Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy...

I consider myself a pretty nice person. I try to take things in stride. I don't get offended easy. I love where I work and I love my family. But have you noticed that when someone around you is grumpy that it is contagious? When I'm grumpy I tend to pull myself inward and try to shut out the rest of the world. Of course that's hard to do because I work in either the business office or in the clinic at our medical center. I have to deal with people all day. I have to try really hard on my bad days to not let my grumpiness show through. After all, who wants to deal with some incurably grumpy person? I get pretty annoyed when a cashier or receptionist is surly to me so I try hard not to be.

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This has just been a grumpy week at work. Almost everyone is grumpy this week! Is it because our one teaser day of spring quickly turned into snow the next day? All the sickness going around? Not enough fiber? Whatever it is has been spreading around the hospital like wildfire. It really irks me when people I work with aren't willing to help our patients out. For example the other day a patient called in crying hysterically on the phone needing to talk to a nurse. When I told the nurse who was calling she WOULDN'T answer the phone because of who it was saying, "Oh they always think everything is such a crisis." Hello! We are in the service industry. We have to help people out. I really hate it too when a doctor or nurse will complain openly about a patient when the patient is in earshot. So rude. I don't like to talk bad about people so I usually have to shrug off their comments and busy myself with something so I don't have to reply.

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On the other hand being too nice can backfire and you can be taken advantage of. In my effort to be nice today I took a high school career class on a tour of the hospital. They were supposed to learn the different jobs, their skills, what school and training was required, and salary range. This was my second tour and I'm going to say my last. Usually it's our HR manager who takes them around but she was busy with board meeting prep. I think she just didn't want to have to do it. So I took grumpy teens who didn't really want to be there around and tried to pry information out of some equally grumpy employees who didn't want to be bothered. No more for me. If the teens actually showed some interest in the different departments of the hospital maybe it would have been different. As it was they looked bored and uninterested for every career. Why waste my time on that? Of course it could have been our employees attitude that set the tone. At any rate I'm telling HR no next time and she can lead them around.

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I'll admit that I've been grumpy this week because of my health. You probably would be too if you could barely lift your arms to write out deposit slips at work or thought you were going to cry trying to get up two staircases because the pain was so bad. I could have taken the elevator but I don't ever want to think of myself as too weak to do my normal activities. I've just been in so much pain lately that I'm wondering if my lupus is starting to settle in more. I get so weak, tired, have all-over pain, and have had no energy to even play with my kids after work. That's what been making me crazy grumpy. I love my kids and not being able to run around with them really hurts me emotionally. But, I have to take what life was given me and try to make the best of it. At least I got in some good Collin snuggle time lately. Carlee also sat in my lap and tried to sing itsy bitsy spider over and over while Collin and I sang the words. She is so darling when she does the motions. I still haven't got her on video! I'm hoping that it's just the crazy weather that is making me in so much pain and that when and if (it is Idaho after all, always unpredictable) it ever stabilizes that things will get better. In the meantime I'll try to deal with it as I can and go on with life. I do feel better today so that's a start. Here's to losing the grumpies!