Castro's out

WOO HOO, Castro's out! YAY. And when they were talking about it, they filmed a reporter in front of Versailles, on Calle Ocho, in Miami, my very very favorite Cuban eatery! Yummy Cuban sandwhiches and pastilitos, if you ever ever make it to Miami...oh, wait but more importantly, Castro is out!

Jake comes up to me the other day and tells me he hopes Hillary or Obama wins (does a mother proud -- did hear hubby mutter something under his breath about me unfairly indoctrinating the children). I ask Jake why.

He says: “Because it’ll be historical, it’ll be the first woman or the first black man as a president”
So, I ask: “What about Romney, he’d be the first Mormon?”
Jake: “Are Mormons black people?”
Me: “Ah, no, they’re all colors, it’s a religion”
Jake: “Is Romney black?”
Me: “No.”
Jake: “Well then it doesn’t count.”

I thought about teaching him that that’s not why we choose, we choose because we want the best person for the job. Also thought about explaining what a big deal it was that Kennedy was a Catholic and he being elected was historical because of his religion and in a country that values religious freedoms it’s a big deal. I thought about explaining that we should overlook religion when deciding as well as color and gender (or even party)—as long as we know that religion, color or gender won’t interfere with the person’s decisions.

But he’s 8 and I barely understand that stuff myself.

Sitting in Silence wants an OB story….I’ll tell the happy one (there was a sad one, I’ll tell that later when I’ve let it settle a bit).

A woman was having her third C-section (oh and she was a year older than I…hmmmm, maybe there’s a chance after nursing school for a third…JUST KIDDING). Anyhow, she was beautifully round, her husband wonderfully attentive and the surgery went off without a problem and when that beautiful baby appeared and cried out to the world that he was here, I burst into tears of happiness – for the mother, the father, life in general. The staff in the operating room were laughing and congratulating and telling the mom and dad how beautiful the baby was and I stood in the corner crying, trying not to sob at the happiness of it all. Later, the mom asked how it all was for me (she knew it was my first time observing a C-section...had one myself, but didn’t do much observing at that time). I told her it was beautiful and it moved me to tears. She grabbed my hand and thanked me.

WOW

Med/Surg has been a great learning experience…complete with learning about changing rectal tubes (don’t ask, you really really don’t want to know), giving meds, enemas, cleaning up barf and explaining to the alcoholic who is detoxing that no, there is nothing flying around the room. BUT there’s nothing like that feeling of watching a baby being born. Even the sad experience was fulfilling -- being there for that woman in her hour of need…those are the experiences where I felt at home, I know that’s what I want to do.