Olly Olly Oxen Free

...no seriously.  Where are all the stars?

I have been here for a month and was certain I would run into someone!  Anyone!  Nothing yet...  Probably because I am just now catching up to the 2000s on TV and actually don't know who is a star beyond that time.  Bill Murray is that you?  Might Tom Hanks be sitting next to me?  I find myself awkwardly staring other tables down and making eye contact with strangers, hoping for a nonverbal signal of stardom.  Nothing.  We are planning to remedy this with a TMZ tour in the near future.  It's on!

Jared and I both worked Thursday night and agreed to breakfast after work with another traveling couple whom we've befriended.  We had to be at class at noon in LA and decided to just stay awake (I was awake for 28 hours and went to bed before dark) for it.  I have been introduced to banana bread french toast.  There is no turning back, diabetes here I come! 

Class was a snore, literally.  Videos about fire safety and carrying a dummy around "to safety" per the instructor who looked more like an SNL character than a real person.  On our drive home we got the giggles and laughed that we stayed awake, drove to a high rise building in downtown LA to carry a dummy around on a sheet with strangers.  Was this real life anymore?  It was and is.  I have a certification card to prove it.

This holiday weekend was the beginning of something called Fiesta Hermosa.  Kind of like an art festival practically on the beach.  The place was crowded with tents, dogs, bikes, small and large children and some bands performing popular songs.  The beaches and restaurants were so crowded!  We had plans to try out a nearby bar with another traveling couple.  We nixed that for a smaller place further down the road, less crowded, equally as sunny.  Before we made the trek though, we spent time on the beach and then everyone got a hot dog for the walk.

Paddle ballin'

We are still trying to get a hang of the traffic patterns around here.  We were a little delayed getting started and then delayed in arriving and also detoured on our way to The Getty Center.  This was one of my things to do before I left.  I was pumped to check it out.  Unfortunately we arrived after sunset (it gets dark very quickly) and had an hour to tour the place which was practically no time at all.  We walked around and took a few pictures but plan to return in the daytime with plenty of time for covering the entire museum.  The architecture (what I could appreciate) of this place was incredible!  It was so beautiful at night, I can't wait to see what it looks like in the daytime.  Preparing to be blown away...

Plan B for the night...  When in doubt in LA, eat and star hunt.

We did a mini tour of Beverly Hills again for our new friends and went to a notable restaurant nearby, known for stars and paparazzi and also fried chicken and enchilada appetizers.  Guess what?  We still didn't see anyone famous, but we had good food and probably some of the best service since we've been here so that was nice and refreshing. 

Speaking of food, the produce here is incredible!  I bought some strawberries and was amazed at the size and color of these things!  Every berry, every bin, larger than the next.  Yum!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and made it out and about safely!

XO

Do the right thing

Now that we are in "work mode" there isn't much to update you on this time...

On Sunday, May 20, there was a solar eclipse visible in the LA area.  Not to the naked eye though, which I quickly learned but kept looking anyway.  I saw spots for awhile afterward, never saw anything really like the images below.  These were borrowed since I was driving at the time.  Pretty rad!

My first few nights at work were...  interesting.  My friends spoke of a difference in east coast nursing versus west coast nursing.  I just thought it was a personality difference until I was training in the ICU and later when Jared and I shared horror stories.  In short, he ran two codes on his first night (there were five patients total in the ICU) and neither made it.  I initiated interventions on a very sick woman (who was not my patient) and ended up doing my first set of chest compressions (I know, I know, in three years the opportunity never presented itself to me) on my first night.  Her temperature was 107.3 F at midnight, she also did not make it. Then the next night, there were three patients in the ICU and I was responsible for two of them, they both made it through the night.  Welcome to the ICU. 

The above events were simple things to avoid by sending labs after surgery to make sure the patient isn't losing too much blood, monitoring white blood cells to trend infection, or actually waking the patient up to interact and monitor his or her mental status...  It was really discouraging and frustrating.  It's not the same practices that I am used to, but I am just here to help, while feeling help-less.  I guess I am going to have to work very hard on my advocating voice these next few months...  And look for a teaching hospital for my next assignment.

To make matters even worse, the cafeteria is not open overnight and there is no Jimmy John's to speak of either.  I suppose that is how one gains a beach body. 

Speaking of beaches...

Max is really getting the hang of this!  He is getting more and more brave about running into the ocean and not waiting for it to come to him by accident.  He still poops on the beach but he keeps it solid, atta boy! 

The photo below cracks me up!  He made a friend and they were playing, running up and down the beach.  His dog friend walked into the ocean so Max followed.  Then they "got told" by the ocean and Max walked out disgusted.  Ha!

I am pretty sure he enjoyed this trip to Rosie's Dog Beach.  The photo below makes me smile.

"I'm a hap-py boy, hubba hubba hubba hubba"

Ten minutes after we left the beach, the sun showed up and stayed for the rest of the day.   I parked myself by the pool and prepared my body for the beach day that is coming up next week.  My San Francisco friends are coming down for a few days to play.  My first visitors, I cannot wait! 

Hey Girl, Let's Eat

We are now at two weeks into living in California.  Things are pretty.. pretty.. pretty.. pretty great!  Anyone watch Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Meeting new people is scary and can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety.  We've luckily had a nice time bonding with the other traveler nurses throughout orientation.  They are all floor nurses and Jared and I are both ICU nurses.  Unless you are a nurse, I am not sure you will not understand the personality differences between the two.  The floor nurses, while nice and friendly, mostly have one-upper stories which can be exhausting to listen to.  Jared shared a SNL character with me that nails it on the head:

Penelope  (<--- click on it)

Floor nurses apparently do it just a little bit better, so...

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A few paychecks have come through so Jared and I celebrated with a trip to Beverly Hills to visit a certain actor's (see below) restaurant.  

hubba hubba

It is a Moroccan restaurant with the best hummus I've ever had.  Mr Actor could have been my waiter that night, we never would have known.  It was SO DARK in there.  I like dark and I like candle light but I couldn't even read the menu!  We just ordered based on what we heard the waiter offer.   It was still excellent!



Maybe he was in the back doing dishes?  Hey girl...

On our way in, we drove by a few notable places, almost too fast for my camera because they were one on top of the other but I got a few snaps in:

RIP Whitey

Via Rodeo

While we waited for our reservation we decided to stop for a glass of wine, al fresco.  We found a neat little spot where we thought we might be able to catch a glimpse of a celebrity or two, paparazzi was nearby afterall.  Sadly, we only saw dogs and unfamiliar faces but it was a gorgeous little spot anyway.  I imagined what it might be like to bring Max to Beverly Hills.  No. Way.

Cuvee

 Finally, it's 8:00.

Tagine 

There were maybe ten tables inside.  It was a delicious and quaint little restaurant, I can't wait to share it with my visitors.  Bring your headlamps!

Our last day of orientation has passed, phew!  In celebration, we decided to gather up the travelers for a happy hour and sunset to celebrate.  We shared some good nursing stories and made plans for future adventures. 

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I took Max to the beach again.  It was NOT as successful as the first time.  I thought on a Friday after 5pm, plenty of dog owners would be on the beach.  Sadly, it was only small dog owners who were a little uneasy with Max's size and eagerness to play.  He really proves to be a good dog when we are in public.  He listens (most of the time) when I call and doesn't cause problems with other dogs.  Unfortunately, the first time there were plenty of dogs his size but he drank so much ocean water that he got insta-diarrhea and just barely made it to the yard area to "toilet."  My travel water dish also got washed away by the ocean waves.  Lessons learned.  This visit, I stopped him from drinking ocean water and placed the bowl further back in the sand only to look over and he was pooping in the sand.  Agh!  At least it was solid.

beach buds

Tonight and tomorrow are my first nights of actual bedside working.  I am looking forward to it after my month long hiatus.  Wish me luck and wakefulness!

XO

Celebrations.

There is so much to talk about as far as celebrations and happiness goes.  It is so great to hear all of this wonderful news!

First things first.  Vivian graduated on Saturday and will be attending kindergarten in the fall.  Time definitely flies, so keep that in mind (new parents) as I go on..

On Sunday, the day after my fry at the poolside, I called home and talked to everyone for Mother's Day.  I especially love how technology makes approximately 2,500 miles not seem so far afterall.  Yay!

 

On Monday, May 7, my former roommate, Jenni, and her husband welcomed a daughter, Mya Claire.

And of course, I'm sure this is not news to most of you, my cousin Sarah and her husband Mike welcomed baby Evelyn Ashleen on Monday, May 14.

Jared and I have been keeping busy trying new places and working up and down the coast to different beaches.  I am really looking forward to taking Max to the dog beach (I finally found it) and immediately to the dog spa nearby.  Heh.  He has no idea what is coming!

Per a recommendation from new friends, we tried Rodondo Beach Brewing Company.  They serve beer with fruit in it.  Refreshing drinks and scenery.

Since we were there and paid the meter anyway, we decided to check out THIS end of the beach.  Each beach we've been to looks different in some way.  We spotted a guy kite surfing, a new term for me.  He was surfing with a kite...  just like it sounds but the wind in the kite was able to lift him out of the waves and he was suspended in the air for a brief moment before catching another wave and moving through the water like he was on a jet ski.  Looks fun but too far out in the water for me to ever want to try.  Enjoy the picture show.

Houses in the hillside leading to a cliff into the ocean. 

Wish the mountains would have shown up more in the distance.

Those are my feet!

The water was unexpectedly warm.  And foamy,

Needless to say, I am loving it, especially after hearing how cold and wet Pittsburgh was this past weekend.  It has been quite a mood lifter here in the sun.  My door is open...

And finally...  celebrations continue this week.  More on this at the end of this week.  I will give you a photo teaser peek though.

(A check off of my bucketlist)

XO

Circa 1999

Guess what?  I got the Internet!!!

And that was pretty much all that was on my agenda today.  It was nice to "sleep in" even though it wasn't for the entire morning, I still woke up by choice and not alarm.  The cable company came and connected me to the rest of the world and to a thing called cable television, something I haven't had for over four years.  It seems kind of silly now that I am in the least likely place I will ever need to be entertained, but I got it anyway.  I also have DVR.  Or is it "a" DVR?  Either way, I am excited to catch up to the year 1999.

I fried myself at the pool, reading and people watching.  Poor me, I know.

Orientation: Week One has passed.  We have one more before we get into the good stuff.  We got a teaser, spending four hours on the unit we were assigned to.  There were three people in the ICU and four in the step-down unit.  These people weren't really even sick.  The "crazy guy" had a security guard parked outside the room in case he woke up from his "medicinal restraint."  Cra-zy.  There is something called a "lift team" that will come in and reposition your patient, you just verbally direct what it is that you want done with him or her.  My back rejoices at this.

Assessing the population in the beds and working as nurse/doctor/therapist/etc, I remembered a root lesson.  Communication and clarification.  I must be very aware of what I say and what I hear.  I learned this very early in my nursing career through error and hilarity.  I will share my personal lesson.

I was getting an admission into my empty room, someone who was young and a frequent flyer.  The senior staff briefed my on the patient, I got report from the emergency room nurse and as a new nurse, I wanted to prepare my room and be on my best game.  Report had said that he was a dialysis patient, meaning he had bad kidneys and wouldn't be making much urine.  However, when he felt like he needed to make urine, he was able to use a catheter to empty his bladder on his own.  I retrieved this equipment from the supply room and was ready for the "just in case" scenario.  He had a history of seizures, which was his initial presenting symptoms.  While we were waiting for a seizure monitoring device, I settled this young gentleman into his bed with his very involved dad at the bedside.  I checked to make sure he was comfortable and did not need to go to the bathroom.  He assured me he was fine and I set him and his dad up with the television and call light, asking him to let me know if he needed anything.

His call ball went on and he informed me that he had to go to the bathroom.  I was cheering inside at how prepared I was for this situation and in no time, I had the kit on his bed, opened and handing him supplies.  I asked if he needed my help, he declined.  I also asked him if he wanted the lubrication packet that was included in the kit and he, with a "boat" (container to collect urine) and a rubber catheter (use to insert inside to drain the bladder) in hand, looked at me funny and said "...no"  His dad was there afterall, someone who was used to assisting, so I gave them their space.  I was so proud of my preparation.  I pulled the curtain and asked him to call when he was finished.   I quickly attending to my charting and waiting for the bell to ring for me. 

Sure enough, the bell rang in a few minutes and I got up to answer it.  Uh oh.  As soon as I reached the door, I knew something was wrong.  There was such an odor.  I walked in...  his dad asked, "Do.. you... want this?  or should I... just..."  OH MY GOD!  He was holding the above mentioned "boat" that was heaped over with steaming hot ... poo.  The young patient was just sitting in the bed, avoiding eye contact with a red rubber catheter in his hand still, dad in the corner near the trash.  I apologized up and down, which thankfully broke the silence and seriousness in the room.  We all were laughing, and as I exited the room I collapsed in the hallway and laughed hysterically.  I am so dumb.

I sang T-Pain's "I'm on a boat" and wondered how he straddled himself on that flimsy "boat" to have a bowel movement.  I still laugh thinking about it.  What did he think about me?  At least it wasn't another one of their songs..   if you know what I mean ;)  Anyway..

Me: "Do you need the lubrication packet?"
Him (I have to take a dump, dummy): "...no?"
Me: (well he has the red rubber catheter.. he knows how to use it) ::pride::

Was he supposed to twirl it around in the air to let me know he was finished?  I am so dumb.  In hindsight, he didn't communicate and neither did I. 

So, now I remember to always clarify which bathroom activity they wish to participate in, and learned even through my orientation this week that some people don't even understand #1 and #2.  English is not their primary language and even that will trip someone up.

Communicate and clarify.  Roots that I will always remember, thanks to the young gentleman who was in bed 13.  Maybe that was my red flag?

Normalize and Thrive

We made it without any major hiccups and I can finally announce that without knocking on wood!

My arms feel like lead still and I crave naps everyday so far.  I heard it could take a week to a month to adjust to the time change.  Hopefully it’s the former. 

Our plan to make the double feature kind of fell through because of the time change and office hours of the place I was moving into didn’t allow for a sunrise.  Seeing the sunset was PLENTY for us though. 

Note: The Grand Canyon is not a place to go if you are afraid of heights.  I know my mom is terrified of heights, just take her to the mall and get near the railing on the second floor.  Me though?  I thought I was good.  I can do the high roller coasters at Kennywood, the Pitfall and fly without an issue.  This though…  Phew!  Here everyone is, hanging out on the edge snapping photos and enjoying the view, even jumping off rocks into the air to catch a cool shot, while the two scaredy cats that we were had positioned ourselves feet first and tilted backwards at an angle away from the canyon holding on to each other as we shimmied as close as we could to the fencing surrounding the canyon.  We may have looked silly but we did it!  I was out of breath, which may have been related to the altitude, the view or my anxiety.  Whatever the cause was, I am so glad we drove 50 miles out of our way to see it!  The view was literally breath taking and neither my words nor any picture we took could ever relay how awesome it really is to be there in person. 

The fifth day of our trip involved some pretty steep and impressive mountains and getting here (to LA) before 2PM.  We considered traffic at the time of our arrival and decided that leaving Arizona in the early morning was best. We passed mountains that made me very nervous and then we entered California where they asked if we had any plants or vegetation.  At that point, I was happy to give them my burned out orchids (the leaves may have gotten a sunburn in the back window).  They weren’t interested so I guess I am obligated to nurse them back to health. 

The once annoyingly slow and indecisive 18-wheelers on the road quickly became my best friend once we entered the roads nearer to Los Angeles.  I don’t know if you are familiar with “The 405” but I was thrown onto it and immediately, everything was sweating!  Seven lanes of traffic on each side!  SEVEN!  I couldn’t believe my GPS and struggled to keep up the pace of 75 mph.  I held hands with any 18-wheeler like a kid with his parents in an amusement park, tried my best not lose my rooftop cargo and not wreck my car.  Phew! 

Once I got to my place, we unloaded the car and got a taste of LAX when we picked up Jared and four bags of his life.  We had to be up early so the first night was uneventful to say the least.  After work, we all toasted to new beginnings over In-N-Out Burgers and fries, which is supposedly huge here so we wasted no time trying them.  Afterward, I had a FaceTime date with Ben (and the rest of the gang).  Vivian learned about the Kentucky Derby so we put on hats to chat.  Thank goodness for technology!  

My place:

FaceTime:

That evening, we drove to Long Beach, checked out the water and then spent dinner at a little Mexican restaurant on the water.  The waitress made guacamole at the table and it was the best I had ever had.  I will be back for more, definitely.  

The next day was Mom’s flight home.  I felt horrible leaving her but later found out that my dad had followed through with her joking request that he be there in a suit with a name sign to pick her up.  Class act.  She made it home safely and the only thing she would say is, “That was really something.”  At least that is over and getting to Hawaii will be a little easier in a few months for her and my dad.  

Jared and I started work this week, hence the absence.  It has only been orientation so far but today was the most fun orientation that I ever sat through.  Over 8 + hours, I was barely tired or bored, I learned a lot and really respect the business model Kaiser South Bay has developed.  I also enjoy that everyone is unnaturally happy and helpful.  This is a whole new world!  Coming from a place where people hesitated to make eye contact or greet you to plenty of eye contact and greetings and even a personal golf cart ride to the parking garage, no problem.  These sunny people are onto something. This is where I work : Pink (<--click)

What uphill walk?!

 

I am excited to get back into scrubs and to be at the bedside but we still have a week and a half before that happens.  Until then, Jared and I have been taking advantage of visiting a beach everyday and exploring our neighborhood, planning our LA bucket list to tackle while we are here.  We’ve been getting into a habit of sunset dinners on the beach.  I even put my feet in the Pacific tonight.  It was much warmer than I was expecting.  

Hopefully updates will be more frequent now that I am somewhat settled in, and even more when I get real internet.  Enjoy the picture show. 

XO