Mrs. Potato Head

Have you heard the latest news? No, Aunt Becky’s college admission scandal is old news. Toy Story 4 is coming to a theatre near you! Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang are back in action and I will be there childless taking it all in. You’re never too old for toys…

Last week I returned from a sun-kissed family vacation to Hawa’ii. When you say Hawa’ii, people immediately ask you which island and are shocked when the choice is not Maui.

I understand asking which island since there are 8 main Hawaiian islands, but when I say Hawa’ii, I’m actually referring to the the island ‘Hawa’ii’. I bet a few of you are thinking, the big island is called Hawa’ii?  Didn’t know you were going to get a geography lesson did you? (don’t expect me to point to the part of the island we stayed on though). 

While we were there, my brother purchased a hot potato game for my 5 year old niece, but it was entertainment for all.

It is an adorable plastic potato with a yellow front tooth and a bandage over his nose. A water balloon is placed in the middle of the potato, the potato is tossed around until the timer goes off, which pops the balloon in a participant’s hands. Some would say you’re then the loser, but in the Hawaiian heat, you’re really the winner.

I seemed to avoid most of the splashes, but today, this potato head was in hot water…

It was my second day back to work after being off for two weeks and I wasn’t my usual full of beans self, which is ironic since I was literally full of beans. We ate A LOT of beans in Hawaii.

We had a community outing that afternoon and the process for an outing is straight forward:

• A list of residents attending is provided to the care staff
• Residents need coats, money, medication and proper equipment
• The residents are loaded onto the bus 
• Away we go

I know this process like the back of my hand. Actually like the palm of my hand since I palm my face every time I make a mistake (we all know how often that is). 

We were listening to the very enthusiastic volunteers share his/her vintage car knowledge when my phone began to ring. It was an unknown caller so ultimately, I hit ignore. Then it rang again; ignore and again. It occurred to me that someone may be calling to get a hold of me (what a concept).  

It just so happened to be my counterpart wondering if I had a specific resident. I thought that seemed obvious, but not to the missing person code yellow being called…

He had been sitting outside when we assisted him onto the bus, so we thought he was waiting for us, but he was actually just enjoying some fresh air. When the care staff came to assist him back upstairs, he was no where to be found. 

I informed the resident that we had accidentally stolen him. His enormous smile indicated that he didn’t seem to mind. 

To top if off, as I was assisting him back to the bus, two screws fell from his wheelchair. So not only did we kidnap him, but we almost injured him. 

I think this potato’s head was mashed that day.