News from the West Coast

So the adjustment period here in Palo Alto is ongoing.  I’m starting to realize that the yellow lights here in traffic are very short.  Probably because the speed limits here are usually 25 mph.  That’s right, 25 mph.  People don’t usually go that slow, but they do tend to stay right around 30 mph, which definitely took some getting used to after being in Florida where everyone drives upwards of 50 and the yellow lights seem to last a minute.  And even with the long yellow lights, there were always about 3-4 cars that ran the red.  There are signs posted at a lot of the intersections in Palo Alto describing the sorts of fines a person will get for running red lights.  Usually right around $300 or so.  Needless to say, I really don’t see all that many people running red lights.  Except for me, because I think I have more time with the yellow than I actually do.  I ran two red lights in one outing the other day.  Hopefully no tickets show up in the mail.  Another adjustment has been the layout of Palo Alto.  It’s mostly like a grid, but it’s situated at an angle, so all the streets run NW, SE, etc.  It’s been really hard to get my bearings.  I’m starting to remember where things are, but as far as whether they are north, south, or otherwise from me, I usually have no idea.  It’s easier to just point.  Sometimes I’ll say north when I really mean east, but Simon’s starting to get my backwards speaking, so he knows what I mean.

There are a lot of intelligent people out here in Palo Alto.  Just the other day Simon and I were sitting in a coffee shop, and we heard the barista talking to a patron, saying that Google is going to get in trouble with some anti-trust something or other.  And I thought to myself, “what’s anti-trust mean?”  Sounds bad, whatever it is.  She then goes on to say, “It’s like Microsoft 1999 all over again.”  What in the world happened at Microsoft in 1999?  People out here are just on a whole ‘nother level, and they’re difficult to spot because they look like everyone else.  I guess that’s probably how it is with smart people though, they don’t really stand out when they’re just out and about...until you hear them talk.

I have recently determined that the only cuisine that has not yet been tainted by that evil weed cilantro is mediterranean food.  If I stick with mediterranean, I think I’ll be all right.  Everything else I have to ask, and I hate asking because people always look at me like I’m nuts.  I don’t get it.  If someone says they don’t like tomatoes, I don’t look at them like they’re crazy (I do make fun of my brother for not liking onions, but that’s because he’s my brother, and it’s not a taste thing with him, it’s a texture thing, which is weird).  Simon says it’s because most people don’t even know they’re eating cilantro, so they think it’s a really obscure taste to isolate and despise.  Most people probably just think it’s parsley.

Simon and I have been exclusively riding the bikes and the scooter around town here.  The last time I took the Jeep out was to buy dog food, which would be almost impossible to transport on a two-wheeled vehicle.  My confidence on the scooter is getting much, much better.  I only took the scooter out one time while we were in Florida, and that one outing was enough to convince me that I will never scoot in Florida again.  My confidence is one setback, the Florida drivers are another.  It’s not good to ride around in a constant panic, absolutely certain that someone it going to run me over.  But here in Palo Alto the drivers are much more observant and considerate.  And they’re not pushing 90 years old and can see over the steering wheel.  I’m getting better with the biking.  So far there have been no issues outside of my confidence issues.  There are so many bikers here, and there are bike lanes everywhere.  It helps too that the speed limits are so slow, so when you’re riding in traffic, people aren’t blowing by you at 50 mph.  Considering that Palo Alto is so bike friendly, I’m irritated by the number of people that ride bike on the sidewalk.  Simon had trained this dirty habit out of me a while ago, and now I’m annoyed by it.  In Florida, yes, I will ride bike on the sidewalk because riding in traffic would certainly get me killed.  But here, where there are wide bike lanes and sensors at traffic lights to detect if a person is on a bicycle waiting to cross the intersection, there is no excuse for bikers to be on the sidewalk.  And if they do insist on riding on the sidewalk, then perhaps they should invest in a dinger of some sort.  I got buzzed on the sidewalk by a girl on a bike just the other day as I was walking home from somewhere (the bike lane was a mere 3 feet to my immediate left).  I seriously wanted to pop her on her helmet and berate her for being inconsiderate.  First of all, I sometimes flap my arms when I walk, particularly if I’m telling a story, especially one where I am excited or incredulous.  I will not be held responsible for punching a bicyclist when am mid-story if they are on the sidewalk.  And is it so hard to shout out a courtesy “on your left” if you’re going to pass a pedestrian on the sidewalk?  Or at the very least ride in the boulevard until they’re past me?  Pretty sure mountain bike tires can handle a little grass.  Just sayin.’

So now that Simon and I are living in a one-bedroom apartment, we’re adjusting to life in a smaller space.  Particularly in sharing one bathroom.  It’s inevitable that when one of us needs to use the bathroom, the other one is already in there...most likely taking a poop.  Why is it that the pooper is always the one in the bathroom?  I feel like I am very infrequently the pooper waiting outside the bathroom.

We’re also paying for internet for the first time in years.  I haven’t paid for it since 2006 when I worked in Arizona.  I don’t know when the last time it was that Simon paid for internet...possibly never since he’s never owned a computer.  It’s nice to not have to steal, and this definitely cuts back on our expenses at the Starbucks across the street.  And yes, we did try to tally it up to see if going to Starbucks multiple times a week would be cheaper than buying internet.  It wasn’t.

The noise level in the complex is a bit more than we’re used to, but we’re used to living around the elderly, who are mostly quiet and tend to call the cops on the noisy people.  Our apartment faces the pool, and we hear all manner of screaming at all hours of the day.  I don’t understand the screaming.  And it’s not just children that are screaming, there are adults that get in their fair share of screaming, yelling, squealing, and loud grunting.  Sometimes even roaring.  What is going on out there?  Sometimes it sounds like we’re under attack.  Add into that the daily 5am chorus of crows and squirrels, and it makes for a fair amount of noise.  Simon wants to get a slingshot to shoot at the crows.  They’re not the pleasant sounding fishing crows that we used to hear in Florida, who sound like they’re always saying “uh oh,” but the awful maniacal cawing ones that you hear in Minnesota when they’re flocking around harassing some other bird.  We also live across the way from an aspiring flautist, clarinetist, and trumpeter.  I don’t think it’s all the same child.  They’re not too bad.  We just heard a flute rendition of the song “Dynamite.”  I throw my hands up in the air sometimes...

There are also a fair amount of dogs at our complex, but I rarely see or hear them.  Our neighbor has a giant chocolate lab, and he’s pretty much the only dog we ever hear barking.  And Simon noticed something that I probably never would have noticed in my entire life.  He is aware of the fact that dogs react to the jingle of other dogs‘ collars.  I always thought it was somewhat neurotic that he used to rubber band my dogs‘ dog tags so they wouldn’t jingle.  I thought he just couldn’t stand the noise, which is partially true, but he also does it so that other dogs won’t hear my dogs wandering around.  At first I thought he was crazy, but then I started to notice the way my dogs react to hearing other dogs jingle.  It usually causes an otherwise calm situation to escalate into mayhem.  How strange that I never figured that out.

Taxes are really high here.  Palo Alto sales tax is 9.25%.  Gag!  Given my affinity for online shopping, it might almost be cheaper to get free shipping and no tax to my parents’ house and have them flat rate me my stuff, rather than pay the sales tax to have it shipped here.  Not that I’ll actually do that, but it has crossed my mind.  In talking with residents here, everything is expensive.    

Everywhere we live, I usually find some sort of fashion obsession. In Vermont it was Frye boots, JCrew, and the Gap.  In Winston-Salem it was skirts from Hollister and tank tops from Target.  In LaCrosse it was Express.  In Florida it was dresses from Target.  In Colorado it was Keen shoes.  You get the idea.  Here in Palo Alto, it’s Lululemon, which is yoga-inspired athletic wear.  Now, anyone reading this knows that I’m in no way athletic.  In fact, I biked up a gradual hill yesterday and thought I was going to barf all over my bike.  Simon explained to me that what we had just biked does in no way represent a real hill, but I still thought I was going to barf just the same.  So yes, I am not athletic.  But athletic clothing is comfortable.  And Lululemon athletic clothing is also aesthetically pleasing and flattering to the female form.  So that’s my obsession out here.  Unfortunately (aside from the Frye boots) it’s also a very expensive obsession.  I have my cousin Keri to blame for it, since she bought me my first Lululemon jacket, which I absolutely love and wear everyday.  The thing I love most about their jackets and long-sleeved shirts is that they have thumbholes in the cuffs to keep the sleeves down.  I’m now obsessed with thumbholes.  That sounds dirty.  I don’t mean it to be.  I really do like having the thumbholes to keep my sleeves down.  It keeps my arms warm, which is nice here because it gets cold at night, and sometimes during the day.

So we have come to realize that with all the trouble we went to to find an apartment that would accommodate our paddle boards, it appears that we might not be able to use them at all while we’re here.  For one, the Pacific is really cold.  We will probably need wetsuits, which are not cheap.  The idea of getting a used one is disturbing to me because I’ve heard that people pee in their wetsuits to keep warm.  I don‘t want a wetsuit that someone else has peed in.  And I doubt anyone is going to own up to peeing in their wetsuit when they’re trying to sell it.  So there’s that.  Then there are the rip currents.  Don’t really want any part in that because I can’t swim very well.  I think the Pacific in general is a lot more rough than the Atlantic too.  I have no desire to learn how to surf my paddle board.  Simon said that he would give it a try, and he’s welcome to.  I will be watching safely from shore.  I don’t know if we can paddle board in the San Francisco Bay or not.  It doesn’t seem like it, and I remember hearing a long time ago that there are great white sharks in the San Francisco Bay.  Again, that might not be true, but am I willing to take the chance?  No.    

Columbo died.  That makes me sad.  My mom used to love that show.  She probably still does, it‘s just that there aren’t new episodes anymore.  Now there probably never will be.

In the course of my nursing career, I have had the opportunity to care for multiple patients that have been the victims of cat bites.  All these bites have come at the mouths of their own pets, and the infections are usually pretty severe. When asked about the situation surrounding the bite, the answer is always the same: “Well, she likes to petted until she doesn’t.  Then she bites.”  It takes all the restraint I have in this body of mine not to berate them for keeping an animal in their home that bites them.  And bites them repeatedly, I might add, as the bite that gets them hospitalized is not normally the first bite, nor will it be the last since most of these cat owners dismiss the biting as mere “normal” cat behavior and will keep the offending animal until it inevitably passes away.  I would like to point out that some of these cat bite infections have been so severe that they required amputation of the digit that was bitten.  And still they plan on keeping the cat.  I would never tolerate an animal in my home that bites me, and I don’t understand why anyone else would either.  For all you cat owners out there, I will never again touch your cat, for fear that it might be one those that “likes to be petted until she doesn’t,” because if your cat were ever to bite me, I would not be held responsible for snapping its neck right in front of you, and then I would make you pay for my hospitalization and possible amputation.

As gleefully as we’re adjusting to the city of Palo Alto, I wish we could say the same for the hospital.  I feel that the hospital staffing was misrepresented during our interview, and I feel like because of what I was told, I had really high expectations of what working at a hospital in California was going to be like, particularly one affiliated with an ivy league school.  California has mandated nurse-to-patient ratios to ensure safe patient care.  Which all sounds really good in theory.  What they don’t tell you is that in giving us these ratios, they take away our support staff.  On night shifts we don’t have nursing assistants, so that means that every pillow fluffing, every poop in the bed, every glass of water, every blood pressure reading, has to be attended to by me.  And I‘m not saying that I’m above doing any of those things, because whether or not I have a nursing assistant, I’m still the one held responsible for making sure that my patients are clean and comfortable...not to mention fed, medicated, bandaged, and any other care that they might require while they’re in the hospital.  I do feel that personal care is just as important as medical care.  If a person doesn’t feel clean, comfortable or well-rested, they’re not going to feel good no matter how much pain and nausea medication they’re getting.  It’s a whole body kind of thing, but whole body things can be time consuming, and with 5 patients by myself, whole body care is impossible.  It is.  It’s unrealistic for me to expect that I can provide adequate whole body care by myself to 5 sick patients in a 12-hour period...and to document it all besides.  It just doesn’t happen.  And why any hospital would think that is possible is beyond me.  Probably because their bean counters are telling them it’s possible.  And really, are they saving that much money?  I was told that a new nurse starting out here makes $54 an hour.  As a traveler, I don’t make even close to that...more than $20 less than that actually.  When compared with a nurse that has as much experience as I do, it’s probably more like $30 less, but that’s neither here nor there.  My point is, nursing assistants are paid less than registered nurses.  Wouldn’t it be more prudent to pay someone less to help out with the things that don’t require a college degree, rather than have a degreed person doing everything themselves?  Not that those patient care activities are a waste of my time, but it’s just not good utilization of my time or my expertise, especially when we’re dealing with really sick people that have a lot of pressing medical needs.  Maybe us travelers are their answer to “paying someone less” to do bedside care.  Maybe they should hire more of us since they’re getting us so cheap (according to a staffer we overheard talking to some new orientees).  Personally, it’s an outrage.  When family members get in my face about why this thing wasn’t done and why that thing wasn’t done and why the water pitcher was empty, my first reaction is to get defensive, because I truly am doing the best that I can with what I have to work with.  I have to prioritize, and frankly, water pitchers are kind of low on my list of priorities.  On the other hand, I know exactly where they’re coming from.  It’s hard to sit there in the bed as the patient, or at the bedside as a family member, and feel completely helpless and to feel like things aren’t being done the way you think they ought to be.  Patients and family members don’t care that I have other patients to take care of, and why should they?  This is their life, their health, their money.  They came to the hospital to get better, and they expect to get better.  Can I really fault them for that?  After hearing about how great it is to work out here, I find myself rather unimpressed.  They work their nurses to death out here, and they maintain that they gave the nurses exactly what they asked for when they asked for mandated patient ratios.  So when I think about all the negative press that the nurses and their union got in the Twin Cities last summer, particularly when the media focus was on money, I can’t help but be disgusted by the media and all those people that didn’t support the nurses.  I’d like to see what they have to say when they or their family members get sick and need to be hospitalized and they can have the hospital experience first-hand.  Healthcare is a serious issue, and despite hospitals claiming that the patient comes first, I frequently feel like the patient comes last, especially if they don’t have insurance.  That’s the reality of it.  Quite frankly, the longer I work in healthcare, the more disgusted I am by it.  I wish there was something else I was good at or liked to do, because I would consider a career change.  Don’t get me wrong, I love being a nurse and I love helping people, but I feel like I’m beating myself up against a wall.

Whoo!  Rant rant rant!  There’s my bit on healthcare.  I could go on for days about this, but at the risk of sounding like a harpy, I won’t.  Simon and I had initially planned on staying out here for about 5 months, which is 2 months longer than our current contract.  We’re not so sure about that now.  Maybe things will get better.  Maybe we’ll adjust.  I guess time will tell.  If we had to decide today if we would stay longer or not, we would not.  So that means I need to quit shopping.  Today is the day I will start buying only things I can eat.  I guess it’s a good thing I bought that new pair of shoes yesterday!  

Anyway, that’s all for now.  Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Florida to Minnesota to California

So I realized that I haven’t written in a while.  I’ve tried.  Really, I have.  The past few months have left me pretty uninspired to write, which is weird, because there was a lot going on.  I’ll quickly recap, and then get to the guts of some good, long-winded “Stef-style” writing.  Hold on to your butts!

I have this thing about internet research.  Doesn’t matter what I’m buying, I have to research it.  The days of impulse buying have come and gone for me...well, mostly.  I can still drop a hundred or two at the mall on a whim, but I’ve gotten better about that as well.  I guess I’ve realized that with my lifestyle and the limited space it requires at any given moment, I can’t have multiples of everything like I used to, and it’s better to buy things that are higher quality and will last through trip after trip across the country.  So in essence, I’m probably spending about the same, but I’m buying things that won’t need to be replaced as often.  The goal is to rid myself of things that need to be replaced.  If that ever happens, I’ll let you know.  There are times that the internet research gets a little out of hand though.  For instance, I researched for DAYS to find the perfect pet beds for my dogs (nevermind the fact that they were completely content to lie on a blanket on the floor).  To be honest, I thought that if I found them the perfect beds, it would keep them off the couches and the bed.  Sadly, it didn’t.  But all those days weren’t wasted, as I found some pet beds that come without any stuffing; the idea is that you stuff them with old bedding, pillows, clothing, etc.  So now rather than keeping something slightly ratty around just because it’s still somewhat useful, I just throw it in the pet bed.  Cuts down on trash, the whole thing is reusable and washable, and it’s thick and soft for the pups...they happen to be getting up there in years, so it’s nice to have something comfy for them.  Unfortunately, they still prefer the couches and human bed.

In the same breath about spending more on less things, I recently kicked my Aveda habit.  Yes, I know it’s sustainably grown and the ingredients are fair-traded...I understand all that, and I really support that business model.  I just don’t think my hair really cares if I’m using $20 shampoo or $2 shampoo...my bank account surely does though.  So now I’m back to using drugstore shampoo, and I really can’t tell the difference.  In all honesty, the drugstore brands lather more, and whether that’s a good, bad, or indifferent thing, I like lots of lather.  I feel like I’m cleaner, even if I might not be.  

There were some things going on with the government a few months back...something about a shut down.  No idea what that’s about.  I don’t know what was going on in Libya, and I vaguely remember seeing something on TV about Osama being killed (or was he?).  I’m out of the loop as to what’s going on here at home and abroad.  I kinda like it that way...gives me less things that are beyond my control to be angry about.  The last thing I remember seeing on the news was something about a spillway being opened in Louisiana, flooding out about 25,000 people to save the swampy dumpster that is New Orleans.  I think New Orleans and all of the Mississippi delta should just be returned to the river and be done with it.  Honestly.  I was so upset by that spillway stuff that I decided to quit watching the news.  And now I don’t have a TV, so I really have no choice in the matter.  I know that bad things are happening to good people everyday, all over the world...I don’t need some talking head from CBS to give me the gist of it.  The scope of badness is so big that I can’t even wrap my head around it, so I’ve given up trying.  Maybe that makes me irresponsible, selfish, and ignorant, I guess I don‘t really know.  

In March some friends and I went on a shortie cruise from Miami to the Bahamas.  I figured that the days of drunken nudity, peeing in random places, and sexual adventures with other people in the room were behind me.  Well...they’re not.  Or they weren’t then.  I honestly thought I was just too old for that behavior.  It’s kind of refreshing to know that I’m not.  It’s also kind of refreshing to know that that kind of behavior only happens once in a blue moon (thank goodness!).  Another great thing about the cruise (besides the fruity drinks) was that I didn’t get seasick.  Not once!  I get motion sickness just from riding in the back seat of a car...put me on a boat and it’s usually a recipe for profuse vomiting and Dramamine overdose.  Apparently being on a boat over 800 feet long is the key to a vomit-free vacation.  I did have an unfortunate seasickness episode about a month later when Simon and I went snorkeling in the Keys.  A lot of people questioned my logic in not taking Dramamine beforehand, as did I...a little bit.  For one, I was a little cocky about my motion sickness, given the success of the cruise.  For two, I’m not a strong swimmer, and even though Dramamine has a non-drowsy formula, it still makes me groggy, and I didn’t feel like being out in the ocean in 35 feet of water with fish and sharks everywhere was the greatest place to be groggy.  So I went in the water for about 10 minutes.  Got nauseated, got back on the boat and puked for the next 2 hours.  My friend Carmen told me to keep eating because if you’re going to puke, it feels better when you have something to puke up.  I thought she was nuts and figured the vomiting would stop once my stomach was empty.  It didn’t.  The nausea is independent of the stomach contents, and continues long after the stomach is empty.  And let me tell you, puking up undigested pieces of watermelon feels and tastes a whole lot better than violently heaving up small amounts of bile.  

During our last month in Florida, Ellen, Fred, Simon and I made the obligatory trek to Universal Studios.  What a nightmare.  Honestly, I was appalled by the place and will not be going back.  Ever.  I was under the impression that Universal Studios (US from here on out) was a theme park, a place to take the kiddos so they could go on rides.  I would have to say with almost complete certainty that the gift shops outnumbered the rides 6:1.  How fun is a gift shop?  And some of the rides actually exited into gift shops, offering all sorts of cheap trinkets for kids to scream about when they get off the rides.  Oh, and some rides had height restrictions.  But if you were with a child, you could go on them.  What’s up with that??  I wanted to throw a fit like a spoiled child because I was told I was too tall to go on the Jurassic Park pterodactyl ride, when there were clearly adults taller than me soaring over my head on it, the obligatory child sitting next to them squealing with delight.  I wanted to be squealing with delight, without having to have first pushed a child out of my uterus.  We also saw a few kids playing Nintendo DS while they were there.  One would think that a theme park would offer enough entertainment that the DS would be unnecessary.  Perhaps the kids got the memo that there really aren’t all that many rides at US...or that there is a 45 minute wait (at least!) for each ride.  Or maybe it’s because our society is rapidly disintegrating into a race of people that are in need of constant stimulation, where even a theme park isn’t enough entertainment (don’t get me started on that one, we’ll be here all day).  The food stands smelled like vomit, although no vomit was actually seen.  The only vomit that almost made an appearance was my own after riding one of the rides at Harry Potter.  Yes, I had 75 minutes of waiting in line and passing multiple signs warning riders with motion sickness not to ride.  But dammit, I was going on that ride.  And I did.  And had I eaten anything before going on the ride, I would have been wearing it afterwards.  Don’t get me wrong, the ride was amazing and so well done...I would recommend it to anyone.  I honestly think it would have been worth the vomit.  Despite the waiting in line, Harry Potter was pretty cool to see.  The lines for the gift shops were ridiculous, so unfortunately we didn’t make it in.  The butter beer and pumpkin juice were really gross...and expensive.  When you think about it, US is a well-oiled machine...you pay $80 to get in, $80 for the optional express-pass allowing you to sneak to the head of the lines for most of the rides (not even worth going on rides if you don’t have the pass...take it from me after getting out of lines multiple times...no Dr. Seuss ride is worth a 45 minute wait, I don’t care how fast it goes), gift shops galore, and food and drinks all over $6 a piece.  And you know, we only saw one screaming child the whole time we were there.  Simon and I were probably the surliest people in the whole park, which surprised me to no end.  How child after child endured line after line after line with no meltdown is beyond me, because I was mere seconds from meltdown multiple times that day.  One good thing that came out of going was the spotting of the elusive FUPA pack.  It’s a fanny pack worn in the front.  Most of the women and some of the men were wearing them at US.  Sometimes it was hard to tell if people were wearing FUPA packs or not...particularly if they were a bit girthy around the middle.

I love crunchy peanut butter.  I feel like crunchy peanut butter should be in a bigger jar but cost the same as creamy peanut butter because you go through it faster.  Those nuts take up a lot of space, and I didn’t take that into account when buying the smaller sized jar of it.  So now I have the big jar, and life is good.

So when I mentioned earlier about buying more expensive things but buying less of them, I didn’t really attach that logic to glasses.  While in Florida, I bought three more pair of glasses.  That puts the count up to 16 pairs of glasses.  Not all of them are in circulation, of course...my prescription has changed, I broke a pair, got tired of another, some are scratched, etc.  And really, Target’s in-store specials on glasses are just too good to pass up.  And really, I don’t accessorize any other way than with glasses and the occasional hat, so if I think about how much money I could be spending on jewelry and spend it on glasses instead, I’m probably still coming out ahead.  Right?  Maybe?  Let’s not think about that one for too long...

I bought a digital SLR camera off a buddy of mine who was upgrading, and after two classes and a lot of under/over exposed pictures, I think I’ve finally got the hang of it.  Mostly.  I’m not good with portraits of people during sunset.  I don’t know what it is, either they’re under-exposed or over-exposed.  I have a book titled Understanding Exposures that probably outlines exactly what to do with sunset portraits, but I have yet to flip through it.  I can see it right now on the coffee table, begging to be read.  I’ll get around to it one of these days.  I’m enjoying the camera a lot though.  It takes some really good pictures (when I have the settings right).  It’s nice to be able to fall back on a trusty point-and-shoot now and then though.

So that brings me to now.  Here I sit in Palo Alto, California, set to start my new job at Stanford this week.  I’m excited!  After a month of heartache over not getting a job in Boston, I finally came to grips with working in California.  I know, I know...as if California was such a horrible back-up.  I had really good reasons for wanting to go to Boston initially, and once I get set on something, I get a little obsessed with it (see internet research paragraph above).  After a lot of reassurance by Simon and my eternally patient recruiter, Michelle, I finally got it into my head that California would be great.  And so far it is.  Palo Alto is a beautiful city...it’s so green and there are blooming plants everywhere.  It’s been a bit of an adjustment for the old sinuses, but other than that, I’m really enjoying the scenery.  Simon and I begged and pleaded, cajoled and harassed to get the apartment that we wanted, which is only a short 3 mile commute to work.  We’ll probably be able to bike or scoot pretty much everyday to work, which is awesome.  We’ve never lived this close to work before.  The apartment and the complex itself is very small and quaint.  It was a bit of an adjustment going from a 3 bed/3 bath townhouse to a 1 bed/1 bath apartment with only 750 sq feet, but it’s cozy...and it’s a lot less to clean...for Simon.  I’m a picker-upper, he’s a cleaner.  One of the best features of the apartment is that it’s right across the street from a Starbucks.  I know.  I’m in heaven.  There’s also a Target and a Trader Joe’s within minutes of the apartment, so most of my creature comforts are within walking distance.  We tooled around downtown Palo Alto over the weekend and it’s such a neat area...lots of shops and restaurants and things to do and see.  The people watching is also pretty good.  I’ve noticed that a fair amount of women here wear yoga clothing when they’re out and about.  Other than that, people all look pretty different.  It’s easy to blend in and to wear whatever...I feel like no one would be surprised by anything anyone else happened to be wearing.  The houses around town are really cute and seem to be very kept up.  I happened across a real estate paper and found out that you pretty much can’t get a house in Palo Alto for under a million dollars.  I about soiled myself, because a lot of the homes don’t look like what I would expect a million dollar home to look like.  Even the townhouses and condos are above and beyond what I could ever hope to afford.  So the apartments are expensive, the houses are expensive...where do the people who work at Starbucks and Burger King live?  In a one-bedroom apartment with 8 other people?  Craziness, I tell you!  I’m also excited to work for what I hope is a top-notch health system.  After 6 months of disarray in Florida, it’ll be nice to work in a place that has all its ducks in a row.  I hope so anyway...probably shouldn’t be too eager to put Stanford on a pedestal until I actually get in there and experience it for myself. 

The drive to California was a LONG one, but we broke it up by taking a little detour through Phoenix to visit my brother Chris and his wife Darna, their current roommate Adam...and of course my little nephew Jett.  :)  He is the cutest, if I do say so myself.  He’s at a fun age where he’s crawling around and exploring.  He’s so smiley and happy...just an all-around fun little guy to be around.  He’s growing so fast!  I hate to miss all the milestones, and it’s sad to think that he’ll be walking and probably talking by the next time that I see him.  Well, it’s not sad...it’s great that he’ll be doing those things, just sad that I won’t be around to see him going through all those changes from baby to toddler and whatnot.  I took some photos during our trip, and as soon as I have consistent internet (our neighbors are too smart to have unsecured internet access for us to steal), I’ll put ‘em up!

Missing out on things has got to be one of the hardest parts of this job.  I know that it’s fun and I get to see a lot of the country and have new experiences and make new friends all the time, but I can’t help but think about what I’m missing back home.  I suppose that’s normal.  I joke about how I’ll move back home when my parents get too old to take care of themselves, but the thought of that makes me sad.  I want to enjoy them while they’re still active and healthy and able to get around on their own.  I don’t want to miss their best years (that’s why they need to retire and come visit!!  Hahaha!).  It’s hard to be away when friends and family are getting married and having babies, going on camping trips and celebrating birthdays and holidays.  Too often when I’m home I have to pick and choose who I’m going to visit, and who’s going to have to wait until next time.  It’s hard and it’s draining and sometimes it’s a heavy weight that I carry around.  I know that this is my life and I need to make it what I want it to be, and for the most part I’m very happy with the path I’ve taken.  Honestly, I can’t beat living in Florida in the winter, northern California in the summer, and wherever-the-heck else I want to live any other time of the year.  Apart from there being no Target in Vermont and Trader Joe’s in Florida, I’ve been living pretty good.  Sometimes I just miss having my people with me.  Although, with “my people” being in multiple states, I can’t very well take them all with me.  :)  Don’t think I haven’t tried!  Must be having one of those homesick moments.  Good thing I’m starting work this week, it’ll keep me occupied!   

That’s all for now!