Last week I wrote my article on why “bah humbug” should -- not necessarily be appreciated but understood. Society is made up of a variety of characters and holidays and winter (and a lot else) don’t always bring out the best. Emotions of holidays with loved ones lost or thoughts...
On December 13th and 14th I had the honor of being invited to the Rural Health Forum held by the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative. There were great people from all aspects of the healthcare field in attendance including providers, policy makers, public health staff,...
This week we hosted a joint Board retreat and presented our strategic plan. We started the evening off by sharing our presentation from QEMs which gave the Boards a good reminder of our foundation. We then split into small groups and had more strategic discussions about the individual pillars of...
This was Christmas 1968. I was in the front row on the right in the blue pajamas. I was seriously not happy - as everyone else, besides me got themed pajamas, but I got normal blue ones. This probably was the start of my bah-humbugging perspective on Christmas. It’s not...
The Holiday Season is upon us with the hustle and bustle of finding the perfect gift, making those special cookies, attending the holiday programs, and spending time with family and friends. This is a lot to get done in a few short weeks along with the time you spend at...
I had mushroom toast with a poached egg for breakfast on Sunday at St. Kilda - a restaurant in Des Moines. Sounds gross (to some) but I think it is my favorite restaurant dish ... ever. (This is a tall order - to say "ever" ... but I can't think...
I’m someone who subscribes to magazines - physical, paper magazines that come in the mail. I like my magazines, and I look forward to them and I read them cover to cover. I miss my daily newspaper, but it was too expensive to continue on a daily basis. I fear...
We are into what is my favorite time of year. I have lots of childhood memories of the holidays and decorating the house I grew up in. My parents were great, and they let us decorate the outside however we wanted. It was always tacky and overdone with lights. Think...
I had 16 people to my house on Thanksgiving. That’s a lot of people. I read something about cooking for 8 hours, eating for 20 minutes, and cleaning for 6 hours that gave me pause, but I enjoyed the day anyway. For some reason, I really love cooking - the...
It has been a rough week for my three youngest children as they lost all of their electronic devices on Sunday night. This is somewhat disastrous for them as we head into a five day weekend. Unfortunately they needed a reminder that there are certain things that are expected of...