JESSIE'S VEGAS

It is hard to know if the experiences in your life are regular ones or perhaps irregular ones.  It is easy and perhaps erroneous to assume we all travel the same path, learn the same lessons and see the same things.  Working in the public sector for over 25 years, I am very aware that while people, in general, share similar hopes, dreams, and desires, the way to achieve these things is as varied as the patterns on a patchwork quilt. God weaves the design in our lives in expert fashion, bringing as many squares, or people, into our quilt as he can, thus enhancing,  strengthening and binding our quilts in his loving hands. The resulting quilt is colorful and vibrant. I work with some of the world's most trusted individuals.  In public polls, nurses always seem to be at the top of the list for one of the world's most trusted professions. Over the years, occasionally a person will ask why or how I have continued to work considering the needs of my family are so great....

Man! I could not get comfortable tonight. I tried to add the squishy body pillow with the soft ,microsuede cover as an amiable bed companion. This did not seem overly successful as the tossing and turning of my body beneath the pile of blankets continued.  "Maybe I'm thirsty", I say to myself. "Dave made me eat that delicious thai food. What was he thinking?" I am too lazy to go downstairs and I decide the water that comes out of the bathroom faucet might suffice. "Oh, no! It tastes like drain ditch water", I lament ,as I spit out the mouthful before I can chug another swallow down. The drain ditch was a murky moat of water that ran by the side of my house growing up. Cows frequented it's banks and frogs and carp fish swam in it's swirling depths. Growing up in rural Idaho, we played long hours outside. Instead of going inside for a drink, we would often grab the nearest hose to refresh ourselves. It was always difficult to tell ,without samp...