Ah, what a little rest can do...

Last night after I got home I immediately hit the bed and slept until pretty late, then blogged and went back to sleep, got up for a bit, then slept again till noon. If that seems excessive, please keep in mind that personally it has been a week from hell and the shock of the news of the space shuttle tragedy only made it worse.

I wanted to let you know, though, if you're interested, that we made it through our survey. I think we got a 96 out of a 100, which is very good (I called the second shift after I got home from the grocery store on Friday, because I'd had to leave before the announcement). Monday we're having a reception to thank everyone, and my design's supposed to go on the cake. I'm so glad that's over. Three more years till the next one, with "spot" inspections always a possibility after a few months. :)

It's sort of strange that over the last six years I've come to know the medical field culture. All you have to do to make anyone who's worked in healthcare, especially for an institution like a hospital or nursing home, grimace in pain is to say the words "survey", "Joint Commission", or "JCAHO" (pronounced Jay-co). But it really does help places keep on their toes. I mean, we do it voluntarily--it's mainly a requirement in order to continue with Medicare, and we don't bill anyone, but still, there are lots of places that I'm sure would cut lots of corners otherwise. I talked to one librarian (who shall remain nameless, but works in a state facility), whose approach was, "well, I'm supposed to document too, but I haven't done it for six months. But they only look at the last six months, so that's okay). !!!! My performance improvement director just rolled her eyes when I told her that. Despite the fact that for about a year before a survey all the managers want to push her under her paperwork, she really has an easy time motivating our bunch. I can't imagine being out in the for-profit arena or government arena.

So, it's February, and I'd like to say Happy Imbolc, which is the Celtic start of spring, a feast day for the Goddes Bri/d (Bridget), and generally a time to welcome the returning daylight and promise of warm weather. It's traditional to eat dairy products because this is when the lambing and calving begins. I've had string cheese and yogurt today, so I guess that counts. Our traditional food when we get together and celebrate is flaming cheese, which is when you pour vodka over a cheese such as mozzarella and light it. Light's important, too. We usually light candles throughout the house. The Christians absorbed the holiday as Candlemas for this reason. And the looking forward to better weather seems to somehow link with the American Groundhog Day, although I really don't know the particulars of how that came about.

It was 59 degrees today and sunny, the prettiest day we've had in a good long while. There's still a bit of packed snow about, but a lot has gone. We've has snow on the ground for a longer time continually than I can remember in the past. Don't get me wrong--I like snow, but I'm ready for spring, for growing things, for warmth. The other day I could see cardinals singing to their mates, and a big blue heron flew over the road and landed on the outcroppings of the nearby reservoir. I found a young owl that had been struck by a car, and that was sad. But the geese are flying in great v's about. After seeing only a few robins and sparrows, it was nice to see so many different types of birds out and and about. When it was so cold a couple of weeks ago, I think the birds just hid in whatever warm spots they could find. Now I feel like spring might be coming after all. I'm looking forward to the first fish in the creek, the first bee on a dandelion. (Okay, not the first mosquito, but hey, you can't like everything, right?)

Well, I'm going to sign off for now. I'm not sure what the point really to this post was, but there you have it.