5 things

I knew it was going to happen as soon as I saw the first post.

Jimmy Moore's was the first post, and since then I guess I've read another 8-10 posts. Last one was Victoria's. (Thanks Victoria!)

Yep....I've been blog tagged!!!

OK....so here's the deal. I'm supposed to tell you 5 things about myself you wouldn't normally know, and then tag another 5 bloggers. I'm including links to each of the blogs I tag and I hope you visist their blogs!

So, here goes. 5 things you might not know about me.

1. I'm "the baby" of the family. Yep, the youngest of 4, I have 2 older brothers, and 1 older sister. My oldest brother, Tim (11 yrs older) and my sister, Maureen (13 yrs older) are actually half-siblings, but we were raised to not make this distinction. ( 1 sentence removed by author) I was pretty much the "belle of the ball" growing up, at least as far as my siblings is concerned. As far as I'm concerned, I was treated just like the others.

My brother Tim died as a result of an auto accident at the age of 24. I really didn't know him well as he was a "chronic runaway" and left home for good at the age of 16 (I was 5), after spening a couple of years in "reform school". (2 sentences removed by author) My sister Maureen still thinks of me as a little kid, and often gives me advice, including medical advice (see # 4 below).

Because of the big age difference we really were raised as 2 families, and after the age of 9 it was just me and (removed) at home. While Tim was pretty much absent, and Maureen was more of a mother, (rest of paragraph removed by author)

2. When I was a kid I was a member of a drum corps. Yep, The Amvet Brigadiers. I started late, most of the others had started out in the junior corps, but I started out in the senior corp. This was when I was in junior high, around 1968. I carried a rifle, but mostly stayed with the American flag line, as I really couldn't do all the twirls and throws the rest of the corps did. I was only in the corps for a year, and loved it, but felt like an outsider and gave it up. We had an excellent group and won several contests, but I was only in 1. I followed them for several years, as well as the junior corps, the Buccaneers and the Lancers. My niece was in the Buccaneers for a couple of years and I became one of the "adult" chaperones when I was in high school.

3. I have no middle name. When I was born my parents couldn't come up with a name that went with my first and last (see #5 below), so they didn't give me one. When I was little I was upset when I found out all my classmates and friends had middle names...or actually middle initials and my dad told me to use NMI, which stood for No Middle Initial. Well, I thought that was great, and used it for a while.

Funny, it wasn't until just 2 or 3 years ago that I actually saw this used in "the real world". My current employer uses it for the few people that have no middle name. (I now sometimes use M for Morrison, which is my maiden name, but mostly leave blank) Having no middle name is always questioned when I fill out forms, and I often get weird looks when I say I don't have a middle name.

4. I am a graduate of Framingham Union Hospital School of Nursing, and have a diploma in nursing, allowing me to be licensed and work as a Registered Nurse (RN). Yes, this is the Framingham of the famous Franingham Heart Study.

I graduated from high school in 1972, when the BS programs were just getting popular. My school was a hospital based program. We had several instructors that also taught at Framingham State College and other reputable schools, but they came to our campus and we didn't receive any "college credit" for out work (although many colleges did accept our courses when attempting to get a BS).

Our program was pretty intense, with long hours on both our class room and clinical work. Our program gave us all the "regular" college requirements of Pharmacology, Nutrition, Microbiology, etc and we had a heavy amount of clinical work as well. Each clinical rotation was preceded with an intense class to cover that area, followed by 2-4 days a week working with patients in the hospital. Our classes were from 8AM to 5PM on each day that they were held, and our clinical day went from 7AM to 3PM (30 min lunch for clinical days, 60 min for class days). The frequency was different depending on the year of the program, but a typical schedule was MWF 8-5 class and T-TH clinical from 7-3. We also didn't follow a regular college schedule, working for long stretches without a vacation break....and mostly only a week break. Freshman year we went from December 26 to May 8 without a break!

A friend and I calculated the number of hours we spent in class vs. a traditional college, and found that we only spent the equivalent of 4 weeks less in school. We did in 3 years what BS programs did in almost 4 AND we had at least 2-3 times the amount of clinical experience. It was intense, and hard, and a wonderful program. Upon graduation I found that I'd had an excellent education, having been exposed to more than the average BS grad.

I am licensed in NC and MA, but currently work in the computer software industry. It is healthcare related, so I still use my education, but my license isn't required.

5. My first name isn't Cindy, that's a nickname. And it's not Cynthia either....it's Alcinda, which is the Portuguese derivative for Alice. I am of English and Scotch descent, but my name is Portuguese.

There's actually a pretty neat story that goes along with my name. I was named by my dad, who named me after Alcinda Pereira MD, of the New Bedford (MA) VA Hospital, "the doctor that saved my life". Here's how she saved his life. Dad was in the Army Air Force during WW2 and stationed in the Pacific. Due to stress he began to drink and was unable to stop when he returned home. After sometime being back home, with his alcoholism getting worse, he checked himself into the New Bedford VA hospital for detox. His doc was Alcinda Pereira. He said she was the best doc he'd ever had, and would often consult her for advice in other areas of medicine.

When my parents married they made an agreement that mom would name the first baby, and dad would name the second. My dad told my mom that if the second was a girl he was going to name it Alcinda, but she didn't take him seriously! This was back in 1948 and people just didn't give their kids such unusual names. (It's actually quite popular in Portugal I'm told) Sure enough, when I was born, dad named me Alcinda. Mom had trouble calling me that as an infant, so they gave me the nickname of Cindy.

I went by Cindy most of my childhood, and even teachers usually called me Cindy. I alternated between loving my name and hating it. I was the only kid with an unusual name and got tired of spelling it, and repeating it, and getting junk mail that was obviously for males (I STILL get spam that's obviously for men!).

When I got older I realized how special my name was. I adored my dad, who died at the age of 69 from prostate cancer. He was a very special person to most that knew him, and he gave me a special name for a reason. (As I type this I'm getting teary)

I know use Alcinda for all business. At work that's what everyone calls me. In fact I had a "Cindy" coffee cup that a co-worker was shocked to learn was mine! My RN licenses are in Alcinda, so I've always singed my name with that, or AM, and that sometimes caused confusion. Friends call me both Cindy and Alcinda, depending on their preference.

I love my name. It makes me different. It also makes me know that I was thought to be special enough to be named after a person loved so much.

OK that's it. I'm sure I could come up with a few other things, but I'm only doing the 5 I "have" to do.

I must say thinking of some of these things brought back a lot of memories. A lot of pain and a lot of joy!

OK....so now I have to name 5 people?

Between people already tagged, and that I don't know too many bloggers, this is tough.

1. Emily, of The Furious Dieter blog
2. Sherrie, of the Pinch of blog
3. Dr Mary Dan Eades
4. Suzique, of the No-No NOLA and Waisted in the Wasteland blogs
5. Kate, of Kate's Wellness Blog