Browse Month: September 2017

42

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I turned 42 on Thursday and it was a nice coincidence that it landed on my usual day off of the week. Jesse took the day off too. The day started with breakfast at a cafe in Emeryville followed by some browsing and shopping for kitchen countertops, applicances, and cabinets. We are planning to remodel the kitchen soon and needed to get some stuff picked out. For lunch, we went to Trabocco and shared a burrata platter and prosecco. After the main entrees, we ordered a small affogatto and the owner/chef came out with a special “Happy Birthday” platter and sang to me.

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That was very sweet in so many ways.

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On Friday evening, the family sang to me and helped me blow out candles.

First Week at Kaiser

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I had my first week at the new job and it went as expected. The first two days were at orientation, which was off-site in Richmond. Traffic up to Richmond was surprisingly easy with no traffic at all. I scored my first piece of KP swag today and some of the information provided was pretty interesting.

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Wednesday was my first official day in the hospital. I left the house at 6:50am and watched the sun come up on my way in. Traffic is much lighter at that hour too. This is a view of the hospital from the freeway before I exited.

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When I walked in, my desk was cleared and ready for me. I was placed right next to Teresa in a cubby by the entrance to the staff office. I get an entire corner desk with cubicle walls. It’s like moving into a mansion with a roomie already there to greet me!

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Starting a new job is a little less scary when you move into and share a cubicle with someone you love. 🙂

The rest of the week went smoothly. I met a lot of the staff, enjoyed a potluck on Wednesday, got to work one-on-one with a few therapists, helped run a parent workshop, and participated in Spasticity Clinic. I worked 10 hours on Wednesday and had Thursday off (my birthday and usual day off in the week). Then I went in for my 6-hour day on Friday, got off at 1:30pm, went home to study for a couple hours, and then picked up the kids early to take them out for boba.

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I think the kids and I are gonna like this new schedule!

Two Weeks Off

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I’ve had the past two weeks off and it’s been nice to have some alone time to reflect and reset before starting a new job. On the first day, Holly called and said she was still in town so she brought the kids over for dinner and I actually had time to shop and cook for them!

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On one of the days, Teresa got flexed off so we met up in Oakland to do some studying. Then I treated her to a sushi lunch to thank her for all that she’s done for me these past few months as I was deciding what to do with my life/career.

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Much of my time, aside from doing laundry, has been dedicated to studying for my IBCLC exam. One day I couldn’t sit still at home so I made a pedicure appointment. It forced me to really sit down and read. It was very productive and relaxing at the same time.

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One of the things I also wanted to do on my time off was volunteer in KK’s class at least once. I signed up for one of their Wednesday science hours and it was really cool to be a part of her class.

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On one of my last days, I had lunch with Ranee. She was flexed off for the afternoon so it was perfect. We met up in Rockridge and had a fun Italian meal together.

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I also had the chance to go out for a Mom’s Night Out with the neighborhood moms. Jes took the kids to Chipotle while I shared two pitchers of margaritas with these lovely ladies. It’s so nice to know that we live next to some really nice (and fun) people.

On both Fridays, I had lunch with Eleen and got to catch up with her. She’s always up for some boba so it’s great! Too bad I didn’t get any photos.

So, tomorrow is the first of two days of orientation. Wednesday will be my first official day at Kaiser and the schedule looks to be pretty easy – tours, getting to know people, getting to know the system, shadowing therapists in various roles. I’m also off on Thursday as my regular day off and it also happens to be my birthday. Perfect!!

Here’s what my typical work week will look like:
Mondays 7:30am-4:00pm (8 hrs)
Tuesdays 7:30am-4:00pm (8 hrs)
Wednesdays 7:30am-6:00pm (10 hrs)
Thursdays OFF
Friday 7:30am-1:30pm (6 hrs)

I’m a little excited but also a little anxious about this whole change. I know the schedule will be better for me and the family. I just hope it’s also a good step forward for my career as well. Wish me luck!

East Bay 510K

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I ran my first 10K in 4 years today. A few months ago, I joined a running group that Teresa leads. They run every Saturday morning in different locations around the East Bay and also do a track workout on Wednesday evenings.

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Teresa also registered for this race but she has gotten a lot faster than me.

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I finished strong and felt pretty good about my performance.

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I actually placed within the first 25th percentile of my gender and age groups. Not too shabby.

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Saying Goodbye

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It’s my last day at CHO and I tried to be as present as I could in order to appreciate the place I called my second home for the past 10 years.

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The week started on Tuesday after the Labor Day weekend and Teresa was there for her one day of work there. We got to do one final co-treat together in the morning and it was like old times.

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I’ve been taking home one bag of stuff home each day for the past two weeks but somehow my desk still looked intact that day.

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On Wednesday, I had my last All-Staff Meeting and got everyone together for a group photo. I’m missing some key people in the photo but loved having whoever I could all at once. My manager also took me out for lunch as part of my exit interview.

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On Thursday, I had one last bowl of the trusty steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins from the cafeteria. We also went out for our usual Thursday lunch and Mai joined us with Cece.

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We ate at the cheese shop and then went across the street for Pete’s as usual.

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Ranee also worked that day and we had our last official work day together.

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Waaaaah! I also said goodbyes to some key people who would not be working on Friday so it was the start of the end for me.

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On Friday, I snapped a few photos of what I saw everyday. This is the red light that I would often have to wait at before going into the parking structure.

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This is the stairwell that I climbed day in and day out. I had gotten pretty good at climbing up at least 2-3 flights at a time over and over again.

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I arrived pretty early and got a photo of the entrance to our gym/office. It’s a pretty nice place to work.

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This is what a typical morning also looks like. We were all crammed into his one long staff office working side by side. It was crazy at times but so nice to have everyone together in one place.

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I was lucky enough to get assigned a corner desk with a view of the courtyard and 100-year-old magnolia tree outside. This is what my desk looked like 10 years ago back when we didn’t have our own computers and still wrote notes by hand. By Friday, my desk was cleared out and all I had left to take home was an orchid and a binder that I had left so I could finish some paperwork.

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I brought in donuts one last time and made sure I brought enough for everyone. My caseload was pretty light that day and I had enough time to pack up some last minute things, deliver thank you cards.

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I also went to say goodbye to the Clinical Nutrition department at lunch. I worked so closely with them on so many feeding cases and made some good friends along the way.

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By the end of the week, I received and gave numerous hugs and words of encouragement.

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The last person I said “see you later” to was Nicole. She is the last remaining friend that has been with me full-time for the past 10 years. I handed over our pet beaver for safe keeping and we got one last photo at work together.

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I turned in my badge and keys at the end of the day and walked out with a huge weight lifted off of me. Here’s to a new adventure in the big big world of Kaiser!

Looooong Weekend

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Peanut’s school was closed on Thursday and Friday, which was butted up against Labor Day weekend so we decided to have a 5-day weekend in Cerritos. Unfortunately, California is going through a crazy heat wave (hotter in SF than Cerritos!) so we didn’t get to do as much as we usually do. Instead, we spent a lot of time indoors at the Magical House and had a couple fancy dinners.

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On Thursday, we had big dinner at Souplantation with almost the whole family on both sides. It was chaotic but we  had a good time.

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On Friday afternoon, we went to Happy Hour with Johnny and Joy for some $1 oysters and some time without the kids. For a change, I didn’t have to share my oysters with KK.

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I also took a short trip to Walmart with just my mom and brother. I had forgotten how easy it is to pick up diapers when you don’t have to carry around a 2-year-old and diaper bag.

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That same night, Jes and I went out for a late 10:00 pm dinner at Osteria Mozza. It was not only later than my bedtime but it was also in LA (on Melrose and Highland to be exact). Fortunately, Jes took a nap and I got some rest before our little outing.

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We ordered smoked mozzarella with prosciutto, grilled octopus, squid ink pasta with crab and uni, and a grilled fish. These are some terrible photos of the dishes but good enough for me to remember.

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On Saturday night, we had a family dinner at one of our favorite places, Lawry’s!! It was fun to have all 4 cousins together with the grandparents. The last time I had dined there was November 2014 (just the two of us for our anniversary). The last time the family dined there together was when KK was September 2013 for my birthday. Crazy.

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This time, we celebrated Jesse’s birthday. KK also got her very own slice of prime rib with the fixings.

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On Sunday, we spent the majority of the day with Jes’ family.

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We had dim sum for lunch, spent the afternoon playing at their house, and then another birthday dinner for Jes.

We left Cerritos yesterday at 7:00 am, made two stops, went outlet shopping for a couple hours, and got home by 5:00 pm. That left us plenty of time to do a load of laundry and play outside with neighbors. What a fun (but very hot) weekend!!

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