Halloween

There is this house by my boyfriend's that goes ALL out for halloween. Last year their decorations were crazy and the music blasted down the canyon and we could hear it all night. Supposedly, they spend $300,000 on the annual party and it's not hard to see why. Their front and side yards (it's a corner house) had zombies and graves and lights and bodies. This year there were huge shipwrecks, one even had half a ship, being engulfed by large tentacles. Here is just a small part of the outside display:



Here is what it looks like during the day (This is only the front of the house. The other two sides had 2 other large, full ships!):


We got invited to it this year, so of course I was pushing to go. Chris did not want to go, but I convinced his friends to join me and then he decided to come, too. I RSVPed for six of us, just in case. We got costumes for ourselves and ate some pizza before walking up the hill to the party. Here are Tony and Laura, both dressed as Amy Winehouse!



Here is Blair (a Dodgers player), and Tony, who looks strangely feminine.


We walked in, and there was a large guest list. Good thing we were on it! I said the last name and th ey said "6?" I said, "Yes, but we lost one on the way. We only have 5." Once inside, we were directed around the side of the house, to the back yard. There were stippers and bars, Johnny Depp look-a-likes, and actors dressed as pirates. And, it was an open bar! The bartenders were naked, except for some strategically placed body paint.

We walked to the back yard, where the main party was. There were large set-ups that looked like parts of pirate ships. There were 3 bars, a bellydancer, 2 pole dancers, a fire dancer, a hookah bar, and a dancefloor over the pool! Inside the pool were fake body parts and baby alligators!! It was pretty amazing. In this picture, you can see a belly dancer and a pole dancer in the background.



Here is the Hookah bar, with gallows, prisoners, etc. The whole house was lit up in all kinds of colors, and the top of the picture, is where the fire dancer was.



Here is the dancefloor: re-inforced plexi-glass over the swimming pool. Floating in the pool is a severed leg. (We didn't get a picture of the alligator)


Here is me, and Chris (as Pirates), and Blair got into the background.



Chris and I with the Winehouses in the background.




Blair's favorite part of the night. Yes, that's only body paint...



Here are Blair and Chris:


Me and Tony (Amy Winehouse):


It was a pretty good party. There weren't many people our age. Most were in their 30's and 40's. Chris even saw a high school friend's mom. Sort of embarrassing... Anyway, despite that, it was still one of the best parties, I've ever been to, and we had a lot of fun, before walking back home.

Cats, Mo and the Worm

Aside: A month ago, there were 5 cats at my boyfriend's house. 3 were indoor cats, brothers: Larry, Mo and Eddie. The other 2 are from a different litter and spend their life outside: Boris and Tom. Tom was a tabby cat and always had the ruffed up alley-cat look. Toward the end, he drooled nonstop, and wasn't able to clean himself properly. After missing morning meals for a week, he showed up long enough to let my boyfriend's mom pick him up and take him to the vet. The vet said he needed lots of treatment, but that because he was 1 step above a stray, might as well call it quits. So, Tom was put down a few weeks ago.
For the past 3 years, Larry has been diagnosed with many problems: Diabetes, heart murmurs, Cataracts, Arthritis, constant diarrhea and dehydration due to some sort of liver or kidney failure, dandruff, etc, etc. Larry would be in constant need of medication - insulin injections twice a day, heart pills every 8 hours, powder in his food, etc. He was a good cat, though - just slept most of the day, reminded you when it was time for medicine in case you forgot, and followed you around, begging for food. But when he started refusing his favorite pastime and having to be force-fed, Chris's mom took Larry in and they said enough is enough. Larry is missed, though not all of the chores because of him. Meanwhile, I have taken to taming Boris, the other outside cat, for the past year or so.

Now, for the actual story: Mo, the runt of the litter and Larry's twin brother (both were all black), has always had a wild side. The other night, we noticed him running from one end of the yard to the other, pausing to lick himself, before tearing off. We knew something was odd. Must be running from an animal or hurt, or something, so we followed him inside and he ran through the house. Finally I was able to get him cornered and see what was the matter. He was laying on Chris's bed, so I started petting him. As I slowly rolled him over, I saw something wet on his side. My first thought was that it was blood from a fight, so I leaned closer to inspect his wound. Then I saw a worm, stuck in his fur. This was what he was biting at to try to get off of him. I called for Chris to bring a paper towel. He asked if the cat had thrown up, again, but I told him just to bring it and come quickly, as I tried to hold down the cat. While I was waiting, I realized this wasn't just any earthworm. It was very long, and dark. I waited as Chris tried to pick the worm out. The worm was not coming very easily. It was stuck with pretty strong goo to the cat. As Chris pulled on one end of it, we saw the head: It was a flat head, and it was moving slowly, trying to find it's way. Red flags went off in my mind. Flat worms are an entirely different thing and can be very dangerous. My mind flashed to things like tape worms, ring worms, and other awful things that live inside the bodies of animals. Chris also freaked and thought about Mo's vomit earlier in the day - did something come out of him at that time?! As Chris pulled firmly, the cat moaned - some of his hair was being pulled with the force of the slime. The worm came apart, and inside, was whiteness. Chris managed to get much of the worm off, as I held the cat to the bed. Luckily, the cat whined, but did not twist and try to get us off of him. I guess he knew we were trying to help. Chris flushed it, and we tried to wipe his fur down to get the stickiness off of his fur. We washed our hands thoroughly and then sat down to research the worm from our memories. We Googled: "flat headed worm". To our surprise, the very first picture was of the exact worm (it was also the ONLY picture of the correct thing). We learned it was a "Shovel-headed" worm, very rare to North America. It gets transferred over in pots to nurseries, from Asia. Their slime is similar to a snail's and they prey on common earthworms. Though, somehow related to other flat worms, this one is not dangerous to humans or pets, and is not poisonous (though it did say that it wouldn't taste good to dogs). We were relieved to learn that it was just picked up from the dirt and harmless. It was still one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen (the picture below is the image we found when we searched for it):

Transistions

Many changes since I came back from Italy. Work has been one long transition due to the loss of an owner. New roles and new people are getting defined. Hopefully it's all for the better.

My house mate eloped and now my living situation is in questioning. I'm worried if I'll be able to find as good of a situation as I've had.

Luckily, the one constant has been my relationship - thank god for that!