selves into the deli after our 6 six-mile hike and pounded about eight tall glasses of ice water before our tacos were even served.

So now there is an extra perk if you come visit me in Austin... in addition to being mentioned on the blog, you will eat the most delicious tacos in the entire world. Have you booked your plane ticket yet?

Holy Cacao!

This is just one of many posts to come about Dee and Will's visit to the Lone Star state. It's about a little place that a sweet-tooth might refer to as Heaven. Frozen hot chocolate and cake balls. Hello, cavities. We had an adventurous day filled with sight-seeing, hiking, swimming, cliff-jumping, and taco-eating... all that was missing was a sweet treat from Holy Cacao. It is one of the trailers in the Trailer Park Eatery (I'll blog about food served out of trailers in the future, promise) and it was one of the best ideas we had all weekend. The frozen hot chocolate is the perfect solution to a 105-degree day in Austin. And the cake balls... well, there's really no justification for these. But holy cacao, they were good. The different flavors included "brass balls" - chocolate peanut butter, "red velvet balls", "rabbit balls" - carrot cake, "wedding cake balls", and many more. Did I lose you at brass balls? Not surprised. And they were only 3 for $5 - made them taste even better! I will have to exercise a little self-control to keep myself from making a visit to this heavenly trailer more than once a month. I thought that after lunch at Taco Deli and dessert at this joint that Will might actually get a refund for his plane ticket back to D.C. People are not disappointed by the food served in Austin, that's for sure. And P.S. don't judge the pictures... this was following our trip to the Greenbelt where we ended up doing a 3-mile hike before finding water to jump in. Again, holy cacao!

May Angels Lead You In

It hasn't been the best week for me. Not for any particular reason, but just one of those weeks. I'd rather be at the beach... or on my parent's deck... or drinking a margarita with Deirdre (which I'll be doing NEXT WEEK!!!)... you get the point. But lucky for me, I work with a population that has the potential to brighten my day, change my outlook, and remind me of all there is to be grateful for. I have a male spanish resident who just recently moved in, and I think I've found my "Tony". Tony was my all-time favorite resident at the last facility I worked in... I have more stories about him than I do some of my best friends. Tony was special - losing him was like losing a grandfather. He made it easy to get up in the morning for work. My new resident doesn't have the same (inappropriate) sense of humor as Tony, but he measures up on the sweet side. He rolled into my office the other day and we sat for a while, chatting about his interests, family, and whatnot. He is a very agreeable man and doesn't seem to have a worry in the world. Every two minutes or so (yes, dementia), he would tell me, "You're beautiful, just beautiful." I couldn't help but smile. It doesn't matter if the person giving the compliment is 15 or 85... it always provides a boost of self-confidence. Later that day I was skimming his chart and came across his initial assessment, completed on his day of admission. Beside the medical jargon it stated, "Resident likes to tell people they're pretty". Can you hear the sound of Jaclyn's ego deflating? I couldn't stop laughing when I read it. I recently did the beading activity with residents, and this fine gentleman rolled up to the group and started working on a bracelet. When I told him what a great job he was doing, he responded, "You know why? I'm sitting with five angels. Five beautiful angels." The other ladies at the table smiled and I thanked him for being so sweet. When I saw that he had stopped working on the bracelet, I sat beside him and asked if I could help out. He asked if I would and I said, "Alright, let's see what I can do." He quickly responded, "Angels can do anything." Maybe my week wasn't so terrible after all...

Flat Talk

I had a heart-to-heart with one of my residents this afternoon... in her "flat". This is a lady who has lived all over the world, spending most of her time in France and New York City. She has accomplished many things and met many important people throughout her life. Aside from being a painter, she was also an editor for Vogue. Given her dementia, I asked her son if this was true and he confirmed it. She is really something. I came in from lunch today and she caught me right outside her door requesting help. She asked for a glass of orange juice (although she would prefer champagne, as she makes sure to remind me every time) and then invited me back to her flat to sit and chat. Her flat... love it. This lady is a spitfire most of the time, so I must admit that I feel somewhat proud to be on her good side. We took a seat in her room, and she delved in to a serious conversation about her relationship with her daughter-in-law. Not sure what's going on in her family or if she's even living in the present day, but she seemed very stuck on this topic. She first shared how sweet her grandchildren were and made the remark, "I must say that they're spoiled... but good spoiled, not stupid spoiled." Great way to put it in my opinion. She went on to discuss the American culture and our tendency to label people and put them in a box before getting to know them. She feels that her only labels remaining are "Mother-in-Law" and "Grandmother". She had trouble explaining to me how she felt and was at a loss for words every so often during the conversation, but I understood that she was trying to tell me that she has so much more to offer. And given her background of travel, experiencing different cultures, personal and professional accomplishments, she truly does have so much more to offer. One of the comments she made was, "America has a certain loneliness to it... and I believe it's because of how busy we stay... it hinders us from learning from each other and sharing our lives and interests with one another." Ah, the wisdom remains. While I don't believe that it's strictly America that moves at this pace, I do believe that we (including myself) are very guilty of this exact thing. However, I also believe that we make that choice... most of the time anyway. I feel grateful that my profession allows me to hear stories about peoples' lives... people from all generations, ethnicities, social groups, and so on. I just need to take the time to listen to their stories more often. Plus, won't I want someone to listen to my stories when I'm their age..?

P.S. When she thanked me for coming by, she asked my name and then repeated it back to me with her French accent... sounded more like "Jacque-leen"... I told her that I liked the way she pronounced it and she said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Well that is how it's pronounced." Mom and Dad misled me apparently. Spitfire, I told you.

Cheers!

Blue Horizons

I love Austin... but I miss home.