Life in the Desert

Sorry it has been a week all. The last 2 days on shift tired me out and then Dan and I had 3 days off in a row, so we just enjoyed life!! We ran some errands, tried a few new restaurants, including a couple of dessert places - Mmm mmm good!

I may have spoke too soon about how standard issue all the orders are. I realize that I have never worked in a hospital with truly acute neonates and peds, but I was a little taken aback when I got an order today to a 10 day old baby for vecuronium 8mg IV q1hprn agitation!! When I asked about whether or not it was done (as I could find no references in Micromedex, Garharts etc) I was informed 'oh yeah, the vials are stocked in the Pyxis in the Nicu!!' What the heck!!! Guess I have some learning to do!!

I am adding some pics of some of the flora round here. For those of you who think that desert areas are colorless or boring, check these out. Dan and I have been amazed at all the color and variety. Oh yeah, and it has been in the mid to upper 90s and sunny, sunny, sunny for the past week....heard you folks in Ra cha cha got a little chill in the air. :)

I wish you all could see the sun sets here. They are the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The sky has a few clouds here and there, sometimes more, but they are all filled with a silver lining and the colors around them are nothing short of breathtaking. The sunlight bounces off some of the mountain ranges and illuminates the ones in the west. I will try my best to get some pics this weekend, though my camera will never really do it justice!

love for now - a & d

Second day of new job

Well folks, we've made it through Day 2...just barely. We knew that the hospital we were moving to had the same IV pumps, the same Pyxis med station dispensing machines and the same Information System for order enty. I did, however, expect a great variation from the type of orders I have been used to entering. Guess not. We have spent 2 days watching order entry and frankly I felt by the end of today as though I may have to rip out me hair to stay awake.

Luckily, we get log-ons tomorrow 'cause the new boss has recognized that we do not actually need training per se. Thank god!!

Bat night was AWESOME! Apparently the turn out was far greater than expected - very good news. The project is to draw attention to the dry river bed. As recently as the end of WWII this river bed as a flowing, full river year-round. Now, there is water ONLY during the 2 monsoon months of July and August, and that is not even full time during those months.

Of the 28 species of bat in Arizona, there are 3 main ones mingled under our bridge, though a few stragglers of the others trickle in. Not only did we get to hear about our bats, but we got to people watch a most interesting crowd!

The Rillito River Project

Hi folks,

The house Dan and I are renting literally backs onto the Rillito River bed (dry now). There is a GREAT path for walking on our side and a paved path for biking on the other side. It is amazing how much nature we have just through the gate in the wall just on the other side of our walled yard.

We went for a great walk this morning and I took some photos. There are lizards galore, of course, some quail, a rabbit, and we came across the cutest Round-Tailed Ground Squirrel.

Now, for more about the bats. All the bridges in Tucson are home to thousands and thousands of Mexican Free-tailed bats. They are a huge part of the insect pest-control for the area. What a coincidence that we live just 3 minutes or so from the largest bridge with the biggest population!!

Now, I know that bats are not for everyone, but Dan and I happen to love the little critters and have been thrilled to watch the last couple of nights as they swarm under the bridge and then fly off for dinner, just about 7pm on the dot here! Bat watching is big here and they are having an event here this coming Saturday night. Too Cool!!!!

1 Week and Counting

We have been down to the UMC campus for our Employee Health physical and to fill out our HR paperwork - a very long process. We still have not had final approval as our background check has not come back yet. Should be soon though and we head down to get our badges before weeks end. We'll be all official then!

Tomorrow at sunset I will be down at the bridge at Rillito Creek to get pics of a Bat exodus. Stay tuned for more on the Rillito Creek Project...

Sonora Desert Museum

Praire Dog Daze...


We went to the Coolest museum on Thursday-the Sonora Desert Museum. Too bad we didn't know enough to bring hats as the Desert museum was, yep, you guessed it, an outdoor DESERT exhibition. Duh! Luckily, we did put on sunblock, and they provide it in pumps in the restrooms or we would have been Toast!! As it was, I got a little too red faced, but not actually burned.


While walking around the paths to each of the exhibits, we came across a creature NOT in the exhibit, but just living it's life- our first tarantula. Dan got a little sceeved out, but I had to get a pic.







Here are someof the other things we saw at the museum.

Tucson, Arizona - Tuesday, September 2nd

We met our landlord, Bob, at our rental house. He is a very nice guy and says that he lived in this house himself for the first 6 years that he was in Tucson. It is just the right size for us and the community pool is literally steps from the house. We are in a quiet little neighborhood just about 3 miles north of the University Medical Center hospital where we will be working. Here are some pics of the house- messy of course, though no real furniture yet. Our Pod does not come until next Monday, so we have been just getting the lay of the land.

It has been in the upper 90s for the last couple of days, but dry and really pretty comfortable. So far....Lovin'It!!

Day 3. New Mexico and Arizona

At Last!! The final stretch is in sight. Thank goodness, as Dan and I are a little like zombies today. We change up who is driving about every 1-2 hours instead of the 3-4 that we started this trip with. No one wants to drive, we just want to be there!

The scenery finally starts to change up through the Sonoran Desert until we are looking at the Santa Rita mountains, which make up the southern end of the Tucson valley.

Last stop, Willcox, Arizona, about 65 miles south of Tucson. We decided to stop so that our first day in Tucson we would be fresh and awake.

Day 2...Oklahoma...Eww.

Sunday was a VERY long day. We had only gone about 650 miles on Saturday. We still had another 1650 to go. Also, there was much concern about Hurricane Gustuv from various family members and friends who knew that we were driving to the south west. All is well, we never saw a speck as we stuck to Oklahoma and skimmed through the top of the Texas pan-handle.

Dan begins to get bored.

The only interesting thing about Oklahoma was the change in the kind of road kill - armadillos all the way. Sadly, we never saw a live one, though we desperately wanted to!

Second night we spent in a wee spot called Shamrock, Texas. I CANNOT recommend it...at all. Tiny, depressing and no place to eat after 10pm (even McDonald's was closed!!) Oh well, live and learn

Zero Hour- Saturday, August 30th - earlier than we like to be awake

Let the games begin....

As you can see by the first picture to the left, some of our girls new that the jig was up. Must be all the too-ing and fro-ing as I dash to the post office for one last clothing package to be sent west, run to starbucks for a Fill 'er Up, or as Dan takes trash bag after trash bag out to the dumpster and begins the tetris game of packing the Mini.

On the road we go. First stop, Erie and the Fam. It was so wonderful to see folks before we truly leave the east cost. Congrats to Kim! (your ring is Smashing!)

Before we left Uncle How's we drugged the cats with a Thorazine derivative for animals. Good idea for all except Max, who just got Mean and Ornery when he was drugged. They pretty much slept the entire day, in between little scrums.

We made it to Terre Haute, Indiana that first night and passed out exhausted.