Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

I was crazy busy this morning, being twice overbooked, and everyone that came in seemed to have some dire problem.

My worst patient this morning wasn't someone that was deaf or something that had a ton of health issues, it was someone that was angry and not afraid to confront me about it.

Apparently, there were a slue of issues that this patient was very upset about since the last time I had examined him. And he had been reporting to the front desk staff about it but no one told me about it. Now he finally made his way back into the clinic and he's upset because none of his complaints have been addressed and he's been reportedly complaining about them. And now, after not being in the know of things, I get the blunt end of the anger.

Fair enough, I get it, I would be upset too if I called and showed up multiple times but no one responded or seemed to care about my concerns. But the way that he chewed me out today I just felt like throwing myself into a hole and crying it all out. But no, I was so busy that I just had to trek on and pretend like it was nothing. Water over the bridge now.

My report on his exam today was like a small essay or a short novel. It detailed what we talked about and how much he chewed me out. I'm so tired of typing, I think I'll give myself a break tonight from typing out a long blog entry. I'm sorry, I think I'll have to end my entry here. I'll write something longer tomorrow when my fingers aren't so fatigued.

Hope you are doing well! I miss you!

Happy Halloween 2013!!

BOO!! Happy Halloween!!!

So we had our potluck today and I brought my two noodles that I made (chicken stir fried noodles and egg noodles with sauce). I was really reluctant to even bring them out because I made them last night and it's been cold, it really needs to be served warm and I've sucked at so many potluck dishes before, I just had no self confidence to show people my culinary skills...but I did....I brought them out and to my surprise, everyone said it was pretty good. And this one lady even went above and beyond and said "IT'S SOOO GOOD! Everyone has to try this! It's amazing!" I was so happy! I would have been satisfied with everyone just patting me on the back and saying "nice effort" but this was beyond my expectations. Who knew that the key to cooking was using oil and controlling temperature. I know my boyfriend has been saying this to me for years but who really listens to their boyfriend anyway.

I felt like I was pretty good about not over indulging on the food. I stayed away from the pizza, I said no to the SUPER good smelling buffalo chicken dip (had me salivating ALL morning as I smelled it down the hallway), and I didn't even touch the desserts! That's so unlike me! I tried to stick to veggies, fruits and other healthier alternatives. I'm not going to die, I had a couple of rolled tacos (super deep fried) and I indulged on some ham and cheese pinwheels but overall, I came out a winner because I didn't stuff myself silly and felt like I had to be rolled back to my side of the clinic. I'm kind of glad I didn't have any of that buffalo chicken dip (even though EVERYONE was RAVING about it) because I asked the girl for the recipe and I forget all the details, but it sounds like lard cooked with fat cooked with more oil. So...no thank you. I don't really care how good it tastes or smells..I'm going to pass on that heart attack.

It's Halloween!! I hope no one knocks on my door for candy because I've already eaten it all! Muhahahahahhahahaha! Sorry kids! I've beat you to it! Better luck next year! You really should have come yesterday...actually it was gone yesterday already too LOL. There's no winning with me.

I'm SUPER worried about tomorrow. I'm overbooked TWICE in the morning, I'm going to see so many patients tomorrow my head is going to spin! I'm also not doing well with my cough. I have these periods where I can't stop coughing and it's really disruptive during my exam considering I'm more concerned about when I'm going to cough next and less concerned about what I'm seeing in the patient's eye. I really should see a doctor about this soon. I feel like it's getting worse. I had trouble falling asleep last night because I kept coughing and it wouldn't stop. When I fell asleep I'd cough so badly that I'd wake up. Ok, maybe time to consult my Medical "Doctor" friend.

I'm going to start a bug bite count, it's really ridiculous. Every time I come back to Arizona, I get new bug bites....I don't know what it is about this place that makes me so tasty. I got 4 on my first night, and since then I've gotten two more. I've been using the "burn it with a hot spoon" technique but that's only lasting about half the day. Then from lunch on, I'm itching like crazy. I know, I have problems. I itch and cough for the whole afternoon. It's super annoying. These itchy patches are always GIGANTIC!! What kind of bugs are biting me here? What am I dealing with here? Ugh!

Ok, I'm going to try to retire early tonight since I didn't get any sleep last night thanks to my cough attacks. It's only 5:30 hahaha. Yes...I'm pathetic.

Day before Halloween!

Hello FRIEND!

I think I'm going to start writing this blog directed more towards YOU, my friend. I'm sure no one else reads it so let's just stop pretending. Haha. 

After being MIA for days and days, I'm glad to finally hear from you! I'm sorry to bring you bad news today about not being able to visit. When you feel better we'll plan for something, I promise! I have credit to use, so I'll for sure make it up there soon! 

I might be a hypochondriac but I think what I have right now is really real. I can't breath half the time and now I've developed this cough. My other Medical friend warned me about this, that if I start developing a cough, it's a bad sign. Eeeek! I have to get this looked at soon, hope it's not what I predict it is!  

I can't believe tomorrow is Halloween! It really sneaked up on me! After Halloween it's a fast segway into Thanksgiving and then Christmas. In fact, I've already seen a ton of stores selling Christmas things already! It's crazy how early they want to start making a profit! 

I think my tolerance for people has completely dwindled to nothing. Every time I go to work now, I'm always annoyed with people! Sometimes it's the jokes they make, sometimes it's how much they talk, sometimes it's  how completely incapable they are of following directions and sometimes it's even at how many problems I find that I need to address about their health. 

I get so happy when I see one normal person with no complaints, it's almost like Christmas came early for me! My happiness is equivalent to giving a little kid candy, but not just any candy, like a giant piece of their favorite candy, wrapped up in more pieces of another favorite piece of candy!! Yes, it's like that. 

Since tomorrow is Halloween, my clinic is dressing up in 80's theme and asked me a join...which I think I'll pass, even though I have enough hair...and I do have like a few fluorescent colored things, but that's ok, I'd rather look like a normal adult. If I were to dress up, I'd rather dress up as something that I want to be...like a Giant Gummy Bear or a Macaron!! But aside from dressing up, I guess we are going to have a potluck! CHA CHING! Yes! Sign me up! I'm totally into food! I'm signed up to make guacamole but I think I'm going to just make some stir fried noodles instead (sticking to my Asian roots). Just like all other potluck dishes I've made, it's probably going to look and taste terrible and no one is going to eat it. But that's ok...because the point is, I tried. I'm just going to keep telling myself that. 

So backing up a little bit, let's talk about Seattle. I just got back on Monday. It was ok, not much to explore. I think just one day of exploration was enough to cover everything I wanted to see. I got to go up the Space Needle and check out the water front. And then there's Pike's Farmer's Market and University of Washington. I didn't really do much else, oh...I walked around Chinatown. There's so much fresh seafood there, made me really want to buy some and cook it while I was there! Too bad I didn't have a kitchen there! 

Yesterday I got really pumped and decided to catch up with my yelp reviews. I haven't written a review in probably a year? And I decided to go back and look through all the places that I've checked in at and try to write a review for every single place. I thought I had done 100 but then when I checked I only wrote like 16 or something. Pathetic, I know. I'd like to think I'm just writing more quality reviews and that's why it took me long. So why did I suddenly get the urge to play catch up and write yelp reviews? I think I'm just dodging real work I have to do. I have a lot of errands to run and papers to write but I'm procrastinating. I've been in such a rut, so lazy all the time, what's going on with me? Gosh, I don't understand, it's like I've run out of gas or there's no more wick for this candle to burn, the light has gone out. I know I have all these things that I need to do and I'm neglecting it. Ugh, I hate it when I'm worried but yet not motivated enough to be productive. That's the worse!! Well, at least my yelp account benefited from this. I thought I was going to lose my yelp elite status because I've been so inactive. 

In addition to yelping, I've been READING. Yes, I wrote it and you read it correctly, READING. Like real books. I just finished that >500page book, Wildwood and now I'm reading this other book "Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore". I know, sounds like a weird book, almost like a children's book, but it's a legit novel with many many pages. So every night before I go to bed, I try to read a little. As oppose to before, where I'd just hit the pillow and SLEEP. I'm a different person now. 

There's a ton of new episodes of our favorite shows on Hulu! I have been trying to watch them but surprisingly, yelping and reading has taken up a lot of my time! And now, I'm going to add blogging to this as well. These are all activities that allow me to be very lethargic and inactive. Just how I like it now...lol. 

I hope you got my care package. I sent you a few things, I have already forgot what I sent you but I think they were good things? 

I got this postcard from Seattle I wanted to send you but I didn't get a chance to go to the postoffice, so it'll probably have to be sent from here. Sorry, I know how you like mail sent from THAT location. I tried, I really did. :(

Ok, well, I better get going and start cooking for tomorrow's Potluck. In case I fail, I need more time to restart. Wish me luck! I hope you are doing well. *big hugs*

Itchy Patches

I've always wonder why running hot, almost burning water onto a bug bite makes it feel SOOOO good. I hate bug bites! Hate is not even a strong enough word to describe my disdain for bug bites! I've always been such a good meal for bugs too. It's my dad's tasty blood that runs through my veins, I just know it! A few trips back to China (where there are crazy, deadly mosquitoes lurking around every corner waiting to make you it's next victim) has proven that bugs LOVE to feast on my dad and I, while my mom and brother are ALWAYS spared. Makes sense, eat the tastier meal, why waste calories on less tasty victims.

Ever since I've moved here, I've been bug finding new bug bites (which I'm going to call "itchy patches" from now) all over my body!! Almost a new one every day!! Seriously, how is that possible?!?!?! And these bug bites swell up to the size of a quarter and itchy like you want to rip off your arm! The only thing that will make the itching stop, is running really hot water on it. So, back to my original topic, "why does it feel so good to run hot water onto your itchy patch?"

I actually googled this because I was so curious! I found a few postings that kind of make sense. One explained that when bugs bite you, they inject a venom in you that goes under your skin. This venom prevents your blood from clotting so the bug can maximize the blood it gets from one bite. The venom also becomes a foreign substance that is identified by your body and attracts a low grade immune/allergic response. This causes all the swelling and itchiness. When you run hot water on the itchy patch, it denatures the proteins that the venom is composed of, and decreases the immune/allergic response, therefore, the itchiness goes away. This makes sense....only if the itchiness never comes back. But after a while, the itchiness comes back......so onto the next theory.

Another theory I found states that the pain you feel from the hot water distracts you from the itchiness. As soon as the itchy patch recovers from the low grade burn you gave it, the distraction is gone and the itchiness comes back.

Which theory is true? I don't know, but all I know is, I HATE bug bites, but the only silver lining of getting a bug bite is that searing feeling of pain/satisfaction when I run boiling water onto the itchy patch to relieve me of its insanely overwhelming itchy sensation.

I also learned that you can heat up a metal spoon by dipping it in hot water and put the spoon on the itchy patch directly! That way it's more of a direct searing sensation, just in case the itchy patch is in a hard to reach spot! The spoon's been an amazing new tool :)

That's my plug on itchy patches...moving on.......


I've had a request to write about my HK friend that has recently moved back to my hometown to study again. I think he's working on a ph.D. this time around. Good for him! I'm super happy for his achievements! It's always nice to see him again too. Ok, that's it, that's all I know...haha, I know you were probably expecting for more juicy details to be spilled about him but I really don't have anymore than this. LoL.


There was this memo or email that was distributed at work about wearing PINK today to support some sorta cause, I don't know what it is because I didn't get the memo or email. Anyways, my point is, since I didn't get the memo, I didn't show up to work in pink. It wouldn't have been so bad except they decided to take pictures and of course I looked very awkward not wearing pink when everyone else in the picture was sporting pink. Can you say "left out"? That's ok, I don't care, it's going to be a picture that is going to plastered around clinic where I'm the odd man out....that's alright. I'll live.

Feeling Lazy...so I'm blogging...

I really did have the intentions of going for a run today..........but got too lazy. Story of my life. Not even looking at the developing cellulite on my body is motivating me to go running. Why am I so lazy here? How did I ever motivate myself to run 9 miles a day when I was in school? And I'm sure I was a ton busier at that time in my life.

I've been reading this article on Princess Diana in Vanity Fair for like 2 weeks now. I read a little each morning as I'm eating breakfast. It's really interesting reading about her life but I think it taints my opinion of her. I guess that just shows my ignorance. I think the rest of the world already knows everything about her, I'm probably the only one that finds the information a NEW thing. I felt bad for her before because Prince Charles cheated on her but then I find out that she was also playing the cheating game but just shied away from the public eye enough not to be called out about it. Shame, shame, shame. Whatever happened to being faithful in a high profile, royal wedding? I have grown quite fond of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I hope they don't engage in adulterous acts that tear down their marriage.

I'm growing more and more excited about my trip to Seattle soon. I can't wait to embrace the cold and rainy weather. Yes...I said it, I'm into cold weather now. The old me (maybe even 1 year ago) wouldn't have openly admitted to liking cold weather...maybe admitting to it growing on me, but not openly embracing it. This is bold for me! I can't wait to wear sweaters and scarves and boots and coats! Yay! I'm excited just thinking about it! The only down side to travelling to cold places is that you have to lug all your winter clothes with you. Which is a LOT heavier than summer clothes.

The 2 glass pots that I ordered over the weekend to replace the other glass pot I broke finally arrived at my parent's house! They were so excited....until they opened it and found out the pot is shattered. Yikes! Guess they didn't wrap it well enough. I knew something like this was going to happen. Those suckers shatter too easily. And they are expensive too. Maybe I'm just cursed, I can't keep any glassware from shattering, even when it's ordered online!

So this might seem stupid....but I'm monitoring my dad's email right now so I have both his and my email opened. At first I was just trying to see if I could send a gchat to my dad's account, which you can.....and then I sent a message using my dad's account back to myself, and then so on and so forth until I realized I was basically having a conversation with myself. Yeah, I know, I'm weird. But come on, I've done weirder things....I think....

I have nastiest bug bit on my b*tt....it's SOO ITCHY!! But it's unsightly to scratch!! Ugh! Mark my words you terrible bugs! I'm going to come get you soon and take my sweet sweet revenge on you suckers!!!

I'm just going to put in a little plug for my baby brother. I'm so proud of him! He's writing columns for the school newspaper! I could never accomplish such literary achievements because I have poor spelling, poor grammar, and most of the time, I think I just ramble. It wouldn't make any sense to the reader what I'm writing (so I assume). Check out his review on the UCR newspaper!

http://www.highlandernews.org/10737/restaurant-review-red-hot-kitchen/

The Perfect French Macaroon

During this weekend I got to feel my cousin's belly. Let me explain, this is not in a weird, incestuous way....it's because she's pregnant and the baby was moving around in her tummy. It was so weird feeling it move. I thought it was always really magical but when I felt it move, it felt very unnatural. Almost like an alien was inside of her waiting to be hatched so it can come out and take over the world!! Ok, maybe not THAT weird, but still WEIRD. Then one of my best friends, whose also pregnant, told me how she likes to feel the baby move in her belly. And that triggered my memory of feeling my cousin's baby and then I got all creeped out again. What does this mean?? Am I not ready to have a baby? Am I not ready to be a mother? Am I not mature enough to handle pregnancy?? Whoa, hold on, that's a lot of grown-up questions and a lot of grown up talk. Maybe I should just take some baby steps and at least get engaged first. I'm not even in a position to be thinking about babies right now. Ok, I just need to chill-lax.

So thought I was exaggerating when I ranted incessantly about how everyone is getting engaged and married left and right but this weekend proved that I'm not all talk! There were TWO engagements and one wedding this past weekend! Both engagements were announced via email instead of facebook. The wedding was public on facebook. I guess we are phasing away from using facebook to announce things now? Or maybe it's a private preview window into their lives before it goes live on facebook for the rest of the world to see!

My reaction is always the same to every engagement and wedding.  I feel bliss and joy as the wish the couple forever happiness. Getting married to me is like finding the delicious filling that brings two French macaron halves together. The halves are nothing without the filling gluing them together. It's so beautiful when two people come together in a binding union, just like a Perfectly Colorful French Macaron. But just as quickly as you can finish eating a macaron, my feelings of bliss and joy are substituted by bitterness and despair as I yearn for the day when I will be the one sending out that glorious wedding bell email! Well.......let's not hold our breath if you are waiting for MY announcement email...it seems very very VERY far in the DISTANT future. Just to be clear, I feel more joy than bitterness...I do...trust me. Ok, let's just leave it at that.

I don't know very many details of what happened for one of the engagements, but it seems like it was done during dinner and a very fancy dessert was shared. The other engagement had many details and play by play photos were shared! When I read about the details, like being woken up at 4am...I was very shocked, Shocked that my friend would even consider waking up that early and shocked that the girl didn't punch him in the face. I really think that if someone woke me up at 4am and made me get ready/get dressed, I'd be really upset and probably throw a giant fit...and maybe a punch or two. I'm very nasty when you wake me up. That's why I wake up before everyone else so I don't have to punch anyone in the face. I'm so considerate :)

Yes, I'm very envious of everyone that has a giant rock on their wedding finger. Very envious. So just when I think all the engagement news is over, I found out on facebook that two of my friends from highschool got married!!! Crazy! I didn't even know they were dating. Wow! Time really does fly. Seeing my two highschool friends made me think about when my 10 year reunion is....NEXT YEAR! OMG! I don't even know if I want to go to my 10 year reunion. I mean, think about it, who would I want to see there that I wouldn't have kept in touch with? And besides, don't people usually go to those things to flaunt about how great their lives are, right? I really have nothing to flaunt. I'm broke, I have a ton of loans, I live in the middle of no where and up until yesterday, I didn't even have a car. So...unless anything big happens.....maybe I'll skip my 10 year reunion. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Back to finding out big news, so skipping past the two engagements and a wedding......I got an email today informing me that my hometown VA is hiring a full time doctor for at LEAST 30% more pay than I am getting now. *jaw drops open* Yes, that was pretty much my response. I can't believe this!!!!!! Yes, let's dangle a really colorful/pretty french macaron in front of my face and tell me not to eat it! Because that's pretty much what's happening right now.

My laugh of the day: So I emailed my boyfriend and told him about the engagements and the VA position. He took the whole day to respond but his response was: "You still have me...." First reaction: I don't know why I thought this response was laugh out loud funny because that's what I did, busted out laughing. Second reaction: "awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, I think he's serious........that's so sweet". Third reaction: "wait....is he being sarcastic?? Is this a joke? I'm offended". So now, I'm not sure how I'm suppose to feel about his response. Confusion?

 The Truth: of course, knowing me, I ranted off to everyone that would listen to me about how it's so unfair that my hometown has a full time position opened with more pay!! Luckily one of the people I ranted off to was my classmate who informed me that he's heard nothing but bad things about that place. Overbearing supervisor, incompetent colleagues and poor relations with other clinics. This made me feel a lot better about not being to apply for that position. I'd probably save more money and be closer to friends/family if I worked in my hometown but I'd probably be miserable at work everyday. I feel a lot better about not applying to work there. When the dust settles, I guess things aren't always what it's cracked up to be. Sorry perfect, beautiful French macaron, you turned out to be 3 months old, stale and very crunchy, so I no longer want you.

Oh my gosh, why did I make food analogies? Now I really want a french macaron and everyone knows I'm NEVER gonna find one here! *sighs

 

Youth

She didn't come into work today. I'm talking about my technician.

Another sad, stressful day.

I got overbooked this morning too. Had to do TWO jobs, all while getting jammed packed with patients. Oh goodness.

I seriously was sincerely scared this morning when I was dealing with this one patient that had some complications. I made a judgment call, ending up it wasn't a good idea, and then I got screwed. I had to keep him in clinic for 2+ hours, continually treating him with meds in hopes he would get better. I'm trying to assess my actions....if I had to do the whole thing over, would I have done anything differently? The answer is no. Now I'm thinking...oh no, is my way of treating patients wrong? Or was I taught wrong? Or was I even taught what to do in these situations? I don't know, I can't remember. My memory is terrible. My attention span is even worse.

I remember this one year when I was probably 8 or 9 years old (I don't remember, surprise surprise) but I sat there for a good 10 mins trying to figure out how old I was. I guess I was too dumb to just subtract the current year from my birth year. I remember sitting on the couch and thinking "how old am I? Last year, I think I had the number 8 on my birthday cake...or was that the year before? Did I even celebrate my birthday last year? I think I'm 9 this year...wait, that can't be right....man, if I'm 9, I'm getting so OLD! I'm gonna be almost 10. Whoa"

Yup, it happened. And the sad part was, it happened again when I was 22 or 23 (again, I don't remember). I just remember sitting down and trying to recall how I celebrated my birthday the year before and then I realized I don't remember I old I am. It freaked me out again, but luckily, during my early 20's I was smart enough to do the math and I figured it out real fast.

The most current example, a few weeks ago when my boyfriend tricked me and told me I was 28 this year. That thought was really frightening. "28?? OMG! I'm going to be 29 next year?? Meaning I'm going to be 30 soon??? OMG!!!" But then I calmed down and realized it was just a cruel joke my boyfriend was playing on me. You'd think I'd feel better that I'm not 28, but being 27 is awfully close. That means I will be 28 SOON. *shivers

Aside from "You look really young!" and "You're not married?? Why not?? You really should get married soon!", the other more common comment I get from my patients is "Don't grow old." What solid advice. I really wish I could actually take that advice. But like, everyone in the world, I'm subjected to the wrath of time. Tick tock, tick tock, I'm just getting older as each second, minuet, hour rolls by. Now I know why the make-up industry is so big. I finally understand why women are willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars slathering creams/oils on their face and undergoing dangerous surgical procedures to "preserve" their youth. It's just matter of time before I transform myself into one of those aging youth-obsessed women. Or maybe, I'm already one of them, but just in the closet about it.

I need to start a tally of patients that think I'm a little kid. I had another comment today about how I looked like a little kid and the patient didn't believe I am the doctor. I know I should really take it as a compliment, maybe 10 years down the road, I'm going to WISH people think I look young and I'll re-read these blog entries about me complaining and kick myself.

I'm so conflicted, I want to stay young but I don't want patients to think I'm a little kid. I'm just a typical women, I just want it all and nothing every satisfies me.

I'm really happy tomorrow is Friday. This has been a LONG week without my tech. LONG week indeed.

Sorry this blog is so random but I think my thoughts are just scattered right now since I'm so tired. Will write again soon dear friend. And I'll try to be more organized next time. Until then, take care!