So for the past few days my wonderful husband and I have been watching our way through all the James Bond movies. He loves them, and I haven't seen any but the past two. So away we went. Most of them I have liked so far. This past week has been absolutely stuffed as full as can be with precalculus. Lectures for 3hrs a day and then a minimum of 9hrs of homework afterwards. Somedays there was even 12hrs of homework to do. Insane. At one point I considered dropping the class and just trying to take it in the Fall. But there were no open classes left in the Fall (we sign up for Summer and Fall classes at the same time), so I decided to keep trying and pushing forward. Call me crazy. But I really don't want to keep dropping math classes. I need to get them out of the way. As you all know I dropped all my classes last semester. So if I dropped this class and there are no more available in the Fall I would be behind 3 semesters for Math. No good. I am glad I stuck with it because I am doing well in the class so far. It is so hard for me to learn math so quickly. I feel like I have to learn so much in those 3hr long lectures. And if I don't understand something I have to figure it out FAST. We are quizzed every morning on the material that we learned the day before. So you really HAVE to do all your homework each night and not put it off for the weekend. I am about to leave for Texas for a week so I will be missing a week of class. The only reason this makes me nervous is because I learn better from being shown how to do something rather than reading it in the book and trying to figure it out myself. That's why I love doing my homework in the math lab. If I get stuck there is someone there to help me right away. I don't waste hours of time confused and frustrated. Which is what happens when I don't understand something when I am learning on my own. I will be missing 3 quizzes and 1 exam!
Right before school started again for me though I was at Lush a lot. One thing I am excited about trying this week is their newest bath bomb. Its Wild Rose Country. And it smells wonderful. But the reason I bought it is because all of the proceeds are going towards a charity that is fighting against the tar sands in Canada. If you don't know what I am talking about you should look into it as well. Its a sad thing for that area. So I bought one of the bombs. It reminds me of their Turkish Delight body polish. Roses roses roses. I never ever thought I would be buying bath products that smelled of roses. Tonight I will be trying the Love Lettuce fresh face mask. I am looking forward to that :) Right now I have some Hair Doctor hair and scalp mask in, and it feels great. I just love that minty tingle on my scalp. And boy did my scalp need some Hair Doctor! It has been so dry and flakey from this warmer weather. Well I know this post wasn't the greatest, I am distracted by this movie. And I'm actually pretty tired. So see ya later!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
things are heating up!
Its getting hotter and hotter! Ugh. I need AC for reals. So today was the last day of my "sleep" journal. I am still not sure how this is going to work. I think that most nights I get about 4-6 hours of sleep. Which is fine. I am not as well as I was when I was getting 7-10 hours of sleep per night. Plus with the ambien it was regular sleep. Without it I never know when I am going to rest well, and when I am going to be awake all night tossing and turning. I have my next doctors appointment on July 6th. So we'll see what happens then. What have I been up to lately? Well I have been crocheting a lot. I have been working on this plain blanket for Jake using some neat yarn that I liked. But I don't like how boring it is. So even though I have made quite a bit of it, I am going to start over. Call me crazy, but I know that if I don't do it now I will always be disappointed in it. So thats that. I am working on a fun airy Summer blanket at the moment. Its kind of like a granny square blanket, but with bigger gaps so that its lighter. There are three different colors of blue in the yarn and one shade of green. I really like it. I think it will go with the beach/ocean photos that I have above our bed very well. So far I have completed two squares of ten rounds each. Next, I have done some shopping at Lush, of course. I actually just exchanged a few items that I wasn't liking that well, and picked out some new things. One of the things that I picked out I tried and already know I won't repurchase it. Oh my lush store is so sweet to me too! They are always giving me things :) I went to Berkeley on Tuesday with Jake (he was working during the day) so that I could watch him play softball in the evening, and I planned on going to the gym while I was there. However, once I arrived in Berkeley and was about to head over to the gym I realized that I didn't bring anything to shower with afterwards! So I dropped by lush and they gave me sample pots of shampoo, conditioner, and soaps! That gym locker room smelled so nice after I showered! I have also scrapbooked again! I haven't done that in so long. I have made quite a few pages over the past few days. And today I ordered some more prints! So excited :) Jake and I have also been watching a ton of sports lately! We watch the Battle Of The Bay, which is a series of baseball games between the San Francisco Giants, and the Oakland Athletics. We also watch the Playoffs, which was 7 games of basketball between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Of course I was cheering on the Lakers, and we took the championship baby! Dude, so many of my friends were so mad about that. So many people hate the Lakers (and pretty much all the friends I am talking about live in CALIFORNIA, why wouldn't they cheer for the team from CALIFORNIA) and I am not really sure why. I mean I guess some people from Sacramento are bitter because the Lakers are a better team than the Kings. But whatever. I loved seeing them win and I think it was a hard earned fair win. But that's just from my point of view, and this is my blog, so thats fair. And last but certainly not least, we are watching the World Cup, which is soccer :) Right now I am watching England play against Algeria. This is only a game to watch for me because this game can effect the USA team later on. Depending on who wins in this game. Jake knows the specifics way better than I do. I understand whats going on with the structure of how they decide who plays who, but its hard for me to explain. Anyways, this morning we woke up at 4:30 to watch Germany play, and lose :( And then after that game was the USA team. So we watched that one as well. Then Jake went to work and I and keeping him updated on the games playing while he is gone :) I think I am going to go make some coasters now, because using old magazines as coasters is not working for me...
Saturday, June 12, 2010
bitter sweet
The same day I made my first scrapbook page of my little brother David was the same day he got out of jail and moved back home with my parents. Bittersweet. Bitter because I don't like who he has been for the past several years. I don't like how he seems to say whatever you want to hear and not really mean it. Sweet because my parents seem to really believe he has had a change of heart and that he is going to get his life back together again. I hope he can come back to being the person I remember him as when I lived at home.
On another note, the England vs. USA soccer game just started. We (Jake and I, and soon our cousin Roberto) are watching it. I think England will win.
On another note, the England vs. USA soccer game just started. We (Jake and I, and soon our cousin Roberto) are watching it. I think England will win.
Monday, June 7, 2010
everything rides on hope now
I cannot believe how thankful I am for getting 4 hours of sleep last night. That may seem weird. Here is why...
On Friday I finally went into my hospitals pharmacy to pick up a new prescription of Ambien. I tried 1 night without it and only slept about 2 hours. So I was determined to sort out whatever excuse as to why my prescription wasn't ready after 3 days. Its normally ready in 1 day. So I wasn't prepared for it taking this long, and I wasn't happy about it. The pharmacist told me that there was no prescription even ordered for me. Of course I know I ordered it, but if her computer says otherwise what can I do but start over right? Wrong. I told her politely "ok, I'll just wait for it". But what she meant was that there wouldn't be an order for me at all. This lady was like pulling teeth to get any info. I finally got something about a new law preventing my old dr. from signing off on my current prescriptions, needing to see my new dr. for a new prescription, substance abuse suspicion, a phone number written so messy I cannot make it out, a black phone in the hallway, and the advice center. Seems like I'm getting NOWHERE with this lady so I left the pharmacy and found the information/help desk. I explained to these ladies (who already seem more keen on helping me out! whew!) my situation and that I didn't want to leave the hospital until I resolved the whole thing, so what do I need to do now? They called someone on their phone, I assumed my new dr., but it wasn't her, so I still have no idea who I was talking to... an advice center person maybe? No. I have no idea. Anyways, after I re-explained everything to her I was transferred to another person. Same thing. Ugh. Then what I had gathered was that I needed to talk to my new dr. she was in today, but I couldn't just go up to her office and talk to her without paying for a visit (thanks guys, I feel like you really want to help me when you make me pay you for a whole visit just to ask you a question!), but I could call the advice center and they could send a message to her inbox and blah blah blah. So I went down to the black phone in the hallway and called the advice center. After re-giving one more person all my medical information (really? You need the first day of my last menstrual cycle? Just to send my dr. a message about my sleeping pills?... let me look it up on my calendar...) I finally get a message sent up to my dr. Then this lady tells me that its ok to go up to the area (adult medicine) that she is working in and let her assistant know that I sent a message and would like to wait for a reply. So I made my way over to the next building and up to the second floor. Down several hallways and arrive at the adult medicine receptionist. After explaining everything to her as well and getting a puzzled look she asks me "so are you here for an appointment" Palm to face moment. Why is this so hard people?!? She has me fill out this information sheet and place it in the box on the door. A nurse comes and picks it up after several minutes. Then disappears for several minutes. Then comes into the receptionists area and asks her about it. Then comes out into the lobby and asks me to come back. Then I explain to this nurse what I am trying to accomplish. She then sends me back to the lobby. Then my dr.'s intern comes out and calls my name, and asks me to come back. Then I explain everything to him. Back in the lobby. This goes on for quite some time. I finally get called back by the intern again. He tells me that my dr. didn't want to sign off on my prescription. But that she did anyways, one last time. Then he explains that they are scheduling me for a behavioral something appointment. I still have NO IDEA why or for what this appointment is for. I believe it has something to do with seeing if they think I am abusing my prescription, which they have already told me today that they think I am... or maybe its for something less cynical, like seeing how they can help me with my insomnia. It would be nice to know what its for. He also told me that I needed to go downstairs to the info clinic and pick up some pamphlets on insomnia. And my dr. wants me to keep a sleep journal for the next 2 weeks WITHOUT taking any ambien. Oh, but I'm allowed to take 1 ambien pill during that 2 week period if I need to. What the heck is 1 freaking pill going to do for me in 2 weeks?!? That was one of the most retarded things I heard that he said to me. It was like an insult. Grrrr. It is already in my medical file all the things that I have done in order to resolve this sleeping problem. Getting pills for it was the LAST thing I tried. Seriously. I put off trying them for forever because I was really nervous from stories I had heard and stuff. But then I tried them, and they work for me, and I have no adverse reactions. So what is wrong with these people? I assume they know a bit of what they are talking about, I am not a dr., but still. This seems so redundant. So I got the prescription for 30 more days in the end. But I don't really even understand why she gave me them when she wants me to not take them...? That wasn't smart on her part in my opinion. I went downstairs and looked around and couldn't find anything on insomnia, so I asked the cute little old lady behind the desk about it. She said they don't carry pamphlets on insomnia, but that she would try to find something for me. She came back a few minutes later with two articles printing of the internet. Cute. Then another lady (I am assuming her boss) came out and tried to sell me this "sleep better" package thing they have. I declined. I am only doing this because I was advised to by my dr., I already know all the information that will be in these two articles. Believe me, this is not a new thing to me. I make my way to the pharmacy. I shouldn't have filled that prescription. It is so so so expensive, and I was planning on trying to do the 2 weeks without them anyways. And if I make it through that alive then I won't need the pills. So why did I fill and pay for that stupid prescription?!? I suppose because that was the whole reason I was there that day. It was a long day of running around in the hospital and repeating myself and not getting mad after only 2 hours of sleep. ugh. So now I have a full bottle (30 pills/over $150) of ambien that I'm not supposed to take. Great. Anyways. I have stuck to those stupid rules that insomniacs get when their dr.'s want to "heal" them.
1. only a small amount of caffeine, and only in the morning
2. eat healthy
3. exercise everyday
4. no more than one alcoholic beverage in a day
5. no big meals right before bed, but have a light snack if hungry
6. NO NAPS. no matter how tired you are.
7. go to bed at the same time every night, even on weekends
8. get out of bed at the same time every morning, whether you slept well or not, and even on the weekend
9. keep your room cool, I put a fan on my side of the bed
10. do relaxation exercises if you cannot sleep
11. don't do things in your bed other than sleep and have sex
12. try to not spend extra amounts of time in your room
13. don't go to bed thirsty, but don't drink so much that you have to get up and go to the bathroom
14. go outside in the morning and get some sunshine (really?!)
15. don't smoke
16. don't do thinking type of problems before bed to where you would be kept up thinking
Ok now, I have said before that I have tried it all before. But I am willing to try to kick this without pills. I would rather be able to sleep and not use them. But I want to sleep. That is my end goal, not getting rid of pills. I haven't been addicted to caffeine in a while. I eat pretty well, and I am still working on making that better and better. I get regular exercise. Ok, sometimes I have more than one drink, but not more than two. And I don't drink everyday, or even close to that. The naps thing is hard for me when I am only getting a small amount of sleep! But I am doing it. I have a pretty normal bed and wake up time. But I am making it strict for right now. 10pm bedtime, and 7am wake up time. Until recently (a week ago) my room has been cool, but its getting hot now. Of course I am trying to relax, I am trying to sleep! Until we moved into a room in a house with other people I was really good about not using my bed for anything but sleep and sex. But we have no chairs in our room, just our bed. So lately I have been using it to use the computer or read on. I have been good about not doing that in the past few days. I hate the not spending extra time in the room thing. It's my safe haven. I drink more water than anyone I know. Well until I cut back lately! :P I love getting out of the house in the morning, so I get my morning sunshine. I don't smoke. And I have never had the problem of not sleeping because my thoughts are racing and won't stop.
So lets see how I have been doing...
Thursday night I slept 2 hours into Friday morning
Friday night I slept 33 minutes into Saturday morning
Saturday night I slept about 1 and a 1/2 hours into Sunday morning
Sunday night I slept about 4 hours into Monday morning
Obviously last night was the best so far. But its been hard. I have wanting to take a nap so badly it hurt sometimes. I have not been able to do the simplest things because of the lack of sleep. I feel like I am not human with such a small amount of sleep. This is crazy. But I am so full of hope. I want this to catch, I want this to work. Really badly. I am hoping that it is. As far as my sleep journal, it started on Friday, so the only days that count so far are the nights of 33minutes, 1 1/2 hours, and 4 hours, of sleep. Following this pattern I am progressing. I will hold onto this bit of happiness. I am still incredibly tired today. Its hard to believe that I am still up an running after those nights of practically no sleep! I am proud of myself for not giving in and taking naps. I have not gotten to bed every single night at 10pm, its been the weekend, it was such a bad time to start assigning myself a bedtime :P This is the first day that I felt like I could actually THINK. That's nice. It means that I could sit down and push through a blog post! I also don't ache as much as I have the few mornings before. Yesterday I had such a bad headache I was crying and felt a little nauseated. Gross. Riding passenger in the car was torturous. I felt every little bump! But let's focus on today! I get to go have lunch with Jake, I get a free drink at Peet's, I'm going to Lush, and I get to watch Jake playing softball tonight! It's going to be a great day. I can feel it. I am rich with anticipation! Catch you all later ;D
On Friday I finally went into my hospitals pharmacy to pick up a new prescription of Ambien. I tried 1 night without it and only slept about 2 hours. So I was determined to sort out whatever excuse as to why my prescription wasn't ready after 3 days. Its normally ready in 1 day. So I wasn't prepared for it taking this long, and I wasn't happy about it. The pharmacist told me that there was no prescription even ordered for me. Of course I know I ordered it, but if her computer says otherwise what can I do but start over right? Wrong. I told her politely "ok, I'll just wait for it". But what she meant was that there wouldn't be an order for me at all. This lady was like pulling teeth to get any info. I finally got something about a new law preventing my old dr. from signing off on my current prescriptions, needing to see my new dr. for a new prescription, substance abuse suspicion, a phone number written so messy I cannot make it out, a black phone in the hallway, and the advice center. Seems like I'm getting NOWHERE with this lady so I left the pharmacy and found the information/help desk. I explained to these ladies (who already seem more keen on helping me out! whew!) my situation and that I didn't want to leave the hospital until I resolved the whole thing, so what do I need to do now? They called someone on their phone, I assumed my new dr., but it wasn't her, so I still have no idea who I was talking to... an advice center person maybe? No. I have no idea. Anyways, after I re-explained everything to her I was transferred to another person. Same thing. Ugh. Then what I had gathered was that I needed to talk to my new dr. she was in today, but I couldn't just go up to her office and talk to her without paying for a visit (thanks guys, I feel like you really want to help me when you make me pay you for a whole visit just to ask you a question!), but I could call the advice center and they could send a message to her inbox and blah blah blah. So I went down to the black phone in the hallway and called the advice center. After re-giving one more person all my medical information (really? You need the first day of my last menstrual cycle? Just to send my dr. a message about my sleeping pills?... let me look it up on my calendar...) I finally get a message sent up to my dr. Then this lady tells me that its ok to go up to the area (adult medicine) that she is working in and let her assistant know that I sent a message and would like to wait for a reply. So I made my way over to the next building and up to the second floor. Down several hallways and arrive at the adult medicine receptionist. After explaining everything to her as well and getting a puzzled look she asks me "so are you here for an appointment" Palm to face moment. Why is this so hard people?!? She has me fill out this information sheet and place it in the box on the door. A nurse comes and picks it up after several minutes. Then disappears for several minutes. Then comes into the receptionists area and asks her about it. Then comes out into the lobby and asks me to come back. Then I explain to this nurse what I am trying to accomplish. She then sends me back to the lobby. Then my dr.'s intern comes out and calls my name, and asks me to come back. Then I explain everything to him. Back in the lobby. This goes on for quite some time. I finally get called back by the intern again. He tells me that my dr. didn't want to sign off on my prescription. But that she did anyways, one last time. Then he explains that they are scheduling me for a behavioral something appointment. I still have NO IDEA why or for what this appointment is for. I believe it has something to do with seeing if they think I am abusing my prescription, which they have already told me today that they think I am... or maybe its for something less cynical, like seeing how they can help me with my insomnia. It would be nice to know what its for. He also told me that I needed to go downstairs to the info clinic and pick up some pamphlets on insomnia. And my dr. wants me to keep a sleep journal for the next 2 weeks WITHOUT taking any ambien. Oh, but I'm allowed to take 1 ambien pill during that 2 week period if I need to. What the heck is 1 freaking pill going to do for me in 2 weeks?!? That was one of the most retarded things I heard that he said to me. It was like an insult. Grrrr. It is already in my medical file all the things that I have done in order to resolve this sleeping problem. Getting pills for it was the LAST thing I tried. Seriously. I put off trying them for forever because I was really nervous from stories I had heard and stuff. But then I tried them, and they work for me, and I have no adverse reactions. So what is wrong with these people? I assume they know a bit of what they are talking about, I am not a dr., but still. This seems so redundant. So I got the prescription for 30 more days in the end. But I don't really even understand why she gave me them when she wants me to not take them...? That wasn't smart on her part in my opinion. I went downstairs and looked around and couldn't find anything on insomnia, so I asked the cute little old lady behind the desk about it. She said they don't carry pamphlets on insomnia, but that she would try to find something for me. She came back a few minutes later with two articles printing of the internet. Cute. Then another lady (I am assuming her boss) came out and tried to sell me this "sleep better" package thing they have. I declined. I am only doing this because I was advised to by my dr., I already know all the information that will be in these two articles. Believe me, this is not a new thing to me. I make my way to the pharmacy. I shouldn't have filled that prescription. It is so so so expensive, and I was planning on trying to do the 2 weeks without them anyways. And if I make it through that alive then I won't need the pills. So why did I fill and pay for that stupid prescription?!? I suppose because that was the whole reason I was there that day. It was a long day of running around in the hospital and repeating myself and not getting mad after only 2 hours of sleep. ugh. So now I have a full bottle (30 pills/over $150) of ambien that I'm not supposed to take. Great. Anyways. I have stuck to those stupid rules that insomniacs get when their dr.'s want to "heal" them.
1. only a small amount of caffeine, and only in the morning
2. eat healthy
3. exercise everyday
4. no more than one alcoholic beverage in a day
5. no big meals right before bed, but have a light snack if hungry
6. NO NAPS. no matter how tired you are.
7. go to bed at the same time every night, even on weekends
8. get out of bed at the same time every morning, whether you slept well or not, and even on the weekend
9. keep your room cool, I put a fan on my side of the bed
10. do relaxation exercises if you cannot sleep
11. don't do things in your bed other than sleep and have sex
12. try to not spend extra amounts of time in your room
13. don't go to bed thirsty, but don't drink so much that you have to get up and go to the bathroom
14. go outside in the morning and get some sunshine (really?!)
15. don't smoke
16. don't do thinking type of problems before bed to where you would be kept up thinking
Ok now, I have said before that I have tried it all before. But I am willing to try to kick this without pills. I would rather be able to sleep and not use them. But I want to sleep. That is my end goal, not getting rid of pills. I haven't been addicted to caffeine in a while. I eat pretty well, and I am still working on making that better and better. I get regular exercise. Ok, sometimes I have more than one drink, but not more than two. And I don't drink everyday, or even close to that. The naps thing is hard for me when I am only getting a small amount of sleep! But I am doing it. I have a pretty normal bed and wake up time. But I am making it strict for right now. 10pm bedtime, and 7am wake up time. Until recently (a week ago) my room has been cool, but its getting hot now. Of course I am trying to relax, I am trying to sleep! Until we moved into a room in a house with other people I was really good about not using my bed for anything but sleep and sex. But we have no chairs in our room, just our bed. So lately I have been using it to use the computer or read on. I have been good about not doing that in the past few days. I hate the not spending extra time in the room thing. It's my safe haven. I drink more water than anyone I know. Well until I cut back lately! :P I love getting out of the house in the morning, so I get my morning sunshine. I don't smoke. And I have never had the problem of not sleeping because my thoughts are racing and won't stop.
So lets see how I have been doing...
Thursday night I slept 2 hours into Friday morning
Friday night I slept 33 minutes into Saturday morning
Saturday night I slept about 1 and a 1/2 hours into Sunday morning
Sunday night I slept about 4 hours into Monday morning
Obviously last night was the best so far. But its been hard. I have wanting to take a nap so badly it hurt sometimes. I have not been able to do the simplest things because of the lack of sleep. I feel like I am not human with such a small amount of sleep. This is crazy. But I am so full of hope. I want this to catch, I want this to work. Really badly. I am hoping that it is. As far as my sleep journal, it started on Friday, so the only days that count so far are the nights of 33minutes, 1 1/2 hours, and 4 hours, of sleep. Following this pattern I am progressing. I will hold onto this bit of happiness. I am still incredibly tired today. Its hard to believe that I am still up an running after those nights of practically no sleep! I am proud of myself for not giving in and taking naps. I have not gotten to bed every single night at 10pm, its been the weekend, it was such a bad time to start assigning myself a bedtime :P This is the first day that I felt like I could actually THINK. That's nice. It means that I could sit down and push through a blog post! I also don't ache as much as I have the few mornings before. Yesterday I had such a bad headache I was crying and felt a little nauseated. Gross. Riding passenger in the car was torturous. I felt every little bump! But let's focus on today! I get to go have lunch with Jake, I get a free drink at Peet's, I'm going to Lush, and I get to watch Jake playing softball tonight! It's going to be a great day. I can feel it. I am rich with anticipation! Catch you all later ;D
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Family one
So today was to be my first day without Jake. This morning I woke up early and laid in bed for a while. After having some breakfast, oatmeal, I got dressed and ready to go to church. I decided to ride with Tiana my older sister instead of the rest of my famiy. Mistake. After my family already left Tiana realized that she had left her car keys in her boyfriends car last night. I figured we were going to miss church all together because her bf doesn't live all that close. So I texted Jake saying that I was most likely going to miss church. His reply, "that sucks. I drove to your parents church this morning to surprise you and see you" my reaction was like a frantic love sick teenage girl! I HAD to get to that church now and see my wonderful man! We eventually mad it there 45min late. It was wonderful seeing Jake. I wasn't expecting that at all. He's so sweet! After church we went out for a looong lunch before he had to head back home :) saying goodbye today was a million times easier for some reason. Maybe because I knew I got some extra unplanned time with him and I was just thankful for that. Later in the day I bought a large iced black tea, and it was exactly what I needed. When I got back to my parents house I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and the kitchen. I guess I felt the need to pull some of my own weight around here. Now I'm waiting in bed for Jake to play Blokus with me (we both downloaded this game on our phones yesterday so that we can play a game with each other every night and feel less seperated) and then I'll go to bed :)
Sad night poem
I thought you whispered in my ear
but it was just a passing memory
for you are not here
not here in bed with me
I thought you'd walk around the door frame soon
but you're in a different bed
for you drove away today with me in the rearview mirror
with tears in my eyes, holding my own hand
there is nothing quite like this. There are endless solutions. But we chose the path with no rhyme or reason. I love you babes.
but it was just a passing memory
for you are not here
not here in bed with me
I thought you'd walk around the door frame soon
but you're in a different bed
for you drove away today with me in the rearview mirror
with tears in my eyes, holding my own hand
there is nothing quite like this. There are endless solutions. But we chose the path with no rhyme or reason. I love you babes.
Friday, May 21, 2010
repost
so I posted this today while updating my iphone at Peet's... but it put it as posted on May 9th (probably that's when I started writing it, saved it as a draft and finished it today). I never knew until today that when you finish a draft that it doesn't post it in order of the posted date, but of the date that you started it. So here it is again, but so that you know it exists...
So recently (last weekend to be precise) Jake and I went to Los Angeles. We went to watch our good friends Jeremy and his fiancee Becky graduate from college. Jeremy had proposed to Becky the weekend before we came down! But since we were going down there we also visited with one of Jakes ex-coworkers/friends, and the family that I used to take care of (caregiver and nanny)! It was overall such a fantastic trip. The drive was nice. I had prepared myself with lots of magazines. Unfortunately we had to stop several times for me to go to the bathroom (as is normal!). Once we got into LA we drove straight to Westwood, the little town where the UCLA campus is located, and where the Starbucks that we both worked at is :) We parked in the same garage that we used to always park in, and went to our old Starbucks. Talk about weird! It was so familiar being in the area, and I saw at least 6 regulars that I still know the drinks of! But I didn't recognize a single employee! The turnover at that store is so high because its a college town. So it doesn't really surprise me that i didn't know any of them. Even when I worked there we were always getting new people and saying goodbye to our partners before the Summer season each year. Lame. There are a few people that I know are still working there, but they work the night crew, and it was too early for anyone on night crew to be at work. Oh well. At Starbucks Jake and I looked up hotels, talk about leaving the details until last minute! We found one in Santa Monica that looked pretty decent, and it was one of the cheaper ones, at just a little over $100 a night! Whew! Then we walked up to the campus to pick up Jakes diploma, he couldn't get it before we moved, and he never got it mailed to him! It was so weird, we went up to the counter where you get them and he showed his ID and told the lady his old student ID number and she literally just turned around and picked it up off the shelve behind her! As if we had called ahead and let them know we were coming or something. It was so weird! I can't believe that almost 2 years later and they just had it right there waiting for us. Plus we picked up Jake a new hat and sweatshirt. And a really nice frame for his diploma. Plus of course some postcards for the fam bam. Then we went and signed into our room, showered, and got dressed for the rest of the day. We went out for "happy hour" with one of Jake's ex-coworkers/friends at a nifty bar/sushi house in Santa Monica. Originally we were just there for drinks and were going out for dinner with the family I used to take care of. But we didn't really give ourselves enough time for the first one. So I called and pushed our plans back an hour and the elderly man said he didn't think going out was such a stellar idea anyways. So we agreed to just come over for a visit and eat before we came. I had a Kama Sutra/Forbidden City drink :) Well I had 2. And they were so yummy! My favorite food that we had there was the crab wontons. Delish! Next we arrived at the families house that I use to take care of. And as I was giving hugs to everyone two wonderful things surprised me, 1. how much the 9yr old grew since I saw her last! She was about chest level on me before, and now she is taller than me! And 2. The old lady that I used to take care of came around the corner and couldn't be more pleased to see Jake and I. Mostly me. Which to be honest really shocked me, in a good way. You see, caring for her was quite a job. She has had 3 strokes, cannot move half her body, and cannot talk anymore. But she is still able to understand what is going on around her. She gets really frustrated that we can't understand what she wants all the time. And she is really stubborn and opinionated. When I was working for them I would sometimes come by to say hi on my days off and she would be confused and sometimes upset that I was there on my day off. I was kind of expecting the same reaction for our visit. So I was thrilled when she was so happy to see me. And she was a peach all night too! She was laughing along with the jokes and smiling and patting her husbands arm and in general participating in the conversations with "yes" "no" (but not always meaning what she was saying, thats just all she can say (and "why")). We did end up going out for Chinese food for a second dinner. But that was ok with Jake and I because we didn't eat that much already. The night was wonderful. We cried when we said goodbye. Thus the end of the first night in LA. The next day we had the graduation for Jeremy and Becky. We arrived an hour early! So we found a Starbucks and sat there drinking coffee and either reading magazines or playing games on our phones. The graduation was nice, but there was a lot of just standing around afterwards while everyone else said hellos and took photos. We eventually all met up at Home Town Buffet and had lunch. Then we went out for a movie and dinner at Chick A Fila (is that how it's spelled?). I had never been there before. But it was pretty good. The weather both days was PERFECT btw. The next morning we went out for breakfast at a cafe named Marmalade and it was sooooo good! It was a cute little place. Mostly I just feasted on coffee toast and marmalade! Then we went to our old church and saw everyone we used to see! And last but not least we had lunch at an old friends house. Then we headed back home. I know this post should have some photos, but they are not on this sign on, and I really want to get this post posted... Also, one last thing that really stood out to me was how amazingly perfect my hair was the whole weekend. It was the first time in a long time that I have worn in down for 3 days straight! It was nice. I (and Jake) would love to move back to So. Cal. someday :)
So recently (last weekend to be precise) Jake and I went to Los Angeles. We went to watch our good friends Jeremy and his fiancee Becky graduate from college. Jeremy had proposed to Becky the weekend before we came down! But since we were going down there we also visited with one of Jakes ex-coworkers/friends, and the family that I used to take care of (caregiver and nanny)! It was overall such a fantastic trip. The drive was nice. I had prepared myself with lots of magazines. Unfortunately we had to stop several times for me to go to the bathroom (as is normal!). Once we got into LA we drove straight to Westwood, the little town where the UCLA campus is located, and where the Starbucks that we both worked at is :) We parked in the same garage that we used to always park in, and went to our old Starbucks. Talk about weird! It was so familiar being in the area, and I saw at least 6 regulars that I still know the drinks of! But I didn't recognize a single employee! The turnover at that store is so high because its a college town. So it doesn't really surprise me that i didn't know any of them. Even when I worked there we were always getting new people and saying goodbye to our partners before the Summer season each year. Lame. There are a few people that I know are still working there, but they work the night crew, and it was too early for anyone on night crew to be at work. Oh well. At Starbucks Jake and I looked up hotels, talk about leaving the details until last minute! We found one in Santa Monica that looked pretty decent, and it was one of the cheaper ones, at just a little over $100 a night! Whew! Then we walked up to the campus to pick up Jakes diploma, he couldn't get it before we moved, and he never got it mailed to him! It was so weird, we went up to the counter where you get them and he showed his ID and told the lady his old student ID number and she literally just turned around and picked it up off the shelve behind her! As if we had called ahead and let them know we were coming or something. It was so weird! I can't believe that almost 2 years later and they just had it right there waiting for us. Plus we picked up Jake a new hat and sweatshirt. And a really nice frame for his diploma. Plus of course some postcards for the fam bam. Then we went and signed into our room, showered, and got dressed for the rest of the day. We went out for "happy hour" with one of Jake's ex-coworkers/friends at a nifty bar/sushi house in Santa Monica. Originally we were just there for drinks and were going out for dinner with the family I used to take care of. But we didn't really give ourselves enough time for the first one. So I called and pushed our plans back an hour and the elderly man said he didn't think going out was such a stellar idea anyways. So we agreed to just come over for a visit and eat before we came. I had a Kama Sutra/Forbidden City drink :) Well I had 2. And they were so yummy! My favorite food that we had there was the crab wontons. Delish! Next we arrived at the families house that I use to take care of. And as I was giving hugs to everyone two wonderful things surprised me, 1. how much the 9yr old grew since I saw her last! She was about chest level on me before, and now she is taller than me! And 2. The old lady that I used to take care of came around the corner and couldn't be more pleased to see Jake and I. Mostly me. Which to be honest really shocked me, in a good way. You see, caring for her was quite a job. She has had 3 strokes, cannot move half her body, and cannot talk anymore. But she is still able to understand what is going on around her. She gets really frustrated that we can't understand what she wants all the time. And she is really stubborn and opinionated. When I was working for them I would sometimes come by to say hi on my days off and she would be confused and sometimes upset that I was there on my day off. I was kind of expecting the same reaction for our visit. So I was thrilled when she was so happy to see me. And she was a peach all night too! She was laughing along with the jokes and smiling and patting her husbands arm and in general participating in the conversations with "yes" "no" (but not always meaning what she was saying, thats just all she can say (and "why")). We did end up going out for Chinese food for a second dinner. But that was ok with Jake and I because we didn't eat that much already. The night was wonderful. We cried when we said goodbye. Thus the end of the first night in LA. The next day we had the graduation for Jeremy and Becky. We arrived an hour early! So we found a Starbucks and sat there drinking coffee and either reading magazines or playing games on our phones. The graduation was nice, but there was a lot of just standing around afterwards while everyone else said hellos and took photos. We eventually all met up at Home Town Buffet and had lunch. Then we went out for a movie and dinner at Chick A Fila (is that how it's spelled?). I had never been there before. But it was pretty good. The weather both days was PERFECT btw. The next morning we went out for breakfast at a cafe named Marmalade and it was sooooo good! It was a cute little place. Mostly I just feasted on coffee toast and marmalade! Then we went to our old church and saw everyone we used to see! And last but not least we had lunch at an old friends house. Then we headed back home. I know this post should have some photos, but they are not on this sign on, and I really want to get this post posted... Also, one last thing that really stood out to me was how amazingly perfect my hair was the whole weekend. It was the first time in a long time that I have worn in down for 3 days straight! It was nice. I (and Jake) would love to move back to So. Cal. someday :)
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