300 Days of Sunshine

I am so appreciative of my wonderful coworkers.  Before my recent vacations I had a few stressful weeks at work.  There were a number of trauma patients and repeat admissions, and a lot of young people in the hospital.  Providing compassionate care takes a toll on employees, but in healthcare, just like many professions, the only way we get through the week is with support from wonderful people who help us paddle our boats through the rapids. I'm long overdue for bringing baked goods to work, but I found this delicious recipe from my favorite blogger this week!  I bring you Symphony Bars, named from the melted Hershey's Symphony chocolate bars on top.  These bars taste like cookie dough and the milk chocolate is silky and smooth.  They were a hit in my office!  Enjoy! The good stuff Getting ready to bake the bars Chocolate-y goodness! Yum! Symphony Bars Recipe from The Brown Eyed Baker Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpos...

This summer has been the hottest that I remember since moving to Santa Fe five years ago.  We've had a number of days over 90 degrees, which is somewhat unusual for this area.  Kua is pretty lackadaisical on her afternoon walks and my garden is seriously struggling.  I'm thankful that we don't have much humidity here, and also thankful that we had enough sense to install central AC last summer!  From what I've read, though, we are not the only region with extreme heat: residents of Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and even Colorado Springs are seeing record high temps over 100 degrees. I just returned from two back-to-back vacations in some hot and sticky cities!  My mom and I spent a week at her timeshare in Virginia Beach, VA, where we spent our days lounging at the beach, riding bikes, walking in the sand, stand-up paddle boarding, reading beach books, and enjoying fresh seafood.  It was so wonderful to have a few days of relaxation without an itinerary. ...