sick one

i hate hospitals.

monday morning i woke up not feeling so hot. i padded into the bathroom and yeow! ouch! burning sensation NOT normal! worst UTI ever. so bulk up on the cranberry juice and water during the day, but it's too late. by afternoon i'm shaking and can't get warm. my lower back starts to slightly ache and i think "this is NOT good." so i go to web MD dot com and look up UTI. it says call your doctor immediately, camille, because you have all the symptoms of a KIDNEY INFECTION. shit.

so i call kaiser permanente to schedule an appointment. not availble. how about anyone else? medical assistant? nurse? nope, nothing until february 7. but this could be my kidneys. are you sure? yes. i hung up and called the consulting nurse, who chastised me for waiting a week with the basic symptoms (i just hung my head and mumbled apologies) but she was very sweet once she found out that i was from seattle (she and her hubby are moving to bremerton). she got me a 6:20 appointment that evening with urgent care.

so matt drives me to the doctor. i wait. i wait more. finally my name gets called, but i have to go back in the waiting room because they don't have a room for me yet. so 10 minutes later i get my room and wait. wait wait wait. then the doctor arrives, only to discover that my paperwork got mixed up with some other woman's (a 63 year old woman). so he excuses himself, leaves the room, and 2 nurses walk in arguing about my paperwork. the head nurse takes me in to get checked out (again) with the other still arguing her case. i just look at the floor, trying to feel better.

so the doctor prescribes me a whole host of medications, which takes 45 minutes to obtain from the pharmacy. finally we get home in time for my show, 24, but i fall asleep before it even starts.

i wake up at 10:30 that night (thanks to whoever called, i know who you are!) shaking and chilled, not able to get warm. i take my temp - 102 and climbing. shit. can't walk in a straight line. double shit. call my co-worker, the lovely adrienne, who says call the consulting nurse at kaiser, see what they have to say. so i do, and she says get to the ER. NOW.

so i do. matt and i hurry, me crying and thinking i'm going to die from a kidney infection. so there is more waiting once we get to the ER. then i get into my room and they tell me to "take your top off." and hand me a flimsy gown that's not going to keep me warm. so the doctor FINALLY comes in, gives me a few firm thumps on my back (to which i yell OW!), diagnoses me with a kidney infection (great), and tells me to not drive or go to work for the next 2 days (yay). i can't eat hot foods, and nothing complicated. applesauce. chicken noodle soup. lots of water.

i'm much better now. no fever, but the anti-biotics make me dizzy so still no driving. luckily i am not going to palm springs for the board retreat so i'm going to continue resting this weekend. although we may head out to northridge to visit celena for a bbq and tivo. :)

YOGA!

yoga kicks my butt. literally. and because i'm flushing out so many toxins, the past two classes i have felt extremely nauseated and nearly puked! this is not enjoyable for me. who wants to spend 90 minutes feeling sick? in 105 degree room? no thanks. but the teachers said it's normal. everyone has their different reactions and this may be yours. so i'm going to go back next week. i was going to go back today but i think my body needs a break. besides, kari and i are going to runyon canyon tomorrow and then amanda, kari, matt and i are going to see sam shaber. i think i'll go back to yoga on monday or tuesday.

matt has been doing tae-bo at home every other day and looks great! he feels good, looks good, and loves to get compliments from his peers about how much weight he has lost.

today i am going to get my hair done. i have spent enough time being a brunette, so today i'm getting auburn highlights in my hair! i will officially be an auburnette! :)

p.s. jenny, thank you for the lovely postcard! you are so thoughtful!

gettin out

so i think this is the year where i'm supposed to get in shape. kari and i will go hiking once a month. celena has finally convinced me to try bikram yoga (which i love so far). i belong to two fitness websites, bodiz and exercise friends, and one person from each site has contacted me about working out! this is so amazing and i'm very excited to get into shape. now i just need to work on my eating habits and everything will be okay...

today we went to cost plus world markets and perused the wine section. like we don't have enough, right? :) we also bought a wine rack that fits beautifully into our hall closet. we are officially wine-o's!

this weekend has been very relaxing and i don't want to go back to work tomorrow. not because of the rabbi, but because i'm lazy. :)

destructive!

i had no idea my name could cause so much trouble...

http://www.geocities.com/hurricanene/hurricanecamille.htm

a little miracle

will wonders never cease?

ever since i got back from vacation, work has been a very pleasant environment. i can't help but wonder if something was said to the one who made me cry, because she's been totally pleasant and sweet ever since i got back. she even asked how i'm doing, how my weekend was...who is this person?????? :) maybe it also has to do with the fact that i am working on not letting her crazy mood swings get to me anymore.

in other news, quinn goes to the vet tomorrow (you really don't want to know the details). matt has a had a great start to the new term, mom is doing really well (yeah!), and i'm going to try bikram yoga this weekend. all in all, things are going really good right now. even the weather is wonderful - 65! :) warm for this seattle-ite!

wonderful wineries

here's just a sample of things we tried (and bought)...

Bonny Doon Vineyard

• The Framboise is a very sweet wine, perfect for pouring over cheesecake or ice cream. It's made with Washington raspberries. Once you open the bottle it will last 4-6 months.
• We also sampled their sparkling wine, which we drank half of, then the cute wine girl poured a dash of the Framboise in, and it was like drinking a lovely Raspberry soda that made you feel very happy!
• The only sad thing was that we found out that they are closing their tasting room in Paso Robles next month and will be operating soley out of Santa Cruz. Funky place to go, though. Lots of barn animals and their tasting room is in a dolled up mobile home.

Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards

• We loved just about every wine on this list. Our favorites inculded the Syrah, Port, Merlot, and Cab. Now, I normally dislike Merlot and Cab but there's had a very nice finish.
• Our favorites were the Apple Chardonay and the Apple Merlot. Yes, you read right. APPLE wine! The owner also has apple trees on his property and told the winemaker to try to combine the two. They are both 50/50 blends and so yummy! We bought the Chardonnay and when we go back we'll get the Merlot. Oh, and their Orange Muscat (which has no oranges in it) is divine!
• Wonderful ambiance. The tasting room and gift shop is decorated by the wife. The young woman helping us had been working there about a year and knew nothing about wine when she first started. That gives me hope! :)
• This winery was my personal favorite!

Mastantuono Winery

• A very nice woman helped us out, originally from North Carolina she knows her stuff! They had a Raspberry Champagne that we weren't able to try because the truck was 3 weeks late. :( But their Syrah was worth our stop. They also had 2 wine kitties in the tasting room, which scored big points with us. Very nice wine tasting room and beautiful labels on the bottles.
• This was the second winery we went to. We made a promise to come back in a few months so we could try the Raspberry Champagne!

York Mountain Winery

• The first winery we went to, and it's one of our favorites! Totally off the beaten path, but that's what made this one so memorable and so cool. They were having a huge sale so we bought 2 bottles (the Pinot Noir was just 5 bucks!) including a lovely bottle of Zinfandel.
• There was a limo group that was just leaving when we pulled up. Bunch of college kids, I imagine, and totally annoying. We were glad they were leaving.
• Lovely setting in the mountains. Small tasting room, but lovely gift shop full of homemade goodies.

returned from vacation

here's the correct link to where we stayed over the weekend. highly reccomended. fabulous breakfast, quiet rooms, good size bathrooms, and close to everything.

we had a great time and did not want to leave. details to come...

we bought lots and lots of wine!

pictures to come...

wine wine wine!

matt and i are taking off for wine country in about 10 minutes. we're going to 'sideways country' to get away from the city and have some time together! we haven't had a vacation without family or friends since we moved here so this is well deserved. we're staying here and i'm soooooo looking forward to their breakfasts! tomorrow morning we're off to Hearst Castle followed by lunch and a loverly afternoon of wine tasting. then dinner and back to the inn. sunday we'll get up early again, have breakfast, check out, and spend the afternoon at the beach and drive back to l.a. on highway one, past malibu and all kinds of lovely places.

next week matt starts school on monday, my class starts on wednesday, and we'll be busy yet again. i imagine in about 6 more months we'll need another one of these getaways when school is out for the summer. :P

p.s. jenny, i hope your day gets better!

happy birthday!

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Jenny
happy birthday to you!

hope it's happy! :)

here comes the rain again

while i was in seattle and puyallup, it rained every day. not that i was surprised - in fact, i loved it! by the time i was leaving, i was ready for sun and warmer weather. of course, i was just informed that january and february is rainy season here in l.a. and the beaches get an occasional typhoon! isn't that wonderful? it's been pouring rain for 2 days now, on and off. the biggest problem is that there drainage system here sucks so there's a lot of flooding.

and who says there's no global warming?

and happy new year! matt, rian and i headed out to ontario to visit our good friends cindi and dave. they have a very happy and very energetic dog named freya who calmed down quite quickly and loved sitting next to rian on the couch. we drank champagne, watched old episodes of south park, and got home at 3am. yesterday we stayed home, cooked fatty foods that tasted delicious, and watched a really weird cartoon. all in all, i can't complain.

today is another lovely day at home. rian and matt are in van nuys. hah! this means i got my chores done (well, the laundry is still in the dryer) but now i can read my book and maybe watch a movie. :)

i'm a big girl

coming home has been all about finding my voice and learning how to use it (appropriately). i think it's been the same for matt. we've made time to see family and some friends, but it's been our vacation, our trip. we make plans and stick to them (and thank you to jenny for putting up with me and my family's antics this afternoon). it's wonderful! although i still feel like a kid when i'm at my folks' house, i also feel like an adult making my own plans and decisions. it's an interesting time and i'm ready to go back to l.a., oddly enough, back to our life together.

matt is already back home with the kitties and he'll be picking up our friend rian at the airport later on tonight. i fly home tomorrow evening, but before i do, here are my plans: dinner tonight at the neighbor's house, coffee with kari, SLEEP, movie or walk with mom (weather depending) in the morning and a facial at 2pm, followed by a trip to l.a. via sea-tac and alaska airlines. i miss my sweetie and can't wait to see him. i guess home is wherever he is. :)

home again home again

it is officially tuesday morning and the 3rd day of my vacation! :) i'm here in puyallup in the chilly basement. my pajamas consist of warm socks, flannel pajamas, a flannel sweatshirt and a scarf. the bed has several blankets piled on it. i think we're a little chilly here! i love the rain - i've missed it so! today i saw steph and gloria in tacoma which was wonderful. nancy and greg took matt and i out to dinner at melaque in puyallup and we just finished playing games night. i must say, for playing cribbage for the first time, i did quite well! :)

christmas was wonderful. our parents got together at my folks house in seattle and my aunt muriel was there too. we had a wonderful holiday and i'm anxious for the week to continue. :)

overwhelmed

where to begin?

saturday was a blast, but wait, oh yes! FRIDAY!!! my old friend beth came into town and we had a lovely dinner at a local restaurant that i forget the name of, but we had a LOVELY dinner. my personal favorite was the appitizer we shared which was a portobello mushroom stuffed with veggies and topped with 3 kinds of cheese. she had lasagnae with cheese and meat with a side of cheese and meat and i had a grilled veggie panini with buffalo mozzerella and a spinach salad. yum yum! then we headed off to a local piano bar where i surprised beth with a visit from our old friend, celena (we all went to high school together). beth was so happy to see us and we were so happy to see eachother (i hadn't seen celena in weeks). we had a lovely time with drinks and gossiping about those we hated in high school that now are not doing so well. :) (love the high road, right jenny? :P) so then i headed home, which meant unfortunately breaking up the reunion earlier, because my friend gayle was flying in for kari's surprise tea the next day! and she flew into l.a.x. silly girl plus her flight was delayed an hour. poor thing arrived at my apartment totally exhausted around midnight. we went to sleep within an hour.

saturday morning was totally chaotic because we (and by we i mean cathie, amanda, gayle, and i) all spent the morning together excitedly chatting about the upcoming tea and how kari was going to pee her pants! her entire family was in on the surprise and she had no clue. we headed off to breakfast to talk about the plan for the afternoon, and unfortunately "the house of pies" has the worst breakfast i've ever eaten. but we were in for a treat because "santa con" was going on. i met a pirate santa who gave me a cigar and said in his pirate voice "even the little pirate girls and boys need a santa, yarrrrrrrrr" to which i replied "oh my god, you are so awesome!" cathie couldn't stop taking pictures. so after our icky breakfast we did a bit of toodling around including a drive-by-stop-quick-and-get-out-and-take-your-friggin-picture-cause-there's-a-cop-behind-me tour of hollywood and highland for the tourists. they loved it! it reminded me of the first time i saw those theaters (the el capitan, kodak, and mann's chinese) and was completely swooned. then we stopped by my place and poor matt, who was sick with a cold and didn't want excited girls gushing in his place, but he slept the whole time. we stuck to our plan and they dashed out the door 1/2 hour before kari picked me up to go to tea. fast forward to tea where i told her to walk through the door first as i saw all 3 of them, smiling and laughing before we walked in. for about 15 seconds, kari didn't say a word. she just cocked her head to one side as if to say "what the heck are you guys doing here?" and that's exactly what she said.

as the shock wore off we had a lovely tea. we went bowling at lucky strikes and i got drunk, unintentionally, of course, and flirted with everyone. i was not embaressing just fun, and had a great time. sunday we took gayle to the airport and drove back to my neighborhood where we had lunch and did some shopping.

all in all, i called in sick on monday. i don't think i really had a cold, but after all that running around, i deserved a day where i didn't even get out of my pajamas. :)

happy birthday, kari!

happy birthday, my dear friend! may you have a wonderful day and all your wishes come true! :)

crazy schedule

did i happen to mention how insane my week is? if i can post another blog this week it'll be a miracle. tonight i have class, and tomorrow i have class yet again. friday night beth is coming over and saturday morning is breakfast with a friend, saturday afternoon is tea with friends in beverly hills and saturday night is bowling with friends (money, who needs that?). sunday, well, i may just call in sick to whatever i have planned so that i can recooperate before the insanity of work truly begins.

all this plus there's 2 people at work who have had that nasty cold, plus matt woke up not feeling well this morning. that's all i need...to get sick!

and so the countdown begins...10 days!!!!!

Narnia

fabulous fabulous fabulous! did i mention fabulous! we went to a midnight screening last night at the famous el capitan theater. they have an organ player that plays music while you walk in to get your seats and then an overture right before the movie starts! :) wonderful ambiance and anyone who visits l.a. must go there and see a movie.

very tired today and a christmas party to attend tonight. and it rained last night for the first time in weeks! i can't remember the last time i smelled clean air...

wave of emotions

first off, great news about mom! :) she does not have cancer in her lungs. instead, there is scar tissue that has developed due to an allergic reaction to the chemotherapy, which she has already stopped. her pulminary cardiologist has put her on a very low does of steroids to help the scar tissue disappear faster. we are hoping that her doctors will wait until january to put her back on the chemo which means she can be active and happy during the holidays. as she said, "how's that for a christmas present?"

we filmed our scenes in acting class last night, and i have to give major kudos to my scene partner, ivan. i was absolutely terrified about being on camera. i figured i'd freeze up and not know my lines. i was scared shitless! the first take went well, just like we rehearsed. then, cliff (the teacher) gave us some notes and suddenly the intensity was 10x greater. we had rehearsed a few physical things (holding hands, him stroking my face) but all of the sudden at the most emotional part of the scene, he gives me this huge hug...you know the type, the one that just takes you away...well, this huge emotional wave came over me. my chin started to tremble, my eyes started to tear up, and i almost cried on camera (i actually cried when i got home). one of the girls in class said i almost made her cry to which i thought "yes!" i'm still a bit shaken - i wasn't expecting that kind of powerful emotional turmoil but it was amazing and awesome. the only complaing from cliff was that i didn't stick around long enough at the end of the scene for my close-up. :)

weekend

what did i do friday? oh yes. i was at work. all day. from 8am-8pm to help out with the oneg for the monthly early family shabbat services. ick. came home, played online computer game that involves pirates which matt got me addicted too. yes, i am pathetic, but i need something besides movies to get me out of reality once in awhile.

saturday i worked at the bed and breakfast for a few hours, came home, watched some tv, and then we headed out to ontario to see dave and cindy for the evening. yahoo maps said it would take us 40 minutes to get there. HAH! 90 minutes later we pulled into the driveway thanks to l.a. traffic. we had pizza, watched tivoed taped episodes of south park, and played games. i think we went to bed at 3am.

today i stayed in my pajamas, we cleaned the apartment, and i went a little stir crazy. studied lines for my scene class on wednesday (and this wednesday we film - i'm absolutely terrified), watched the pilot of a new show called "sleeper cell" and am totally addicted. on showtime.

luckily since i worked so late on friday, i get to be late tomorrow. thank god (funny that i should use that expression).

prayers needed

for those of you who don't know, i don't necessarily believe in god, but i believe in some sort of higher power. for those of you who pray or meditate or simply send good energy, it all works, and there are a few people i know of who could use a little extra help -

1. my mom and my dad. the CAT scan showed the same tissue that was in her lungs back in may. the doctor's think it's some sort of irritation or allergic reation to the chemo she was on (which they stopped last week). they don't think it's cancer but she is having a biopsy on monday. because she wasn't breathing well and coughing so much, they thought it was pneumonia and then bronchitis. well, it could be something more. we'll know more by the end of next week. my dad is trying his best to stay strong but i can tell he is terribly worried. my mom has good spirits but weak energy because she's getting so little oxygen (another possibility they determined was low iron, but that wasn't it either). please keep them both in your prayers and thoughts.

2. my friend, cathie. she is a fantastic violinist and sadly her car was broken into yesterday. the thieves stole her laptop, rent money, a whole list of things including her precious violin (this happened just outside her home which isn't even on a major street). she is distraught and upset and needs good things to come her way.

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?