Monday, November 28, 2005

interesting day

since matt has his internship on monday's and it's relatively close to the temple, we decided to meet for lunch. while he was walking me back to work, we noticed several police cars starting to block a major intersection about a block from my work (la brea avenue and santa monica boulevard). word got around that there was a BOMB THREAT on the bus just across the street! we hurried back to the temple where i told matt to be careful and hurried into work to deliver the news (keep in mind the bomb threat was just one block south of the temple). we kept an eye on the street outside and saw 8 BOMB SQUAD CARS pass by. that's when i really started to freak. there was nothing on the tv, radio, or web, so we just got on with our work. finally, la brea avenue opened back up before rush hour. we did hear an explosion, but my guess is that it was the bomb squad diffusing the suspicious package.

mom has bronchitis AND her chemo as stopped working, which means the cancer that is left in her body is resisting the current drugs. she is going in for a CAT scan tomorrow and then will meet with her doctors to discuss new "cocktail" options.

speaking of mom, i just made her homemade pesto sauce for the first time. while it doesn't taste exactly like hers, it's enough to remind me of home and be there in spirit...

...how many days until christmas eve?

Sunday, November 27, 2005

happy holi-daze

thanksgiving was good. matt and i went to kari's. amanda was there along with kari's parents, of course, her brothers, and some family friends. all in all we had a great time and it was a wonderful way to spend the evening (although i drank a little too much wine).

friday i had to work and was completely pissed that i had to be there. luckily she was in a good mood and so we didn't have to put up with any of her mood swings. tomorrow i head back and tuesday they (lee and rabbi) take us out for a play date to the getty museum. i'm looking forward to it!

saturday matt and i went for a 2 hour hike at griffith park. the weather finally felt like november. slightly chilly and very windy. we got to the observatory and saw l.a. like it has never been seen before (or rarely): on a clear day! the wind was blowing west to east so all the smog was gone and you could see everything, even runyon canyon. had it not been for the mist we would have been able to see the ocean. that night we headed out to pasadena again for dave's birthday at gordon biersch.

today we got up early and saw harry potter which i LOVE! best one yet. then we headed over to the farmer's market, picked up stuff for dinner, and headed home to clean and do laundry. well, we got the laundry part done.

tomorrow: work
tuesday: work and dance class
wednesday: work and acting class
thursday: work and o.c. at 8pm!
friday: work and support rian's show (super nanny on ABC) at 8pm
saturday: possible get-together with cindy and dave? :)
sunday: possible rest?

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

For us kitty people...(I couldn't resist)

Baking Cookies (with your cat)

1. Look in cookbook for cookie recipe
2. Get cup of coffee.
3. Get cat off of cookbook.
4. Find that special recipe.
5 . Get cat's nose out of coffee cup
6. Go to fridge and get eggs.
7. Get dry ingredients from cupboard.
8. Break eggs in small bowl.
9. Sift dry ingredients in large bowl.
10. Answer the phone.
11. Cat ate eggs; get more from fridge.
12. Get cat out of flour bowl and dust cat off.
13. Get Band-Aids for scratches on hands.
14. Throw flour out and get more.
15. Preheat oven for cookies.
16. Looking at cat & wanting to bake cat now. Cat runs for cover into bathroom.
17. Flour the counter to roll out cookie dough.
18. Big crash in bathroom; run to see what happened.
19. Cat has TP all over floor; stuff spilled and knocked over on top of bathroom counter.
20. Yell at cat. Cat falls in toilet bowl.
21. Can sense cat is angry.
22. Take cat out of toilet to dry cat off.
23. Get bandages to cover more scratches on arms and legs.
24. Cleanup bathroom.
25. Hear a thump in kitchen ...Oh Golly ... now what?
26. Get cat off floured counter in kitchen.
27. Try to pick out cat hairs from flour.
28. Step on cat's tail and get bitten.
29. Get coat, car keys, and go to store to buy cookies!!!

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

official california girl

it's done. my washington license plates are gone. yesterday i went to the dmv and paid way too much for my plain looking california plates (at least washington's has a mountain). i also have my license, so i'm an official resident! of course, i have a live-in husband. there is really nothing that says he lives here other than his afi records (this morning i realized that all the bills are in my name except for comcast and the bank loans). he'll probably get his california license in january during winter break.

i get to sleep in on thursday! yay! :)

it's the little things that count.

Monday, November 21, 2005

sick of being homesick

went to anaheim this weekend for gencon socal to help promote the new gamers movie with the dead gentlemen. jen, stevie, cindy, don, nathan, chris, dave, and ben were there (did i forget someone?) and i was so happy to see them! we had a great time! of course, to be expected, i was a total wreck yesterday afternoon when i had to say goodbye.

i just can't seem to shake this feeling of homesickness and depression. i think i need to start seeing a counselor again but my benefits don't kick in until next month. so, until then, i am going to have to try to get rid of this cloud of gloom over my head with perserverance and lots of laughter.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

weird things about l.a.

  1. movie posters EVERYWHERE;
  2. christmas decorations and 80 degree weather does not compute;
  3. the emphaisis of beauty in this city, whether it's plastic or real (and somtimes it's hard to tell);
  4. so many people think of themselves as celebrities;
  5. seeing the hollywood sign every night on my way home from work;
  6. stretch hummers;
  7. obsession with stardom;
  8. hollywood is really not that attractive;
  9. hollywood blvd. being closed down/roped off due to movie premieres;
  10. driving by mann's chinese theater, the kodak theater, and the el capitan every day, and they are all on the same block (hollywood boulevard and highland avenue);
  11. the giant gap store;
  12. 3 stripper stores all on the same block;
  13. how far people commute to work (2 hours - are they crazy!?);
  14. the amount of freeways and it's still not enough;
  15. if you tell someone you're an actor, most people get a look of disgust on their faces.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

worst day EVER

  • my boss made me cry today;
  • my mother-in-law told me that my sister-in-law is not doing well, so that made me cry;
  • mom-in-law also called to tell me that she knows i must be homesick, that she's thinking of me, and tried to make me feel more positive which also made me cry;
  • i have my first true acting class tonight with cliff osmond and i'm completely drained. no emotion, thank god no more tears, i have no strength left. what now?
  • matt is really busy and we hardly have any time together anymore, which made me cry again today;

i hate l.a. i want to go back to the northwest.

maybe tomorrow i'll feel differently.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

parental visit

well, i didn't get any pictures taken but we had a great time. i was so grateful that they were able to visit. even though mom's energy was up and down, it was so nice just to be around her again. i didn't realize how homesick i was until they left on sunday, and i just felt so empty. i realized that i didn't like l.a. as much as i thought i did and that what gets me through the months is anticipating visits to seattle/tacoma and/or anitcipating visits from family and friends who are coming here. adjusting to l.a. is going to be a bigger adjustment than i thought. and with the holidays around the corner, i'm just missing everyone that much more.

a list of fun things we did over the weekend:
  • took katie shopping at miss sixty (a very trendy clothing store on melrose);
  • drove around griffith park, stopped at trails;
  • made a lovely thanksgiving dinner including: chicken (the turkeys were too big), mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, whipped cream and yukon jackson's chocolates;
  • went out to sushi;
  • had breakfast at the bed and breakfast several times (and, i got a small job there, organizing his office!);
  • hung out at the aparment, rested, and enjoyed each other's company;
  • matt was on set almost the whole time, but they got a great tour of the campus.

how many more days until christmas eve? because that's when i'm flying home, and i can't wait...

Friday, November 11, 2005

sunny and all is well

the family arrived last night and it's so surreal that they are here. i have been anticipating this for months, as you know, and the visit will go by fast, but i have just realized how homesick i am for family, friends, and fresh air! tonight we go out to dinner and then take mom and dad by the bed and breakfast since that's where they're stayin since we don't have room for them. katie sleeps on our couch and we had the nicest visit last night. it's so nice to have familiar faces in just an unfamiliar city. today matt is taking them to school and then to our favorite music store.

mom is feeling pretty good, although she tires easily. we let her sleep in the apartment while the rest of us walked to the sushi place. she looks great though, and her attitude is still very strong. of course, our concerns are that her blood and iron counts are low, and we're wondering how long she's going to have to stay on chemo. i remember being told she'd be done by the end of the year, but i don't think that's going to happen. she'll have some tests done soon to see how this current regimen is going, to see if it's working or not.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

not so chilly

in reading my friend's blog, she's finally given up and turned on the heat in her house (she lives in tacoma). she's been discussing the battle as to whether or not she wants to pay more to the electric company (she and i are both in agreement that our favorite price is FREE). finally, she turned it up to 60 degrees and "it felt good."

i have to say that we haven't turned on the heat, but last week or the week before we turned on the air conditioning! we are having strange weather here, both hot and "cold" spells. it does tend to get a bit chilly, but we just throw on another blanket.

jenny, you'll be the first one to know when (and if) i turn on the heat. :)

by the way, matt said he was absolutely freezing in seattle last weekend. guess we'll need heavier coats for christmas.

Monday, November 07, 2005

flip flops

did i happen to mention that i got food poisoning friday afternoon? i went to starbucks for lunch and got a tuna sandwich. i've gotten those before and been fine, but come an hour later...well, i'll leave out the details and just say that my body was having all kinds of issues.

i haven't been eating much (and yes, when i went out saturday night, i was feeling much better) and have lost a little weight. i'm just not as hungry. really, the thought of food right now kind of grosses me out. you could say right now i'm eating to survive.

curse starbucks for their lovely gingerbread lattes...

Sunday, November 06, 2005

good times with good friends

kari, amanda, and i spent last night in long beach. i was thrilled to get out of l.a. and go see the ocean! we walked along the beach for a bit and got our feet wet. then we drove around downtown for awhile to get our bearings (even wound up on the bridge that headed out to the queen mary) and finally found the funky district (which was somewhat similar to capitol hill in seattle) where we spent a good portion of the evening. kari used to live in long beach and amanda and i had never been so she showed us around (unfortunately her favorite coffee shop had disappeared). we had dinner at a great little italian restaurant, did some shopping, and got some great decorating ideas. then we headed back downtown and saw "prime" with uma thurman and meryl streep (highly reccommend it!). the only downside to the evening was that i got in very early in the morning. i woke up this morning saying to myself "i am not 20 anymore. i can't stay out late again." trust me, i'm feeling it! but i had a great time being with my girls and i hope we can do it agian soon!

i just got off the phone with joy, and we can't remember the last time we talked! although we don't write or talk every week (or sometimes every month), we seem to always pick up where we left off. she may even come visit sometime next year or maybe the year after that, but considering that we haven't seen each other since 2002 (when we went for a hike at mt. ranier...well, it was sort of a hike...i had to back out halfway through because i was so out of breath), i am thrilled at the possibility of seeing her!

mom, dad and katie fly in thursday evening. i have the grocery list for our thanksgiving dinner and will go shopping either wednesday or thursday, depending on how the schedule works out. matt and i are really looking forward to their visit. i know it will fly by, but i am very anxious to see them because, well, i miss them! terribly!

Friday, November 04, 2005

date night

since matt is flying to seattle today for the weekend we had our weekly date night last night and also celebrated the premiere of his first cycle project (which went smashingly by the way). we went to the local sushi place just blocks from our apartment and spent a little more than i would have liked, althought for desert we had banana tempura which was absolutely delicious! everything was yumtastic and i can't wait to go back.

i try not to get addicted to t.v. shows, but i just can't miss an episode of the o.c.! perhaps it's because everyone's "life" on that show is so much more dramatic than mine that i feel like i have more control...it's hilarious though, because seriously, how much of this crap can happen to one family!?

Thursday, November 03, 2005

fabulous!

adrienne and i went to see a play last night called romance, at new play by david metken (he wrote "wag the dog"). fabulous show, completely inappropriate and hilarious, and great use of the f-word throughout the play. we had a great time and i can't wait to see another play there! we got free tickets from the rabbi (jenny's favorite price and mine too) which was very generous of her. i hope i can continue to be a good girl here so that i can get more free tickets! :) oh, and we saw ed o'neill, the dad from "married with children". we had better seats than he did. haha!
(dear god, i'm turning into an l.a. freak!)

matt is going home this weekend to visit his parents which means i have the apartment to myself and can do whatever i want! amanda, kari, and i are planning some stuff and i also need to catch up on some acting homework.

mom, dad, and katie come to visit next weekend and i'm soooooooooooooo excited! must get apartment in order...can't have the parents see a pigsty! :) (really, mom, it's not that bad...i swear!)