Colonel Mustard with the Candlestick

I'm happy to report that our library in our new house is just about complete. In all honesty, I have absolutely no excuse to procrastinate.

My prior excuse was that I needed a space to spread out my work stuff and be able to walk away at any time and return at leisure. It's strange; it feels like we just discovered a whole new room of the house. Before the "librarization," the dark, unused room was full of heavy, quasi-collapsing boxes containing our collective 11 years' worth of college books.

What, you thought I was going to throw away that textbook from Psych 110? I paid $156for it back in the day (and that's, like, $3,208 in today's dollars).

Almost all of our furniture is used, we've never thought it very important to have matching decor. Anything that matches in our house is purely through luck and creative garage sale negotiation. But we couldn't find three bookcases to match, even on Craigslist, so we decided to bite the financial bullet.

The other day, Jack ventured out to one of the local furniture stores and bought bookcases, kitchen table and chairs, and an over-stuffed chair for the corner. We hung thick, dark curtains on the windows so we can hunker down and work when necessary. He wants the library to look old and philosophically-inspiring. I asked if we should artificially cover things in a thick layer of dust and write by candlelight with a quill and inkwell. Everything is dark wood and I think Jack wants to replicate the library within the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I wonder which books qualify as the restricted section?

I didn't study anything very risque and my most scandalous book is along the line of The Last Temptation of Christ. I was curious to finally unpack all the books from undergrad and take a quick inventory of the books I supposedly wrote papers about at Saint Mary's. Back then, I remember thinking that Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and Leibniz' metaphysical Monadology would look cool on a book shelf.

Then again, so do books like How to be Happy, Dammit and How to be Pope. (Thank you to Kant Think, formerly known as Epistemological Doorknob and her husband, Mr. ED). It was strange and weirdly unsettling to unpack all those books. It opened up an emotional Pandora's box, as we both felt the need to flip through books we haven't seen in a decade.

Jack would also like to put one of those wall decals on the wall, stating some lofty, Socratic quote that would motivate us to achieve the professional and intellectual advances we so desire.

Me? I'd like the wall decal to say, "Sit your a** down and work!"

All this talk about the library is making me want to play Clue. Hmm. I wonder if they have that for Wii!

Quote Journal: Turning the Table

"If you want people to stay the same, tell them what they want to hear. If you want people to change, tell them what they need to know." -Fulton Sheen



I like this quote. As a leader, you want to be liked. But being liked and being effective are two different things. I would prefer to err on the side of being firm and challenging someone rather than sugar-coating a piece of news so it did not pierce the poor soul’s thin skin. Gee, even the way I stated that sounded harsh! I am a believer in full-disclosure and use that technique during employee evaluations. And I think it helps people understand what they need to do to truly improve.

I’ve been saving many leadership quotes lately, for use with my staff. When I accepted my current position, I sort of skipped a level of management. I was given several departments that all had their own managers. I was asked to manage the managers. So I’ve been trying to motivate my managers from within. I once read that true leadership is where you get people to do things because THEY want to do them.

So my next plan in developing my managers is to highlight their strengths.

I’m running in this counter-cultural (at least to me) angle about highlighting strengths. Where I’m from, you humbly accept your strengths (and don’t you dare boast about them), but you highlight your weaknesses so you can improve upon them. You do everything you can to strengthen your weaknesses so they become less of a liability to you.

Then one of my fellow leaders at St. Fozzie’s turned me on to a book called StrengthsFinder 2.0. The premise of StrengthsFinder is to highlight your strengths so you can excel in your strong areas and work with others’ strong traits. It’s a whole paradigm shift for me…I know exactly what my weaknesses and frailties are. But I had no true understanding of my strengths.

I took the StrengthFinder assessment (about 170 questions) and emerged with my Top 5: Achiever, Discipline, Focus, Competition, and Relator. The relating piece surprised me, but the other four did not. Except that I had been viewing my need to achieve, my insane OCD focus, and my competitive streak as liabilities and flaws in my character. I kept trying to weed out these facets of myself, thinking they were unchristian or presumptuous. I kept trying to overcome my incessant need to race in traffic, win at Scrabble, and accomplish many new projects at work and FORCE myself to chill out and not care so deeply about what I achieve. Obviously, it wasn’t working and only served to re-enforce that deep insecurity that arises when you try to change something that is unchangeable and fail. Repeatedly.

Just like my impatience. I will admit that I’m one of THE most impatient people you will ever meet. I can’t help it; it’s a core facet of my personhood. And to be honest, it drives me to obtain results and increase accountability to others…so it works in its own odd way. But I about drove myself batty, trying to change these unchangeable facets of my personhood and I didn’t exactly have the utmost patience while I continually failed to change.

My point is that, by accepting and celebrating our strengths, we can utilize our God-given uniqueness and celebrate the strengths we have. I hate to sound so after-school-special, but I actually learned how to better accept myself and the strengths I offer this world. I highly recommend the book if you want to learn a thing or two about yourself.

20 (awesome) Tips

I checked in on one of the CEO blogs I follow and this was his New Year's post. Several of them (namely, the vomit one!) made me laugh and then suddenly sober with the realization that he's probably right.



20 TIPS FOR A POSITIVE NEW YEAR
(Updated 2011 Version)

1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can know that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.

2. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is_______________________.

3. Take a morning walk of gratitude. I call it a “thank you walk.” It will create a fertile mind ready for success.

4. Instead of being disappointed about where you are think optimistically about where you are going.

5. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

6. Remember that adversity is not a dead-end but a detour to a better outcome.

7. Focus on learning, loving, growing and serving.

8. Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.

9. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

10. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.

11. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

12. Remember there’s no substitute for hard work.

13. Zoom Focus. Each day when you wake up in the morning ask: “What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me create the success I desire?” Then tune out all the distractions and focus on these actions.

14. Implement the no complaining rule. Complaining is like vomiting. Afterwards you feel better but everyone around you feels sick.

15. Read more books than you did in 2010.

16. Get more sleep. You can’t replace sleep with a double latte.

17. Focus on “Get to” vs “Have to.” Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.

18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:

I am thankful for __________.
Today I accomplished____________.

19. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

Jason Bateman for Pres!

I was sitting in a crowded auditorium, filled with the anxious murmur that accompanies any large opening night. Parents and family members scouted the room as they looked to claim any folding-metal chair that might be vacant. The lights of the gymnasium flickered, indicating that the show was to begin momentarily. I quickly glanced at Jack next to me and smiled, then caught the eye of a familiar-looking gentleman to my left.

Why, it was the President of the United States, President Obama! Clad in a brown-corduroy blazer, he deeply resembled Jason Bateman. To his left, his wife, Phylicia Rashad beamed with glee and pride as she steadied the circa-1985 camcorder on her shoulder.

Wow, the President's children must be in this play, too!

The curtain rose and instead of a second-graders' play, it was the behind-the-scenes view of the Hershey's factory. Just then, Betty White jumped out and said,

"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

************************

And that is what it's like to be in my head! That was an actual dream I had last night. I think it's because we watched the movie Juno (very cute and interestingly pro-life) and Jason Bateman starred in this flick.

This weekend's been pretty relaxing so far. The Edge came up Friday night and after returning from taking one of my departments to dinner on Friday night, she and I settled in for a long night of girl chatter. You know when you sit and catch up for two hours, then glance at the clock and realize six hours have actually gone by? Yeah, one of those nights. We punctuated our girl time on Saturday with pedicures. I stand by an earlier statement I made; most of the world's evils can be solved via pedicure. Yes, I'm a woman. No, I don't have Uggs or Bearpaws. (Not yet, anyway).

The final bit of news is that Jack and I finally settled on a church. It took seven weeks and five different churches to figure out what we already knew. When we bought our house, we moved about 20 minutes south of our previous home. Our church was three blocks from our house (our trend...we always live within 2-3 blocks of our parish...it just makes it easier to make mass every weekend. You have no excuse when you can practically see the church's steeple over the beer you're enjoying on the chaise lounger on your back porch).

I digressed. So we tried every church in our new five-mile radius. Some were very flowery and new agey. Some were conservative and cold, some were decent enough but had terrible music. So today's decision was to drive 20 minutes back to our old parish. It had all the elements we were looking for, plus rockstar music and a vibrant parish community. Despite my challenging schedule, I have been entertaining thoughts of getting re-involved with RCIA or other faith formation groups.

In a sense, it completes the transition to our new home. We now have a dentist, a Meijer, a dry cleaner, a primary care physician, a Buffalo Wild Wings, and a church. Facets of a routine humanity? Check!

Hill of Beans

Hola. It's one of those rare days when I've run around like a nut all day, just to come home, run 3 miles on the treadmill, grab dinner, and...still be wide awake as if it were noon. I feel like I need to pop a Benedryl to get some sleep tonight!

This doesn't happen too often. Maybe it's because I've had too much coffee (four huge cups plus one espresso) today? I now sneeze with my eyes open...and have to watch all movies in fast-forward...and cannot register my pulse without using exponents...and I've typed all of this so far in 2.32 seconds...with my feet!

Seriously, though, tonight I'm writing to entertain you with my foible of a life and to decompress. The day started out harmless enough with a monthly state-of-the-union breakfast meeting. I progressed onward with meetings until I had to meet with my suing former-employee in the late morning. The meeting went well enough (but I have my first hearing next week in court) and I swung by the employee's former department to see how things were going and to obtain the manager's John Hancock on a few forms. After my rounding, I rushed back to my office in Administration to turn around and return to the other St. Fozzie's campus.

Just as I arrived, I heard a Rapid Response paged overhead, to that same department! Two seconds later, they called a Code Blue! Crap! What did I DO? With my arms full of folders and files, I rushed back to the department to find a group of young interns/residents running to the scene [cue the theme song from E.R.]. Spotting the Director of Nursing overseeing things, I thought everything was okay. I talked to a few staff and learned that a patient had fallen and couldn't get up (too bad she didn't have her LifeAlert necklace on) and then lost consciousness. The patient was rushed down the hall to the ER and the drama dissipated.

I went on through my day, rushing from meeting to meeting, constantly shifting gears (as I usually do on Thursdays, it's just my routine). Then I got paged by that same Director of Nursing, that the patient who had fallen had a broken hip and was in emergency surgery. Fabulous! That is just great.

So I finished up some work and headed home...to an empty house. Jack has school three nights a week this semester.

I don't think I told you, but Jack and I made the fiscally-foolish decision to purchase a treadmill. I say "fiscally-foolish" because it went on credit. It's generally not my principle to charge things like that, but I was desperate. I was *not* buying new pants because I outgrew my others!

Now, I've had a gym membership for most of my adult life and have often used it. I get into routines and use exercise as a way to blow off steam. Well, with my funky hours, the absolute LAST thing I want to do after working a long day is drive 20 minutes out of my way to go to the gym. So I would opt to come home, do 10 push up's and call it a day. Well, I'm not exactly 18 anymore and know I need to take care of my heart with all my stress. So we bought a treadmill. It's not a top-of-the-line by any means, but its motor runs well enough to allow me to run. If I get home and I'm too tired to run, I walk. It's something to get my rear in gear!

I've talked enough tonight and still feel awake enough to start tackling my ethics paper. Do you think Juan Valdez will name his donkey after me?

Missing Pieces

Jack and I are always on the prowl for hilarious signs. You know, when a business has a brightly-lit sign and part of the word burns out? Some of those burned-out signs make the best comical fodder.

Here are our top few favorites:

6. Boa Sales (Boat Sales...coming back the other way, it said "oat Sales").
5. Men's earhouse (Men's Wearhouse).
4. Show lace 16 (Show Place 16).
3. Disco Tire (Discount Tire).
2. peedway (Speedway).
1. Pancake Ho (Pancake House).

Sometimes I think the proprietors purposefully leave their signs this way!

Hollywood Star

I don't think I've written much about Jack's recent rise to stardom.

While I don't think Steven Spielberg will be calling him up to the big leagues just yet, Jack did make a splash in the local marketplace. He starred in three commercials (email me if you want the Youtube links) for St. Fozzie's, playing the part of a doctor. The first commercial aired throughout December, the second one will start soon, and the third is slated for spring. They're hilarious and Jack does a very good job of playing a doctor. He's a *young* doctor, but nonetheless, looks the part in the commercials. His glasses and demeanor make him look "doctor-ish," especially when you throw in a long white lab coat!

Word is slowly spreading throughout the hospital, that Jack is my wife. They call him Mr. Dorrie. This cracks me up and we take it in good humor.

I had to laugh when I received an unsolicited email from a co-worker in Finance...she asked me if that guy in the commercials was really Jack. I answered affirmatively and she joked that we have some cute doctors running around St. Fozzie's.

I'm debating whether I should buy Jack a lab coat. He should wear it at home like a house coat when he wants to be cool!

Need a Shovel?

It's one of those days, as I sit in my recliner by the window and feel the sun streaming in on my shoulders, I'm grateful we moved away from SB. We received a dusting of snow, just enough to lightly coat the sidewalk and driveway.

At last check, SB has received 26 inches of snow with another 10-12 on the way. I don't envy you all!

Don't worry, it's still very cold here!

I Don't Believe in Ghosts

I’m not sure if I’m coming or going. I'm not sure why this surprises me.

So much for normalcy!

I spent the entire New Year's weekend laying around like a sack of potatoes because I felt achy, feverish, and generally yucky. I got my fill of movies and football while logging some serious couch time.

It’s Wednesday night and I still feel yucky. I feel like I’m fighting a flu bug because I still have body aches, headaches, and feel like I could immediately pass out on a cold concrete floor with hungry lions circling me. However, I was at work and had a near-constant coffee I.V. going!

So there has been a lot going on this week. I guess the big news is that the hospital is being sued on my behalf (I told them “you’re welcome!”). One of the employees I terminated initiated legal action. The good news is that my Administration, Risk Management, and HR departments support me. The bad news is that this employee is like an itch that just won’t go away. Just when you think you’ve scratched it enough, it reappears, worse than before. Maybe that’s what this employee is trying to do to me…haunt me.

But it’s not scaring me. I don’t believe in ghosts.

Anyway, there are some great things going on this week. We received approval from the bishop of the archdiocese of Chicago to progress with our FQHC partnership. I was nervous in the meeting; I felt as though my ethical training was going to be tested by the bishop’s relentless questioning about the Ethical and Religious Directives and how we intended to meet them! Instead, he merely asked me for a short synopsis about why we desire this partnership. Then he flipped through a couple supporting documents and gave his approval. It took all of ten minutes and he was gone! But this is huge; if I can get this through, it will be the second Catholic Church-approved Catholic Hospital-FQHC partnership in US.

The rest of my work-life consists of helping my departments get ready for our accreditation survey (that means that a lot of policies are written and updated), addressing physician issues as they pertain to patient throughput and referral patterns, and keeping everyone going in the Lean Program. Oh, and we were 50 patients over our scheduled patient census on Monday, so I helped track down physicians to get in and discharge patients. We actually had to go on ambulance bypass because there was just no where to put the patients. That was fire-fighting mode at its best!

Ugh! So much to do, so little time. I made the executive decision that Jack and I are going to bite the bullet and buy a table for our library. I don't want to spend the money, but I need a place to spread out all my work junk so I can work in the evenings. I cannot stand using the dining room table; it’s out in our main living space and the strewn-about work creates mental clutter for me.

On a completely unrelated note and in the spirit of New Year’s, I will publicly post my New Year’s Resolutions. They are:

1. To kick butt at work. Jack is behind me and has offered to keep the house afloat while I put my time in. I’m in that place where I just have to buckle down, keep my nose to the grindstone, and, well, survive.

2. To read two novels a month. I used to relish my reading time but have since been bogged down with a bunch of managerial literature that work requested I read. I feel like I have to finish the work stuff before I start the fun books. Hence, I never start the work literature because who wants to go home after an uber long day and read something entitled, “Hardwiring Flow” or “Managing Quality Improvement in Healthcare.” I’d rather read “The Passage” or “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”

3. To finally use my frequent flyer membership on Southwest Airlines. I signed up for this about 18 months ago and keep forgetting to use my account when I book flights. I figured out this morning that I have six trips scheduled for this year and I only need twelve more flights before I get a free ticket anywhere in the continental U.S. So I plan to tattoo my account number inside my palm, for easy access!

I hope, fellow bloggettes, that your 2011 is going well and that you are still on the wagon regarding your New Year’s resolutions!

Normalcy

Hello 2011, goodbye 2010!

I tried several times to write a "summary of 2010" post, but I kept clearing the screen and starting over. I'm not sure what I want to remember from 2010. Usually, I'm the nostalgic type, who, when watching the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve, surrounded by my family and/or friends, quickly reminisces over the past year and try to obtain full closure. I don't live with regret, rarely bask in my own successes, and really don't think worrying about the past is a good use of time. So I try to quickly say my goodbyes to the positives and negatives of the previous year and start over after the stroke of midnight. Each of us gets a new start today, to accomplish whatever is on the horizon.

At least that's how I usually look at New Year's Eve...an exciting culmination of a year and I wake up New Year's morning with optimism and thoughts on how I am going to position myself toward greater challenges and success.

This year was a bit different. While I've had a few tough years in my life, with family issues and deaths when I was younger, to my physical health issues a few years ago, I was actually very happy to see 2010 conclude. The year continued my loneliness and job-focused existence in Chicago and ushered in nine solid months of confusion, disarray, and chaos. Because of my hard work, I was offered a phenomenal job opportunity out here...but the price was high. We had to relocate, sell our first home, live in a teeny place, endure Jack's job uncertainty and unemployment, and adjust to his new job. Of course, the year concluded with the blessing of our beautiful house, but I decided that I'm ready for some normalcy.

Now, as soon as I go and call my life "normal," something odd will happen! But seriously, I need a year or two of just doing the daily grind. I need to commute every day, work hard, exercise regularly, keep up with school, plan vacations, etc.

Normalcy. Even if responsibilities continue to be added to my job...it will still be better than relocating, moving, selling, buying, etc. I guess I am ready for some routine.

I never thought I'd be saying I was ready for normalcy and routine, but I am.

So as I watched the ball drop in NYC last night, those were my thoughts. Goodbye to the stressful, chaotic year of 2010 and welcome to the routine, "normal" year of 2011.

Jack and I hosted a dinner party for a few of our new friends and after noshing all evening on gourmet cheeses, crusty French bread, stuffed olives, Italian salami, shrimp cocktail, and then eating a wonderful dinner of salmon. Great food, great wine, and great friends.

Here's to a great year of normalcy!