May kicked off with date night featuring the Long Beach Symphony Pops. We enjoyed Broadway's Greatest Hits as performed by Susan Egan (Broadway's original Belle in Beauty and the Beast). Glee's Jane Lynch made a surprise appearance and sang a couple of Miss Hannigan's songs from Annie. Overall we enjoyed the performance, but I did catch myself missing the polished setting of a concert hall. The arena venue experience was definitely beat out by past performances by the Houston Symphony in Jones Hall or the Pacific Symphony at Segerstrom Concert Hall.
I spent the whole month working in the medical ICU at the VA. It was a big change of pace both in the workflow and in the length of my commute. Let's just say I got through several audiobooks while making my carbon footprint a bit larger. In a nice break from the traffic on the 405, I joined co-worker Andrea in Redondo Beach for her birthday (above, check out the amazing view from her apartment).
Andrea, Juliana, and I went for a nice jog along the Strand at sunset. We cooked a rather healthy dinner of spaghetti squash, fruit salad, and steamed asparagus. Then we pigged out on Baskin Robbin's ice cream cake.
We were joined by more co-workers (Ami, Ben, and Christine) and played a charades-like game on the iPad. All in all, it was a fun, wholesome, and heartwarming night!
One of the graduating senior residents, Ekat, hosted a Harbor EM girls sleepover at her sleek place in Long Beach.
We enjoyed snacks, drinks, and conversation about our graduating seniors' plans (three of them pictured below: Sharon on the far left and Shadi on the far right, standing next to Ekat).
I also had some nostalgia (or was it PTSD?) as the intern girls (Nicole, Annie, Ann, and Amy below) shared some of their experiences while on off-service rotations.
Unfortunately, I had to leave the sleepover early because I had to report in for my 28+ hour call early the following morning at the VA. Despite the long shifts every 4th night, I did enjoy the lighter days that allowed for some much-needed pool time.
The other nice thing about working at the VA was celebrating Memorial Day with veterans. My drive to work was pretty special as I took a detour through the patriotic Los Angeles National Cemetery.
Finally, the month wrapped up with a post-call 10k with co-workers Andrea, Ryan, and Juliana in Long Beach. Though the run was hot in the sun, it was fun to see lots of kite surfers out and about.
