we are nowhere, and it's now.

look, mom...no fork!

2006-07-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

my first go at true indian eating - banana leaves and hands! YUM! thanks, stephen!! the man knows the way to this girl's heart (...and stomach!).

Pre-wedding stuff...

2006-07-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Stephen, Joey, Jonathan, Trevor - rehearsing
"queen" delaina?
nothing like a little karaoke to quell pre-wedding jitters
delaina and jonathan at church

wedding day...

2006-07-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

jonathan, stephen, delaina, trevor, joey, troy
yes - it was 110+ F
waiting...
and more waiting...

more wedding day...

2006-07-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

"us"
delaina and me
w/ the bride and groom
jonathan and delaina jewkes

meet the herschers!

2005-12-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

a bride's refreshment!

the girls (melissa, kate, mags, liz, me, kris)

at their reception.

next up...moriah or liz??

waiting to see his bride...

me, lizabeth, kris.

after 6 - aka my intro to climbing

2005-11-18T00:41:00.000-08:00

belaying my lead - notice the brake hand never left the rope!

are y'all loving the red helmet as much as i am?

joel leads up "after 6"

pre-climb photo

in all our post-climb glory...now just to get back down...

2005-11-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

joel & brett admire vernal fall

...and play at the fall.

when can i go back?

the guys scope climbing routes.

brett helping show off my camera's color accent feature.

just a few photos from my yosemite weekend to keep you until my next post...i'll try to get some shots of sunday's climb from brett. anyone want to come with next time?!

cowboy up!

2005-11-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

i had guests for the weekend! it was fun to have people around and just hang out for a couple of days. delaina and anna got in on friday night - all were starving so we headed out to d's favorite mexican place for gi-normous $2.50 burritos. (i'm not missing southern california food prices one bit!) sabbath morning, delaina experienced the downside of having your bedroom window facing the duck pond...seems the little guys perceive sane morning hours to be a bit earlier than the rest of us! we got up and ready to head to the armona school gym for homecoming church. we sat, three hungry stomachs talking in a row, wondering when the long-winded speaker would wrap up the journey through his geneology - an hour into the "sermon" delaina bemoaned the fact that the speaker wasn't even born yet! points were finally made and we met delaina's friend joel libby who treated the three of us to an italian feast. pizza and pasta satisfied the knawing! we went back to joel's for a bit before hitting up the fall harvest auction back at the gym. (the libby's have a yellow lab, maggie - my pet-starved self just ate up quality dog time! now i just can't wait to get home to my rose!) daniel moor and brett bissel, fellow walla wallians, are both in the area working now - they joined the group at the auction and we all went for superior dairy treats...AFTER we'd finished our hand-dipped, freshly deep-fried, veggie corn dogs! loaded up on adventist auction food and ice cream, we went back to joel's to watch "cowboy up" - pseudo how-to/documentary by a local bouldering fanatic brett and daniel had met on the rocks that afternoon. (none of you will be getting copies for christmas!) sunday was fairly uneventful - we just lounged and puppy shopped online, then grabbed chinese before the girls left. it was then time for me to turn focus to the books...it was just all too easy to forget about monday's exam over the weekend!

this week's honorable mentions:
*nathan corder, who sent me my first piece of hanford mail
*michelle ward, who scored herself a diamond on friday night
*my music guru and brother, aaron, who has improved the quality of apartment "chilling" by his suggestion: kings of convenience - check 'em out!

farm fresh...

2005-11-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

i'm sitting in my cozy one bedroom apartment in hanford, ca - my bedroom window is open to the ever wafting smells of manure. i have yet to see a cow, but the evidence of their existence is permeating my room. i'm sure by the weekend i will be immune!

i love my little home...the apartment complex is very large and secure complete with an adults only pool and hot tub, tennis courts, work-out room, duck ponds w/ fountains. i'm actually off to run and then soak after i finish my post. i now have food stashed away in my fridge and cupboards. the first night i was here, the only grocery store i could find was a discount place that housed fairly seedy staff and customers at 9 pm. i grabbed my loaf of bread, jar of skippy, and smucker's jam - then paid and bolted. so i had pb & jelly for dinner, breakfast, and lunch. i probably went overboard when i shopped last night - i was just so excited for a clean store with a fabulous produce department! at a population of 40,000+, i'm not convinced that hanford is actually rural! there's a target w/ an internal starbucks...

work is good thus far. i was in dr. engeberg's office my first two days - we've had a fun time! i love the "see one, do one" philosophy! today i did a cortisone injection for sciatica and a routine pelvic. my greatest fear is that i didn't get a sufficient cell sample on the pap smear and the poor lady will have to come back for a re-do! we've scheduled a couple re-visits for skin lesion removals and dr. engeberg keeps checking to be sure they're on days i'll be back - the more procedures the better! so far, i've been primarily shadowing and being pimped on antibiotics, anti-hypertensives, and diabetes meds. too bad i left my pharm book by my door in colton!

well, i'm off to the gym. keep the posts and e-mails coming!

all i want IS christmas!

2005-10-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

i'm generally too strictly adherent to the "rules" of the seasons to appreciate active anticipation of a holiday, but the last few days i've been in a very christmassy mood. not sure the reason why i'm antsy for the holidays - maybe it's because christmas is a warm, cozy time and i'm missing my family and home; maybe because the baby grable will be back from his australian adventure; maybe because it signifies my two weeks of vacation time all year; maybe because maggie's going to be saying "i do" to herscher; maybe because i'll get to leave southern california and go play in the snow. whatever the reason, it's not even halloween and i'm craving starbucks holiday cups, sugar cookies, poinsettias, stockings, white lights sparkling on fresh snow drifts, 'stubby pringle's christmas', the radiating warmth from the fireplace, pan after pan of fudge, handel's messiah, pine scented candles...

i'm sure in no time, christmas will be here. and despite my early awareness of the season, i will likely still not be ready! i'll be in handford for the next three weeks, then a quick trip home for thanksgiving weekend. when i come back it will be just weeks until the flurry of the walter/herscher wedding. then i'll be coasting through my last days of pediatrics with tests through the 23rd. all of a sudden it will be christmas eve and i'll be flying home for the holidays. for now i'll just satisfy my cravings with frank sinatra's christmas collection, the messiah, and a little mariah carey on my ipod; a steaming peppermint mocha; movie night with down comforter and 'love actually'.

although early, i wish you all a glimpse of the fullness and warmth of christmas in your day...even if it is only october! be it flannel sheets, hot drinks, sneaking a christmas tune into your play list, a warm smile from a stranger - merry, merry to all!

pie ala mode...

2005-10-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

i went out to claim jumper's tonight...and ordered warm berry pie ala mode for dinner. nope, not dessert. served with everyone else's sandwiches, salads, entrees came my steaming berry pie. justification: i was getting fruit, dairy, and grains packed into one fabulous meal! my current status is oh-so happy and content!

i left the hospital today riding on the glorious cloud of a day off. such liberation associated with leaving work knowing you don't have to be back early the next morning for rounds. sure i have call on sunday, but even that doesn't seem so bad...i'll be checking off my LAST call until january! i can handle even the most hectic 30 hours knowing i will not be working another night or weekend until after christmas. i'm guessing i'll get slammed...1) weekend call = more admissions, 2) i had zero admits on my last call & got 8+ hours of sleep - no one gets that lucky twice in a row! i say bring it on...if i'm up all night i'll just be awake to appreciate the passing of every hour, inching me closer to my 2 months with no call!

i'm off to read in bed for a bit - yea for getting to "sleep in" in the am. no alarms!

*feeling the need for an '80s flashback? my current craving is being satisfied by alphaville, "forever young"! (napoleon: "i like your sleeves. they're real big." deb: "thank-you. i made them myself" - most awkward dance conversation ever?!)
*discovery of the day: i actually DO like something about football season...nubby dr. pepper bottles = great grip and less condensation!

procrastination post...

2005-10-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

i have this mini-presentation on cystic fibrosis tomorrow...so of course i'm looking for things to do other than prepare! i just started week three of peds - and switched from a general team to pulmonary. lots of little kids on vents or with asthma - problem: i'm horrible at vent settings and am very weak on my pulm drugs! guess i now have a focus for my study...

i was at a coffee shop reading "up to date" articles on CF earlier...they were airing a '90s radio station - seems we've become retro. i'm only 24 and i'm already being made to feel old by the music industry! the grey hairs are stress-induced not natural aging, people! it seems i never truly feel age appropriate: i feel ignorant and young on rounds, ancient when examining 13-year-olds, childish when puddle jumping or letting reverberating burps rip, grown-up when purchasing major appliances and paying monthly bills. i'm not exactly sure how 24 should feel, but it seems i'm most often teetering on the boundaries of responsibility.

and with mention of responsibility, i should probably continue my research for tomorrow.
(to all you 2nd year troops - as you plow through test week, remember to drink caffeine & eat your veggies - confuse the hell out of your immune systems! i'll see you next weekend...the faint illusion of light at the end of this tunnel.)

poem to "weekend" by

2005-10-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

- e.e. cummings

2005-10-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

should they be trusted to mix a drink?!

2005-10-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

queen of "sacs" - poor little guy is unsuspecting of the guillotine that awaits...(*lab lingo: sac = sacrifice = MURDER!)

2005-10-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

"studying" at barnes and noble with stephen...someone had filled the fountain w/ soap - we bumped the age appropriate 5/6-year-olds out of the way and dug in!

2005-10-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

moose crossing... (nathan cafferky)

nobody loses all the time.

2005-10-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

i was on call last night...here's the unfortunate truth about pediatric call: you are bound to the hospital with nothing to do between the hours of 2 and 8 pm. then, after the family has eaten, the dinner dishes are cleaned up, and every last outpatient clinic has closed its doors for the day, parents load up the kids for a trip to the emergency room. the medical student on call sits in the student lounge watching the hands on the clock slowly subtract minutes from the remainder of the night - always on edge, wondering when the first page will come, wondering if you've just jinxed any hope of sleep by even letting the thought of pages enter your mind, wondering how to undo the jinx you've just inflicted upon yourself. it seems the more time you have doing nothing, the more you dread the first page for an admission...mine came at 8:45. my team was only one patient shy of our limit, so this would be the only admit for the night. being that it was only 9:00, i was still optimistic about getting a decent night's sleep. yet another dangerous thought to let creep into your head! how the history & physical, consults, orders, paperwork took 5 hours to complete, i still do not know...i'm just feeling very lucky that i only have two more call nights over the next two weeks - then no more until january. yipee for outpatient!

*what my ipod fed my tired brain in the call room this AM while i poured streams of visine into each eye: "let's get rocked"...don't start - you all know def leppard is still cool!
*what the pediatric residents had hammered into them at their retreat the last two days: the value of the "f" word (FEEDBACK)...yep, there was no doubt today was their first day back!
*happy discovery of the day: FOUR godiva grande mints = 1 serving (no more hoarding at christmas, mom!)
*hot commodity: a set of wine glasses with an etching of our cabin...sorry they're being gifted to the lucky bride and groom soon to be honeymooning there - maybe we can steal the design and start a new line of barware...feeling entrepreneurial, mom?!
*top e-mail of the day from: michael aaron waters! costa rica has yet to kill the boy. (check out his blog (spaces.msn.com/members/watemi) if you have a burning curiosity about michael or monkeys...or know michael + monkeys will make you laugh!)

happy days to all...

2005-10-11T14:45:00.000-07:00

photo friend of the week: delaina milne. the recently engaged, recently discovered canadian showing off her "frost!"

baby fever?!

2005-10-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

here it is...the first official post! okay, let's get something out of the way: no more anonymous posts that make me take random stabs at identification - i can't even do that on the phone where i have voice cues! (michael...is that you?)...see i just had to take a guess that could cause me great embarrassment in the near future!

so as i mentioned i'm on my inpatient pediatric rotation currently. my first week i had four little ones all under the age of 6 months! i was in heaven! there wasn't that much to do for them medically, so i just rocked and fed babies all day. (i know, sounds a bit more like babysitting...and maybe something you shouldn't be paying out $1000's per month to get to do. but we're high class babysitters - we monitor vitals, provide excellent nutrition, watch them 24 hours a day!) sara and ronn, this could be bad for you - i promise to try to be patient, but auntie colleen is READY! i'm currently on a general peds team - almost half of our patients are being held by child protective services because of suspected abuse/neglect. it's so sad! it's really hard to imagine how anyone can look at these babies and even have fleeting thoughts of hurting them...much less follow through! i leave everyday wanting to bring them all home with me!

i'm off early today and should try to take advantage - study or something! for those of you looking for new music, my cd favorite of week: franz ferdinand, "you could have it so much better". check it out! (aaron, this is one i'm sending w/ your birthday card - hope you don't have it yet!) by they way, everyone, my baby brother just turned 21! if you want to read about his great adventures down under, head to heartcooksbrains.blogspot.com!

2005-10-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

it's me!