More of Arctic Blast 2008

We have been snowed in for 3 days now, and I've been going to clinic off and on because it has been snowing all week. This phenomenon has not happen in Portland since 1968! I think we have to shovel snow tomorrow and venture out to the grocery store because I'm running out of food, particularly fresh veggies and milk. On Saturday and Sunday, Quoc attempted to drive out with chains on my car but got stuck right outside our driveway. So we haven't made a repeat attempt, perhaps out of fear of being stuck, and/or fear of being cold or just plain laziness. The city of Portland nearly shut down because they don't have enough snow plow to keep up. They're busy with the freeways and our side streets don't get serviced- understandable though, because this doesn't happen very often. Plus, we're appreciative of the extra time spent together. We've been cleaning a bit, doing much needed laundry, and playing lots of video games (just got Rock Band and Sing Star). And I even squeezed in some exercise today :-)
Quoc and I are planning to fly to visit both sides of the family on Saturday. I hope we can get out of the city. Flights have been canceled left and right. It's supposed to get better by the weekend, so we're praying... In the beginning, it was really fun to play in the snow, but now, I think I'm ready for it to warm up now :) Here are some shots that we took around our house and neighborhood.

Small tree in front of the house iced over
Looking down our street
Grasses

I like macros :)
Our backyard. Our bench is on the left- disappeared under the snow!

Artic Blast and New Job!

Merry Christmas! (I made the above wreath- didn't know I was crafty!)

Portland is the middle of snow storms. Once a year, this happens and it's sort of fun. I imagine being a kid here and getting to stay home from school and go outside to sled and have snow fights. What fun! I have to make it over the I-5 bridge to get to Vancouver for work. When snow freezes to ice, it can be treacherous. But as a resident, you have to try, because someone has to see those patients in the hospital! If you can't make it, they'll try to get the firemen to come get you, or you have to lose one of your vacation days. Either way, it's not as fun as the kid missing school to go sledding. But we're gonna try if we're stuck at home (I'm hoping to be stuck at home tomorrow- got my hot chocolate ready) to have fun :) Here are some fun pictures of the storm's first hit. Tomorrow will the be second, and according to the weatherman- Sunday is the third, when I'm supposed to be in the hospital for an overnight OB call. Yikes!

Our garden shoes :)
My poor watering can- looks sad and neglected, doesn't it?
We still have some roses, amazing!

In other (and awesome) news, I signed my first real job contract today! Yay!!! It's official. I, along with 3 of my "classmates" are going to be working for the same system (SWHS). It's a brand new clinic out of a primary care underserved area north of Vancouver, WA. The deal sounds really good, and after much negotiating and reviewing the contract, etc, we signed today! It's a huge sigh of relief for me to know early on where I'll be working. Plus, seems like the light of the end of the tunnel is finally here. High school, college, medical school, wedding, moving to Portland, new house, residency... seems like I haven't stopped. And now, I'm almost... "arrived". We haven't figured out what to do with the sign on bonus yet; it's going in the bank right now, but we're going to Europe before I start. I'm really excited and extremely thankful for my God who provides and is faithful in all things. Below are some pictures of the signing- I had to bring the camera to document!

Everyone signing: John, Anita, Diana and me
Dr. Alden Roberts, VP of the hospital, my new soon-to-be boss, signing his part. It's official!
Contract and sign on bonus :)
VPs and directors and us. We look (and feel) important!
Us with our current boss, residency medical director, Dr. David Ruiz.
I'm the only one in scrubs because I had procedures clinic today, otherwise, I would have tried to look a bit more dressy and professional- for the pictures :)

We did lots over Thanksgiving break- our friends Jason, Tom and Katie came to visit from San Diego, but I didn't take any pictures. And they haven't sent me any, so um.. next time.

Signs that I'm getting older?

So I've been getting a lot of weird ads in my mailbox lately about things like AARP and reverse mortgages. But this last one, I just had to share.

Maybe they know something I dont...

Beach Weekend

Instead of handing out Halloween candies this year, we decided to go to the beach for the weekend, even though it's the end of October and all. We stayed at a condo/resort in Seaside and had a great time relaxing and eating a lot. It rained off and on Saturday, but a huge storm Saturday night. We had fun anyway, walked on the beach at Seaside and Cannon during the sun breaks. Here are some pictures.


Freezing on the beach :) Look, we only have a simple sweatshirt on. Look how far we've come since our first year, coming from SoCal and all.

Quoc being cheesy. He was pointing at nothing, just posing for the camera.

Windy! My friend from medical school Anna and me behind sea grass at Seaside.

Anna surprised us with a kite to fly, but it started to pour right when we got down to the beach. Ah well.. such is Oregon weather. Thanks, anyway, Anna! The idea was nice.

Iconic picture of Cannon Beach

Pak & Yau's Wedding

Last weekend, I was the matron of honor for Yvonne and Andrew's wedding. She looks so beautiful.. and Andrew, y'know... a guy in a tux. Her dress is a form fitting ivory lace with a small train, perfectly fitting with the Arizona Inn as the backdrop. It was fun to catch up with old friends, and it's wonderful to see them finally married and so happy! Here are some pictures that we took.

Long Time No Blog

It's been a while, but we've been busy. Well, mainly me. I was on night float then medicine senior for 2 weeks; therefore, I was very tired when I got home most days.
A few Christian faculty in the hospital are actively mentoring Christian residents in the program now, and it's such a refreshing experience. We get together for dinner once a month, and I'm feeling quite supported. It's not as lonely out there, knowing that there are people who feel the same way about certain things as I do.
Job offers are coming in. I think Quoc and I have pretty much decided that I will work in Vancouver, WA, which means we will have to move across the river some time next year. The hospital put together a recruiting dinner last week, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear about so many different job opportunities around the area! I got a package today and it looks really promising. Still have a few more recruiting dinners to go in the next few weeks. We will pray and see. It's certainly uplifting to see an ending to residency in sight.
Several of our friends and family members recently have pre-term labor or other complications of pregnancy. I've seen a lot of it in my practice, but it certainly takes on a different meaning when it's someone close to you. Makes me think about having a baby sooner than later. But then, I don't feel quite ready yet. Will I ever feel completely ready though? Hmm...
On another note, fall is here. I love fall and its colors. I will have to take some pictures of the leaves in the next few weeks.

Playing Hooky From Church

Last weekend, instead of being at church with my wife, I decided on playing hooky and go fly fishing. The place is called Trillium Lake.





My punishment ...


but the joke is on the Big Guy upstairs, because maybe he doesn't know, but this is the first time I did fly fishing so I'm happy with anything.

Back to the Farms

When we first arrived in the States, my parents picked berries to put food on the table, figuratively and literally. I would follow along and sleep in the car until the rumbles in my belly wake me to tell me that I must feed it. Now, almost 30 years later, my belly grumbles again.














Poor berries, they never had a chance...

Washington D.C. trip

Last week, I went to D.C. for a CME (continuing medical education) about osteoporosis, and Quoc tagged along. It was a really good conference and I learned tons (!) while Quoc explored most of the museums by himself. I joined him after the conference ends on Friday afternoon. At the conference, I met my friend Rani from medical school! What a small world. (Hi Rani!) Also, we hung out with Julie and Billy and stayed at their place (thanks, guys!). D.C. was very... efficient, diverse and much more interesting than I remembered. We ate lots of good food, and walked a lot. I think we both lost a few pounds each. My favorite museum was the Holocaust museum- it was really nicely presented and organized. The highlights of the trip are in the pictures below.

The lowlights of the trip are the troubles we ran into trying to get back home. There was a huge storm in NYC, where we had a connecting flight to Portland. So we delayed getting into JFK by 6 hours- got there around 2 am. The only other flight available was 8:30 pm the next day. So we frantically called everyone we know in NYC, and found Kevin, who's an ER resident and long time friend from San Diego who graciously picked us up, let us stay at his place and dropped us off the next day before his shift. (Thanks Kev!) The story isn't over yet. We lucked out and got put onto an earlier flight @ noon to Seattle, but the storm hit again and we were delayed for 3 hours. And... apparently, there was a volcano in Alaska that erupted which causes interference in our direct flight to Seattle- causing a detour to Utah (needed to fuel up). After waiting there, we finally arrive in Seattle around 7 pm. At this time, the Amtrak's last train out of Seattle to Portland was long gone. We had to cancel that reservation and decided to rent a very expensive car home. Fortunately, there was 2 other Portlanders in the same boat and we decided to drive together and share the rental fees. We got home around midnight and crashed.
Did I mention the last day of travel was my birthday? :) It was the most terrible travel experience I've ever had. But I think we made the most of it. We met lots of interesting and fun people along the way. For example, the whole plane was watching the Olympics' men's swimming relay, on the tar mat, waiting for permission to fly. At the moment that USA beat the French, everyone stood up, clapped and there was a roar of "yeah!!!!" throughout the plane. It was a really cool moment. Also, we're thankful for our friends who are so generous, as always!

Billy, Julie, Quoc, me and Rani @ Malaysian
Sunny and Rani @ Mai Thai
Kevin driving us to the airport before his ER shift.

More pictures to come when I'm a bit more motivated to upload more. It was overall, a great trip.

Beach Weekend

Last weekend, Quoc's boss/friend was generous enough to let us borrow his beach house in Pacific City, OR for the weekend. So we load up the car with 3 other friends, a trunk full of food and "off we go!" Unfortunately, it was pretty misty and cloudy, so I did not get many good pictures (fear of ruining the lens on my new toy/early birthday present from Quoc. The clouds did not damper our fun though. We climbed the sand dune, walked on the shores and hung out at the house. It was such a relaxing weekend; I forgot about work for a little while. I think we all needed that break. Thanks K_!

Quoc being silly
John & Rachel
Rachel
John
Anita

I'm still getting used to the camera, learning more about shooting in different lighting conditions. Hopefully the pictures will improve with time. It's an impressive piece of equipment; I'm grateful for it. Thanks, husband!

Clam diggin' #2

Today, Quoc woke me up way early to drive to Netarts Bay once again for clam digging. This time, we have the expertise of his boss, an experienced clammer to show us the way and the right holes to dig. And oh my goodness!! These were huge! See the pictures below. What a workout it was too! At one point, my entire head was in the hole, hanging' on to the clam and digging around it with my fingers as the muddy water fills up and collapsing around my arm. The clam squirts out water too, as an desperate attempt to escape. We caught 23 gapers, a few cockles, soft shells and mussels. We thought we had 24 gapers but one of those were dead shells, filled with mud. Fooled us! By the time we had to go, carrying two buckets-full was quite a task for Quoc. I attempted, but it was way too heavy. We'll share the goods with friends and family, and for sure, we'll go again next low tide!

Buckets of clams! You can compare the size to my garden hose faucet head.

See how proud we are of ourselves? :)
Duy and Diane. I love her face! She's trying to smile, but totally grossed out at the site of the gaper's long neck.

31st

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Clam Diggin'

We went to Netarts Bay today to dig clams. I didn't know it was so much work, and so much fun! The weather was very accommodating and the bay water was not cold at all! Quoc and I dug 40 clams (the daily limit) all together. The day ended with a very exciting adventure. I was helping Quoc dig for a potential gigantic clam that was 3 feet under the surface and lost the time. We looked up and everyone was gone. The tide was coming in fast! So we ran, racing the tide, lugging the day's work, wading in chest high waters at times to cross to safe land. I prayed the entire time that we won't get stranded and die out in the bay. I forgot that I can swim! It was scary and we had a good laugh afterwards. Sticky, wet and stinky, we got lunch and got ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and drove home. We gave some of the clams to our neighbor and i think I'll attempt to make clam chowder tomorrow. Will post pictures of the finished product. We'll go again, I'm sure, next month at the next low tide.

Posing for the picture. But I did dig all those holes in the back!

A butter clam!

Commuting

This month, I have a lot of clinic. And since it's closer to home (~15 mins of driving), I figured I'd bike instead. And I did! Approx 6 miles each way- took me 1 hour to get there and 45 mins to get back on my little mountain bike. Not bad, I thought. The worse part is going over the interstate bridge over the Columbia River. It was so windy that I couldn't go down hill fast. Took the fun out of it.
The weather is getting nicer now; by biking, I'll save gas, and get some exercise. Only days I can't bike are when I have to go to the hospital in the afternoon. Hopefully, this will last through the summer, periodically at least. Now, I know I can beat my time if I only have breakfast!

Burnt out

I feel completely and utterly pooped today- for lack of a better or more fitting word. It's nearly the end of my 2nd year, and the end of a string of hard rotations w/o a real vacation. I found that much is expected of me at work, and today, I felt that I cannot and could not live up to those expectations. There is only one little Chau and I cannot please everyone.
"Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart feel lonely and long for heaven & home, when Jesus is my portion. A constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow. And I know, He watches me."
I need to focus on what's important. One more year. Lord give me strength.

Back to normalcy

Over the Memorial Day weekend, our friend Chris and Kim visited from Chandler, AZ. We did some hiking, biking and eating, as usual, around Portland. We brought our camera but managed to forget the memory card, so no pictures until they send us some (Send us some guys!!!). I was on nightfloat again as well. Anyway, seems like things are finally back to normal. I'm baking and cooking again. Today, it's a monstrous pot of multipurpose marinara sauce. I can make spaghetti, pizzas, seafood stews, etc with this sauce and dinner is set for 1.5 weeks or so. Also, when my mom was here, she left a bunch of basic Vietnamese recipes (like nuoc nam-fish sauce and thit kho- pork stew) that I've always had a hard time mastering. May be because Mom measures in Asian spoons and rice bowls portions. But she calibrated to my spoons and bowls here so I'm set :)

Lots of people are pregnant right now. It's got me thinking... but nah....My sister-in-law had a scare of preterm labor last week. She's on bedrest now for the duration of the pregnancy :-/ Makes me think, geez... should we? Nah... :) I don't know what it is that makes people ready to be parents. But I don't think I'm ready. I don't want to get pregnant just because my eggs may be getting old and there may be complications with advanced maternal age. Or because my dad is ready to be a grandpa and mom is asking with each phone call if I'm pregnant. Shouldn't there be a feeling? or a sign from God? In any case, my schedule right now doesn't allow for morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidum, and back pain. And for goodness' sake, we've only been married for 2 years! Ha, sounds like the conversation I have with my parents quite frequently lately. One day... but not now.

The rest

We brought out our AC today because it hit 95 degrees in Portland. We tried to escape to the coast for the majority of the day- crabbing and visiting the infamous Tillamook Cheese Factory (again- but new for my parents!). Here are some pictures from what we did the past few days- quite a whirl-wind tour of Portland.

Fishing for trouts at Benson Lake- no bite that day :(

Multnomah Falls

Bonneville Dam

Bonneville Fish Hatchery

Crabbing at Netarts Bay- 4 rock crabs! No dungeness :(

Ice cream at Tillamook Cheese Factory

They're leaving tomorrow. Yes!!! j/k. Then I go back on night float for 2 weeks. One more month after that, my 2nd year of residency will be over. Yay!! Hard to believe- so fast.