katrina_pharmd's Blog

i have joined....

2008-08-28T18:51:00Z

...the thirty, flirty, and thriving club! hahahaha..

went to sushi with my friends, complete with sake bombs and karaoke! it was a lot of fun! and my friend from seattle sent me an incredible edible fruit arrangement to the pharmacy! it was so nice!

so, i am 30, and dh is already calling me a grandma! hehehe.

sunday, sunday, sunday

2008-08-25T17:03:00Z

i realized that i am now part of the nestie bloggers facebook group, and i haven't posted in a while. so, since i asked to be part of the group, i thought i should actually be more diligent about blogging....

****this is an excerpt from my other blog****

so, its sunday. i am at work. but today is not just any ordinary sunday at the pharmacy. it is my LAST weekend that i am working here. again, with the countdowns. i know, i need to stop that crap, and just enjoy the moment that i am in. but, alas, that is just me. please take me for who i am. i am sort of giddy with that "oh my god, this is really happening feeling". and it was just that much easier to get up at the ass crack of dawn this morning. it was pitch black when i got out of bed at 5am. i had this whole cute capri summery outfit picked out to wear, but opted for my usual work uniform of brown courds and a plain shirt with a hoodie. oh well, i can be cute tomorrow.

speaking of cute clothes, i have been trying to shop, in the little free time that i have, for our move to new zealand. i have not been very successful in the pants department. curse my short genes! however, i have been pretty good about getting some nice tops. mike and i went to tilly's last weekend, and i saw some stuff that i thought was cute, but of course, nothing in my size. so, being the genius that i am, i went online to see what they had there...and score for me! they had so much more stuff online. so, i went on a mini shopping spree, and as an added bonus there was free shipping on purchases $89 or more. the loot i got: 1 cute sundress, 1 cute halter tank top, 2 cute babydoll-ish tops, 1 cute pair of flip flops. note the adjective CUTE! and i think mike was surprised when i wore one of the tops on friday. he gave me a weird smirk and look before he commented about my shirt looking nice. i thought he was smirking b/c he didn't like it, and i told him he was being mean to me, and that if that was the reaction i get, then i won't dress nice anymore. so...there!

i went to the dentist on thursday. happy to report that i have no cavities. well, i had a toothbrush abrasion, which is technically a cavity, but it had no decay. so, dr. mike fixed that up for me. and told me to stop brushing so hard. anyhoo, dr. mike is an old friend of mine. and he is so incredibly generous and awesome. he is my friend, who took care of my kittybutt while i was in pharmacy school. and that fat little kitty loved him, probably more than me. he let her go out and chase mice and climb on the counters. and he is so nice to me too. i have been his charity case from the get go, when i didn't have insurance in school, or when i first went to a shitty dentist who told me i needed thousands of dollars of work done. dr. mike saved the day...and my mouth. he is doing really well. he is looking spiffy, and healthy. he is still toothpick thin, but he seemed so much happier than the last few times i saw him. he was chatty, funny, and chipper. i am glad that he is happy and healthy. i was worried there for a bit. i am hoping to see him next week at my birthday dinner.

i also went to my eye doctor on friday. i got the all clear on my progress. my eyes look great, and the dryness (which i never really felt) is much better. good thing, b/c i have been less than diligent on using those eyedrops 3-4 times a day. now i am on an as needed regimen. the doctor wanted to see me one more time at the year mark to make sure everything was still good, but i dropped the bomb on him that i was moving really far away. he said that was fine, just have a check up next april...otherwise, see ya! also, i decided that he is an arrogant prick. but i guess i would be if i was rolling in the dough. i mean, every patient pays at least 3K out of pocket for lasik. and i shelled out even more...but, i can see wonderfully, and mike can sport those non-scratch resistant shades!

****okay, now onto new stuff****

it's monday, and my work is having a bon voyage potluck for me at lunch. very sweet of them. can you believe there are on 38 more days left for me in the united states???? yikes. oh, another yikes....i will officially be part of the thirty, flirty and fun club on wednesday!

miss me?

2008-08-12T00:30:00Z

i am here...just lurking mostly. no time to really blog these days. been working long hours. but still managing to read up all of my nestie bloggers now and again!

here is the scoop:

we have exactly 7 weeks before we leave the country! i am finished with work on september 12th. the shippers are scheduled to come that week. DH and i will be going to vegas for a few days, then to washington to visit his parents on whidbey island and to visit my best friend. bff and i are going to see counting crows/maroon 5 in seattle. after that we will return to the bay for just a few days...long enough to tie up some loose ends and pack up a rental car to go down to the oc to visit my parents, brother, grandma, and friends. then the real fun begins.

we will leave from LAX and go to fiji for a week, then australia for 2 weeks. finally we will land in wellington, new zealand on october 23rd. we will immediately travel north a bit and go to the place we were engaged to celebrate our first wedding anniversary...yes, we are totally romantic saps like that! then we will take some time to travel around the country for a bit. i am hoping that we will be settled in a place by christmas...the middle of our second summer for the year! i think i am traveling more in the next few months than i have in my entire life! did i mention that i went to germany in july?!? it was amazing! what a beautiful country!

so those are our plans for the rest of the year. i keep telling people that i am super excited for the adventures that lie ahead, but i have also never been more scared sh!tless!!! we are taking the plunge...and we are hoping that this will be a more permanent move for us.

in fact, this move has brought up a lot of discussions about our future plans, and it looks like that we when we have to renew our visas in 2 years, we will also start ttc. i am pretty sure we will have a couple of kiwi babies! definitely an interesting mix; i have been trying to imagine what our kids will look like (he is polish/italian, and i am chinese), as well as what they will sound like with nz accents. makes me laugh! hahahaha!

anyhoo, i may not have a chance to update any time soon. perhaps the next time we chat, it will be from down under. till then, many congrats and best wishes to all the new families growing, and to the 2 people that might read this blog! take care!

quick update

2008-06-27T16:24:00Z

i am alive. i am just so busy. just wanted to give you the 411 on all the big, exciting things going on in my world:

1. our new niece, cara jessica, was born on friday, june 20, 2008. she was 7 lbs, 7 oz, and was 20 inches long. she had tons of dark hair, and looks a lot more like mom. i won the baby pool...everyone, including cara's parents, thought she was going to be a boy!

2. we finally received our passports back from the new zealand immigration office. i was getting really stressed out b/c it has been a month from our approval. apparently, someone forgot to put our state and zip code on the package, so our identities were floating around somewhere out there for weeks. so scary!

3. our lease is up on our cute little apartment, so we need to be out by monday, june 30th. we have been packing for months, it seems. and we are in the final push to get out in time. it is just so hard to pack for our move across the world.

4. DH and i decided to go to fiji and australia, before arriving in our new home in new zealand. i can't wait to go now! it is all becoming very real. we are really this close from living our dream. it is all finally happening.

5. i may have a job in wellington sooner than i could've imagined! i have been emailing the lead clinical coordinator back and forth. we both have a lot of questions for each other b/c we are both dealing with new people from different countries and experiences in our profession. weird, but cool all in the same package!

6. i will officially tell my bosses next week that i am leaving the country. i never expected to be sad about leaving, but i am a little, even the place i just started working at for a year. fyi, i have 3 jobs, so it will be hard to do the whole thing three times!

7. we are going to germany in a couple weeks. i am excited. one of my friends over there asked me to pack her some special treats: JIF extra crunchy peanut butter, and tony roma's carolina honey bbq sauce! she is too funny, and it made me realize what we take for granted here in the states!

okay, so much for the quick update. hope all is well in nestie land!

we're in!

2008-05-23T16:35:00Z

an excerpt from my other blog:

today at work, i had my usual thursday adult palliative care meeting. we always open our meeting with a thought, quote, blurb by emmah, our spiritual care counselor on the team. today, emmah started the meeting by saying that spring always brings new things, and asked us to share what was new in our lives. we went around the room, saying something new. most people said that they are cleaning out closets or working on home projects. pat said that she is doing a volunteer coordinator project with her church in june. i was next to last to speak, and i said, "it's funny that you ask about something "new" b/c we are starting a new life in the fall. we are moving to new zealand." everyone was floored, and the questions came. but there was genuine excitement from the team, which made me happy. i am probably the youngest member of the team, so rhonda commented, oh how nice it is to be young and carefree. and others chimed in with "i wish i could do that!"

so, the cat is kinda, sorta out of the bag. we haven't told many of our close family and friends that our residence in nz was granted. we are keeping it for us for a little while longer. but, it is hard to not tell anybody! good thing for my nestie outlet!

i am overwhelmed and excited and can't wait to start our new life in a new place!

little blurbs

2008-05-16T00:00:00Z

life is hectic as usual. here are a few little announcements i thought i would share:

-my new "niece" (my best friend's sister's baby) arrived a month early on may 13th at 3:45am. baby gwenyth ella weighed 6 lbs, 8 oz and was 18.5 inches long on her birthday. she was nameless for a couple days, but mom and dad finally agreed on baby gwen. she joins big sister, lauren isabella. i love it. their family is now complete. i can't wait to see them all.

-i have been running for a month now. and i am excited to report, that i have hit a major milestone. i have ran 50.99 miles as of today. i am proud of myself for sticking with it! and i still don't love it, but i am liking it more and more each time i finish a workout.

-no word on new zealand yet. i am anxious and nervous and tired of waiting. i have been glued to the mailbox everyday after work. i think i may need a little vacation to keep me from being disappointed after checking the mailbox and finding it empty. deep down, i know we are going to be accepted, but i don't want to jinx it...and i will feel better when i have official confirmation.

-we are having a heat wave here in the bay area. it is 99 degrees today. i am melting!

a little update

2008-05-10T03:48:00Z

life has been busy for me lately. here are a few things i have been up to...

-working: a little less than before, but still a lot. keeping me busy. i am bummed all weekend. all late shifts. sucks. next weekend i have a 3 day weekend. that's awesome.

-running: today i ran my first 5k. i didn't do my best, but i did okay. although i did not do what i expected myself to do, i did end up running my fastest mile to date. so, i was happy with that accomplishment. and i am happy that i finished the race!

-moving: still no word from nz. and i am waiting and waiting and waiting. it is silly, but i totally get disappointed when i check the mail and nothing has arrived from immigration. it has been 2 weeks already, and they said the decision would be made in 2-3 weeks. and i have to keep reminding myself that mail from london can take a while to get here to california!

-health: oh my goodness! my allergies are out of control. i am drugged up on benadryl as a blog, but at least my nose isn't running and my eyes aren't leaking. the pollen is driving me crazy!

-excitement: last night sil called us at about 10:30pm, and said that she was heading to the hospital b/c she thought she was in labor. we were a little worried b/c she isn't due for about 6 more weeks. but, they ran some tests and she was fine, not in labor, and they sent her home. dh and i realized that we aren't ready for our new niece or nephew yet.

hope all is well with you!

blog slacker...

2008-04-28T18:39:00Z

sorry. i actually started up another blog, which is more geared toward our new zealand immigration process and to update friends and family about our move. it is turning into my blog, with updates on my running and everything. we are planning to link this blog to our wedding website in a bit, so people can catch up with us.

here are the highlights of life in general:

-we had our phone interview with our new zealand case officer. it went well. he said that it would be "highly unlikely" that we would be declined our visas. we should have an answer in the next couple of weeks. we are so excited and anxious to hear back. keep your fingers crossed and send us any nestie dust you can spare!

-my running is going well. i ran my personal best mile yesterday on the trail near our house. lance armstrong came in my nike+ipod thing and congratulated me. that was pretty funny! my time was 8'26"! even though i had to walk the first half of my workout due to a horrible side stitch, i ended up doing a better mile pace! when i started running, i was thinking that a mile was going to be a challenge and my big goal was to run a 5k at the end of the summer. to my big surprise, i can already run over 3.1 miles, so i think i may have to set my goals a little higher.

-yesterday mike and i were married 6 months. time has really flown by. i guess preoccupation with your future in another country supercedes the married days ticker! we had a nice sunday...it was my only day off, so we made the most of it. we ran, went to lunch, went to 2 movies, and had a double dinner date with our friends. sunday seemed all too short...and now it is monday again!

that's all the big news....oh, wait...we are going to whidbey island this weekend. should be fun!