Sunday, May 18, 2008

weekend warriors

it's pretty rare that andy and i get a weekend off together- one of us is almost always on call, or on an inpatient rotation that is q4, or we only get one day off a week... we're interns. so, when we DO get weekends off, we've been trying to make the most of them.

amazingly, while i was on micu, i was able to spend my days off doing OUTDOOR activities (though you wouldn't be able to tell from my as-of-yet pasty white & flabby physique). here are some pics stolen from Tara's blog (THANKS TARA! hehe) from one lovely weekend day spent outdoors with family med/psych friends playing soccer, ultimate frisbee, and bocce ball. twas the weekend diane came up for an interview, actually, and i'd managed to convince youn and suzie to visit from the bay area as well; all in all, a GOOD DAY of catching up with friends old & new.


then, one weekend we decided to finally visit Napa... and found that there isn't all that much to do if you're a nondrinker :P sure, we could have visited the vineyards and done some tours, whatnot... instead, we decided to visit Copia- this museum-ish institution with herb gardens and exhibits and (of course) free wine tastings, which appears to have been heavily inspired by Julia Child. we spent the rest of the afternoon... eating, basically. sampled some tasty baked treats from model bakery, wandered through the oxbow market; enjoyed live jazz music during dinner @ Uva Trattoria Italiana, then headed home... totally stuffed, and with a little "seed" of an idea (if you will)...



after wandering through the fragrant herb gardens, we were inspired... the parks are going to try their hand at GARDENING. so, on another weekend, we went on a field trip.

several home & garden stores and a couple of hours of good ole sweaty soil-shoveling later, we have our very own garden- complete with Park's Whopper tomatoes :)

here's a little random note from our friendly neighborhood postman. a little while ago, andy and i were at the post office. now, this is the kind of post office where people go up to the window and actually have a conversation with the post-people. conversations that indicate that they know each other. totally unexpected, but really nice- a small-town feel in a medium-sized city. anyhoo, so our postman gives us our stamps or whatever, then starts asking us about our lives- somehow, we mention loma linda, and he mentions some old neighbors who were SDA missionaries, how he and his wife celebrate "day-versaries", and all the while is scribbling something on a paper...
<----- random, but lovely.






speaking of random, on the way home from church one day, we noticed this sign. wouldn't you like to live down memory lane? :)






so this tuesday is our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. totally crazy how quickly this year has gone by... must be the wedded bliss overpowering the intern pain :) to celebrate, the hubby and i went to SF for a quick weekend getaway... if nothing else, to escape the oven that is sacramento (>100 degree highs already). we stayed at le meridien (see room & view), ate @ fleur de lys (and were surprised by a little dessert treat on the house), wandered around the city a bit, then explored sausalito the next day (with requisite touristy pic of the Golden Gate Bridge). ate lunch outside on the patio @ poggio, sampled some gourmet icecream for dessert, then drove on back to the sweltering heat of sacto.




it's been a fabulous, blessed, whirlwind of a year... and here's to many more ;)

Thursday, May 08, 2008

i'm a believer of slow medicine

FROM the NY TIMES

HEALTH
| May 5, 2008
For the Elderly, Being Heard About Life's End
By JANE GROSS
“Slow medicine,” which encourages less aggressive care at the end of life, is increasingly available in nursing homes.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

it's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day

yes folks, i can see clearly now... indeed, the rain is gone. ;) i'm safely into my second week of neuro consult, which with its 9am - 5pm hours has singlehandedly restored my faith in sleep and humanity. strangely enough, there are definitely things i miss about the MICU... i definitely shouldered more responsibility and felt more competent than i do now on this rotation where essentially i'm treated like a med student (but PAID- cha ching!$!$ makes all the difference)... but hey, how can i argue with 8 hours of sleep a night?!

one of the things i miss MOST about socal is... ok, i have to rephrase that because of course i'd have to say FAMILY and FRIENDS but really what i'm trying to say is that one of the TASTY TREAT things that i miss the most is certainly pinkberry. however, andy has discovered yet another worthy substitute, which makes it all the more tolerable here in sacto- YOG YOG! i'm quite envious as it is RIGHTnext to his hospital, making for totally doable yogurt runs in the middle of the workday. yes, we're workin hard up here for our (piddly intern) money. ;)