Wiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!

Yet another whirlwind trip through So Cal is over and done with. This time it was 12 days instead of the obligatory 4, that we tend to make quite often. The drive to Charlotte was not bad at all but it was dam cold. There were chunks of ice floating in a foutain that we drove by at 9am in the morning. The flight out was uneventful but hella long, the airline decided against informing us of a 2 hour layover but not a plane switch. Well the stewardesses made it very clear they wanted us off the plane so off we got. The rest of the trip in was nie an peaceful.

Well That was Friday. Saturday morning we were off to Ontario to meet up with an old friend, I have known her over 20 years. eek!!!! But we had a great lunch and saw her gorgeous little girl. She is a very sweet little baby. Then we wandered the Ontario Mills, killing time to go see one of my bestedest friends. That night we spent with her family at a Peanut Brittle making party, yes I said Peanut Brittle making party. Yes it sounds lame but it is oh so very fun. Trying not to get burned by molten lava, I mean melted sugar. Breaking thermometers, generally mocking the spreading ability of people you barely know. Like I said good times to be had by all.

Sunday we were off to see Pops. We watched some football, had some In and Out and started our epic Wii search. Monday we wandered around the LA area looking for a Wii and other shopping. That night was karaoke with the infamous FOXSWAN. There was the great computer crash of 2006 but it was still alot of fun. We saw the calendars and I must say they are well worth the money. I had trouble getting past the sheer imagery that February brought to my mind. Yes ladies they are single and straight (or so they claim) but gay or straight I would let my friends date them. I did however find out that Fox does not know the dreidel song but he does accept the blame for the fact that the Jews killed Santa. It was a great time and I think hubbs had a genuinely good time, not to mention Fox is a very good sport about all my teasing. I had to tell him that he would have to worry if I was nice to him. Once again Swan was a wonderful host, too bad we are now the owners of a $35 street sweeping ticket. I did remember but didnt think we would sleep in. I figured of the 4 years I lived in OC (the crowning jewel of street sweeping tickets) I did not get one so it was no big deal. Little did I know that was just the beginning of a hellishly expensive day. While cruising down the I-5 back towards to SD a ginormous boulder flew over the center divide and smashed the windshield. The thing must have been 8 inches across, at least that was the size of the non-shattered part of the windshield.

We limped on down to turn the car back in. That is still a pain in our butts and quite unresolved but we shall see soon if we owe or if our insurance will cover it.

So we wandered around town seeing various friends and family for a few days. Mom also came down with my stepdad for a few days, which was awesome. We went to my family annual Christmas party where many of us preceeded to drink to much and tell my cousin he is a fool for not being married to his long time girlfriend. It got a lil cruel but it is cos we love her and he would be an idiot to let her get away. We stayed up talking and carrying on until 4 or 4:30 AM. We crashed on the couch and 2 hours later the Wii search began again in earnest. We hit every Target, Circuit City and Best Buy in the 40 miles between where we were and where we were going. Well the lines were all horrendous as everyone knew there would be Wiis that day. Well at one mall hubbs made a wrong turn so I told him to drop me off so I could check Gamestop and he could go on to Best Buy. Well I walk up the ramp and quite unlike the shining holy grail there is a empty store with no line in the cold and rain. So like any good American, I start a line where none existed not knowing whether or not it would even pay off. 2 hours later it did as they had 6 units and I had the first. Of course the greedy bastards at this particular GameStop demanded that we buy a $50 piece of crap expansion thingy. Well apalled and angry as I was I still bought it and then promptly returned it at the mall across town by where we were staying.

The trip home sucked. A nasty stormed blew into Denver (which shut it down for 2 days), another one into Dallas and I think one in St. Louis. Well we were delayed for about 2 hours in San Diego which was no big deal but some people were real assholes about it. Let me stand up and say it now (if anyone has read this far) THE AIRLINE PERSONEL ARE NOT GOD OR EVEN GOD-LIKE IF THEY COULD CONTROL THE WEATHER THEY WOULD NOT BE WORKING AT AN AIRPORT!!!! Yelling at them does not help, being rude to them does not help but your getting annoyed and huffy when they make smart-ass comments back at your rudeness only makes you look more like an ass and make them feel better. I had one such jerk behind me in line, he kept getting out of line to yell at the poor woman working and telling her she needs to get someone else to come help her. Don't you think that if she had someone they would be there or do you think the woman liked seeing the ever-growing never ending line of angry people in front of her. Then this same a-hole pushed his way ahead of us to get off the plane at the connection like he was the only one scheduled to make his connection. My only solace with it is that I bet his bags were lost. Well we made our connection, actually got into Charlotte early and ahead of schedule. Too bad that connection efficiency meant our bags did not make. We left Carlotte with a Wii but no bags and made the long drive. Late the next day the bags arrived but the communication between the airlines was so poor that I may write a letter. I also think that 24 hours from the time the bags missed the connection to the time we received them is unacceptable. But that is the world of the new airlines.

So now we are home. We have some games and 4 sets of controllers for the Wii. We are all set for a Wii Christmas and a Wii New Years Party

Raven Simeone

Do I know her? no Have I met her? no. Do I generally care about her? no. I just want to say that from what little I know of her I think she is a good person and not a pain in the ass star. Being from Southern California, I generally do not care about famous people and was fairly accustomed to seeing them. Well she was on my flight from LAX to Atlanta. I had heard whisperings but then again I really didn't care. Well, I am sure you are wondering where I am going with this. Well I went to get my bags off the carousel with 50 billion other people and there she was standing in front of me. No biggee, she is short I could still see the carousel. Well she had the cutest little dog and was very sweet about people walking up to her. The coolest part was that she got her own bags. It was getting REALLY crowded so her friend was getting the bags and she moved back, so I moved forward. This is what struck me most about her. She was moving her bags back but I was in the way. She very politely said "excuse me" so I stepped aside so yeah. On the decent famous people meter she gets 2 big thumbs up.

Ramblings from the airport

I really should start doing a blog on all the airports I have flown into, out of and through. Seriously there seem to be millions and I do have favorites.

So here I am at LA International Airport on the busiest travel day of the year. Well all the news reports of LAX showed these hideous and horrendous lines and traffic, well not at Delta at 10:30 this morning. I left the Antelope Valley on a shuttle this morning at 9am. We hit my terminal somewhere around 10:30. There were no lines and no pressure, I walked straight up to the check-in kiosk. Then I couldnt figure the darn thing out, it had instructions flashing on the screen to fast to read except the passport instructions and it didnt read my passport. Then I dropped off my bags. I think my boarding pass had a code on it that tagged me for full search. So yup I got the full blown pat down and inspection. Sorry boys there was no serious girl on girl gropage like they show on the news. She didn't even graze my breasts, which I am not sure if I am glad about that or upset. I mean I don't have a thing for women but are my breasts not good enough for the gropage we see on TV? I did get to see a guy in a cast get the inspection and they inspected his cast, which was interesting to me. All in all the worst day of the year to travel has so far been easy, by 11:15 AM I had done to walks of the Concourse, one to find my gate and another to peruse food options and shopping. Now I am sitting at a power outlet to conserve the precious battery power of my laptop. I also have 3 wi-fi links but none of them are letting me in, even though one says it is for public use. Those bastards!

I now ave 2 good hours until my plane leaves and a little less until it boards. But you can bet your tuckus I am not leaving this golden power outlet until my hunger is so ravenous, I want to jump the guy across from me and eat his McD's I would rather eat human flesh than McD's mmmmmmm flesshhhhhhhhh

Hmm maybe I should hop on that flight to Paris, I missed the one earlier to Buenos Aires, the person announcing that couldn't pronounce it and finally just said Peru. Buenos Aires is in Peru right?

Ok so my thesis on airports will start like this. LAX is not my fave by far. The bathrooms have not been updated to accomodate roll-on size carry-ons and the hooks and stands have not been reinforced so you can keep your laptop or purse off the floor. They did have auto-flush toilets which was nice. This concourse (Delta) has very few choices for food and shopping. There is a McD's, a sandwich shop, a CPK and like 3 bars that claim they serve food, but calling the selection bar food would be an exageration. I looked at one "menu" and there were 3 things on it. There are 2 shops. your typical newstand shop and a kitschy krap southwest shop, being from the Southwest and considering it crap I did not give it more than a walking glance. The newshop was typical, I heart LA stuff, some See's Candy(I might go back for that) and newstand stuff but the only bottled drinks are water. That is common in alot of airports lately, but not a big deal because they have vending machines and soda only vendors. Well not at LAX. It sucks. The check in was pretty smooth even though the attendants were inattentive, brusk and your typical CA rude which I am just not accustomed to anymore. Even though I got the full random search the security screening was smooth but I wouldnt want to do it when they are busy. The organization is poor and the area needs to be redsigned for the new standards.

Security CheckPoints:
Now ATL their security point is huge and kick ass, if I do sayso. It is like the entrance to disneyland or the line at Fry's. There are so many lanes that they should never get to long and there is someone directing and telling you where to go. Of course I saw many people not listen when the lady was clear in instructions and there were times where I could see she was speaking clearly IF we had been familiar to the airport areas.

San Diego well I don't like it, again the area needs to be redesigned But mostly I dont like it because they were rude to me and are lacking signage that says things like "Take Laptop out of bag" So since I didnt know they were pissed and angry and just very rude to me.

I have no recollection of Birmingham, Chicago-Midway or Pensacola so it coulndt be that bad.

Other Notes:

Atlanta kicks ass, lots of food and things to amuse me when I am waiting. They also have the train so you don't have to run to another terminal.

Dallas-Fort Worth had great food, that is all I remember is this restraunt with the best Albondigas I have ever had.

Phoenix was boring but did have free internet, as does ATL I think. LAX has no internet unless my wifi is hosed up again. I think Birminham had free too.


hmmmmmm ok that is all for now until I get bored and right more. I should be working on that term paper but I just don't care about it.

SO I am about to go home. I fly out tomorrow, I am packing and running errands in hopes that my mom will be ok for awhile. Stepdad is doing well but his lack of vision is very upsetting to him. He can see but he is seeing double so yeah no fun. The IV will be done tomorrow and mom will be home through the holiday so hopefully they will work out a schedule, or grandma will come up now that there is no fear of him eing contagious, little did I know but grandpa has never had the Pox even though he has gone through 4 kids who have. So yay! for LAX on the busiest day of the year to ATL the busiest airport in the country that has lost my luggage more than once. No one even loves me enough to drive me down there. ok for real I dont want anyone to go through that hell for me. I will take the bus.

As we were cleaning the garage we found alot of my old stuff. One was a very nicely packed box that I know has a lot of momentos in it but I did not go through it. We found the grail we were searching for which was another tub of antique banks and glassware that was not wrapped it has now been repacked and moved to a safe yet undisclosed location. :)

What got me writing today was a smaller box, plastic and slightly larger than a shoebox. It is full of paper and going home with me. It is full of card and letters from about 1996-1999. Just 3 years but full of memories. It reminds me of the friends I had, the best friend I have taken for granted and a friend who may have been a love but neither of us ever said so. It was a wonderful thing to find. Just full of memories. People I havent heard from in 10 years and I admit that is mostly my fault. People who were dear friends who suddenly weren't and I still don't know why. A letter from my sister saying we would be married and have kids by now, well she isnt and neither of us do. Then my best friend who I had forgatten cared so much for me and did really nice things for me. It's weird how things change and I just forgot. To those I still talk to, thank you, to those I forgot, I am sorry and to Roo, I love you, you are a real friend.

Bat out of Hell Meets Bat Out of Burbank

Well I am in California for a week and then some. My stepfather is ill and mom needs help, so duh dudda duh! here comes super-daughter. Ok well I had no choice, I dont care what anyone says. I fI hadn't come I would be the asshole child that I despise when I have to deal with others in similar situations. So here I am. Week one is complete, the old man is getting better but we have another week of IVs. So Mom gave me a break to get out of Hell, as I lovingly refer to the Antelope Valley. There are 2 ways out one leads to my Hometown and the other to LA. Well the pass is closed to go back to Dodge, the place I got the hell out of. So I started bugging my LA\College buddies to see who still loved me and would tolerate me for an evening.

I was greeted with open arms by the dynamic super duo FOXSWAN. They said yeah come on down we'll have dinner and then try to steal you from you husband as a swoon over us and our awesome singing. Who can turn down that kind of invitation.

So I drove down the hill and my adventure began. Mom, being paranoid and not wanting to realize I am closer to 30 than 16, insisted I leave earlier because she didn't want me driving the 1980s throwback of a car in the dark. So needing a wedding present for some friends I agreed. I looked up malls online and decided on The Grove. Dumb me didn't look closely at the surrounding streets so as I am driving I realize I am in the heart of Hollywood, and there was a Premiere being setup. Now tourists would think COOL! me being from there and having seen it all before said "oh shit! I am surrounded by stupid tourists." But I got the The Grove safely. It was like shopping at Crate and Barrel on Main Street in Disneyland, it was definetly weird. The Farmers Market was pretty dang cool though.

So I left, almost got back on the 101, or hit the divide pylon (shhhh don't tell mom). I thought I was lost and called Swan. While talking to him I realized that if I had stayed at the Holiday Inn Express that I was looking at last night, I would have realized I was also looking at a sign for the street I was looking for. So my dumbass went off to find the abode of Swan.

Here is where the fun begins.....

So I get there a Swan almost doesn't recognize me but better than that was Fox who was obviously smitten with me. He wouldnt stop staring at me. He is lucky that the power of the ring compels me because who could deny that look.

After Dinner and more oggling from Fox it was off to go see the World Famous FOXSWAN Well Ladies I have to say it was worth the trip from Georgia. I was amazed, enthralled and even a little confused by sheer manliness that FOXSWAN emanate while acting incredibly gay.

There was also bowling but that was just sad and pathetic. I got to see a few other friends from school which was totally awesome. It almost made me miss Cali, but no it just made me miss my friends and antics, I still don't really miss LA.

I had a great time it was well worth the drive. I feel bad for having to wake up Swan for directions but he was so confused I had to chuckle. He also has the greatest roommate ever, I wish I had had rommates like that.

Another week and a half here in hell. Then home before I come back to San Diego. Somewhere between here and there, I need to procure us a car and find a way to meet up with FOXSWAN again so hubbs can meet them.

Oh yeah and Ladies they are single. And while I am not sure about Fox,
I am pretty sure Swan likes the ladies.All in All Good times were had by all.

Today I was working on a computer and no sooner had I walked into the clients home and tried to open the case, that I had a gash caused by metal so deep that I knew I needed to get to the hospital.  The client felt really bad but there was nothing they could have done and it was nothing I hadtn done a hundred times and not once had the plastic piece popped off and caused the metal it covered straight into my wrist.

Of course it was my right wrist and I drive stick.  So I called Eph and as calmly as I could asked if he was in town and when confused he said yes I told him I needed him at my house i needed a ride to the hospital.  The pain had not set in yet and somehow I got the truck back to the house.  The pain started about 2 miles from home and it was getting worse.  I got it parked and talked to my neighbor, in part to let her know what is up and to keep my mind off the pain. 

Eph showed up and just like any hero in a pimp cadillac wisked me off to the emergency room.  Thankfully through all of this I had a towel from the client and had managed to keep enough pressure on it that it barely bled.  When I got there, there was a short line but only one admitting clerk.  The guy in front of me looked at me with the towel on my wrist and told me to go ahead.  He also said they were BSing.  So I asked the lady at the non-open window if she could help me I was bleeding, knowing good and well she wasn't open.  That got the other guy away from the open window, where after I explained my situation I was informed that I had an actual emergency unlike the cases of strep and flu she had been seeing all day. 

I got to the admitting nurse pretty quickly, who before removing the compress asked if she was going to get sprayed because she didn't like blood.  It made me laugh.  At that point I was in hella pain, shaking and yeah just not good.  She took a quik look and put a sterile dressing on it.  Not before taking my BP to which I had to ask "you're doing it on the left right?" and she responded "no I want to see how far it sprays."  She also told me had I been committing Suicide I was going about it right, that is when I realized had I been cut a lil deeper it would have been serious as you could see the veins under it.  I also did not suffer any tendons so my hand is mostly functioning.

So after a quick wait we were called back into the suture room where a little man who obviously enjoys pain "treated me."  I am actually glad hubbs was not there he may have hurt this man.  He didnt move the cart/table close enough so I was leaning to have my wrist on it or he was pulling me over it.  He didn't warn me that the iodine would hurt, that was when the wimpering started.  Then he pulled out what we both thought was a suture kit with no sign of anestetic.  Thankfully it only contained suture tape.  Then when he was explaining care to me he snapped at me when I asked a question.  After all was said and done I realized I had more questions.  thankfully then another doc, who had a sense of humor, came in to give me my tetanus shot.

So now I will be spending some time as a lefty.  I cant drive the truck and even typing this has made it start to ache.  I was supposed to clean the house today and since I can't get it wet I will not be doing that.  Just bringing in 1 bag of groceries bugged it some so I dont think I will even be picking things up.  Ugh  I am frustrated but it isnt that bad and it could have been much worse.

Oh the things they say

I was asked at least 3 times at six flags if I had called my parents and asked if I could come home later than planned. Which if I am correct I was the 2nd oldest person there, not by much but yeah I was still older.
I was asked which high school I went too.
and my personal favorite was What year I was in college. I told her I graduated 5 years ago. Her response: "You don't look that OLD!" I just said thank you but I really want to say sheesh graduating 5 years ago means I am still not yet 30 (which I am sure by her standards would make me ancient).

Ok that is all for now. I gotta find a way to be awake.

Things I forgot about the trip

We got back to the Church around 2:30am Saturday morning. I was scheduled to be back at the church at 8am. Thankfully I had the sense at 10:30pm to call Keith who does sound but he was also performing but he had the number of the other sound guy. Double thankfully I had asked Joe (the other sound guy) to please show up on time Sunday in case Heaven forbid something happened to me. It is a good thing I did too because even though Keith called Joe, Joe's phone wasnt working and didnt start working until he was on his way into the church.

Now for the Aftermath:
By the time I got home and fed the puppies and called hubbs it was 3am. I set the alarm for 8:00 but didnt hear it until almost 9. My meds make me a zombie when I dont get enough sleep so I stumbled through the get up routine, my eyes were bloodshot my body ached. I felt like shit basically all the signs of a serious hangover from having the perfect amount of fun the night before without the joy or calories of actually drinking. I made it to church, stopped by a friends house to wake them up. Walked in saw one of the guys in his boxers and a similar stupor. He said "yes its her" I said "just making sure you are awake" and stumbled out the door and up to the church where I gave Joe a great big hug cos I have never been so happy to see his truck.


After church I was invited to a friends for dinner. I told them I would try and sleep but if I couldnt I would be there. Well I couldnt so off I went. Then back to the church to have some fun with the youth. Then some poker.

The ultimate sign you shouldnt have gotten out of bed in the morning: it takes until 7pm to realize your panties are inside out and it takes until almost midnight to realize your bra is too. Yeah I am no longer able to function on too little sleep. I think that officially makes me old.

The poor dogs must feel totally neglected by me. They are clinging to me like glue today but I still couldnt sleep in. Dang phone kept on ringin.

The trip from hades

Oh my goodness I went on my first adventure with the youth group from my church and boy was it an ADVENTURE. We went to Six Flags over Georgia and it was crazy fun. I even managed not to swear, which in and of itself is hella impressive considering I put my sailor husband to shame some days. Just as we were all getting off a coaster there was lightning in the sky and they shutdown the park. It wasn't a big deal as the park was closing in an hour. And that is where the fun began. 3 of the groups were together but the 4th had lost his cellphone. So we were keeping an eye out for him. While looking for him the rain started coming down and the thunder was getting worse. We found him and all went in to eat. While we were eating the sky just opened up and buckets of water started falling. The 2 drivers went out to get the vehicles closer so we wouldnt get too soaked. I guess while opening the Van lightning struck the pole next to it and our fearless leader felt a little more electricity than you want while opening a car door. When he got in it the Van didnt even try to start, no click no nothin. While all of this is going on, those of us in the park are trying to keep track of bored teenagers, hustle to the bathroom, eat, cleanup, get kicked out of the restraunt because the park closed, hide in a gift shop. They tried kicking us out of the gift shop but we told the guards what was happening and managed to get a reprieve on our expulsion from the park. There were lots of phone calls and our drivers having to come and go between us and the car getting more and more wet. We kept getting told different stories, your typical everyday lack of communication as can be witnessed at any place of employment. At one point we did get kicked out but thankfully they had a place we could huddle and be dry. At that point I was just waiting for them to turn us out. It was a total lawsuit waiting to happen not to mention very dangerous. At one point, when we were still in the park, I went to the bathroom with 3 others. There must have been a strike not far from us. The light and the noise actually scared me enough to scream/swear (if you consider DAMN! a swear word) and the girl who was with us screamed like I had forgotten girls can scream. At that point I was doing what I could to not only stay inside but keep the kids back in too. So yeah it was an adventure. Thankfully we all handled it really well and no one throttled a kid. I did snap at one but that was when she asked "Are we all gonna die" I went into total adult mode and snapeed my head to her and growled "we dont say things like that" I was so pissed and annoyed that I guess I missed the security guard who had been helping us say "nobody dies at six flags." Then they finally got the lazy, inept, lying, confused, or uninformed mechanic to get the jump and we were on our way. This fun started at 9pm and we left around 12:30am which is absolutley ridiculous. All of that to get a jump, not to mention the "rumors" I heard passed among the kids about what was going on, trying to keep them calm, getting them to understand that we had no control and we would let them know whaen we do and the frustration the adults were dealing with.

All in all it was actually a good trip just the 3 hours it took to get out of the park and the 2 hours to get a jump sucked serious ass.

It is Good Friday. I went to services tonight and heard two of my friends sing a great song. Since I am not a great singer (I doubt I am even decent) I just love when I hear other people sing and do it well.

Tomorrow I will get up early to go help with the church Egg hunt and band practice. I look forward to band practices, I really like the guys in the band and it is just nice to hand out with people my age who my husband doesnt work with.

Last week my dad and his wife were here with my cousin. It went well. We toured around the CSRA and went to Savannah. I loved Savannah. My girlfriend Kym will be in next week and I want to take her to Charleston and Savannah. I asked the guys I know about cool places to go and they couldnt tell me anything local.

In 2 weeks we are going on a trip. Hubbs does not know where we are going and I wont post it just yet. I am dying to tell him but I dont know how long I can keep it secret. It is hella cool though and he will love it.

The heat is kickin in here, the humidity is not here yet but when it is I think hell will feel like a quick dip in the pool. But that is ok I just need an excuse to say "hotter than the hinges of hell"