Going with the something from nothing theme of using up odd things in my baking pantry or regular pantry, I saw a recipe for caramel oyster crackers with cinnamon sugar.

I have only previously used oyster crackers with a savory topping: dill, summer savory, and thyme. Not ranch, I loathe ranch dressing in all its forms. Yes, I understand this makes me unSouthernlike. They do love to drown their stuff in ranch dressing, don’t they?

Getting back to the reason for caramel oyster crackers with cinnamon sugar. I have oyster crackers.

Goodness knows I have butter.

And sugar.

And vanilla.

And cinnamon.

It’s a recipe date.

This recipe also has the advantage of being 1) an experiment and 2) quick.

Because school, ya know. The old noggin is full.

As I am reading this recipe, I am reminded of the cracker crack with caramel and chocolate and crackers. These seem to caramel coated oyster crackers, topped with cinnamon sugar.

Oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

2 sticks butter, 1 c brown sugar in a saucepan.
cook over medium-high heat until it is bubbling. Cook about 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.
add 1 tsp vanilla and stir, still over heat.
add 1 tsp cinnamon per recipe or 2 tsp if you are me, and stir.

Take off heat.
add in the bag of oyster crackers.

And stir.

Remember why the recipe says to use a big saucepan.

Immediately regret not remembering sooner.

Stir until all the oyster crackers are coated.

Spread the coated oyster crackers on the prepared cookie sheet. Don’t be too nitpicky about how spread out they are, or how clumped together they are.

Bake in the prepared oven for 15 minutes.

Duriing baking, the toffee/caramel/whatever you want to call it, will melt and the oyster crackers will settle into an even spread. Science is neat.

While it is baking, add 2-3 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp salt to 3/4 c sugar until the uniform color of cinnamon sugar that you desire. I like it on the more cinnamony side.

Take the now neatly arranged oyster crackers out of the oven. Again, science is neat. And cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl add the cinnamon sugar and the oyster crackers and stir until the crackers are evenly coated with cinnamon sugar.

Resist more than a taste test.

If you know you don’t have any willpower, forgo the test taste.

It’s sugar and cinnamon and butter. What could go wrong?

A lot, I know, but if you don’t burn the brown sugar butter mix, it’ll be fine.

This is the week that celebrates us in the healthcare world.

It is November 12-18.

We are the ones who sometimes aren’t even at the hospital while we are still on shift.

We are the ones who are dismissed as not a real nurse because “your patients are asleep”. Okay, floor nurse, you memorize the 500+ different instruments, the oodles of equipment, the scads of positioning aids, hold in our heads the many different tables, how to use them and their weight limits, know how to position for hundreds of different surgeries, and can think 10 steps ahead of the surgeon and have what they need ready to give to the field if they ask for it. AND remember what instrument trays there are in the department AND where that specific instrument is. And how to break it to the surgeon that that instrument know longer exists. But you have to have an alternative plan in mind for the instrument.

Not so cushy now, huh?

We are the ones who troubleshoot our own equipment because the rep is in a surgery downtown, or, you know, it’s a regional rep and that region is vast.

We are able to spot a surgeon tantrum and know how to head it off.

We are the keepers of the scores, regardless of sport, and able to talk knowledgeably about soccer, football, baseball, hockey, basketball, regardless of the season. I’d even give a go at discussing cricket. Especially if it gives the surgeon something to complain about besides turnover times.

We are the ones who have to monitor the OR field and their needs, AND keep an eye on the anesthesia and how the patient is doing, AND know when and who to call when the patient is not doing well, AND think about the next case and the positioning and instrument needs, AND be able to get the blood tubes off to the lab in a timely manner, AND know how to label and collect and send off all manner of specimens. Don’t forget to let the family know how the patient is doing.

We are the cool ones.

That is all.

I was going to write about abortion and Ohio’s stunning victory. And raise a little hell about the Republican legislature in the state trying to take away the win.

However.

I have no room in my mind for that. Top or otherwise.

The change from Daylight Standard Time (DST) to Eastern Standard Time (EST) has made Dot lose what little mind she has.

Stop laughing.

I’m serious.

Dot is our 11-year-old cat. She’s a menace.

You know the comics when the cat knocks over the full glass staring you in the face?

That’s Dot.

Cat people are going to know the mrowing cry when no one is paying attention to her.

Usually in the stairwell for extra emphasis with the echoes.

I just took her picture and she’s sulking on the corner of the desk, waiting for me to say sorry.

Nope.

She wakes me early, early at 0500 to remind me that the other cat needs to be fed. (Dot gets food all the time in her bowl that Pickles can’t get to. Pickles can’t free feed, she already resembles a football.)

The first Monday after the time change she woke me up at 0430 to remind me that I had to get up to go to the university for research assisting.

How does she know what day it is? Asking for me.

I worked quite late on Sunday night/Monday morning and the professor I do the research assisting for said we could change the day to Tuesday and I could do it from home.

You’d think WIN! Not driving to the university saves me gas money, parking money, and about 3 hours of time.

Dot isn’t sure what’s wrong but something obviously is because I’m on the computer all day, when I prefer to work later in the day.

Up on the desk, down to the distraction chair, up on the desk and sit in front of the monitor, down to the distraction chair, up to the desk to stare lovingly at me, down to the distraction chair, up to the desk to sit on the keyboard and act like she’s gonna eat my headset. All the while, purring hard enough to shake the desk.

Since 0630 she’s been in my business; be it on the phone, or the computer, or the other computer. I balanced the keyboard and sat down with my legs up, thinking she would settle if she had access to a lap.

Nope.

I opened the back door to the screened porch.

Nope.

I made sure she had fresh water, in all three locations there is water for the cats.

Nope.

I policed the litter boxes at 0600.

Nope. Back on the desk.

I need a feline-to-human interpreter, please.

Don’t worry, it’s almost time for her 4-hour nap.

Maybe I will get some work done then.

She just mrowed from the door and dropped one of her toys at my feet.

Awww.

Maybe she’s okay.

But she still needs to calm down.

For many of the students, the semester is winding down.

It seems like just yesterday we were starting, full of energy and enthusiasm.

Even for those of us who have been around for a few semesters, or years, this is an exciting time.

We make promises to check in with our assignments often.

To reach out to the instructor if we need help.

To carefully watch our assignment list.

To do the reading faithfully every week.

To look out for our classmates, offer to lend notes, or offer to study together.

It is so, so tiring.

And then suddenly it is mid-semester when it was just the beginning of the semester.

Time is funny that way.

The end of the semester is so close for most of us, glimmering in the distance.

Kind of like a mirage.

But unlike a mirage this place in time is real.

There is just a little more gas in the tank to get to the end of the semester.

It is okay.

I believe in you.

And in myself.

Remember the mantras…

the only way out is through

just keep swimming

Whatever works.

Continuing this month’s theme of Something from Nothing is baked French toast bites.

This theme is a cleverly worded message to myself to use the ingredients that I bought with cookies in mind.

The ingredient for the week is cinnamon brioche bread.

I love a brioche bread.

By itself with butter.

In a bread pudding.

It is all good.

But…

I realize that I am the only one in the house that an ingredient such as this is for.

I bought this cinnamon brioche bread thinking I would be able to eat it for breakfast.

Or a snack,

Spoiler alert, I did not.

Really, is anyone surprised?

I had a load of cinnamon brioche bread that needed to be used.

Voila!

Baked French toast bites.

I will definitely be making this again. Maybe for my coworkers, maybe for my husband and myself. We’ll see.

The experimentation part of the recipe is that one of the recipes I found encourages the use of creamer in place of milk.

Hmm, I thought. I’ve got some brown sugar oat milk creamer.

Perfect!

After I sliced the pieces up, I tossed the lot of them with cinnamon sugar to coat.

Okay, now it’s perfect.

Oops, here I go again with the series. This time will be discussing consents.

A patient’s signature on a surgical consent indicates that they agree with the surgery that is going to be performed. That they agree that Surgeon X is going to perform the surgery.

A nurse’s co-signature on a surgical consent indicates that the patient was witnessed signing the consent.

That’s it.

The conversation about what all the words in the procedure mean should have happened between the patient and the surgeon. That is what makes it informed consent.

The surgeon INFORMS the patient about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to the surgical procedure. The surgeon also has to note this in the history and physical of the patient.

Yes, sometimes the PA or NP fills out the H&P, or their partner if they have one. But someone has to have a conversation, detailed in the notes or the H&P, with the patient.

And the ONLY time there is no informed consent is the true life or death emergency.

For example, the patient will die without treatment.

To recap, the patient who is named at the top of the surgical consent form agrees with the procedure listed on the surgical consent form to be performed by the surgeon listed on the surgical consent form (or their practice partner). The nurse who watched as the patient signed the consent also signed as the witnessing nurse.

In the hospital where I work, all three signatures must be present for the consent to be considered complete. If one of the signatures is missing, the surgery cannot be started until all three signatures are present.

Consents are a big deal and we in the operating room spend a lot of time making sure they are correct. These are the three absolute signatures on the consent for surgery to proceed.

But, but, but…

What if the patient is not able to sign their own consent?

What if the patient is not alert and oriented enough to sign their own consent?

What if the patient is under 18 and not emancipated?

Those questions will be answered as the series continues.

Today is voting day.

Although you might not think it is important, decisions are being decided across the country that are important. Like very important.

Like a woman having bodily autonomy in Ohio important. As they seek to protect abortion rights in the state constitution.

I mean they are also voting to legalize marijuana in Ohio. They should get some people out to vote for that.

Or keeping extra taxes that exceed the monies expected to fund preschool education. Capital idea.

Or giving people whose rights have been disenfranchised illegally the ability to vote again. This is Maine where there is an already declared illegal state provision on the books that says some people who are under guardianship cannot vote. This was declared illegal in 2001 by a federal court. To this put in perspective, Britney Spears, if she had lived in Maine while under guardianship of her father, would not have been allowed to vote.

Also in Maine, there is a measure to ban foreign spending on elections on candidates or ballot measures. This also is already illegal federally, locally, and state, but this expands direction to radio, television, or print to set up policies to prevent publication of communications bought with foreign money.

There is a county in Texas where the ballot measure is to disband the county treasurer. This is not the first, and the treasurer himself is telling people to vote for it. To me it is wiser to follow the money. But I don’t live in Texas. Heck, I won’t even visit Texas with its current political climate. That is just me being wise with my spending money and not willing to spend it on a state that doesn’t think I am a whole person.

Locally, the Democrats got burned last state legislative session by a Democrat suddenly deciding she was a Republican. This is awful because it tipped the balance in the state house of representatives to be a veto proof margin for Republicans. I am not sure if I have written about this before but I have some friends who voted for her and are PISSED! Apparently, the Republicans are trying this wolf in lamb’s clothing gambit again with 3 school board candidates whose money people are 1) the same person and 2) Republican based.

See, follow the money.

And if you cheat to win an election and no one notices, what does that say about the populace?

Or about you?

Yeah, it’s not the BIG election year where the country chooses a president. It doesn’t mean it isn’t as important.

If you haven’t voted early, take a few minutes and vote today.

Early voters in my county were more than 40,000.

You will need photo ID to vote.

Yeah, that disenfranchises people who can’t afford a photo ID.

But that is and has been the plan for “fraud” that doesn’t exist for years and years and years.

But that is another Top of Mind.

Polls close at 1930.

Time for a time change!

You see what I did there?

Time is and has been very fluid for years now. The pandemic just made it worse.

They say that time moves faster the older you are.

Or, at least, it appears so.

I enjoyed the extra hour’s worth of sleep last night.

My cat did not appreciate waiting to be fed tonight.

Who is right?

Aren’t we both?

I have fed the pager (new battery) and I will see what that brings me tonight.

There is an endeavor to get rid of daylight savings time. the time change that has been implemented in states across the US.

The daylight savings time started with the farmers needing their children to man the fields in 1966. Or when in Germany in 1916 to save energy during the First World War, followed by the US in 1916 to be repealed a year later. Or in Canada in 1908. Benjamin Franklin thought it would be a good idea to sync waking life to the outside sun hours. Of course, he only meant it in a satirical manner.

If you are on the pro side of more sleep, or the weepy side of where has the evening daylight gone, don’t fret. The world will continue to turn.

I hope.

Just keep on swimming.

If your school is anything like mine, the end is in sight.

For good or for ill the end of the semester is in site. 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks away.

Time to buckle down to do the end-of-semester assignments. For me, I have 5 assignments before the end. Well, four with the 5th being a presentation of one of the 4.

The semester that started with so many assignments now has 5.

I bet the same is true for your student.

But don’t forget to remind them to take a breath, and take a moment to reflect on the semester.

This is not the time for self-recrimination. They’ve kept swimming. Through calm waters and through storms the only way out is through.

Grade chasing for that A need not apply. The focus right now is to finish the semester.

New month, new theme.

I have been workshopping the title of November’s theme for the last couple of days. Because I already knew what I wanted to do.

I want to do a pantry cleanout. Of all the odds and ends I’ve collected over the past year.

The theme for November is Something from Nothing

And what better place to start immediately after Halloween than the leftover Halloween candy.

Any kid who has been trick or treating in the last several decades knows that the best candy is to be eaten that night, or the next day. This is the best way to protect the haul from poachers, AKA siblings or parents.

Frankly, the dregs of the candy pumpkin are just sad.

And, of course, I saw a recipe.

I’ve made these in the past, with the standard Toll House recipe and chopped-up mini candy bars. This was exactly the recipe.

Leftover because of course we overbought. Blame our horror of being caught without candy.

Oh, the neighborhood shame!

Has that ever happened?

No.

But it could!