We blew it up.

Thursday I continued in the arduous journey of packing up my life. Luckily everything fit in my car. Wonder what that says about me.. Am I a woman of few possessions? Am I good at utilizing space? Or did I just buy a big enough car to justify all of the junk I'm carting around?

I had enough time after packing to go on my favorite hike to Calabasas Peak and watch the sunset. 

My home for the past four months..

Thursday evening we went out for dinner and dancing with people from work to celebrate my exodus out of LA. It was so much fun, and a great way to say goodbye to some of my work family.

They had the waitress surprise us with desert and a sombrero, like they do for people's birthdays. 

Friday, Tanya, Ashley, and I went hiking in Pasadena.

We found a waterfall.

The sun was shining for our hike so we when we got to the falls it seemed like a refreshing idea to wade into the pool. It was freezing

 We don't know that guy.. He was with another group of people, of which he was the only one to get in the water.

After the hike we drove through downtown LA, straight to the coast.

We had a great dinner at Duke's. Then we watched the sunset.

My favorite line of late has been, "I only have x days left in LA!!" I use this to excuse my behavior, manipulate others, or to emphasize the moment.

The girls were taunting me with that line and challenged me to get in the ocean. I refused, disbelieving that they would even get in.  They proved me wrong.

Finally I caved. Besides, I only had one day left in LA.

We were cold and covered in sand, but we had so much fun.



We celebrated my last free day in LA with wine in the hot tub.

Today I worked my last 12hr shift. My co-workers surprised me with breakfast and treats. It was bittersweet, as most of my goodbyes have been of late.

After work we went to dinner at Kabuki, one of our favorite restaurants in Woodland Hills, with 2 friends from work.

I can't believe 4 months is gone.  I can't believe all that we've seen and done and experienced. I can't believe that I can say, "I lived in LA."

Next city? We'll blow that one up too..

daily life and a special visit

This week I worked somewhere different each day. One day I was in the ICU, the next, unit for women and children only, and lastly a med-surg unit .  Different flavors and hats of nursing.  It was especially difficult on the med-surg unit.  I had a higher patient load, 5 people, and a lot more busy work.  The most difficult thing about this job has been conforming to the rolls and policies of the various units.  It makes your head spin a little.  Especially when you have to redo some things, and you end up doubling your work..which I was already behind on.

Ashley and a therapy dog

They have volunteer therapy dogs on the unit a lot.  They come for the patients, but the nurses take a little TLC from them as well.

The best gift patient's families can give nurses is food and coffee.  A frequent gift has been fruit baskets with these guys in them.  Persimmons. This was my first taste, and perhaps my last.  They are overwhelmingly sweet and the bite is similar to that of an apple, but not as juicy.  People here love them.

Friday I met up with a friend from Pittsburgh, Whitney.  She and her husband are in SoCal for a conference, so we got to spend a good part of the day together.

We went antiquing and shopping in Pasadena.  There are a lot of great shops there.  

Whitney sketching an idea for a Christmas present while it's still in her head

Then we went out to lunch at this great place, Plate 38, which the owner of one of the antique stores suggested we try out.

We stopped and I got a tea at a little cafe, called Tiffany's Coffee where this lady greeted us at the door.  I love stuff like this - which was the only decoration in the restaurant.  Other than an elaborate statue, the cafe was bland and had  plain ol' tables and chairs. 

In the evening I met up with Ashley and her sister in Hollywood for Rock-e-oke at the Hard Rock Cafe. They had a live band. Ashley sang Hit Me With Your Best Shot, and had the crowd (of about 20 or so people) clapping above their heads and singing along. 

Next, I was called to the stage.  

Many of you may know that in my past I did a number of performances and at one point thought that acting was the only career for me. Well, it may surprise you to know that any sort of "stage presence" I had in my youth has since left me with awkwardness and armpit sweat. 

I was nervous.

The song I chose was Sitting On the Dock of the Bay, an old favorite, slow, but fun to sing.  The band started off and the guy on the left, "the back up singer" was going to help cue me to start.  Well apparently I misread him because I did that thing were I started with "sit.." before it was appropriate.  Then the band played the intro again and I missed the starting point.  Intro again, and the gentlemen next to me helped me start the song. 

My arms were locked to my side and the lights were so bright, I could only look at the computer screen which displayed the lyrics.  My voice was just loud enough for myself and people closest to the speakers to hear.  At one point, the MC ran up on the stage and put his arm around me and sang into the mic with me for a few lines, to make me more comfortable..?  Toward the end everyone in the room whistled the last bit of the song while I stood just stood there.

They clapped, as the MC said, "let's hear it for Ashley!"

Woops.  Luckily, there were few people at the restaurant, but a hand full of them felt it was necessary to come tell me, "hey you were great! there's nothing to be nervous about!"

Thanks.. If anyone else needs me, I'll be hiding under this table.

Ashley hinted about going back for another episode of Rock-e-oke.  Perhaps I will... but my role with be strictly audience next time :)

Natural Air Conditioning, Pasadena, Nighttime Critters, and other events.

It's very warm here.  Today was almost in the 90s. I went for a walk and every time I stepped in the shade it almost felt cold. It was most unusual when it was just my legs that were behind a shadow.  My dad calls this phenomenon "natural air conditioning" because of the sensation of walking into cooler air.

view from the top of the my apt's parking garage

Southern California has a lot of natural and unnatural air conditioning. 

Woodland Hills

The Sovereign Grace Church closest to me is in Pasadena.  It was about 30 miles, and thanks to no-traffic-Sundays on the freeway, I got there in exactly 30 minutes.

Pasadena has a lot of trees and flowers, with big mountains in the background.  One of the members of the church said it's even more beautiful when there's snow on the peaks. Oo, I can't wait!

The people in the church were very friendly, and I liked the familiarity of the service.  However, it is a bit of a drive and on the way home I was right behind a 3 car accident, so that makes me a lil' nervous about speedin' down the 101. 

creative gardening in Pasadena.    

The lady who lives in this house saw me take this picture.  When I noticed her in the window she smiled real big and waved at me.

A lot of the streets in Southern California are lined with tall Palm Trees.  It's very cool.

At night the crickets come out.  A lot of crickets.  Big ones, small ones, white, black, and gray.  Everywhere. Our apartment building has Orkin boxes labelled, "spiders and crickets".  It worked on the spiders, but not them crickets.


Early today I was watching some Sunday football when I heard the sound of running water in my bathroom, which was unusual because I was the only one home.  I ran into my bathroom to find water pouring out of the AC vent and light fixtures in my ceiling.  After running from my bedroom to the kitchen to the bathroom two or three times, before I formed logical thoughts and took action, I called the front desk.  They sent someone up to help.

Apparently the person upstairs had allowed their shower to leak all over the floor.. I don't know.. No damage was done and it stopped almost as soon as the maintenance guy got here, so I was fine with that.  We draped the towels and blanket I used to soak up the water on my porch railing.

This evening when I got back from my walk I went out to the porch to collect the towels and wash them. This guy was hiding under my stuff.

Needless to say, I screamed, dropped the blankets and ran inside.  Then, when I realized he wasn't going to kill me, I grabbed my phone and snapped some pics.  I'm sorry I wrecked your new home, lizard...now get out.