3rd Year Home Call

Last night was Sam's first night on call of his third year of his orthopedics residency.  We had a relatively quiet beginning to our evening, but around 9:30- in the middle of Pitch Perfect- he was called in for a dislocated elbow and a pediatric wrist.

Cue me worrying about whether he is coming home or not all year again.  Who knows, maybe I will get used to it this year.  Or maybe it just won't be that bad... I mean Sam was home by 11:15 last night and he said he stuck around longer than he probably really needed to.

And he told me this morning that he was paged every 2 hours and had to go in at 4:00 AM.  Talk about an ah-ha moment, I got up to go to the bathroom at 5 because Hunter wanted up on the bed and was whining.  I saw a light coming from under the bedroom door and went out into the living room to find the light on in our kitchen.  At the time, I was half asleep and it was puzzling but I shrugged it off and went back to bed.

Apparently Sam had just gotten home and forgotten to turn of the lights when he came back to bed.  He said Hunter was on the floor passed out in our comforters which we kick off the bed now that summer weather has returned to Southern California.  As Sam came into the room Hunter woke up and wanted back up on the bed, which was what woke me up.  Not the shrill sound of a pager, not the sound of Sam getting up and getting dressed in the middle of the night, not even the sound of the door opening and our alarm dinging (twice- once when he left and once when he came back).  Boy, I'm apparently a much deeper sleeper than I thought or I was just really exhausted last night.

Anyway, while Sam was at work the first time, I was left at home to finish Pitch Perfect with Hunter.  Good thing I have my little companion!  Pitch Perfect was a pretty good movie- I mean yes it was really campy but OMG it was also incredibly entertaining and the talent was absolutely amazing.

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

This was one of the best weekends in a long time.  Sam had the entire holiday weekend off!  We spent all three days together as a family- Sam, Hunter and I.  And lots of friends.  It was perfect.  I am very thankful for all that I have and all those who have given their lives so that I am able to lead the life I live.

At The Olde Ship

Friday I went into work early so that I could get out and to the lab for my last blood draw.  Of course I got a nasty bruise which makes me think that I'm not doing very well following the "reduce bruising techniques" that Kaiser has provided me.  Oh well- the point is that I am back down into the normal range of WBC!

Armed with that news, we spent a quiet night at home on the couch just the three of us.  Both Sam and I were pretty exhausted from long weeks and he hadn't taken a day off in 3 full weeks. 

Saturday morning I woke up with Sam snuggled on my left side and Hunter snuggled on my right side. It was fantastic.  We had a lazy morning and met up with Nate who came down from Santa Monica to spend hang out.  We went up to The Olde Ship to watch some European Soccer and then took Hunter down to Newport Harbor to go paddle boarding for the first time.  It was a blast!  He did pretty damn well and I think we'll do it again.  The sweetest thing was when Hunter leapt off the front of Nate's board and swam to mine.  So cute.  He also jumped from Sam's to mine.  It made me feel so loved.  Eventually the boys got up but I slept until 9:30 and felt more refreshed than I had in days.  

Saturday night we hosted a BBQ for our friends.  Jenners, Aaron, Nick, Amy, Nate, Jen and Ryan came over.  We made salmon, ahi and halibut along with a bunch of grilled veggies and Amy brought appetizers and salad.  It was great.  We went to the hot tub after dinner and relaxed and vegged out.  It was so fun and laid back and one of the greatest evenings I've had in a long time.  No stress, just great people and great food and not a care in the world. 

At The Vortex in Manhattan Beach

Sunday morning we went over to Brugglers Bagels and picked up a dozen bagels for breakfast.  We ate, packed up our stuff and headed up to Santa Monica to check out Nate and Jazzy's place.  After we got settled in, we drove down to Manhattan Beach to meet up with some of Nate's buddies from dental school and participate in a big Memorial Day Block Party BBQ on 35th Street on the block called The Vortex.  

It was quite an experience.  There were tons of dogs around so Hunter was in good company.  He made lots of friends- what a freakin' adorable puppy we have!  So we had a great time eating, playing some games and hanging out.  Eventually, Carrie came and picked Sam and I up and saved our asses by taking us back to Santa Monica where we changed clothes and then picked up some food.  Just about the time we got back to Manhattan Beach, Nate was ready to go back to his place so Sam got us a ride using Uber (which is so freaking awesome).  

Sleeping in a strange place with Hunter is always tough the first night.  So needless to say, we didn't sleep so well last night.  We got up, had some more bagels for breakfast, and took a long walk through the beautiful Santa Monica neighborhoods.  

Then we dropped Nate off at his car in Manhattan Beach and headed home to shower and clean up.  Oh my God, the shower felt so freaking amazing.  We started some laundry and got things situated around the house before we headed over to Nick's place for a little more fun.  Ryan and Jen and Arya were there along with Nick's roommate and his girlfriend.  

5th Street in Santa Monica

Sam and I wanted to go down to Laguna for dinner and Nick and Amy were going to join us, but they backed out at the last minute.  Then, Sam decided he would like to hit up Bandera in Corona del Mar instead of going all the way down to Laguna Beach.  It was really nice.  We had mojitos (which I had been craving) and salad and salmon and their amazing jalapeño corn bread.  

After we got home we continued to do more laundry and decided to watch a Memorial Day movie... Black Hawk Down.  It's amazing how much respect I have for the men and women who fight wars for us.  I am so thankful for the land of the free and the home of the brave.  I am thankful for the people who have given their lives willingly so that I can live in a democratic country and support my family.  I am so lucky.  Part of that may be due to my family and where I was born but it's also due to the fact that we have people are willing protect those "rights".

Playing For Keeps

Yesterday Sam and I spent most of the day cleaning the house: Spring Cleaning 2013 is completed.  I finished the vacuuming and cleaned the kitchen on Friday night, and when Sam got home he took care of the dusting while I organized the stuff on the table.  Unfortunately Sam and Hunter decided to take a nap right about the time I took on the bathroom, but that is pretty standard.  At least I didn't have a complete cleaning breakdown like I did a few months ago.  That was NOT pretty.

We celebrated with a trip down to San Diego and hit up the Stone Brewing Co for dinner since Sam was feeling up to the trip.  I tried to be as good as possible RE: the cleanse, but it was not easy!  Somehow I feel like the next couple of weeks are going to be tough... might be a good time to start surrounding myself with my health-conscious friends.

I spent today running errands- mailing the Fictitious Business Name documents to the Contra Costa Clerk, exchanging the propane for our BBQ, planning the first 7 days of meals for Making the Cut and grocery shopping to pick up all the ingredients.  It all starts tomorrow.  Oh boy.

The good news?  All the meals look really good.

The bad news?  It is going to be a lot of work.

So how am I spending my last night before the epic weight loss boot camp begins?  I am on the couch, blogging, updating my LinkedIn profile (I have neglected it horribly since starting my job), snuggling with Hunter and watching Playing For Keeps.

Gerrard Butler plays the main character, George, a former pro-soccer player who gets wrangled into coaching his son's team.  I can't lie, it's pretty cute.  I mean, there's a whole romantic storyline that's going on, but I just love how great George is as coach and mentor to the kids on the team.  And honestly, I can't help wondering what kind of coach Sam would be... will be.

Soccer is really not my sport.  So it's not likely that I can pick up the coaching slack there.  And frankly, I don't know how great I would be at baseball either.  But as I get older it really makes me appreciate how special it was to have my Dad so involved with all my little league stuff.  I mean he coached me from T-ball to 8th grade in softball and came to almost all my games when I played in high school.  Then, after softball was over, he did such a great job following water polo- even though it was a whole new thing for him.  I mean he didn't miss a single game my senior season, and his friends even came to watch me a couple of times too.  I really hope that I can give my kids that kind of support and those experiences some day.