new car and off to savannah!

I got my new car on Wednesday, April 11, thanks to a ride from my good friend "Papa Pete."  It's another Honda CR-V, this time a 2003.  I'm now trying to figure out how to register it in the state of California while remaining on the other side of the country for the next two years.  Anyone got any advice?

happy new car to me...

 Friday was my second final of the semester, two more to go after clinicals.  On Sunday, we had our last regular season intramural games for the volleyball season - the DPT I Women's team lost our first match but still finished the season 3-1, but DPT Blue Co-Rec team finished the season undefeated.  Both teams will be playing in the playoffs this coming week/ weekend.  Immediately after the Co-Rec game, I drove out to Savannah to stay for the next two weeks.  My "new" car got a good workout - a 4 hour drive carrying everything but the kitchen sink.  I didn't want to think too hard when I packed so I brought anything that came to mind!

sunset from a Kroger parking lot somewhere between Atlanta and Macon

I arrived at our apartment at about 9:30 pm.  Aylin and Michelle were already there.  The next morning we all started our rotations at St. Joseph's Hospital.  I'm based on the Neurology floor (7th), Aylin on the Orthopedic floor (6th), and Michelle on the Cardiopulmonary floor (3rd).  My first day in the hospital, I spent a hectic day following my clinical instructor all over the place - we treated 21 patients, mainly on the 7th floor, but also on 5th and 6th.  I mainly just observed what he did, but became more useful as the day went on pushing IV poles, getting supplies, and making sure lines didn't get crossed, kinked, or pulled.

Michelle, Aylin, and I in our fabulous hunter green scrubs.

 Our apartment has had drama, NOT revolving around the residents - starting before I even got there.  There was supposed to be a lockbox on the door with our keys inside since the leasing office is closed on Sundays.  That wasn't there.  Aylin and Michelle dealt with making emergency calls (yes, more than one) to maintenance, and finally got in.  The air conditioning didn't appear to be working, but we thought maybe it just needed time to "warm up."
 Yesterday, when we got back from our first day in the hospital, it was clear that it didn't work at all.  I called maintenance, fully expecting to get a call back the next day - instead, a maintenance guy showed up at the door about 20 minutes later.  After a bunch of fussing around, they ended up shutting off the power completely in the apartment (apparently the fuse was actually dangerous!) and offering to put us up in another apartment.  Of course, none were available, so they went to work and replaced the fuse.  When that didn't solve the problem, they took a closer look at the air conditioner itself.  They figured out the problem but weren't going to be able to fix it until today - they ended up loaning us fans to at least make it bearable.

broken AC solution...

 This morning the clouds were beautiful as I left the apartment:

pretty savannah morning

 Today was much less hectic than yesterday, as my clinical instructor did a 8 new evaluations and two treatments instead of 18 treatments and three new evaluations, so I did more observing at a slightly slower pace.  I did get to direct one patient through her therapeutic exercises, however - so I can say that today I treated my first patient as a "Student Physical Therapist."
 This evening when I got back, the AC wasn't fixed yet.  I temporarily solved that problem by heading down to hang out by the pool with my binder to do a little studying for one of our remaining two finals.  The other two joined me after they got home.  After hanging out enjoying the sunshine and great weather, we headed in to make a "family dinner" of pesto on whole wheat penne pasta with chicken and onions, Texas Toast, and salad.  To top it all off, the AC was working!

Aylin likes dinner!

long time...

I left off my last post having just arrived back in Atlanta, January 7.  WOW.  A lot has happened since then.  It's been a crazy full semester.  Here are some "highlights:"
January 16 - this little bird flew at me and bit me on the lip!

January 25 - When my right eye turned bright red on the right side and was more painful than anything I can recall in my eye, I went to get it checked out, expecting that I had an infection and would quickly be sent home with antibiotics.  Instead, I was sent to an opthalmalogist and was diagnosed with scleritis, which is typically associated with autoimmune disorders.  Thankfully it succumbed to anti-inflammatory meds and has not returned.

January 29 - daffodils had already started blooming.  This does NOT bode well for summer temperatures.

January 30 - "EKG Challenge" - pitted teams against each other, then the highest scoring individuals from each team competed for a grand prize.  This used an online EKG quiz testing how well and how quickly one could identify a specific heart rhythm from a moving EKG strip.

getting ready for the final rounds

Feb 8 - While many of our classmates were in Chicago for the Combined Sections Meeting (CSM) of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), I was among those who stayed back in Atlanta and enjoyed a few days off.  My friend Rob and I joined our classmate Pete, his wife Stephanie, and their daughter Emery for a speedwalk up Stone Mountain.  Pete claimed they'd be slow, but their pace was fast enough that Rob didn't bother to join in the conversation on the way up to save his breath.

Pete on top of Stone Mountain

panoramic view from Stone Mountain with Rob in the middle

Over Spring Break at the very beginning of March, I dogsat for my classmate Hayley.  Eiger is still a puppy and therefore quite a handful...  but good fun and a good companion.  On one of the days, Dan, Martin, and I took Eiger with us and went disc golfing.  As expected, I was terrible, but it was great to hang out and take a walk.

happy Eiger

 

Dan showing off his skills

Martin teeing off

Martin putting while Dan restrains Eiger

March 21 - I came home to find my beloved car had been stolen, from my driveway, in one of the safest neighborhoods in Atlanta.  I miss it...  and am on the verge of buying another car.  This is NOT something I had planned to do within the next ten years, much less while in graduate school living on student loans.

birds left their mark on my poor car - I guess I'll never get the opportunity to detail that out.

March 25 started our intramural volleyball season - I'm playing on our women's team and one of our two coed teams.

March 31 - the Color Run.  This was a 5K fun run where color was added to your person throughout the course.  Dress code was "white t-shirt required."  I ran with some classmates, and am proud to say that I ran ALMOST the whole thing - Meg and I took a short walk break after about 4K - Angela and Jackie, our "real runner" classmates, set too fast a pace for the two of us to maintain the duration of run.

me, Jackie, Hope, Meg, and Angela before it all started

Meg, Angela, Jackie and me afterwards

Color Extravaganza at the Finish Line Festival

April 4 saw our two coed volleyball teams pitted against each other - DPT Blue vs. DPT White.

post game camaraderie

April 8 - Happy Easter to everyone, He is risen, He is risen indeed!  I celebrated Easter by attending Veritas church and then driving out to Acworth to join family for a delicious Easter dinner.

 the feast - ham, yams, mashed potatoes, broccoli and green salads, green bean casserole, gravy, cranberry sauce, with homemade key lime pie and triple chocolate brownies for dessert!

very full stomachs in this picture...

My first final of the semester was two days ago, my next one is this coming Friday, and then they sic us on real patients for two weeks!  I'm apprehensive/ excited about my first clinical, I'll be in Savannah on the neuro floor of a hospital.  Two other classmates, Aylin and Michelle, will be at the same hospital, and the three of us will be sharing an apartment.  When we get back, we'll have two more finals before our week-and-a-half semester break.

first week of 2012

So I'm now trying to catch up on  my blog.  On New Year's Day I went up to Chinese Baptist Church in Oakland - missed the service, but was able to catch up with a bunch of people and have lunch with Christina and Buddy.  The next day, I drove to Walnut Creek and spent the afternoon and evening catching up with Libby and family. 

 The next day I headed out early for Tahoe - I was able to get a few laps in at Sierra, and caught up with Julianne, too!

 Later in the afternoon, I joined Rick ice skating on Lily Lake again, this time with hockey sticks and a puck.  It was rather entertaining (at least for anyone who might've seen me!) as it was my first time ever touching a hockey stick!

 I stayed with Lisa again and cooked her a big lasagna for dinner and to last her for several days for lunch.

The next day I got together with Tiffany - we went for a walk from Beacon through the Tallac Historic site to Kiva Beach.  It was gorgeous, just sad that it was so dry in early January.  The water was higher than I remember seeing it, and she was showing me how much higher it had been all summer long.

The sunset that night was beautiful, this is the view from Lisa's back deck:

 I drove back to the Bay Area, straight to San Francisco.  There I met my mother at CalTrain, then Shannon and Paul shortly after.  I hadn't seen Shannon since 2006, and hadn't had a chance to meet Paul even though they've been in San Francisco for a couple years now.  We had a nice dinner with them before heading back to the South Bay.

My last day in California, my parents and I made a trip out to Half Moon Bay - I realized that I've possibly never been there before!  We walked through the quaint downtown, then met up with Tiffany and enjoyed clam chowder and french bread in El Granada.  A stroll along the beach finished off the afternoon, passing some of the surfers and media gathered for the paddle-out that inaugurates the Maverick's Surf competition window - we happened to visit on the day that begins the three-month period the contest can happen in 2012.

The next day I flew back to Atlanta, thankfully with uneventful flights, they didn't even make me gate-check my bag!

new year's eve eve and eve

We started off New Year's weekend with a trip to San Francisco on Friday.  We parked in Noe Valley and took the streetcar all the way to the Ferry Building.  Apparently, the whole F-Market and Wharves streetcar line is now run with vintage streetcars.  We rode to the Ferry Building in one from Milan, Italy.

fun with my camera in the ferry building

 After hanging out at the Ferry Building for a while, we went out and strolled along Market Street.  We stopped by the Humboldt Bank Building, built in 1906, in which I used to work.  Our first floor offices are now a Men's Wearhouse - and the old vault which served as our library now holds shoe stock!

interesting sculpture 

 my desk used to be right here!

 We saw a cable car, still with holiday decorations, turn around, load up, and head off.  Then we walked up to Union Square.  On the way, we found the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile parked in the porte cochere of Hotel Nikko!

 Christmas tree at Union Square

 We headed back to Market Street to catch a streetcar back to Noe Valley, nice and early for a New Year's Eve Eve party!  This time, we rode a vintage car painted in tribute livery to Chicago, IL.  The Gerard's party featured the Benny G Quartet (or something like that).

streetcars from Philadelphia, Chicago, and Milan

 Benny G Quartet

 New Year's Eve was another relaxing day, with a visit to high school friend Karen in the afternoon - bringing the good influence of a Cal T-shirt to her daughter!

And I'll continue with the start of 2012 in the next post!

holidays!

Catch-up time!  I went back to the Bay Area, stopping in Folsom for lunch with Pearl and Rachana.

Next stop - Berkeley!  I strolled around campus for a bit, and did a bit of shopping.

I enjoyed dinner with my good friends Alex and Sharon and their two kids, then taught them how to tune up the edges and then wax their skis and snowboards.

Back in Cupertino, I enjoyed a relaxing time with my parents.  We decorated the Christmas tree, Christmas-shopped, and I read a bunch of books!  We enjoyed Christmas morning opening gifts, then headed out to Fremont Older Open Space for a short hike.

Boxing Day my father and I saw the movie War Horse.  Great movie!  Three days later, we took a trip to Santa Cruz with our bicycles.  We pedaled out to the wharf and saw some sea lions doing what looked to be a synchronized swimming routine!  I looked it up and discovered that it's called a "raft" when they float in a group, and that they stick their fins up out of the water as a means of regulating their body temperature.  We enjoyed lunch on the wharf, a stroll on the Boardwalk, a ride on the Giant Dipper roller coaster, riding out to the marina, the "Secret Garden," and a cool park where I tried the "King Dancer" yoga pose for the first time ever.

riding from the wharf to the Boardwalk

 "King Dancer"

 view of the Boardwalk from the wharf

synchronized sea lions

Next post will continue with New Year's weekend...