Hiro Turns One

Different looks of Hiro, chronologically.

Puppy wonder. He was darker colored then.

So small, so cute back then, but sure don't miss the house-training days.

Hiro had "battle signs" (tear stains) underneath the eyes but it disappeared with time.

Getting hairy.

So fuzzy with long floppy ears, like half lamb, half bunny.

After his first grooming at Petco's. Still had those long floppy ears.

Let's never get this haircut again. (2nd grooming at Petsmart's.)

Hiro today. Finally his hair is growing back. Can't wait for those ears to grow again.

Sabotaging my studies by napping on my book.

Hiro turns one today. Hooray!

I Couldn't Resist. . .(PART II)

nice work dresses. . .

Love this dress: with smart shirt collar, geometric figures in a no non-sense neutral brown/beige color.

Paired with my white coat. So this is what I wear on days I'm not in scrubs or pants.

I Couldn't Resist. . .

. . .pretty dresses. I simply love dresses, so feminine, cute, comfy and easy. No need to match a top or bottom, just slip on and go. Not all dresses are flattering on all body types, of course, but when I find one that fits me well and looks pretty, I just can't resist. I've been wearing more and more dresses to work these days since it's summer time, most goes well under my white coat. Paired with peep-toe heels, I feel womanly and professional.

Okay, this is NOT a work dress, it's so whimsical. I love the wide red band that ties into a bow at the back.

Paired with a cardigan --because I'm not/rarely a spaghetti-straps-in-public type of person.

A SAK satchel. I have a penchant for red accessories these days, red sandles, red shoes, red satchels.

A GUESS handbag. I'm now a hoarder/collector of handbags, whichever way you choose to look at it!

Said Bye Bye to my Wisdom Teeth

In case one wonders if I'm watching a tad too much TV, I am. But atleast I've got an excuse of sort. So no, I haven't abandoned my vocation for the TV junkie lifestyle.

I had my wisdom teeth, 3 total, pulled out yesterday. I've been dreading it for years, literally, but finally took the plunge. I could curse myself for not having done so in my college days, but agg, I live and learn. So after fearing nerve damage, dry sockets, pain and swelling, I'm amazingly symptom-free on the post-operative day #1. It's almost a letdown really. I witness a lot of pain in the hospital everyday, it's inevitable, of course. To combat it, we use Tylenol, Motrin, etc for mild pain, for moderate pain, Norco/Lortab come into play and for severe pain, the big guns are Morphine, Dilaudid, etc. In my relatively limited life, I've needed no more than Aleve for my occasional cramps. But yesterday, the oral surgeon gave me Lortab to take for my dental ordeal. Lortab! Good stuff, as some people would say. However, I've had no pain, zilch, nada. I have had just the tiniest bit of bleeding after the surgery, nothing to write home about. The worst part was the numbness in my lower lip and chin afterwards. I was worried it would never go away and I would have permanent mandibular nerve damage, but I woke up this AM happyily unaware of any numbness and heaviness of my lower lip. I was also relieved to not have to page the oral surgeon on a Saturday had my numbness persisted; he did look into my eyes and told me he was on-call 24-7 and that I was to page him with any problems. The second worst part of the whole thing was the pre-surgery fasting. My surgery was at 3:30pm on a Friday afternoon which meant I didn't eat or drink a thing since the last PM. I guess I had enough fat stored for my body to use as alternative fuel as I didn't faint or go into hypoglycemic shock. I've eaten some flan, pudding, and steamed eggs so far. I would like some mashed ptotatoes and split-pea-type soup today.

So back to the TV thing, I was told the Lortab might make me drowsy and dizzy, I was to take it easy and watch some TV. So that I did. Cable and TiVo are wonderful things, I've decided. I still remember actually clearly seeing the Adiddas logo on Carrie Hefernen's pants when I watched "King of Queens" on our big screen for the first time. Our last TV was a second-hand TV that Paul bought 15 years ago!

No more Lortab for me, 'cause I clearly don't need it, and only a drug addict would take pain meds that one doesn't need and I really don't care much for drug addicts. There are too many in my life as is via the ER. So back to the books, I'm studying for Step III for next month. Yikes!!

Zen Master Ceasar Millan for the Dogs

This guy is my new hero.

We recently got cable for our new big screen TV. Hubby has been TiVoing my would-be new favorite TV shows. Yes, he knows what I like. Two words: Animal Planet!! Victoria Stillwell is a British dog trainer who goes to people's homes and train little spoiled yappers into obedient lapdogs. Her show is aptly called, "It's Me or the Dog." I love her British governess ways and smart training techniques for really bratty dogs.

But what Victoria of Animal Planet does is almost comedic compared to what Ceasar Millan can do. He is the self-proclaimed "Dog Whisperer," which is also the name of his show on the National Geographic channel. This Mexican native has no formal training but had a love for and profound connection with dogs since his childhood. He illegally crossed the Mexican-US border in his 20's, lived on the streets of San Diego for a month before finding a job as a dog groomer. The rest is history, as they say. Today, he owns the Dog Psychology Center in Los Angeles and is the host of a #1 show. His specialty is rehabilitating some of the most violent and troubled dogs from shelters and abused situations. For example, he's worked with pitbulls from dog fight rings and displaced dogs from Katrina. In some instances, he will bring an unsociable dog to his psychology center where a pack of successfully rehabilitated dogs live and let the "power of the pack" do the work. It's amazing watching him handle dogs. Ceasar Millan's techniques are not without controversy, but whatever, I love the show. He's fond of saying "I rehabilitate dogs and train people." It should be no surprise that many dogs are violent, unsociable because of their human counterparts. As one dog lover once told me, "there are no bad dogs, only bad human owners." I believe that, like many other things wrong with our world, humans are usually at the root of the problem.

I'm so grateful for Hiro who has none of the troublesome characteristics of the dogs on the shows. He is just an amazingly happy and lovable little dog without an ounce of aggression or dominance. Sometimes we go on walks and will come cross a dog that wants to jump out of his leash barking at Hiro half a mile way, but all Hiro wants to do is go up and give a nose kiss with a wagging tail. I don't understand why some dogs are one way while others are not. Perhaps we just got lucky with Hiro. Perhaps some of my early rudimentary training to exert myself as pack leader during his puppyhood worked. But Hiro is not perfect, and watching the animal training shows have motivated me to do more training with Hiro. For example, he gets way too excited when visitors come, jumping up and down, and he's not a perfect leash walker, liking to pull on the leash for the amusement of his nose.

I Love Pandas

Who ever thought watching a Blockbuster movie would bring me so much pleasure. . .I guess it's been a while since I watched a movie, not that I deny myself much because I'm not nearly the deprived-hardworking-feel-sorry-for-me person I oughta be. Just today, I spend hours googling pandas and watching Youtube videos of these other-worldly creatures. I decided I must trek to Chengdu one day and hug a panda. For a small fee ($150 for 5 min), I can touch and hold a panda! Thank goodness the open-minded Chinese havent' sided with the oh-too-sensitive Australians who recently decided that koala bears can no longer receive hugs from their human admirerers due to excessive psychological stress to the cuddly bears. Yes, one day, I shall hug a baby panda. . .okay, I digress.



I enjoy the whole ritual of a home DVD rental, putting on jammies ('cause you can wear that at a BB's), driving to the neighborhood Blockbuster with the dog in toll, browsing through aisles of filmography until one strikes my fancy, brining it home like a little prize, popping it in, then curl up, relax, anticipate and enjoy.



Yes, it's the little (DVD) and giant (panda) things in life that make it worthwhile.

Finally, a Post

The iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

OMG, has it been forever???! Since I blogged here, that is. I'm so excited to say that we are going to San Francisco in 2 weeks!!!! I've been dreaming of a vacation for sooooo long that hubby got tired of hearing me talking about it. My dream place is the beach, ideally Hawaii, then I decided I'd settle for Mexico. Cancun or Puerto Vallarta. Well, between the more-active-than-usual-hurricane-season, the travel alert of American kidnappings by Mexican drug lords, and finally the rise in airfare, I had to give up my dream. But, we are going to San Fransico, given the fact that David my brother-in-law will be there. He's summer-interning for Google.

No doubt I will have my dream beach vacation one day. Ohhh, I could almost feel the warm sand between my toes, the cold pina in my hand. . .oh well, maybe it's better that my rolly-polly self isn't on the Mexican beach since I could be caught in a hurricane or kidnapped by a mustached drug lord, right? No tankini and drinks on the beach but. . . I'll be watching fireworks over Pier 39 on the Fourth of July AND seeing my best bud, Shoreh at Stanford.

Speaking of my rolly-polly self, I've been wearning scrubs for so long, I've forgotten what it's like to wear regular pants. I might never want to give up the pajammy comfy-ness of scrub pants for my jeans, not that I'm sure I can fit into jeans anymore.

Yes, I just got off a month in the CCU (Critical Care Unit). It was great and horrible all at the same time. The exharilation of adrenaline rushing through my veins as epinephrine is running the veins of a cardiac arrested patient during a code blue. The almost intolerable early wee hours as I curse my life in the mornings only to be set straight by the loss of lives on sick beds. The tears of family members that never fail to bring a crack to my voice as I talk to them about withdrawing of life support. Making sense of the latest and coolest in hemodynamic monitoring, calling the shots in a cold blue situation, being stumped by triple acid-base disorders. That's my CCU month in a nutshell. Never a dull moment. But sometimes, I like the dull, I might even be a dull person by some standards, I like the quiet nothingness, no beepers going off, no ventilators alerting an alarm. . .

Now I'm on to ER rotation, much more laid back, believe it or not, but I'm still wearing scrubs.