Monument Valley

As promised here are some of my pictures from Monument Valley.
You may recognize some of the scenery as it has been filmed for multiple movies and commercials.  I am sure my Grandparents would recognize it as they have seen every western movie ever made at least 5 times.
My mother recalled Forrest Gump and that this is where he turned around and decided that he was done running.

Still driving up to the Valley.

View from the lookout at the visitors center.  After realizing that the guided tour was $65 for 1.5 hrs on the back of a truck in some benches that had been bolted down without air conditioning, I quickly decided that off-roading in my SUV with air conditioning for only the price of my gas was a much better deal.  So....off I went down that little dirt bath you see in the above picture for 17miles.  The most off-roading I or my car has ever seen!

Me - to prove that I was there.

The different buttes and mesas each have their own names.  This one is the 3 sisters.

This is the Rain God Mesa.  It looks as if water has been poured over the top of it.

The next 2 pictures follow in succession of this one - as if panning to the right.

The Northern Window.

Small Town Life

You would think that I would be used to living in a small town, I grew up in one.  But not anymore - it's also very different when the only people I know are the ones I work with.  Every doc and nurse practitioner or physician assistant I have met does not live in Tuba.  They come up to work for a few days and then skidattle outta here.  Which I plan on doing the same.  Actually I did do the same yesterday, on my day off - I took a day trip to Monument Valley.

First some info about TC:
Tuba City has a population of nearly 10,000, twice that of Willows, but the catch is that the people are spread waaaayyyyy out.

Population density of Willows:  2,146.2/sq mi
Population density of Tuba city: 921.6/sq mi

Yet TC was not lost to the fast food chains.  They have a McDonalds, Taco Bell, KFC, Subway, and even a SONIC!
There is one grocery store, which is small with very little in ways of fresh fruit and vegetables.  It's a good thing I made a trip to my buddy Trader Joe and stocked up before I left.  Last night I had gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce (will also be my lunch today) from Trader Giotto.

Thankfully I have wii-fi internet at the place where I am staying otherwise I think I might go crazy with boredom!  And my baby, Penny had to stay at home.    :(

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Anyhoo.... I was refreshed and rejuvenated after my day trip to Monument Valley yesterday.

Here is just a preview of the trip.  More pictures to follow:

Have a Happy 4th of July!  I'll be working until midnight :)

A big bad second year!

In case you haven't heard - I am now an upper level resident.  Say What?!  Yup that's right - I've graduated from my internship and have moved on to my second year.  That means I'm 1/3 of the way done.
There are 8 new interns who will be under me starting tomorrow, except for that I am out of town on an away rotation, again.
I'll be working in the Emergency Department for the next several weeks.  I disappeared off the face of my blog because I was working night shift for multiple nights prior to leaving for Tuba City.  And let me tell you - we were busy.  I had nearly 4 admissions every night for the first few nights on, with multiple patient's in the ICU.  It was great experience.

Sarah and I at our promotion dinner!  yay!

At the promotion dinner as 2nd years, we introduced the incoming interns to the department and in the process we passed on a "pearl" to them.  A "pearl" is just a small piece of wisdom we picked up along the way.  My pearl was that even at the end of your day, or in the middle of the night when you are woken up from sleep, if a nurse calls with a concern or issue with a patient - think to yourself, if that was my grandmother, or father, would I want someone to go evaluate them?  Usually that's enough to get me off my bum to see the patient.  Sadly, it's rather easy to become jaded and calloused to many complaints and common problems and easy to lose perspective.  Asking myself that question usually takes the frustrated, tired, stressed me out of the picture and puts it all back into perspective.  Does it mean I'm happy about going to see the patient all the time? heck no - but should I, probably.

Driving, driving, driving....nearly 6 hours!

Pretty sunset! 

Have you met my friend?

I've made a new friend since I've moved to Tucson.  He's great, because he helps feed me good food and fast (that's the key).  His name is: Trader Joe.
Sometimes he goes by different names it depends on his mood.  If he's frying up something from south of the border he goes by Trader Jose, or if he's headed out east Trader  Ming.

Following a rule made by my partner in crime, Sarah, I have to buy something new to try at every visit!

Here are some of my recent purchases.  Sorry for the blurry pictures - I took them quickly with my iphone before putting them away!

This was a new one - small bite sized pieces of bananas covered in chocolate.  mmm...mmm....good, especially because it's frozen & it's hot hot hot in Tucson now.

Probably my favorite type of cuisine from TJs is the frozen indian food.  There's a yummy chicken tikki masala and another Channa masala that's not frozen.  Great with the frozen naan.

Falafel - pretty good when in the mood for "vegetable meatballs" (that's what my mom calls them).  A little dry, but perfect when hummus is added.

Sief's absolute favorite - Mochi ice cream.

Haven't tried - I'll let you know if it's any good.  There is a chicken chow mein that is frozen and pretty good (not pictured).

And of course they have beer and wine - another must to survive intern year.  The prosecco is one of my favorites and and almond sparkling wine.

What's the most important part of rounds?

The daily hospital routine involves checking out with the night team to find out what happened with our patients while we were away from the hospital for 12 hours.  This starts at 6 am.
Then it's a mad dash to check on all of the patient's vital signs, labs, radiology studies, etc.  Scrambling to see all the patient's and writing the notes on them before "rounds" when it is time to present to the attending (the boss doctor) about what is going on with the patient and what the proposed plan is.

So....I ask you - "What is the most important part of rounds?"

Here's your hint:

That's right - snacks!  Our brains need fuel to run on.

coffee - check

yogurt with calcium to build strong bones - check

granola bars for carbs feed the brain - check

reference books so we look smart - check

notes finished, presentation prepared - hmm...if I'm lucky

The Wieners

Well, I forgot that I did not take many pictures poolside and the ones I had are in the post below.

Instead you get cute pictures of my baby dogs!  :)

Aren't they cute?

Biggity Buster

Penny Princess.  She's not spoiled!

FRIENDS!!!

Poolside

I know that at home it's been cooler than normal for the months of May and June.
Well it's warm, warm, warm ... Ok downright hot sometimes here in Tucson.
But Lucky me - I got to relax poolside on memorial day and am repeating that today. Ahhh....the beautiful weather.

Cool new sunglasses, an ice cold glass of water, and red legs.

:) Pictures to follow soon :)