I work with a group of geriatric women and men--more women than men, though. They are my surrogate Grandparents. They are so funny.

Here are some pieces of advice that they have told me this week:

"Honey, you should always have a sweater. You don't have to wear it, but you should have one on hand." (It is 78 degrees on a normal day at the nursing home.)

"You need to make sure you always have a little bit of lotion in your pocket. Your hands will suffer." (I have to wash my hands about ten times an hour after helping them wipe their noses, throw away their tissues and the cups that they drink out of. I do put lotion on, but it seems to be to no avail.)

I have been struggling with Pharyngitis this week, which has robbed me of my voice. It is hard to work with a roomful of people who are hard of hearing and can't hear you whisper. They are full of bits of advice to help me:

"You know what you need? Honey. You need to drink spoonfuls of it." (I eat honey on a regular basis, thanks to my brother-in-law Jim, the bee keeper. But, it didn't keep me from losing my voice.)

"You had better check yourself into the hospital. Your family isn't taking good care of you." (Sounds like the best advice I have had all year.)

"You need to take a nap. You can borrow my bed. They never let me sleep in it here." (That's because this gentle lady is asleep everywhere else in the home, at any point of the day.)

When we were playing a trivia game, I inquired how many states there were in the United States. They ALL replied, "48!" When I informed that there were 50, they asked me to name all the states. After naming Alaska, then later Hawaii, they challenged me to tell them when those two states were added to the United States. It was kind of funny, but they were so happy that Hawaii was a state. I informed them that Hawaii was where our President Elect had grown up. One lady said, "I thought you had to be born in the United States to be an American President." I then reminded her that we had just talked about how Hawaii and Alaska had been made states. She said, "Well, they are so far away, it is going to be hard to remember." I kind of laughed to myself when I asked them how they felt about Alaska being a "new" state and someone said, "What was the point of adding that place? No one will ever go there." It made me think about Governor Palin. I wonder what they feel about her.