Bisque and Bruschetta

You'll have to excuse me for starting out by saying... I'm exhausted. Also, I have to be up at 2 am for work tomorrow but, I couldn't resist posting something quick since it's been a few days. We had a good day of rain which made the mountains gorgeous! I love having a nice view during my commute.

As is the case with most shots of landscapes, it just doesn't quite capture it. Either way, the rain washes away the smog, the mountains get capped with snow and then I enjoy the view.

My schedule has literally been all over the place this week. Later evening shifts, training at new hospitals and then super early shifts like today and tomorrow. In other words... my breakfasts have either been non-existent or very much on the go. On Monday though (my day off) I did manage to throw together a breakfast that I wasn't ashamed of. :)

Toast, fresh squeezed OJ, egg, blood orange and a few raspberries. I really like starting the day out like so. It is just really impossible when you leave the house at 3 or 4. 

I trained at a new hospital (the Heart and Surgical Hospital) on Wednesday. It is very different from the other two hospitals I normally work. There are only 20 rooms if I remember correctly and it's rare that there's more than 10-15 patients at any given time. In other words, I spent most of the day trying to find ways to entertain myself. The food and the menu in general is so much better than any of the other hospitals. I brought a salad from home for lunch but decided to try out the cafeteria too.

I ordered this Antipasta on fresh baked focaccia. (mushroom, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and other stuff I can't remember) It was very good but way too much food. Also, I don't really care for mushrooms no matter how you cook them or disguise them so I removed it and the sandwich got infinitely better. 

My lovely coworkers got me hooked on tea from the Boba house down the street from work and I indulge as often as I can justify it. Today was one of those times. So I stopped by after work and enjoyed my tea on the way home.

Instead of hitting the gym (or the pavement) after work like I fully intended to, I vegged out at home. I always regret when I do that and yet, I continue to do it. One day I will learn my lesson....

I was doing my best to resist the urge to take a nap so I grabbed my keys and headed to the library to visit my old stomping grounds. I lucked out and got to see all of the people I really cared to see and catch up with without encountering those that I preferred not to. :)

It was good to catch up a little bit.

My mom made butternut squash bisque for dinner which I missed because I was busy socializing with old coworkers. Of course there was bisque left but I had to enjoy it alone. 

I made a mock fake bruschetta to pair it with too.

like I said... fake bruschetta.

So, it was a busy day, I'm tired but I'm looking forward to this weekend. I like having plans to look forward to. Now, I'm overdue for sleep so if you'll excuse me... I must bid you all a good night!

Monday Recovery

Now that applications are done and I'm just waiting around, I hope to have a more regular posting schedule but then, I feel like I've said that before... 

Today I started out by sleeping in. After 4 am and 5 am shifts all weekend and an all nighter in honor of internship applications, it was oh so nice to just sleep.

My nieces came over for the day while my sister-in-law helped some friends out with an all-day project. It was fun to have them here but it always renews my appreciation of parents and the fact that I am NOT one at this point in time. :) It is a full-time job for sure!

I had a steaming cup of apple cider just because. Then, we colored,

and we read stories to the cat.

Then we had lunch. Chicken salad sandwiches with fruit and veggies on the side.

I make mine with greek yogurt to spare myself the trauma of eating mayo, and I usually add whatever we have on hand. This time it was dried cranberries, pecans, celery and green onion. I used hummus and red pepper for a spread and topped it with cucumbers on my mom's freshly baked sourdough bread! 

Then, we took two beautiful little girls to the school playground where we went on the slides, played tag and pretended to do the monkey bars.

At some point I stopped to admire the kindergarten's garden that was filled with strawberries ripening, bell peppers and just about every herb (except my favorite, basil)

At last! A teacher who has figured out how to make more Thyme! Don't we all need more thyme in the day? ;)

There was also Rosemary and lavender but I don't have any puns for those. 

 Both refused to take a nap by pleading the 5th (in the constitution of child's rights at Grandma & grandpa's house) which goes something like this "I'm not sleepy!"

I didn't do anything I had planned to do with my day off like: file my taxes, bake something for work, cook for the week's lunches, or pay bills but... we had a lot of fun and that's worth every item that isn't crossed off my to-do list.

I have a late start for work tomorrow so maybe I'll take the time to cook/bake before I head out.
Goodnight all!

The Waiting Game

Well... I did it. I clicked the submit button. My life/career is now in the hands of those scary intangible people who sit on the Internship Program's board. AAH! The waiting part is almost as bad as the actual application process.

I pulled an all-nighter on Thursday trying to get everything finished and touched-up so they were ready to submit. I had hopes of getting everything done in time to join my family on a Disneyland trip ... That didn't happen. I stayed home and continued to turn my brains into mush going over and over personal statements, checklists and course lists.

Finally around 12:30 I had this to show for my work:

Exciting huh? A bunch of plain envelopes. Then it was off to the post office to send my life applications off to their respective addresses. I think the guy at the post office thought I was insane because I kept asking repeatedly about the post marks. 

"so... they're going to be post-marked for today right?" 

"Does this barcode work as a post mark as well?"

"could you stamp the date on that too?"

Then I kept apologizing for my paranoid questions. Those of you who underwent the same torture will understand the importance of the post mark. :)

I left the post office, got in my car and sighed a huge sigh of relief. Then I started thinking about how long I had to wait to find out if they were going to reject me or not. =0

Next step is to wait for a call asking to set up interviews, but only if  you stand out enough from everyone else enough to get one. 

 I really, really hope I get good news. If I disappear from the blogging world for a while sometime in the near future... you can assume it's because I don't have anything exciting to write about.

One day I'm going to get brave enough to write a super long, boring exposé on the whole application process, the major issues, the small issues and the overall feeling towards it.  

I just wanted to write this quick post. Sorry there's no food to look at :)

I promise the next one will!