As I'm trying to seek the intentions God has for me in this life and not focus on the limitations, I'm trying to open my eyes to every opportunity sent my way. I feel certain that I have made good friends in Greenville so fast because I completely opened myself up to whoever God sent my way. When my cousin sent me on a happy hour without him to meet all of his friends just 2 weeks after moving here, I went not knowing who or what to expect. What a blessing it has been to have met so many fun people and been included in so many great events like a day on Lake Keowee, birthday parties, and Gamecock Football! 
Me and Meredith at the tailgate
Me and Meredith at the tailgate
No...this is not a new friend...this would be the locksmith that charged Matt $150 to unlock their car after they locked the keys in the car!
Mom and Dad were able to get me 45 yd line, 10th row seats to the game! So, no...I did not zoom in to take this picture! Best seats I've ever had for a football game!Besides making good friends, I've been trying to find opportunities to fill my extra time. I have a lot of time on my hands 1.) because work is slow, and 2.) because I'm single and don't have a family to take care of. So because I'm not letting the nature of my job and a slow economy nor my marital status define who I am, my eyes are open to the intentions God has for me. I decided a while back to try to get involved with the Children's Hospital at Greenville Memorial. This was such a natural decision for me since I grew up watching my Mom give so much of her time to Children's Hospital at Richland Memorial in Columbia. Lucky for me, I have a pretty solid connection with the Children's Hospital here in Greenville.
I asked Bill Schmidt (who just so happens to be the Director of Children's Hospital), or Dr. Bill as I like to call him every now and then, whether there was any group I could be a part of that would allow me to meet other people and get involved with Children's Hospital. Being the eternal optimist that he is, Dr. Bill immediatly said, "Yep! I'm going to get you involved with the Development Council!" Within a few weeks, I had 2 emails in my inbox welcoming me to the Development Council and inviting me to a New Member Orientation. I had to sign a Commitment Form and started to read a description of the Council which mentioned that this was a 3 year commitment! Yikes! What had I gotten myself into?
So, today was the New Member Orientation. I tried to remember what Mom would wear to hospital board meetings back in the day, so I threw on my favorite wool tweed dress pants, some sassy heels that are impossible to walk in and a sweater. (I love dressing up in the fall!) I walked into the lobby of Greenville Memorial and felt like I was in Phipps down in Atlanta! There was a hustle and bustle about the place, very upbeat, piano playing in the lobby, food court straight ahead. Was I really in a hospital???
I turned the corner to go to Conference Room #5 and saw Linda Brees who Dr. Bill told to look out for me! She immediately threw her arm around me and welcomed me! They took my picture for the directory and then shuffled me into the Conference room where a bunch of men and women, dressed in business suits were sitting around a table eating lunch. I felt a bit of anxiety as I started to think of little ol' me...a former school teacher...not really fitting in with the 'suits'! But as soon as I sat down, everyone was so nice and we had a great lunch talking and getting to know each other.
Dr. Bill soon came into the room and sat down and ate lunch with us. Then the meeting started. As the various leaders of the group went around and spoke to all of us about the Development Council and its purpose, I began to realize that this was an incredible opportunity given to me! Suddenly, getting out and meeting people took second base to getting out and making a difference.
The Development Council does so much to support the children and staff at Children's Hospital! They plan events and fundraisers to raise money for the hospital...anything from the Radiothon that raised over $200,000 dollars this year to golf tournaments. They are committed to the education of children and parents about child safety to keep kids OUT of the hospital! There are so many other ways that the council gets involved with children and I'm so excited that I have been given a chance to work with them too!
The absolute best part of the meeting was at the end when Dr. Schmidt took us on a tour of the Children's Hospital. Besides my father, of course, I have always said that Dr. Bill is one of the most incredible men I know. To see the Children's Hospital that he runs and is so passionate about reaffirmed my respect for Bill and all that he has done to make this facility one of the best around. He took us through the NICU first which was absolutely heart breaking and incredible at the same time. To see babies in little beds, clinging to their lives...some of them only weighing in at a little over a pound! Each baby has a station with a monitor and rocking chair. Each station also has a dry erase board on the wall. One baby's older sibling wrote a note saying that he loved his little sister. Another baby had a note written on the board from one of his nurses saying, "Yeah! I weigh 3 pounds!"
Every child at Children's Hospital must go to school. Dr. Bill showed us the classroom they have set up. They bring in teachers who are hired by the school districts to work at the hospital and teach kids who are sick. So while kids are in the hospital, they are counted present at school and can return without missing much of anything!
Dr. Bill also showed us the 'Treatment Rooms' they have on the Children's Hospital floor. He told us that there is a strict policy that no treatment beyond a finger prick is ever done in a child's room. Any procedure that has to be done, the child is taken to another room, neutral ground, so that their rooms are a safe haven where they can relax. They also put kids to sleep for any painful procedure because they want the hospital experience to be as pain free as possible.
I could go on forever about everything else I saw today...but I won't! It was amazing! I almost felt like I was on an episode of Grey's Anatomy and I was one of the residents trying to keep up with Dr. Bailey because Dr. Bill walked so fast throughout the tour that he was literally about 15 feet in front all of us the whole time! Every time he started walking again, we were almost in a jog to keep up with him!
I can't wait for the next meeting which is November 5th! One day after Election Day! Oh boy! And with that in mind and Halloween approaching...I'll leave you with this cartoon to ponder! (I found it while blog stalking...yet again!)
I asked Bill Schmidt (who just so happens to be the Director of Children's Hospital), or Dr. Bill as I like to call him every now and then, whether there was any group I could be a part of that would allow me to meet other people and get involved with Children's Hospital. Being the eternal optimist that he is, Dr. Bill immediatly said, "Yep! I'm going to get you involved with the Development Council!" Within a few weeks, I had 2 emails in my inbox welcoming me to the Development Council and inviting me to a New Member Orientation. I had to sign a Commitment Form and started to read a description of the Council which mentioned that this was a 3 year commitment! Yikes! What had I gotten myself into?
So, today was the New Member Orientation. I tried to remember what Mom would wear to hospital board meetings back in the day, so I threw on my favorite wool tweed dress pants, some sassy heels that are impossible to walk in and a sweater. (I love dressing up in the fall!) I walked into the lobby of Greenville Memorial and felt like I was in Phipps down in Atlanta! There was a hustle and bustle about the place, very upbeat, piano playing in the lobby, food court straight ahead. Was I really in a hospital???
I turned the corner to go to Conference Room #5 and saw Linda Brees who Dr. Bill told to look out for me! She immediately threw her arm around me and welcomed me! They took my picture for the directory and then shuffled me into the Conference room where a bunch of men and women, dressed in business suits were sitting around a table eating lunch. I felt a bit of anxiety as I started to think of little ol' me...a former school teacher...not really fitting in with the 'suits'! But as soon as I sat down, everyone was so nice and we had a great lunch talking and getting to know each other.
Dr. Bill soon came into the room and sat down and ate lunch with us. Then the meeting started. As the various leaders of the group went around and spoke to all of us about the Development Council and its purpose, I began to realize that this was an incredible opportunity given to me! Suddenly, getting out and meeting people took second base to getting out and making a difference.
The Development Council does so much to support the children and staff at Children's Hospital! They plan events and fundraisers to raise money for the hospital...anything from the Radiothon that raised over $200,000 dollars this year to golf tournaments. They are committed to the education of children and parents about child safety to keep kids OUT of the hospital! There are so many other ways that the council gets involved with children and I'm so excited that I have been given a chance to work with them too!
The absolute best part of the meeting was at the end when Dr. Schmidt took us on a tour of the Children's Hospital. Besides my father, of course, I have always said that Dr. Bill is one of the most incredible men I know. To see the Children's Hospital that he runs and is so passionate about reaffirmed my respect for Bill and all that he has done to make this facility one of the best around. He took us through the NICU first which was absolutely heart breaking and incredible at the same time. To see babies in little beds, clinging to their lives...some of them only weighing in at a little over a pound! Each baby has a station with a monitor and rocking chair. Each station also has a dry erase board on the wall. One baby's older sibling wrote a note saying that he loved his little sister. Another baby had a note written on the board from one of his nurses saying, "Yeah! I weigh 3 pounds!"
Every child at Children's Hospital must go to school. Dr. Bill showed us the classroom they have set up. They bring in teachers who are hired by the school districts to work at the hospital and teach kids who are sick. So while kids are in the hospital, they are counted present at school and can return without missing much of anything!
Dr. Bill also showed us the 'Treatment Rooms' they have on the Children's Hospital floor. He told us that there is a strict policy that no treatment beyond a finger prick is ever done in a child's room. Any procedure that has to be done, the child is taken to another room, neutral ground, so that their rooms are a safe haven where they can relax. They also put kids to sleep for any painful procedure because they want the hospital experience to be as pain free as possible.
I could go on forever about everything else I saw today...but I won't! It was amazing! I almost felt like I was on an episode of Grey's Anatomy and I was one of the residents trying to keep up with Dr. Bailey because Dr. Bill walked so fast throughout the tour that he was literally about 15 feet in front all of us the whole time! Every time he started walking again, we were almost in a jog to keep up with him!
I can't wait for the next meeting which is November 5th! One day after Election Day! Oh boy! And with that in mind and Halloween approaching...I'll leave you with this cartoon to ponder! (I found it while blog stalking...yet again!)
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