Hope everyone had a fun filled weekend! I know I did. I was invited to a theme party on Saturday, a Purple Party. Who invited you are wondering? Well let me tell you. I go to a small town once a week to do assessments, check up on the recreation assistant and recreation aid and take care of any recreation related business/concerns. So it happens that one of the SLP (speech language pathologist) recently moved here from Manitoba for work. That's who invited me and how we met. I didn't know I could tell so much in one sentence. Anyways, she wanted to throw a theme party after seeing a bunch of people all dressed in white for a birthday party at the bar one night. It was an interesting offer so I said I would come. Who am I kidding, I never have plans on the weekends but I had to make it seem like I wasn't desperate to hang out with people on a Saturday night. :P It was nice to meet new people and drink with other people. I hate drinking alone!
So the theme of the night was purple, hence the Purple Party. I was looking through my closet and I realized I have nothing purple. Time to head to the mall! I was surprised at how many purple shirts there were at different stores. Lucky me! It was a good party for sure. Everyone was talking with everyone, everyone had at least one piece of clothing that was purple, and the hostess did a good job planning and organizing. We decided to head to a bar afterward and that was... something else. I felt like I was back in university and crammed like sardines cause everyone wanted to be inside or close to the door cause it was freezing outside. Not to mention, the average age was probably 20... give or take 2. Just getting inside, I had to wait for people to leave so they could let new people in. I can't complain cause there was no cover charge or charge for coat check.
The bar was packed and the music was decent. Your typical dancing music. The crowd that went from the party found a section where the pool table was, few steps down from the main area so it was pretty much like having a VIP section for us. People playing pool, dancing, drinking... for some people a little too much. I spotted couple of people sitting and their heads dropping. The same guy actually lost his jacket, well he didn't... it just wasn't at coat check. I wonder if they found it cause it was coooooold! Damn the wind hurt, especially when the wind carries snow and hits you in the face.
That was my weekend... well just the Saturday. Sunday I went to a baby shower for one of my coworkers who recently had twins. The twins are so cute! A boy and a girl. It was good to see my coworker again and was good to see she was doing well. IVF is a wonderful thing.
Work was work. Another Monday. It's crazy how every culture has different traditions when it comes to dealing with deaths. One of the residents passed away in the early morning and he was of Cree background. I didn't know this until I looked it up but the Cree hold a 4 day mourning period where family and friends come visit the deceased and share stories to one another. You would think they would put the deceased in casket but no he was just in bed sheets up to his shoulders. It just looked like he was sleeping. I only know cause I was walking passed the room to get to my unit and I was wondering why there were so many people around this room. I was thoroughly surprised to see him just lying there so peacefully and people around him. Now if they hold this for 4 days... I just can't see that being approved by the managers of the facility. A lifeless body left alone in bed for 4 days without being prepared... I just can't imagine how the body will look or the smell. The residents on the unit were already acting unusual and I don't want to think how much more unusual the residents can get.
The things I encounter at work. It's definitely a learning experience. I am going to miss this resident who passed away. I used to do my best to speak Cree to him and learn but he would just laugh at me while repeating the words I probably butchered. He was a fun man to be around, even though near the end of his life he didn't look well physically, I knew inside he was still doing ok cause I could make him smile and sometimes laugh when I would greet him in Cree every time I saw him. R.I.P.
I wasn't going to blog today but I knew if I didn't I wouldn't do it tomorrow or on Wednesday and it'll just become a bad habit. So here I am blogging to keep it going for another day. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
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