Posts Tagged ‘holiday’
A Peek at Nursing as a Career
We need more people to choose nursing as a career. There is a national shortage, so the career choice would guarantee future employment fresh out of school.
Just last week, as I was taking care of a patient of mine, a doctor asked, “Kim, how did you decide to become a nurse?” That question caused me to reflect over nearly 25 years, and it still causes me to wonder sometimes. You see, I was not one of those little girls that wished to be a nurse, although I really liked the head nurse on Emergency. I told her, “You know, I think nursing chose me.”
I went on to explain that I had changed my career path my freshman year of college. I was taking courses that I found to be interesting, along with the ‘basics’. After a year of not committing to a degree plan, my dad put his foot down and he strongly encouraged me to find some direction.
I remember thumbing through the college catalog and finding the degree plan for nursing. I was surprised to see that I had taken nearly every prerequisite course except for anatomy and physiology. I applied to the program, was accepted and the rest is history.
Being a nurse has real advantages. Continuing education is an integral part of most professions. Nursing is no exception. This knowledge actually saved the life of one of my children!
Patrick was almost 4 years old. He was enjoying a piece of Halloween candy. My husband was watching him, and he called me in when he saw that Patrick was choking. I gave those 5 abdominal thrusts as if I did it every day of my life, when in fact I had only performed it on a few mannequins over the years. That piece of candy shot out, just like in the videos that they would make us watch. Never again do I groan when the lights go down and we have to watch that same training video.
Scrubs
Another advantage to this profession is the uniform. What other profession allows you to wear clothes that are as comfortable as pajamas! And they are so much more colorful than that starched white from years ago. I had to wear a nursing cap with the white uniform and the white hose and shoes when I was in nursing school. Now you can tell what Holiday is around the corner based on the attire of the nursing staff.
Another change for the better is that more men are entering the profession. I think that it has bettered the salaries. For fear of making sexist or offensive remarks, I will leave it at that.
Continuing in my footsteps.
Today, my oldest child is attending a nursing program. She will be a nurse in less than a year. I have no doubt that she will be an excellent asset to the profession. She did not decide to do this as a career until she was in college for a year.
Choosing nursing as a career
If you like working with people and helping them during some of the most important times of their lives, then I have no doubt you would thrive in your career as a nurse.
For more information go to www.NurseCrow.com or visit www.CrowSites.com for a complete listing of other topics
Copyright 2005, CrowSites.com All Rights Reserved
This author is the founder of http://www.CrowSites.com . David is attemping to write articles of intrest on various topics featured on the various CrowSites. You can read more at http://www.NorwayCrow.com http://www.FlowersCrow.com
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – How to Tap in to the Holiday Publicity Bonanza
If your product or service can be given as a gift, a publicity
windfall awaits at the end of the year – but you need to start
working in June. Each December, media outlets cover the newest,
the hottest and the most unusual Holiday gifts. The reporters
assigned to develop these pieces typically depend on two sources
of information:
1. Phone interviews with local store owners
- and –
2. Press materials that have been sent by publicity seekers.
Let’s deal with Point 1. Here’s a cool trick: In early
November, write a letter to stores and major websites that carry
your product. Remind them that they may be hearing from
journalists soon about hot gift ideas, and request that they
consider mentioning your product when that happens. Point out a
few reasons why your product is the newest, coolest, best or
whatever. Ask the vendor to drop you an e-mail or give you a
call if a story results that mentions your product.
Now, on to old-fashioned publicity. When to contact the media
depends on the publication or program’s lead time (how far in
advance of publication or airing the material is developed).
Magazines like Woman’s Day have a lead time up to six months, so
get materials to them now. Newspapers have a lead time as short
as a week for feature material, so send materials in November. In
between are wire services, medium-lead magazines, “in-flight”
magazines and others. To learn the lead time of a particular
media outlet, call the editorial department. If that doesn’t
work, try the advertising department.
What you send should be kept simple — a press release about your
product/service, a pitch letter explaining why it’s such a great
gift idea, and, if applicable, a disk with color product photos.
See our articles “How to Write a Great Pitch Letter”
http://www.publicityinsider.com/pitch.asp and “How to Write a
Great Press Release” http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp
for more details.
As you craft the materials, think about where your
product/service fits. Based on its nature, cost, rarity or
usefulness, it may work with a variety of typical Christmas Gift
stories such as: Great Stocking Stuffer Ideas, Gifts for
Teenagers, Gifts for the Person Who Has It All, Gifts for
Executives, Gifts that Relax, etc. By suggesting a category for
your product, rather than simply stating “Here’s a product that
would make a nice holiday gift”, you’re making yourself stand out
– and maybe even giving the journalist an idea for a story angle
that he or she wouldn’t have thought about otherwise. Either
way, your chances of getting coverage are greatly improved.
Bill Stoller, the “Publicity Insider”, has spent two decades as
one of America’s top publicists. Now, through his website, eZine
and subscription newsletter, Free Publicity: The Newsletter for
PR-Hungry Businesses http://www.PublicityInsider.com/freepub.asp ,
he’s sharing — for the very first time — his secrets of scoring
big publicity. For free articles, killer publicity tips and
much, much more, visit Bill’s exclusive new site:
http://www.publicityInsider.com
Dear Santa: Christmas Sucks!
Christmas time is finally here, and most people during this holiday are happier than a fat kid eating a Krispy Kreme donut. Christmas brings so many great things to the table; the caroling, the NO SCHOOL, the snowmen and hour long snowball fights that ends with bloody noses, the eggnog and drunken relatives, the presents, holiday parties, and the drinking hot coco next to a roaring fire while cuddling up with your loved one. How could anybody not love this great holiday! It’s a hiatus from the dark sadness of reality and a time where you can be ridiculously happy! But maybe too happy?
In a recent poll, over 45 percent said that they dreaded the holiday altogether. Not everyone seems to see the light that Christmas brings, and if you look harder into the eyes of this joyous holiday, you may see why. More people kill themselves around Christmas time than any other time of year. “Well,” Khayeni Sanders, a fellow Christmas lover states, “I think you should make a club, or a house, for those people. It’s like an equivalent of a homeless shelter! Wait, what’s the question again?”
There are several reasons why people just don’t like Christmas, one is that spending Christmas alone is a very depressing situation for anyone. The couple theme that constantly exists with this holiday is not easy to hide from if you are single. For people who are already suffering from depression, the Christmas season only makes it worse. Another reason is the belief that Christmas has become too commercial. In fact, over 50 percent of people polled said that they think Christmas should be toned down a bit. “It definitely has become too commercial with people putting out decorations two months in advance, but the spirit behind it has generally stayed the same for most people” declared Sarah Geiger. A third common reason why Christmas isn’t favored by some is that there is often a feeling that everyone else is having a better time than you. The constant belly-full-of-jelly laughs around the company water cooler may have you thinking, “Did I miss something? Am I being left out?!
What’s going on?!” Other more common dislikes are the constant money spending, the overeating, and the Christmas parties. Christmas time can also remind people of a lost one, which could make anyone, have a miserable Christmas time. All of these horrible things that tag along with Christmas could make even Satan cry a tear of sympathy for the people who just can’t see the joy Christmas can bring. It’s a shame not everyone can be happy during this time of year, but being depressed on Christmas is completely understandable. These poor saps seem to miss the Christmas bliss train every year, but who knows; this year maybe, just maybe, they’ll catch it.
About The Author
Daggi Pulz is co-webmaster at http://www.links2see.com an online family directory. She can be contacted at Daggi@links2see.com
Information of Best Las Vegas Casinos and Other Gambling Centers
In the world of entertainment, gambling has become one of the entertainments that are never be forgotten to be enjoyed. In most night life in tourism destinations, we can find many gambling centers where many people visit and having much fun with the gambling games playing. Las Vegas is the most popular city that has many gambling centers as well as other night life entertainments.
For you who love gambling very much, Casinos-rus.com is the website where you can find much information about gambling and the best places for enjoying gambling games playing. You can find the best Las Vegas Casinos in this website and also finding best companies that can manage your trips to the greatest gambling centers in the world. You can also find much information about other areas that provide best gambling centers of the world such as Erie, Pittsburgh, and also Myrtle Beach.
If you are also a lover of online casino gambling, this website also provides you much information about the best online casinos that are provided in high quality. Therefore, have a plan for a fantastic gambling vacation in the holiday? Just visit the website and find the best agent to manage the most fantastic trips.
Still Single for the Holidays? Lucky You!
Oh, no! Christmas, Hanukah, and New Year’s Eve are coming, and you’re still not dating anybody.
The specter of enduring gatherings with relatives who harass you because you’ve failed to hook up trounces your hopes for peace and goodwill. You’ll be explaining your sorry self from the first sip of eggnog to your last bite of mincemeat pie.
Afterwards, you’ll tuck into bed feeling like a colossal loser, remembering how Cousin Patty flashed her newly installed engagement ring (roughly the size of an aircraft carrier) all through dinner. And then, as you console yourself that this was just one night out of your life, that surely you can rise above the pitying looks and comments, it dawns on you that you’ll be subjected to them again on New Year’s Eve!
You find yourself with two choices: (A) Attend a party teeming with self-satisfied couples, hoping to God that some gorgeous single specimen of the opposite sex will infiltrate and rescue you from your glass of warm champagne. (B) Accept Mom and Dad’s offer to watch the ball drop on their new big-screen TV and endure entreaties to ‘hurry up and get married already’ between appearances by B-list celebrities.
So, what will you do?
The temptation to call it quits this year, stay home, and slump through re-runs of Sex and the City with a bottle of wine is staggering. Don’t do it. This holiday season can be your best yet if you approach it with the right mindset. Here are five tips to help facilitate a new perspective:
Know the truth: Those self-satisfied married people aren’t so satisfied. Hey, most of them are downright miserable. Don’t believe me? Look around. Go into any family restaurant on a Friday evening, and check out all the couples that don’t make eye contact. Observe the husbands and wives who speak to the children but not to each other. Go to the mall on a Sunday afternoon and watch the Christmas shoppers. A far cry from what you see in the diamond ads, eh? Be happy that you are not stuck in a dull marriage! Decide that if and when you marry, you’ll do it for the right reasons, not because you hit a certain age, your parents were nagging you, you want children, or you want to make your friends feel bad because you bought or received a bigger diamond than they did.
Come up with a snappy answer. When some moron eyes you over the Christmas turkey and asks, “Aren’t you ever going to get married?” Just respond, “Why do you ask?” If the inquisitor persists, smile enigmatically and say, “I’m too young to get married.” Say this even if you’re fifty. If your mother starts piling on the guilt about giving her grandchildren, tell her you hate kids. Suggest that she sponsor an unfortunate child for twenty dollars a month through a worthy charitable organization. Never allow yourself to be drawn into conversations about what it is you do to repel the opposite sex.
Walk into every party like a winner. Sit down at every dinner table as if you’re the guest of honor. Be quietly confident. Smile. Walk tall. Sit up straight. Feel good about yourself. Adorn yourself in clothes that flatter you (women, the poncho may be the rage, but if it makes you look like a sack of onions, put it down; men, avoid wearing baseball caps at all costs). Do not walk into a party hoping that someone will notice you. Walk into a party expecting to be noticed.
Be proactive. Instead of waiting around for invitations, host a party of your very own. Give the event a sheen by preparing a trendy drink. Make an investment and pour it into appropriate glasses. For an elegant effect, start the night by playing Mozart or jazz renditions of holiday classics. Keep the party lively later on by spinning Moby or the latest U2. Be the star you are and dress up. (If you want something more casual, Super Bowl parties are a blast, even for those of us who don’t understand football.) Invite singles and couples from work, church, wherever. The more the merrier, so tell guests to bring a friend. Be sure to ask a married couple or two to prevent the vibe of a singles’ mixer, but avoid inviting couples that stand around talking about their children all night.
Understand that being single is a good thing. Look, you’re not tied down to anybody. Your life is full of possibilities. Every day is an adventure. You can travel as you like, buy clothes as you like, date as you like. Married people can’t. Decide not to give up your freedom until someone truly worthy comes along. This is powerful. When you sit around waiting for the right person to show up, nobody will. But once you decide to enjoy your life, often somebody wonderful and worthy will appear-and sooner than you expect.
About The Author
(c) Terry Hernon MacDonald
Terry Hernon MacDonald is the host of “Romance Talk with Terry,” which can be accessed any time at http://www.healthylife.net Visit her website at http://www.marrysmart.com
Stress-Free Holiday Entertaining
The holiday season is upon us! It is a time when family and friends gather together. Some people love to entertain and enjoy bringing people together. Others feel stressed with these obligations. Whether it is a large gala for everyone you know, hosting the family holiday dinner or just having a few close friends over for a meal, planning and organization can make the difference between feeling stressed and being able to enjoy your event. The following simple tips can help you prepare your house, prepare the food and handle the final details.
Preparing the House
So how organized is your house right now? So often people become overwhelmed with the idea of entertaining; they get stuck as to where to start. Think about how your house will be used. Will this be a sit down meal in your dining room? Will groups separate into different rooms to talk or watch TV? Will your guests be staying overnight? Start early enough and focus first on the rooms that will really be used. Don’t worry about the ones that you think someone may wander into if they get lost on the way to the bathroom. Go through each room, one at a time. If there is a room that hasn’t been de-cluttered in awhile, sort through everything by dividing items into toss, donate and keep piles. This is a great time to make your donations and get that tax deduction in before the end of the year. Throw out items no longer needed and put away the items to be kept in their appropriate place.
Think about who is coming to your house. If you have items that are breakable or valuable, consider simplifying the items in the main gathering room so you and your guests (and their children) don’t have to worry about accidents that could put a damper on the evening. These items can be put up or wrapped up and stored in a plastic bin, which can be hidden in a basement or bedroom during the party and brought out easily the next day.
Depending on whatever else is going on in your life and if the budget allows it, treat yourself to a cleaning service before your event. If funds won’t stretch that far, get the whole family involved and divide the tasks up. Another option is to trade blocks of time with a good friend. Also make sure you have enough supplies on hand (toilet paper, disposable hand towels for the powder room, paper towels in the kitchen, etc.) and that they are easily accessible if needed during the time your guests are in your home.
If you give yourself enough lead-time and work at picking up and cleaning in manageable increments, you won’t get burned out and will only need to do a quick tidy the day of your event.
Preparing the Food
Now that your house is ready for guests, it’s time to focus on the food. Many people dread the food preparation that goes along with entertaining. Whether it is because they are uncertain of their cooking skills or they just don’t have the time to devote to it, the solution is the same.
- Select menu items that can be prepared in advance
- Simplify wherever possible
- Clean up after yourself as you go along
Don’t spend the hours before your event (or worse yet the hours of your event) racing madly around the kitchen. Many dishes can be partially or completely prepared in advance ? take advantage of that!
Simplify your task list wherever possible. You can pick up some wonderful side dishes from the deli section of your grocery store or local specialty shop. Serve them in your own bowl or platter ? no one needs to know. This way you can focus on making one or two impressive items and wow everyone without stressing yourself out.
Determine which serving pieces you’ll be using and get everything ready to go. Rinse pieces that may not have been used in a while. Make sure you have all your glassware (or for informal events – plastic ware!) ready. If you must use silver, allow enough time to give it a polish. If it is a sit-down dinner, iron the tablecloth, get out place settings and, if possible, set the table. Note: if you have pets that might jump up and investigate, throw an extra tablecloth over the table until shortly before your guests arrive. When selecting these items, try to balance putting on a great presentation with the amount of work it will take to set up and clean up.
It is so disheartening to spend hours preparing great food for your guests, only to be faced with a kitchen that is a disaster area. Clean up after yourself each step of the way. Wipe down counters, rinse your prep items and put them straight into the dishwasher, throw away any packaging. Try to have the dishwasher empty at the start of your party so as dishes are finished being used they can be immediately put in the dishwasher or easily at the end of the night, reducing the amount of time you need to spend cleaning up.
Handling the Final Details
As mentioned before, go around and tidy anything up that may have gotten messy since your big cleanup. Consider setting up a drink area where guests can help themselves to refills on drinks. Rearrange any furniture to encourage conversation among guests.
Decorating your tabletop or buffet can be as simple as moving some of your existing home décor to the party table or main room of the gathering. If your holiday decorations are out, use your extras or purchase some inexpensive evergreens. Candles of all sizes make a great filler. Use containers you already own, take it to your florist and let them do their thing.
Your house is clean, the food is prepared and there is time to spare! You have done all the prep work. You can relax now and enjoy your event. Who knew entertaining could be so simple?
©2004 Bridget Messino
About the author: Bridget Messino is a Professional Organizer, speaker and co-owner of Clutter Free Living, Inc. Her work frequently appears on many Internet sites, on her own organizing site Clutter Free Living (http://www.clutterfreeliving.com), as well as in her monthly Home Organizing Newsletter How to Be Clutter Free. Subscribe to the FREE monthly e-newsletter by sending a blank e-mail to mailto:cflnews-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com
The Holiday Shopping Experience – Rewarding or Traumatic?
Picture this scenario! It’s December 24th, the day of Christmas Eve. On this day you should be relaxing, enjoying time with family and thinking of all the precious memories you have created throughout the year.
No, wait! It’s the last day of shopping before Christmas and you haven’t even started to do your gift shopping.
You get into your car and fight traffic all the way to the local mall, only to spend an hour trying to find a parking spot. That is if you find one at all. You enter the mall in search of the perfect gifts and there is a stampede of people. Looks like everyone else is doing last minute shopping too!
You dodge the nudging elbows and stomping feet of the crowds. You’re starting to feel claustrophobic, your stress level is starting to increase and you haven’t even begun shopping yet!
Sound familiar? To top it all off, you browse through the stores only to find that meager offerings remain. The shelves are practically empty. What happens then? You spend too much money on something that your gift recipient neither needs or wants. Their gift wasn’t chosen for them…it was chosen out of desperation.
Once again, you remind yourself that you will prepare far in advance for Christmas next year. The next Holiday Season arrives and you repeat the same traumatic shopping experience.
How many of us have waited until the very last moment to buy a gift for a loved one, friend or business associate? There is only three months left until Christmas and those days will go quickly.
Christmas is one of the most stressful events of the year. The expense of buying gifts and the pressure of last minute shopping can all take the joy out of the most joyful time of year.
Here are some tips to take the stress out of Holiday shopping this year:
1) Make a list of the people you will be buying a gift for before you go shopping. If you have a large family or friends to buy gifts for, it can get expensive. In our family, we have made the decision to buy only for the children. Another way to reduce costs is to have everyone draw a name out of a hat and buy a present only for that person.
2) Think of gift ideas for the people on your list and write them down. What are their hobbies and interests? What are their needs and wants? If you cannot come up with anything, ask the person directly for ideas. This will save you time wandering aimlessly in the mall in search of a gift and you will give a gift that your gift recipient really wants and will appreciate.
3) Buy a few extra gifts, for instance chocolates, so that you will be prepared just in case you forgot somebody or an unexpected guest arrives bearing gifts.
4) If possible, start your Holiday shopping a month or two before Christmas. It is never to early to prepare!
5) Don’t forget about online shopping! Buy your gifts over the internet. You can find most gifts online, shop at your own convenience and you won’t have to step foot in a mall.
If you follow these tips, you are on your way to a rewarding shopping experience and a less stressful Holiday Season.
We all must remember that Christmas is a joyful time of year. It’s not about the gift you give or receive but it is about cherishing the special people in your life and spending time with them. Create new traditions and memories that will be with you for a lifetime.
Copyright 2004 Written by Lee-Anne Robert, owner of Cuddles ‘n Gifts at http://www.cuddlesngifts.net featuring holiday gift baskets and gifts for any occasion. Check out the new Holiday and Christmas Gift Basket selection. With gifts this beautiful and classy, you will find a gift for anyone on your list!
