Living the Life of Riley

Most of you know that I work in an extended care facility. You may not know that my daughter Heather also works there. She is going to college and works part time in the dietary department. Another thing you probably don't know is that this week is National Dietary Appreciation Week. Heather was working last night and when she came home she told Bob and I that we had to stay where we were and listen to a poem she was going to read to us. I assumed this poem was something that was written for the dietary department as part of the appreciation goings on. (They do things for each department during their week, like posting signs and banners, and sometimes even poems!) She said to me "You will know who this is from, when you hear it". So I sat back and listened to this:

She always comes in so very smiley,
It's only because she has the life of Riley.
We all know she is good at vacation,
every other week she is traveling the nation.
When others push on like an upstream barge,
She's sitting home, living large.
As we task and toil to take care of the mess,
She's sitting back, relaxing like a princess.

I immediately knew this poem was for me, not Heather. There is a nurse aid that I work with who teases me every time I have a day off, and says I am on another vacation. She tells me that actually my life is a vacation. When she came to work yesterday and realized I had the day off, she decided to write a poem and pass it to Heather. They all had a good laugh and so did I. I must say that compared to her, my life is easy. She is a wife and Mom, she is working full time and going to nursing school. Her husband lost his job and hasn't been able to find anything permanent, so she is trying to help out her family and as you can see, she is maintaining a good sense of humor while doing it. I must defend myself just in case you believe that poem. We are in need of another nurse and in the meantime, the rest of us are working extra. Tomorrow I will be working my second 12 hour shift in a week. If you know any good nurses, send them my way, so I can go back to sitting with my feet up and eating bonbons!