how i turned another year

as some people get older, they get sad or upset or bitter because ... well ... they're older. as for me, i was really looking forward to turning 32. being 31 was kind of odd (despite that 31 is an odd and prime number). 32 just had a better ring to it, so i was really looking forward to it. but, things never go as planned in life. you expect all to be well, but...alas...curveballs get thrown and we learn to deal and lean on God. so, here's how i turned another year:

sept. 2: i started getting some lower back pain that is more soreness than pain. i shrug it off, take some tylenol, and go to bed.

sept. 3: i wake up in excruciating pain. waves of pain go up and down my back to the point where i have trouble breathing. i figure it's too much for me to drive so i email in sick and stay home to rest.

sept. 4: i'm still in too much pain to drive to rotations, so i email in sick again. the pain goes away later on in the day and i actually feel a lot better.

sept. 5: i'm well enough to go to work! i'm even well enough to go onto a coast guard cutter (i'm on rotations at the coast guard pharmacy), climb into the captain's chair, and take plenty of pictures. i figure the pain has gone away and i'm alllllll better now. in fact, here are some pictures from the cutter...it's really really cool! we got to walk around and go into the sick bay.

sept. 6: 3am--i wake up in excruciating pain. so much pain that nothing eugene does can help. i can hardly breathe and have to take small quick breaths, but that hurts too. eugene rushes (but really...slowly rushes because any movement hurts too) me to the emergency department at the uc medical center. they (slowly) stick an iv in me and give me morphine and ativan right away. then, they proceed to ordering lab tests to rule out a pulmonary embolism. eugene and i are basically in the ER from 4am to 1pm, when they finally release me with a prescription for vicodin. i'm still in pain... here's a great picture of me that eugene took after i got the morphine and ativan. i was quite comfortable and not in pain...

sept. 8: i'm still in so much pain that it takes me over an hour to be functional in the mornings. it hurts to breathe, it hurts to shift positions, and i'm on my back all day. obviously, i can't drive, so my great friend pattie comes to the rescue and drives me to school to see Student Health. i get prescribed a muscle relaxant and am given a referral to get accupuncture. "it'll go away with plenty of rest," i'm told.

sept. 9-12: i'm on my back most of the day to rest and relax and heal. i have to stop my current rotation and take only 3 out of 6 units because..well...basically i am not fit to return to work. the school is great and tells me that my health really comes first and that they're here for me for whatever i need. i'm a little devastated that i cannot continue with my current rotation, but am relieved that getting the 3 units means that i won't fall behind and will graduate on time.

sept. 12: for the first time in weeks, i am able to get out of bed without pain. i can breathe without pain and can go from sitting to lying down and lying down to sitting with no pain. isn't it fitting that i am feeling great on my birthday? i'm still on my back most of the day, but i am in good enough condition to celebrate. eugene takes me to a bolivian restaurant that has live music (cuban music on friday nights) and we have a great time! the hostess was great and gave me a huge pillow for my chair so i am more comfortable. we eat soooooo much food that we must have gained at least 10 pounds!

sept. 13: i am able to wake up and walk around without too much pain once again! just a bit of soreness, but pretty good overall. a group of my friends and i get together for a birthday brunch at colibri (a really good mexican restaurant in downtown san francisco). we have a great time and eat a bunch of great food! maybe this back thing will go away after all.

today: the back pain came back this past wednesday, but yesterday and today have been pretty good. i hope that all the resting and pain killers i've been taking are working...in addition to the relaxing and letting go of things that give me anxiety and stress. pattie gave me a book about mind over back pains and so far, i'm realizing that i put a lot of my stress and anxiety on my body. so...i'm learning to let go and relax and not to hold on to so many things so that my body can finally be healthy and 100%.

three days of sun

lo and behold...it was actually very nice in the city this weekend. and as a result, we both got a few shades darker. partly because we were in the sun quite a bit and...sadly...also because we forgot to wear sunblock. oh well.

our dear friend pattie finally came back from taiwan and to celebrate, her husband threw a surprise picnic for her at tilden park (in the berkeley hills). it was gorgeous there on saturday! we had lots of fun catching up with pattie and manu, walking along the lake, and playing with maya and kerby (the dogs). there were a lot of trails around, but since we didn't wear hiking shoes, we made a note to go back in the very near future for a day of hiking.

saturday night, we got to see our other friend shirley (who was visiting from san diego). it was great catching up with shirley as well and doing what we do best...eat! after a huge meal at citrus club, we went to crepevine for some delicious dessert. maybe the title should read...three days of sun and fat!

no pictures to show, but on sunday, we walked all around downtown, made our way to japantown, and then found our way back home. all without driving! while downtown, we had a refreshing lunch at david's (an old deli across from the curran theatre)...and egg and onion sandwich on rye. who knew i'd be able to eat raw onions! it was actually quite yummy and refreshing!

monday...labor day...laundry day! we were supposed to wake up at 7am, do laundry, and be ready for a day of relaxation and fun, but we didn't get to the laundry-mat until 9:45am and didn't start our day of fun until 2pm! it was SO warm in our area, we actually made our way to the beach! seriously! eugene wanted to go swimming (he was so cute...he put on his swimming trunks, brought a towel, and was ready to jump in). but...just because the air is nice and warm doesn't mean the water is. it was ice-cold!!!!!!!!! so, we just enjoyed a nice sweet walk along the beach. i think i've had enough sun for a year. :P

what have we been up to?

we haven't been writing! that's what we've been up to...

we bought some really tasty matcha from a tea place in a mall! if you've never had matcha or made matcha at home, it's a completely different experience. i am still practicing...

as usual, we had to get out of the city (out of the cold and fog), so we headed north beyond the golden gate bridge and found an ecological reserve (very close to san quentin prison).

after walking around the reserve, we went to china camp and played around climbing the rocks. eugene even skipped some rocks for fun!

last weekend, we headed out to mt. diablo to hike. the original goal was to hike to the summit...until we saw that it was over 7 miles to hike to the summit. after walking for about 1.5 miles, we were completely burned out by the sun so we turned right back and headed home. we'll try again one day when it's way way cooler...

as a final farewell to summer (eugene started school again this week), we headed down to san jose to the winchester mystery house. we did a complete tour, with a tour of the mansion itself and a behind-the-scenes tour. if only we had such a big house...imagine all the possibilities and closets!

when i'm bored...i cook

i tried waking up early today in preparation for my rotation at the us coast guard (need to be there by 6:30am everyday!), but alas...i slept in until 8am. it was gloomy outside (as always in sf during the summer) so i didn't feel like going outside. with absolutely nothing to do (okay, not absolutely nothing...), i cooked! made some eggs with chives and...one of my friends talked about scallion cake yesterday, so i looked up a beautiful recipe and made chives cake instead (no scallions in the house). everyone should check out this blog: http://gattinamia.blogspot.com/. my chive cake didn't come out quite as pretty as gattina's, and i used a little bit too much salt, but it was still good to eat. if i don't make it as a pharmacist, maybe i can go into the chive cake business. :)

home sweet home

with just a few more weeks before eugene starts school again (and a few more days before i start my next block of rotations), we found some things to do around the house to pass the time and to have fun. since my friend's birthday was coming up, i decided to make her a tiramisu cake. once eugene found out, i had to make one for him too. and what better thing to do than to play jenga while we eat tiramisu!

*i couldn't figure out how to make the tiramisu look as nice as it did in the recipe book*

*eugene's quite the expert at jenga*

*look at how the whole thing is leaning towards me!*

*unfortunately, the game had to end...as it came crashing down*

a whole year already?

a year ago today, eugene and helen were united as one and started their life together as the wongs. it seems like just yesterday eugene and i were saying our vows to each other in front of our family and friends. it's impossible that a whole year has gone by already. we declare that we are still newlyweds, and we will stay newlyweds until 10 years from now. yes. we declare!

for our anniversary weekend, we took a shuttle tour to napa (four different wineries and a ride back to the city on a ferry), ate at golden lotus (finally) in oakland, walked along the berkeley pier (finally), spent some silly time at home, and ate at firefly to finish it off. all in all, it was a great weekend and monday to celebrate our special one year together.

enjoying some wine in napa valley


we got to walk in the vineyard at the andretti vineyard, and we got to try some grapes too!



i got some psi bands for motion sickness. i wore them on the ferry back to the city and boy did they ever help! i highly recommend them to anyone with motion sickness.



walking along the berkeley pier. the pier actually stretches 3.5 miles, but only 3000 feet of it remains for people to walk on. the middle picture shows the remaining pier that we can no longer access. we finished off our anniversary weekend on monday with dinner at firefly. yum-my!