Long Day

I was so surprised at how easy it was to get up at 3 and be out of the house by 4. Not only did I feel fully awake and ready to tackle the day but I also got prime parking and was clocked in 5 minutes early. :)

Today was a semi-tough day. Not because it was extremely busy but because I was being trained in a new position and there is SO much to learn there. I'll be in that same position again tomorrow and my trainer said she was going to test me to see how much I remember AH! Luckily it was a pretty slow day on the desk but that just meant I was always teetering between fully engaged in learning something and sitting there idly spinning in my computer chair. :)

I hit up the cafeteria for lunch and had an asian style salad with mandarins, and grape tomato halves. I added the croutons and almond slivers. The dressing was a type of raspberry vinaigrette I believe. I went for a very short walk and ate my lunch outside. It wasn't long before I was ready for the A/C again. Sooo hot out!

The last couple of hours of work dragged on after lunch but finally 1:30 rolled around and it was weird to be leaving an 8 hr shift so early in the day. 

This week my sister and her family are in town. (YAY!) I came home and stayed awake for a few hours before convincing myself I could close my eyes and "rest" for a few minutes. I woke up about 2.5 hours later. oops!

I don't know what's wrong with my camera but this picture turned out pretty grainy. We had hamburgers for dinner on homemade sourdough rolls. Some local sweet corn that my sister brought with her.

 This kid ate 3entire cobs on her own and finished off her dad's too! Apparently she likes corn. 

After dinner we all packed into the car and went to play tennis. It's been three weeks since Blake and I played and I really missed it. It was good to be back. 

We played doubles most of the time and didn't have much choice because one full court was being used for soccer. Yes, soccer. They're there every week and I don't get why they aren't using the field that is directly in front of the tennis courts. It's really frustrating. 

We had the world's cutest ball girl for a while too! :)

I'm trying to upload the pictures from today but blogger isn't wanting to work with me tonight. I think I'll try again tomorrow. . .

A non-tropical heat wave

It has been so hot this week! it finally cooled down a little bit today. It was only in the high 90's. :) Thank goodness for air conditioned hospitals.

Yesterday, despite my exhaustion from work, I got home and ran off on a hike with the fam bam. It would be a really nice hike except there are trashy people who graffiti rocks and trees and dump their trash in the water. So frustrating and disgusting.

Kim took this picture and added the disclaimer that it was not indicative of our energy level or mood. :)

Cuties on a log.

Meanwhile these fine young gentlemen consult the logistics of rope swings. [Note the unsightly graffiti]

Today at work I was on my own for the first time! Exciting and a little nerve wracking. I had 12 patients for the day and saw them all on my own. Whoa! 

Our wonderful boss ordered us pizza for lunch. How sweet of her. (yes dietitians eat pizza too!)

Tomorrow, I'm training for the a.m. shift which means... it's way past my bedtime. Up at 3 tomorrow! At least I'll get a shaded parking spot. :) Gotta get some sleep. Goodnight!

Dinner with Friends

Guess what!? I didn't get lost 1 time today. Woohoo! Plus, my badge now works for clocking in and out (which I forgot to do =/ ) and I worked on my "own" for a little bit today. Really it was working with indirect supervision. :)

I packed a lunch that I was really looking forward to and then something unforeseen happened. As I jauntily marched to the staff break-room/conference room and wahwah! Closed for a meeting. Every scrap of food I brought was neatly placed in the fridge in that very room. Major bummer. I waited for most of my lunch break before I gave up, ran to the cafeteria and shoved a small serving of couscous salad and 1/2 of a pb & j down.

At least I have lunch ready for tomorrow

After work I went to the scrubs shop down the street to look for a lab coat. What do you know but there was one that nearly fit me. I scooped it up and just have minor adjustments to make so that I don't look completely ridiculous. I'm not sure I'm ready to share/capture that image yet... :)

Tonight I went to dinner at my friend Tianne's house. It was a jolly grand time but I brought my camera sans memory card. Everyone was nice enough to send me the pics they took on their phones.

For some reason we all decided to pose while taking bites of our food. We ended up in laughing fits. :)

Everyone minus the photographer Dustin. It's times like these that I wish I had a phone that took good pictures. It always makes me so sad when I don't have a working camera. Anyway, we had a fun time and now.. I absolutely have to get to bed. I can't keep doing these late nights and 5:30 mornings.

Goodnight all!

p.s. 110 degrees in Loma Linda today. Nearly unbearable. Remember to hydrate if you're in similar temps! 

Weekends while they're here

I am savoring every weekend I have in the next couple of months because it won't be long before I'm working rotating weekends. =( oh well, it's a small sacrifice for a great job. 

This weekend I went to the beach with my friend Roger. Other than the humidity, it was an excellent beach day. (what day at the beach isn't right?) I don't think either of us planned on really going in the water but once we stepped out on the sand and experienced the heat... the water was looking pretty refreshing. 

Between the heat and Roger, I was convinced to take a dip. The surf was really rough and nearly violent at times. I was worried we were both going to get sucked out forever more. Obviously neither happened but I did end up with a bloody knee. War wound. :)

Although this picture depicts a nearly empty beach, it was definitely not. There were people ALL over the place. We found a nice relatively empty spot though. For some reason all the people were congregating near the rotting kelp that had washed up on shore. Dumb!

We sat on the beach near this wall that was painted to depict that very beach. Those with excellent eyesight can spot the J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter quote on the right side. :) As Roger pointed out, any other beach in SoCal would have this wall tagged with graffiti. This is very pleasant alternative.

For some reason I didn't take any pictures of us. Oh well, food is prettier. We walked down the beach for a while getting soaked and covered in sand (yuck!) before walking around town looking for a place to eat. If museums and art galleries served meals we would have had 300 choices. Instead... we saw taco bell and a French Cafe that we had eaten at last time. Hmmm... 

So we headed out to find a place somewhere in normal-ville where people eat at restaurants. We ended up at BJ's sports grill and split two pizzas. I got something with basil (of course) and artichoke hearts. Roger got one called  a Great White (can't remember what was on it)

After we got our food and started eating I realized 2 things I had forgotten: to take pictures and... my camera in the car. Roger lent me his phone so kudos to him for these. I had taken 2-3 bites and as the picture below illustrates, Roger had already consumed 1/4. :) 

I don't normally order anything but water but this root beer sounded too good to pass up and it definitely was! Didn't try Roger's strawberry lemonade but according to him it's a good one. 

After dropping Roger off back at his place I ended up at my sister's for a spontaneous visit. I discovered that day how close she and Roger live. So cool!

Yay for sister time :)

What a great Saturday!

Today we had tri-tip, grilled zucchini, corn on the cob, homemade sourdough rolls and mashed potatoes a la Blake. Oh and  friends/family to share it all with. 

I really liked how the zucchini came out this time I think I'm honing in on the perfect grilling technique.

Well, tomorrow is another work day which means another day full of learning. I'm training with a new person so there will be a heavier work load. I'm going to see if I can completely avoid getting lost tomorrow ;-)

Have a great night!