What a fantastic Easter weekend! The weather was gorgeous, which helped tremendously. On Saturday morning I woke up really early and worked on reconciling our Quickbooks banking program. Then I helped ‘hide’ (in plain sight) Easter eggs for the McConnell’s Trace Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Right after that I went shopping for the ingredients for a classic Easter dinner for my father and step-mother, our son and Karla and our grandsons. I also shopped for some things to put into the grandson’s Easter baskets. The rest of Saturday was spent making an au gratin potato casserole, deviled eggs and strawberry sauce to put on top of the shortbread for dessert.

The spiral sliced ham was absolutely delicious. So were the peas and carrots in butter sauce, the caesar salad, the rolls and everything else, if I do say so myself. We missed Lawrence, who was in Virginia all last week visiting two of our three sons who live near Virginia Beach. Lawrence was supposed to come home in time to sing in the choir Sunday morning and have dinner with the family, but he decided to go to church there with our sons and Simona (perhaps a future daughter-in-law?). Lawrence is the family photographer, and I didn’t think to take pictures yesterday. I have happy memories, nonetheless. After dinner we sat outside and talked while the boys drew with chalk “eggs” on the patio and played with trucks. Nice. Have you heard the big news? We are going to have another grandchild in October 2015!

The remodeling of the health club for seniors’ clubhouse is moving along on schedule. We will not know about the Certificate of Need Office’s decision until May 21, 2015.

Last week I focused on finding staff. I visited the University of Kentucky’s College of Nursing and told them of our need for registered nurses. I also made our need for LPNs and CNAs known at Bluegrass Community and Technical College. So far I have interviews scheduled with three CNAs and one RN. We have one LPN who is fantastic and who is willing to work part time. Wish I could clone her. We have two CNAs who said they are willing to work part time too. We need at least one more CNA to cover all the hours we are open. By the way, from now on, I will refer to CNAs as ANSRs (pronounced ‘answers’) because the Kentucky State Licensing Department calls them State Registered Nurse Assistants (SRNAs), but I think the proper title is: Assistants to Nurses, State Registered (ANSRs), because they are the ‘answer’ to the questions: “Who will help this person get their nutrition and hydration?, Who will help this person to the toilet? Who will help this person with their spa treatment?”. They are the hands-on caregivers that are so important for delivering what people need in a dignified and respectful manner, therefore, they deserve respect and dignity. Working with the staff is my favorite part of running the health club for seniors. I see my role as their support person. They are the stars, the ones who deliver what seniors need to have the best health and quality of life. My job is to give them the best place and the best tools and the best money to do what they do.  The saying “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” is true in business too. Because if the staff is happy, the customers will be happy. The health club for seniors is going to be a fantastic place to work! Our culture is going to be similar to what I hear about Google’s and Zappos’ staff culture, God willing.

The I Know Expo is this coming Sunday, so I have some work to do to get ready for our vendor table there. Please try to attend, if at all possible. We are also doing an exercise program at the Charles Young Center on Saturday from 11 to 1:00. I am hoping Lawrence can film it so we can post it on You Tube and on our website. And the Bluegrass Aging Consortium is tomorrow, the Bluegrass Continuity of Care Luncheon on Wednesday, the Rotary Luncheon on Thursday. Busy week! Love it!

Hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend and are looking forward to a happy, busy week for you and yours.

http://iknowexpo.org/