Halloween!

The retreat is Los Altos Hills was refreshing. Our schedule wasn't very demanding, so we had a lot of time to spend with each other and by ourselves enjoying the retreat center grounds, which were wonderful. Being in Northern California, the weather was....well, there! It drizzled and rained most of the time we were there, which was very refreshing.

Los Altos Hills is about 5.5 hours north of LA. The drive went by well. Another 45 minutes north is San Fran. We had the day to ourselves in San Fran. It was great! That city is so easy to get around! We all met up at the volunteer house in San Fran (The Pink House) for dinner. The weekend went by very quickly, but was a good chance for some reflection and a break from the usual routine.

I felt under the weather coming back from the retreat and had a mild cold this past week. Thankfully, it never hit me too hard and I am back to good health now. Yesterday we got into our Legends of the Hidden Temple Halloween costumes and went to a get together at BH. They had their place well decorated. It was 4 of them, 5 of MM (Holly stayed back as she wasn't feeling well) and a few other friends of the BH house.

My role at work is different. I'm not sure if I like it at this point. I am going to figure it out over the next few weeks and see what I can do to make it the best I can. Plenty of chores to do around the house, which never seem to be done. Maybe this is why I am not the greatest about these updates.

Tomorrow I am going into another VSC service site to start a teen women's health after school educational program. Holly and I are spliting it up and will alternate who goes in Monday. I am starting off tomorrow. I am looking forward to it. Nothing wild right now, just a discussion with the girls to determine what they want to know. It will be interesting I am sure.

Oh! We went to Karaoke last Wednesday at the Central Community Outreach Center. It is a few hours every Wednesday night. It is a church basement on skid row they open up for people to get together and sing karaoke. I brought the MM house there for our community night. It was great! It really illustrated the point that everyone needs joy and fun in their lives. No exceptions. Rad.

Picture time! Thanks to my very talented roommate Laura....


On top of the 'Pink House' in San Fran



A view of San Fran



Fierce!



Ready for Halloween Fun!

Cruise Control.....

So after about 12 weeks here I am getting into a good type of routine. The friends I have made here are great. They are my family and my support and I would be lost without them. We've been doing less on weekends because we've been exhausted and needing to catch up on things; it also gives us time away from schedules, which is very necessary. Speaking of, we're off to our first reflection weekend at Los Altos Hills in the Bay area on Thursday. I was on today and yesterday, which means I am off tomorrow through sunday! Fantastic.

When I return to SFMC I will be off orientation and will start to function as I will for the rest of the year....still figuring out exactly what that means, but I know it will start Wednesday.

Weather: Rainy!

Life is good.

Shower Handles...

Holly and I both had the day off. I took the opportunity to fix my shower-I had both time and a vehicle to get the necessary parts. It took a great deal of time and driving indeed. Ultimately, I got it figured out. I’m quite happy with this. I also got to have a good chat with my dad, which is always a good thing.
I spent a few hours this evening doing some screenings with the SFMC Mobile Health Units. Usually, I take blood sugars, cholesterol and blood pressure. Sometimes I help people fill out their forms or do height and weight. It is another good chance to work on my Spanish. A little each day is the way I operate.
This weekend Sr. Camille is coming to visit. She is basically the sweetest person in the world. She is the director of VSC West. I will be seeing here next weekend as well as all of the other VSC West volunteers at our Reflection weekend. I’m very excited for this.

I got a package of wooden spoons from Aunt Terri in WA today. It was awesome because: 1-I got mail that wasn’t a student loan statement or something from the bank, 2-it was a package and 3-it had really awesome wooden spoons, a cutting board, wax and a very nice letter inside. Score for me. Thank you!
Tomorrow may be my last shift on precepted orientation. Next week Holly and I will start working totally opposite days (except one day/week when we are both on) and we will start floating around the unit discovering our role on the floor. It will be interesting.
Another volunteer has asked Holly and I to lead a Women’s health group for some of here girls at the school she volunteers at. I’m super excited! Holly is going to work on the female anat/phys, I am going to cover sex ed issues and we’ll both cover pregnancy/newborn/child care. It will be…..interesting. I’m very excited. There is A LOT we need to cover. We are going to alternate every Monday afternoon.
Most of us are in some way, shape or form stressing about our plans for after this year. It is mostly a good stress, but sometimes it gets to be a bit much. Fortunately, we support each other well. I’ve been thinking a lot. Still thinking. Still a bit stressed, but doing all right.
I’ve had some interesting patients the last few days. A lot of psych patients, a pediatric patient, a GYN patient-I didn’t sign on for this! Ha! Really though, it is a good exercise of my schooling-much like the women’s health group I mentioned. Of course there are the gun shot wound patients…..always GSWs on the floor.

The weather here is beautiful, work is going well and I am with amazing people here and supported by the love of so many people all over the place. It’s wonderful. I’m off to bed. It is 9:15 after all. My typical waking time is about 5:20. I’m not a fan, but at least I can get the rest.

Sally and the Great Food Truck Convention

In our house we've each taken on a community function. Jess has taken on the social planning position. She plans most events on our weekends and coordinates our schedules to provide us all opportunities to do a wide variety of fun things. She does it well. She was in San Fran this weekend with her school so the rest of us were on our own. We've been so busy on the weekends, we welcomed a more laid back weekend.

Sally, one of the VSCs who in Santa Barbara came down for the weekend to hang out with us. Alli's parents and sister also came she weekend. It was a different group dynamic since Jess was gone, Alli was with her family most of the time and we had Sally here. We went to a food truck convention near downtown LA on Saturday. The sun was blazin! Basically, 5 food trucks were in a lot. 5$ donation to meals on wheels got you 5 colored tickets. Each one could be redeeming at a truck for a sample. Additionally, with entry you got free Dos Equis beer and bacardi drinks. The downfall of course were the lines.

We quickly figured out which color ticket went to each truck and split into three groups of 2. Ultimately, we only got to try 3 trucks' food because the other 2 ran out/shut down because the event was ending. The food was really delicious and we had a good time for a low price. Laura went with her friend to hang out for the night leaving Adrienne, Holly, Sally and myself for the night.

We got Ramen at Foo Foo Tei (So Yummy!) and then went to Boyle heights for a movie night. Holly stayed at MM because she was very tired. 3 of the BH people were in SF as well, which made for a group of 6. It wasn't the usual group; it was a different dynamic. I enjoyed it.

Sally left MM on Sunday. I got a bunch of tasks accomplished-including some loan forbearance. Of which some have already been approved. Nice. That night I made Zucchini and Whole Wheat Mac & Cheese with a green bean, tomato, feta salad. The 6 of us at MM, Meaghan from BH and Alli's family sat at our modified large table. It was a nice family dinner to end the week apart.

Yesterday I worked my first 12 hour shift. It went just fine. It felt no different than an 8 except I didn't have a ton of other time in my day to really do anything. Now I am getting more stuff done with my day off (we only work 3 days/week on 12s). Ted, Laura's BF is here for the week. We're figuring out how to get around on Public Transit effectively. Well, he is. I'm blogging. Oh dear.....not very useful at this point.