Sophie's Story

   Last year at this time I was sitting at my computer reviewing my year. 2018 was mostly quiet except for the last few months. Last year at this time I was a couple weeks past the first and hopefully last surgery I will ever have. I was on the mend, feeling better and looking forward to 2019. It had to be a good year. I had a good job, I had new work friends that had been an amazing support to me. 2019 was going to be a great year.    Well... it wasn't. Those of you who have read this column already know all the not so good things that have happened this year. I could rehash them along with the things that I wanted to do, but didn't get done.    I'm not going to. Instead I'm going to look at some good things that did happen this year.    I learned several things this year. One of them is that I am perfectly capable of being a good relief pharmacist. I'm not handicapped by my need for a stable workplace.(Although I prefer to be at a store rather than work relie

   Five emails came in quick succession. This was followed by a text message and a Facebook Messenger alert. One by one I opened the messages.  The first one started out "Welcome to the Team." This was good news. It was official. I had been hired.   This was a job I had wanted a long time ago. When I last worked in Wisconsin, there was a pharmacy across the highway in the competitor grocery store. While the place that I worked in was nice, the upper level management was not. The store across the street was much more popular. It also seemed like their employees were treated better by upper level management.   I found a different job in Minnesota and the rest is history. When my little independent pharmacy was closed in January, I dropped a resume off and talked to the pharmacy manager. There were no openings, but she would keep me in mind.   Right before Thanksgiving, I got a message. There would be an opening soon, was I still interested? Yes! Absolutely! Over the next m

   C decided that we had to have a tree. I wanted to forgo the tree. It isn't a necessity and we need to be strict about our budget. C insisted. He told me that he was going to find a tree. I told him that there weren't going to be any trees at the price he wanted and that stock was likely to be picked over. Only scraggly trees would be left. He went out. I continued with the tasks for the day.   45 minutes later he called. He had a tree. It was a nice one and it was the price that he wanted to pay. It seemed that one of the local stores wanted to get rid of their stock and were selling trees for half off.   When he got home I helped him take the tree out of the trunk. It was a nice tree a little over five feet tall. It was perfect for us. Since it was so late, we decided to leave it outside and bring it in and decorate it after church.    On Sunday afternoon, C found our tree stand. We put the tree in the stand. It took some adjusting but we got it straight. Then there wa

   Someone shared a Facebook post of a picture of a small nativity scene with lights behind it. It said, "The first Christmas was pretty simple. It's okay if yours is too." I like that.    We are going to have a pretty simple Christmas this year. In fact there is a good chance we won't have a tree. We do have a lovely Advent Calendar made by Annjuli, a woman in Relief Society. It's a felt Christmas tree with 24 numbered pockets above and below the tree. In each pocket there is an ornament with Velcro on the back. every day you can stick an ornament on the tree. Each ornament has a meaning. I love picking out the ornament every morning reading about it's meaning and putting it on the tree. The only other decoration we have up is the statue of Santa worshiping the Christ child in the manager. That's it.   I do have five Christmas CDs in our CD player. They've been there for two weeks. Now that I'm not forced to listen to Christmas music for eight

   If you live in the Twin Cities are and are looking for volunteer opportunities, check out Feed My Starving Children.   FMSC is a Christian based organization that packs meals that are nutritionally sound for shipment to countries where food is not plentiful. They pair up with humanitarian organizations to distribute the food. Food makes everything else possible. A child that has little access  to nutritious food cannot thrive. They can't go to school and they will not be able to make a difference in their countries of origin.  Their belief, correct in my opinion, is that this basic need must be met first. Then other things are possible.   We are lucky in the Twin Cities area to have three permanent FMSC packing sites. This is where the meals are put together and shipped. The food is packed by volunteers who sign up for packing sessions. My friend, Mari,took me to one recently.   The first thing you are given is a hairnet. You are going to be working with food and this is a

   The past few weeks I have been looking over what I did this summer. I was hoping that I would be able to find something good out of the experience of working at the ENT clinic. I didn't want to think that I had squandered three months of my life trying to build a novel pharmacy practice for someone who didn't want it and didn't bother to tell me this fact. I felt like I could and should have spent that time looking for a job with a company that wouldn't get sold to a big chain within months of my hire date. I dislike waste, especially wasted time. There might have been opportunities that I missed and better things I could have done.   I went over and over my time at the clinic. I did learn a few new skills. I met a couple of nice people. I helped a few people. I learned a little bit about essential oils. That's about it. Three months spent for nothing that was going to help me in the future. Three months completely and totally wasted. I probably deserved to mi

   "Honey!" C called out, "Your name is on the list."    "What?!" I called back. "Why? I didn't volunteer."    "I don't know. You'll have to come with me," C said.     I was not happy. It had been a busy week and I had things to do. There was laundry to do and I still had not practiced our song for the Christmas Sacrament Meeting. However,my name was on this list so I had to go along.    The thing that I had to go along to was a volunteer activity. It was the Secret Christmas Holiday Shop. This is where children get to buy presents for their parents and siblings for Christmas. The children come with their parent(s). The first thing they do is make of list of those they want to buy presents for. Then they decide how much they are going to spend. The parents buy tickets equal to the amount of the budget. Then the child goes with a shopper into the shop. The tickets are used to pay for the items they choose. Then the pre

   It's December again and that means that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is starting their annual Christmas campaign. There are the usual Christmas devotional,concerts and social gatherings. There is also Light The World.    Light The World is something The Church has been doing for several years now. The most recognizable item is the Giving Machine. The Giving Machine looks like a vending machine. The difference is that instead of purchasing something for your use, you can purchase something that will be donated to someone else. There are a variety of things from soccer balls, to school supplies, to food, livestock, clean water, medicine and other basic needs. The Giving Machines are placed in large cities in the United States, one in England and one in the Philippines. The church has partnered with several organizations to distribute the items purchased from the Giving Machine.   In the interest of fairness, I have never seen a real Giving Machine. One thing

   Thanksgiving week is here again. In an effort to more fully celebrate this holiday, I did something that I did last year. Everyday for one week I'm going to post on Facebook something for which I am thankful.   I have set some rules for this. I must be truly grateful for what I post. I cannot recycle posts from last year. I also have to explain why I am grateful for the item or person. Preferably I would post about things that we would take for granted.   For instance, this year I posted a picture of my furnace and how I am grateful for it. The first house I bought was built around 1910. Obviously it had been updated. There were still some signs that the house was built in another age. The basement was stone. There was also a strange shape on the concrete floor. This was because the original furnace was a spider furnace. It's called a spider furnace for all the ductwork that is connected to it. It also burned coal. There was a corner of the basement where the walls were

   One of the things I like about the CBS Sunday Morning show is that sometimes they do segments on books that sound interesting. A few weeks ago they did a segment on a book about Herbert Hoover, a former president of the United States. The segment said that Hoover has a reputation for being one of the worst presidents in American history. One of the things he is blamed for is the Great Depression that occurred during the 1930s. A historian that was interviewed during the segment felt it was unfair to judge all that Hoover based on the four years he was president. After all most of the Great Depression happened when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, so why is Hoover getting all the blame?   Hoover actually did quite a bit of good, according to the segment.   It looked intriguing so I checked it out of the library. I like reading anyway and biographies are some of my favourite books to read. I also think it's a good practice to look at all of what someone has done in their

   I think we may have skipped a holiday. Either that or it was celebrated and I missed it. I don't know which. All I know is that Thanksgiving is missing.    I haven't seen a trace of the beloved November holiday anywhere. I haven't seen any pictures of cornucopias, turkeys with rear feathers fanned,  or families gathered around a table filled with all kinds of food. I haven't seen any pictures of pilgrims although I'm guessing those are not politically correct anymore. There are no signs saying "Happy Thanksgiving" no fall type decorations.    All I see are snowflakes,glistening trees, red and green garland and Christmas carols played on Muzak. I see pre Black Friday sale signs and advertisements for the perfect gift and inexpensive stocking stuffers.   Am I the only one who is noticing this? Am I the only one who cares? Does anyone beside me miss it?   Can someone,anyone tell me where Thanksgiving has gone?    Why has it become extinct? It can

   Tomorrow there is a Relief Society (woman's group) meeting at church. We will be learning how to work with a genealogy computer program to record family history. I asked Elisabeth, who is one of the leaders of the RS if there was anything I could do to help.    As a matter of fact, there was. Elisabeth ask if I had a good recipe for a vegetarian chili. Without even thinking, I said that I did. She then asked if I had a crock pot. Of course. Doesn't everyone living in this part of the country?    "Good," she said. "Please make a batch. What ingredients do you need?"    Realization came over me. I had just volunteered to cook for others to eat. Not just friends of mine. I got nervous. I'm a pretty good cook, but I'm not Martha Stewart or Rachael Ray. I like what I make but then I have pretty strange taste in food. What if no one likes the chili I brought?    It was too late to back out. Elisabeth had already turned and left to go home.    On

   Last week I spent the day with my friend, Dana, who was teaching me how to scrapbook.  It was lunchtime and we were hungry. She offered to order something from a nearby restaurant and have it delivered. I thought that was a good idea. I looked at the online menu and saw a sandwich that I've always wanted to try. I mentioned that to Dana. There was only one thing stopping me. It was the name.    I told Dana that my grandmother had told me never to use that word. I joked about how my grandmother would probably rise up out her grave and slap me if she heard me using it. I'm sure Dana thought I was a little weird. Possibly afraid of ghosts.   That's not the real reason though. The real reason I never ordered that sandwich is because the name of the sandwich,dago, is an offensive term meaning Italian or someone of Italian descent. As a person who is of Italian descent, it is deeply offensive. It is as bad as the "N word",spic,chink,frog,redskin, retard, and yid.

   The phone rang on Sunday morning. I rushed to get it. No one calls us on Sunday morning. It had to be some kind of emergency.    It was Evie, my adopted grandmother. She was sorry to call me on a Sunday and disturb us as we were getting ready for church. She had a question.    She gets her medications delivered to her from her pharmacy. On Saturday something was delivered to her. It was a new medication. She didn't know what it was.    She was puzzled about why she got it. Her doctor's appointment wasn't for a few weeks. The name of the doctor on the prescription was one she did not know. She had heard that there were a couple of female doctors in the clinic that she goes to, but she had never seen any of them.    She told me the name of the medicine.  Fortunately is was a common one, so I told her what it was. I also recommended to her that she call her doctor on Monday and find out why she got this prescription. I also told her not to take it until she found out

   C and I took our desktop computer to a repair shop. It's been a good computer, but it had run out of memory and needed a system upgrade. I'm not looking forward to the upgrade as I've worked with the new system on an office computer. To say that I hate the new system vastly understates my negative feelings about it. The thing I dislike most about it is the menu which is located on blocks that keep shifting round. What was wrong with the stable list of programs on my computer? All I had to do is look at the list and find what I wanted and click on it. With the new system I'll have to click on those manic little blocks and hope that I've clicked on the correct thing.    Since I usually use the desktop to write and job hunt, I now have to use an old laptop. I'm using the one that was my former work computer. (Yes, I had to use my personal laptop for work.) Nothing wrong with that, I like it. There's just one problem. Most of what I need is password protec

   Yesterday we went out to lunch with Evie. Evie is an elderly woman I met when she was one of my customers. We struck up a friendship which had now developed into her becoming my adopted grandmother.    We have been out to eat many many times with her. It's one of the few times she gets to leave her house. (Her health is fragile so mainly she only leaves her house to go to medical appointments.) We used to take her out to eat once a month at an Italian restaurant whenever  we fed the missionaries. She loved that. The missionaries liked it too.    She always wears jewelry when she goes out.  It doesn't matter if she is wearing a sweatshirt or a dressier shirt. She always has earrings, at least one ring and a necklace. She must have a massive collection because I seldom see her wear the same things twice.    She has  good taste when it comes to her jewelry. I'm always complimenting her on something she is wearing or asking her about what stone she has. Most of the time

   We have been home from Door County for about a week. I know that I should be searching for jobs, filling out applications, updating my resume and trying to figure out how I'm going to explain that I almost got a consulting only pharmacy licensed. That's what you do when you lose your job, you start searching for another one right away.    I'm not doing that. Instead, I'm taking a week off to catch up. I washed all the clothes from our trip along with our sheets, towels and anything else that needed washing. I mopped the kitchen floor and cleaned the cats' water fountain. I started knitting the baby presents for my adopted niece since I didn't get them finished on our trip.   There were a lot of things that I neglected while I was working at the clinic. I was given some birthday presents which are still sitting on the floor of my spare room. Things need to be cleaned and organized. It's supposed to be nice out this weekend and I am going to pull all t

   I ran lightly up the stairs to our room in the bed and breakfast. Once I got to the top I walked to the door four room and went inside. I paused for a minute inside the door. I wasn't gasping for air. I didn't even have to stop to catch my breath on the way up. I was carrying my knitting bag which is pretty heavy. I didn't have to drop it as soon as I got through the door.    That wasn't the case last year. Last year I had to take the steps slowly. Usually I had to pause at the top to catch my breath. In fact last year walking anywhere was a slow process. When we walked in the woods we had to stop every few feet so I could catch my breath.    That is what happens with someone suffering from severe anemia. I didn't know it at the time. I just chalked it up to being very dehydrated and maybe a little anemic. I was taking an iron supplement. I'm a health care professional , I know what I'm doing. What I didn't realize until after we got home from Do

   Today is our first whole day in Door County. Thankfully it was not raining this morning and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. It was a good day to go the the Apple Festival. We had never been to the Apple Festival before. In fact we didn't even know there was one. After a wonderful breakfast and conversation with Kirstie and Chad who are the new innkeepers,we headed out. The first thing we noticed was that it was a bit nippy and a breeze was blowing.    We got the the place where the festival was taking place. We were early as things were still being set up. There was going to be pumpkin painting and apple launching. The apple launching looked interesting. A large slingshot made of bungee cords was rigged together and fastened to the ground. There was a small roof over the contraption. Tied to the bungee cords was a small pouch where the apple being launched was placed. There were three large barrels set up a good distance away. If your apple landed in the barre

   "I'm on my way to get you, pack up your stuff. We're done." I held the phone in my hand not quite believing what I'd just heard.     "We're done?"     "Yes," said C. "Get your things together." All of them."     I hung up a little dazed. I couldn't leave. I was supposed to stay and answer the phones. I had follow up calls to make. I couldn't leave. We had patients tomorrow that I was supposed to work with. I stayed at my desk trying to understand what just happened.    C came in. I knew he had just come from a finance meeting with the doctor that owns the clinic I work at and the newly hired office manager. He sat in the chair next to my desk. I looked at him, confused.    "We're done," he said. "Pack up."    The short story was that after a review of finances, it was determined that all non essential  staff were going to be laid off. As a pharmacist, I fell into that category. It di

   There has been a lot of articles and opinions about social media and its advantages and disadvantages. Studies have shown that users of various types of social media have a detrimental effect on mental health. To me it's a no brainer. If you spend all your time socializing online and don't get out to meet real people it does bad things to you. Then there's the whole issue of cyberbullying, which means that a victim literally has no safe place to go since the bullies can follow via phone or tablet.    Sometimes, the internet can help bring people together. I've experienced this several times. I've found a few people that I had lost touch with over the years. My latest experience was this past week. I'd like to share it.    Several weeks ago, I peeked at one of my accounts. I saw a work anniversary for Greta Oldenburg. I knew Greta from many many years before. I dated her older brother for about four years. We'd met once after the breakup when I

   Yesterday we spent an enjoyable evening with our friends Ellen and Mac. We had dinner at their home and then attended a play performed by students at a nearby high school.    I noticed as we drove to the high school is that is was connected to a middle school and both buildings were pretty large. This was to be expected as we are in the Twin Cities area. There are a lot of people here and naturally a lot of kids.    The last time that I had been in a traditional high school was over 30 years ago when I attended one. I don't count going to the high schools of my younger stepdaughters. They went to a performing arts high school. The minute I stepped through the door I could see that things were very different.    The first thing I noticed on the inside was a large screen that had a welcome message crawling across it. It was like one of those electronic board you see in restaurants and sometimes in front of churches. The inside seemed clean and felt new. The school had been bu

   I have discovered another pet peeve. (Like I need more of those.) The newest addition to my collection is people that seem that can't stick to one personality.    A few months ago, some drama in the office caused one of my coworkers to abruptly quit. She had been quarreling with another coworker ever since the second person had been hired. They put on a good act, but there were always litle spits and spats between them. The clinic owner and manager had both tried various things to get these two to work together in peace. Nothing seemed to work for more than a few days.   Then the big blow up occurred. One of them walked out and Lynn was left. Since we were in the final stages of getting things done before could start taking patients, it was crunch time. Lynn,Sari (another coworker) and I huddled together. The three of us divided the tasks to be done between us. We made a good working group and I sent out and email telling Lynn and Sari so. That lasted about two days.   Then

   It's official. A few weeks ago when I had my hair done, I asked my amazing stylist if my hair was now all white. She confirmed that it is. I now have to face the question that I've been putting off for several years. Is it time to stop colouring it?    I'm very torn on this subject. I like the colour of my hair. I'm finally at a point in my life where I can look into the mirror and sometimes be pleased with what I see. (This is a big change from not being able to look in the mirror because what  see there literally makes me feel sick.) I enjoy going to the salon. It's one of the few indulgences I have now.    On the other hand, it's not cheap. Thanks to my long list of strange allergies, I'm allergic to most hair dyes. That means there is only one salon where I can get my hair coloured without wanting to scratch the skin off my scalp. Their dyes are plant based and I'm not allergic to them. The money I spend having my hair coloured when our budget

   Summer is almost over. Fall is approaching. I'm feeling the urge to take a day trip to Cumberland. Cumberland is the small,very small town where my mother was raised and where I spent some time when I lived with my grandparents. It's home for me, more so than the place where I was actually raised and went to school.    Most of the people I know in Cumberland are gone. They have either moved to a larger city or are buried in the church graveyard. The house I lived in with my grandparents has collapsed as have all the other farm buildings. Trees have been planted over the fields where the crops used to grow. It doesn't look the same.    Still ,I want to go back there. I need to pay my respects to my cousin, Joyce. Joyce died about three years ago from an aggressive and painful form of cancer. My mother and Joyce's brother helped to care for her in her last days as her husband was dead and her sons could not be bothered.    I'm estranged from my mother and mos

   After a rather tough week at work, C and I were ready for some fun. We decided to spend the afternoon at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. We really should not have. The house is a mess. Laundry is piling up. We need to grocery shop and then prepare meals for the week. Our to-do lists are both pretty long.    The housework can wait. The grocery shopping can be done later. Weather this good is not going to last. It was in the middle 60's cloudy and still. It was the perfect day to go to the Arboretum and get some fresh air. There are still plenty of plants in bloom. C packed his camera. Cloudy days are good for photography.    We went to the farmer's market first. We needed some vegetables and C wanted to get some sweet corn. He is something of a connoisseur of corn. Now is the peak time for sweet corn in Minnesota. He has his favorite grower. We get a dozen ears every week. We eat some of it,give away some of it and cut the rest of it off the cob and freeze. It's re

     Over the years I've been taught that the best way to get anything done is to make a list of goals. Then you prioritize the goals and come up with action steps and benchmarks for completing each goal. This has always sounded like too much work. I have trouble thinking that far ahead mainly because something usually comes along and disrupts everything.     Finishing Personal Progress before my birthday was the only goal I'd set for myself. I figured that barring some major catastrophe I could get it done and I did. Now I find myself wanting to take on another project. Nothing really big and nothing that involves needing help from anyone else. Something I can work on.    As many of you know I've become interested in yoga. Not enough to want to teach it, I'm too scared to even leave my house to do it publically. One of the things I've noticed is that starting my day with a little yoga makes me feel good. I don't feel tight and flabby. I feel stretched and e

   Today is my birthday and time once again for the annual Birthday Lunch. Every year I take at least one friend out to a nice lunch. Today I'm being a little extravagant. I'm taking several people and going to a rather expensive restaurant. It's more than a little out of budget, but we have savings and this is important. It's my 50th birthday and a milestone.    I've been asked several times over the year why I take people out to lunch. Isn't it tradition to be taken out to lunch? It's my birthday so why should I pay? I'd like to answer that today.    Part of the reason why I do it is because I was taught that it is impolite to invite someone to a meal in a restaurant and ask them to pay unless it is understood that everyone pays for themselves. It's kind of like inviting someone over for dinner at your home, but expecting them to bring their own food.    The main reason why I do it is out of gratitude. I've been given another year of life,

   Since we were not able to celebrate our anniversary on our actual anniversary date, we celebrated yesterday. Since both of us have been spending a lot of time indoors,we decided that a bike ride was in order. We decided to bike around the lakes in Minneapolis. I like Lake of the Isles. It's a pretty area with a lot of nice homes. We also decided to bike around Lake Harriet and Lake Bde Maka Ska. The bike paths are very good and the walking trails are separate from the bike path.  It gets pretty crowded on the weekends, but yesterday was not so bad. There were a few other bikers and people on scooters all enjoying the nice weather and the view of the lakes.   We biked around Lake of the Isles first. We wanted to go all the way around but part of the trail was underwater and too deep to bike through. We cut across to Lake Harriet. There is a small snack stand there. We stopped to get a treat. We got some ice cream and ate it while looking at the sailboats on the lake. Some of