Deer Valley

Friday December 26, 2008
2 hours before we left, I fell on the stairs and twisted my ankle pretty badly. I could walk on it, so I thought it was fine. We left Oakland at 9pm, got to Salt Lake City around midnight and went straight to the hotel. My ankle was pretty swollen from walking on it so much, so I iced it down.

Saturday December 27, 2008
I was limping on my ankle, so no skiing for me today. My dad went out on the slopes, and my mom and I walked around in downtown Park City. Waited for the bus for a LONG time and almost froze, but made it back to the hotel. We ate dinner at an Italian place nearby. It was OK.

Sunday December 28, 2008
My dad and I walked over the Stein Eriksen Lodge to check it out and were pretty unimpressed. Here's the front of the Stein Eriksen:

My ankle was feeling better, so we decided to ski for a bit. Found a run called Little Kate, and tried to have my mom take pictures, but they came out blurry.

After a few runs, my mom and I were both feeling depressed, so we decided to call it a day. We ate at Jean Louis, supposedly French, but we started noticing patterns on all of the local menus (namely: Wedge Salad, Osso Bucco, Fondue, etc).

Monday December 29, 2008
We woke up late and decided not to ski because it looked pretty cold outside. I don't really remember what we did. I think just walked around and then came back for Cheese Fondue. We went to dinner at a local cafe. After, we decided to go barhopping downtown. We met a nice gay guy from San Deigo who shared our distaste for the generic menus. Here's a photo of downtown Park City:

Tuesday December 30, 2008
We decided to wake up early and get in some good skiing. The day was beautiful - and we skied quite a bit. Here are some photos of the view from the top of the Mountain:

I don't know who this woman is, she wouldn't get out of my picture, so I decided to take it anyway:

Here's my mom and dad, halfway down Tycoon with the beautiful view:

I ditched my parents and got a better picture of my run, then met them for lunch and back up for a couple runs. Here's my run:

Under it, it says More Difficult. Haha Ain't that the truth! The run was a little icy and bumpy. I almost fell once, but overall, it was short and sweet. My mom got a manicure/pedicure and I got a mini facial in the spa across the street from our hotel. We had dinner reservations at the River Horse, supposedly the best restaurant, but since the reservations were late, we went downtown for drinks beforehand. We met a nice, big family from Missouri with some cousins my age. Then dinner, which they tried to stuff us into a bar table, but after we complained, they accommodated us to a booth. The food was excellent, then we went back to the bar for live entertainment, which now had a cover charge. We almost got stuck downtown because our hotel's shuttle driver was off duty and we missed the last bus. But, we got a taxi ride instead.

Wednesday December 31, 2008
Woke up moderately early and skied for a while. Again, it was a gorgeous day and the slopes were perfect. I split from my parents again and decided to try a Black Diamond (Stein's Way), but was severely disappointed that, like all of the Intermediates, it was pretty easy. I went in early and my mom and I tried to have lunch at our hotel (it's the most popular place on the hill). The service was so slow that they did not charge us for lunch. My mom did a few last runs on her own, then we went to the hot tub, and relaxed before dinner. We had a very late dinner at the Stein Eriksen, which was more show than quality. The other people around were fairly tacky. One guy, with his daughter and trophy wife, called the black truffle shavings on his steak "roasted coconut"!! At least if you are going to have that much money, you should be sophisticated enough to know what truffles are! It makes me sick. Dessert came and we had to rush out for the count-down. Mr. Stein Eriksen sang a Norwegian ballad, then we counted down the new year. They had fireworks right off the back deck, and this was the closest fireworks show I've ever seen. They were literally RIGHT above our heads, raining down on us. A few exploded on the ground and everyone screamed expecting the trees to ignite. I couldn't tell if they were cheers or screams. There was dancing inside, but most people were coupled up, so it was pretty lame. My mom and I realized this was our one and only opportunity to say that we had kissed Mr. Stein Eriksen, so we dared each other to go up and wish him a happy new year. She made me go first, so I kissed him on the cheek. He was a little shocked. Then my mom chickened out and I'm not going to let her live it down for a while. Here is Olympic Gold Medalist Stein Eriksen in his prime:
He did NOT look like this now! This photo was taken over 50 years ago, so add another 50+ years, and THAT'S what I kissed. Yuck. We walked back to our hotel and fell asleep before California entered 2009!

Thursday January 1, 2009
Our original plan was to leave on the 31st, so we could all spend New Year's Eve with our respective friends. My plan had been to stop in Vegas for Cirque's Love show, but seeing as how our worlds fell apart over the last few months, we decided to stay until after New Year's. We ended up catching an earlier flight, packed up and headed to the airport. We were home by 4pm, so we ate dinner here and caught a movie.

Overall, we loved skiing in Deer Valley - all runs are intermediate level, so there is no fear to get lost and stuck on a run you can't do. The service all over Park City and Deer Valley was superb! And, we loved staying at the Goldener Hirsch. It was walking distance to the base of the lift (we didn't even have to cross a street!!) and the hotel was quaint and beautiful. Here are some pictures of our hotel room:
Here's a picture of the outside of the Goldener Hirsch (at night):

2009. A new year, new beginnings. It doesn't feel so new. I am quickly brought back to memories of last year. The pain is still there, still fresh. I am still heartbroken, still grieving, still more stressed than I have ever been. How long will it take? Will 2009 be a year wasted, stuck in the past? A resolution to get over it is naive and impossible. If one could will it to go away, there wouldn't be so many cliche phrases about time. But time feels like too much to ask for right now.

How many more times do I have to relive the horrors? Are things ever going to stop reminding me of what I'm missing?

Where is Santa Claus? I wish there was someone to make it all better. To live out my dreams, and supply the fantastical experiences. I'm sorry that there is no Spirit of Christmas Future to show you the correctness of what is. Instead we are doomed to a mystery of what could be, what might be true if we dare to dream. Most of us live in the lies of what dim reality exists before us. We depress into the present and realize the scarcity of hope and happiness. It's a dream we want for all, yet few become attached to the actuality of succeeding. Most just dole out kindness in a mundane sort-of numbness. Quantity versus Quality is easier for us to dish out. Instead of care, we become innate humans that are incapable of reactionary ideals. A shock takes over as we dishearten ourselves from the facts and presume that easier times will prevail.

A Wholely Religious Experience

I decided to go to church with my roommate and her mom this morning. They described the Unity Church as very universal, and not focused on any particular doctrine. It sounded right up my liberal alley. Since we both had errands to do afterwards, we decided to drive separately, but stopped at Starbucks on the way. The line was horrendous, which made us a little late, but she reassured me that they never start on time. My drink was ready first, so I told her that I would see her at the Chruch! Then, I popped the address into my GPS and it calculated my route - just as she had described it, take the 405 and get off on Crenshaw! I turned on the street, full of industrial warehouses, and the GPS announced that I had arrived at my destination. I looked around, but did NOT see a church. I drove 50 more feet, and then saw it: A BIG sign that said Integrity Christian Center. This must be it, I thought. So, I turned into the parking lot and followed signs to the entrance. I was late, and they were already singing, so I waited with the group outside. The woman looked at me, looked at my coffee, looked at me. I smiled. She looked at me, looked at my coffee, and looked at me again! Then she told me that I could go in and didn't have to wait (only the children had to wait).

So, I walked in and the ushers guided me to a seat to the side of the altar. They were singing, and then the pastor called people up to the altar who needed to be healed. I immediately knew this place was NOT where I was supposed to be. With Holy Water, he touched their heads and they were healed with the spirit of God. Oh no, I thought, this is like my grandparent's church. This can't be right! But I decided to wait 5-10 more minutes just in case my roommate did show up. The pastor talked about je-SUSSS and the Holy Ghost. I had to greet people around me with "I'm soo glad that Jesus is here." Everyone was seated, taking notes on his sermon, so I couldn't leave. Another 10 minutes went by and no roommate. The pastor announced that the children were going to sing some Christmas songs, and in they marched, straight to my section and shuffled to sit in the two rows before me. All eyes (and video cameras!) were on ME! I couldn't leave now. But as the second set of kids walked in and up to the stage, I took the opportunity, grabbed my coffee, and left before they started speaking in tongues.

Once outside, I looked for the address - 2535. I got into the car and read the directions - 2425. Oh geez! I drove down the street further (2 blocks PAST where my GPS had told me) and it was then that I saw the small sign that just said: Unity. This was it. But now, I was 30 minutes late, I couldn't bear to walk in late to yet another church where people were judging my caffeine intake. I went home, feeling embarrassed and tortured.

Sometimes I feel like I am paying for such a great year in 2007. I had a great boyfriend, moving up and up in my job, living in a great place, wonderful vacation, etc. Now, it just feels like it can't get any worse. Starting summer '08, I moved housing, job got more difficult and less fun (in part because the economy), I lost the rock that held me together (my boyfriend), and my sister died. Still trying to cope with those obstacles and barely having settled into my new place (last address change effective this month), I was told that I need to move by Feb 1st. I am now wishing I hadn't donated all of my furniture in my exes storage unit 3 short weeks ago. Just when I feel like I might have a handle on things, a wrench is thrown in the middle.

I guess all of these things are normal life experiences. I just wish I didn't have to deal with them all at once! When does life get easier?!?

But, hey, I've still got my health... (sarcasm)

Birthday Blues

I've never felt more pressure to stay alive. My mom tells me rightly, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you right now." What is usually automatic for survival has become a conscious effort: be careful, drive slower, hug/kiss goodbye, and other such duties to continue to live a full life. I feel the weights of balancing work and a social life, while trying to stay in touch with myself, family, etc. And at the same time, all I want to do is stop, hibernate from the onward progression.

I turned 25 this past weekend. Most people seem to have a mental block against my actual birth date. Usually, friends can't seem to remember if it's the 27th or 28th, both wrong! I guess the day doesn't matter so much anymore. It is no longer devoted to you. People rush to bombard you with a quick birthday greeting, then return to their concerns. When thanksgiving is in the same week, my birthday gets lost in the long weekend. My coworkers didn't even sign a card for me. It wasn't any different than the day before. I've felt 25 for the past several months, so it feels a little anticlimactic. I guess that's just part of being an adult, getting used to disappointment and expectations that don't sync with reality. This definitely isn't where I thought I'd be at 25... But no one anticipates grief.

Bipolar Disorder

There is so much the world that does not know about Bipolar disorder, and so many people that quietly live with/near it. I am amazed at how many people it affects and yet, there is still no solution or miracle!

It seems that even the large amounts of research my mom did were not enough to find ways to help Ginny. The nature of the disorder comes with so many doubts about the extent of one's suffering. Denial moves in quickly when the person appears to be back on track ("Maybe she's OK now," you hope). I think it is difficult for "sane" people to understand. Most of us have the hope gene; we want to believe it's not that bad. We cannot understand feelings of loneliness and hopelessness so strong that they overpower every thought and every minute of your day, for years at a time. With the inability to comprehend her suffering, and the doubts that fed our hope, it was impossible to see how sweeping the effects were for everyone, not just herself.

Growing up in my sister's shadow, it literally shaped my attitudes. I saw what not to do, how explosive reactions and constant dramatics were punished with negative consequences. Over the years, during my home life, I turned inward and focused on not reacting at all (a very hard thing to suppress for an extrovert like me). I felt dimmed in the family setting because of the amount of energy it took to be around my sister and her disorder. It is a rude awakening for me to realize how easy it has become to be a rock and I am currently working through these issues.

I cannot rationalize the reasons for my sister's angst, or what went through her head on the evening of the 8th. Ultimately, it does not matter - there is no "why". Calculated moves were not in her vocabulary and there is no equation for her suffering. That is the problem with bipolar disorder. Each iteration seems to be unique and every solution (if there is one) is just as hard to find. It is ironic that many of the tools needed to search for cures are the very traits bipolar people lack: acceptance, motivation, patience, commitment, faith, and self-esteem. For this reason, it is crucial that the individual's support system (family, lovers, friends) educate themselves on the symptoms of the disorder. Disillusionment is the enemy that we continuously fought as their mind convinces them that truth is a grim reality. I can only hope that other's struggles can be more successful than Ginny's.

My world has been turned upside down. One year ago, life was perfect. I loved where I lived, my job, my steady boyfriend, etc. For the first time in my life, I was completely independent, supporting myself. It felt good to be on my own and not just surviving, but thriving!!

At the beginning of this month, in one short week, my boyfriend of 5 years dumped me and my sister committed suicide. I did not lose all of my reason for happiness, but those two blows were enough to make me feel lost, like I am suddenly left without a compass.

Six years ago, I was a senior in high school and had not yet been accepted to college. I did not know where I would be in the fall, and I was scared of the unknown. I don’t even know how I came to it, but I decided to journey to the Grand Canyon, hike and camp alone for two nights. It was, of course, a life-changing experience.

I feel the same need for this now: a journey of epic proportions, a life-changing quest to search for the path, to look at my compass and find direction. I have not figured out what this epic journey will be, but here are some romantic possibilities:
- Motor-cycle across the country
- Travel to Paris and learn how to love
- Trek to Tibet and study Buddhism
- Move to Australia for a year

As I sink back to reality this week, I am unsure how feasible these things are. I know that it doesn’t really matter, because this is bigger than some job, but at the same time, I have grown accustomed to my quality of life. I hope I decide soon, because I feel like a ship without a bearing.

Friday Lunch at Galatoire's

I can't believe that I let so much time pass without writing about my latest adventure.

My mom recently visited a friend in New Orleans, and went to lunch at the famous Galatoire's. There, she saw a table nearby full of women for a bridal luncheon, and she had the idea that she would like to do just that for my sister's Bridal Party! We live in California, so it isn't hard to see the gaping issue with this idea... However, my mom decided that she would use her free plane tickets to do this for my sister's bridal party.

Then, my sister and her husband-to-be, decided on having 8 groomsmen and 8 bridesmaids! Suddenly, the promise didn't look so appetizing anymore, but sticking to her guns, my mom invited all 8 of the bridesmaids, plus the bride, the mother of the groom, herself, and her friend in New Orleans, making a total of 12!! I have to be honest that a trip to Bourbon Street with my sister's friends wasn't really my cup of tea, but I decided to try it... To quote Miss Holly Golightly, "Besides, I've never been to [New Orleans]."

We rented the entire Guest House at English Turn...






My sister and I shared a room (the top right room with the balcony)



On Friday morning, just as my mom had planned, we took a limo to Galatoire's... Here is the entire group (Top Row: Me, Alana, Ginny, Dawn, Jenny(behind), Crystal, Meg, Natalie, Helena; Bottom Row: Deb, Debbie, Teresa)



Here are the Moms and Daughters: Me (bride's sister), Dawn (groom's sister), Debbie (groom's mother), Teresa (bride's mom), Crystal (groom's sister), Ginny (bride)



Ready to be confused? Here is my extended family of sisters: Jenny (my half sister through my dad), Ginny (my half sister through my mom), Me, and Helena (Ginny's half sister through her dad). Basically, I am related to the two on the left, my sister is related to the two on the right.


After lunch, my sister was given a Blue Dog pin (based on the George Rodrigue painting). The guys come for Friday lunch, every week and as a tradition, they always wear their seersucker suits.


After lunch, we walked across Bourbon Street, to the oldest bar in New Orleans: Old Absinthe House...


Then our party split. Half stayed at the bars on Bourbon, and the other half took a break to ride the Trolley through the Garden District. Here is what all of the houses in the Garden District look like:



After, we met back up with the group and bar-hopped until dinner. Most stayed out, but I went with the older crowd to dinner at Emeril's. Funny thing was: Emeril was THERE! He was overseeing the kitchen. Pretty neat.

The next morning, we had Beignet's which are like square donuts with powdered sugar... This was the view from the cafe...



The whole party couldn't decide to go to the Plantation, so the party split again, and half went to the above ground cemeteries, and half walked around New Orleans. I stayed walking around and we went to famous VooDoo shops and browsed windows before going back to the airport. Here is a beautiful church we saw in downtown, where 3 weddings took place in less than 3 hours, none of which were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, despite the rumors that it happened the same weekend we were there.

CADA 2008

Another year, another CADA Convention!

Every other year, the convention is held in Reno, so this year, we packed up and flew to Reno! The hotel is much nicer than the one in San Diego, because it's a Casino, so it has it's own shops, restaurants, club, Starbucks, etc.. They are in the process of remodeling it, so half of it looks like a classy, dark, chic hotel, and the other half looks like El Torito. Nicole hooked us up with a great suite! No sharing of beds this time.

The theme of this year's CADA was "Field of Dreams". In a loong compromise, we ended up with a combination theme of baseball and dreams. Thinking outside the box, we made our booth into a baseball locker room, complete with a shower!

Here are the lockers, and benches with baseball equipment, there is even a jock strap dangling from the bench!


Here's the bathroom part, with Johnny in the shower and robes hanging from the rack.


And here's the "Coach's Office"


We ended up winning Runner Up in the Multi-booth award competition, which we were OK with. We didn't go over the top as we had in years before. And the booth that won, was our competition, who wore "A League of Their Own" outfits (old women's uniforms). We wanted to do that at one point. Anyway, our biggest competitor was actually pretty friendly to us this year, and I got to meet some of them.

Here's Nicole, who desgined the booth and coordinated CADA:


On the first night, we dressed up in robes to complete our "locker room" theme. Too many people had to ask, so either our booth wasn't obvious enough, or it was hidden in the corner... Then we cleaned up and went to the Area Suites and mingled with clients. On the second night, it was more mingling, and dancing in the Casino's club. I left early and watched some people play blackjack, even sitting in for them, while they went to the bathroom! I'm not much of a gambler, so that was the only betting I did...

All of us, in our robes (Jasmine, Nicole, me, Tiffany, and Johnny in the Shower)


On the last night, we host a reception and Josten's hosts a formal dinner dance. Wow has a tradition of wearing black cocktail dresses and color boas, each year being a different color. Last year was white, this year we wore purple!

Here is Brittany (with our DJ company, SOS Entertainment), and Nicole, Hani Yousseff (Burbank High School), and Jasmine.


Here we are at the dinner table. Nicole, Brittany, me, and Todd Arrowsmith from West Ranch High School, who snuck into the picture!


Next year, the theme is CADAfari, like Safari, jungle... Nicole is practicing her Monkey face:

Taos

My family decided to go skiing in Taos, New Mexico this season. Another family/couples trip. Chris and I met my parents, Ginny and John in Albuquerque. Chris got our bags off the main carousel and I waited for our skis in the "oversized baggage" section. Chris's skis and boots came, but there was no sign of mine. As I waited with another guy, I asked, "I'm waiting for my skis, what are you waiting for?!" He said quickly, "I'm waiting for my dog." Oh! I thought. I guess it could be worse. He joked, "Yea, top that!" and then must've found his dog in another part of the airport because I didn't see him again. Long story short, my skis were somehow left in Los Angeles, so they said they would pay for my rental skis.

We stayed overnight in Albuquerque and got an early start the next morning to Taos in our rented minivan. We arrived at the hotel fairly early (10:30am), and checked into our condo. But, when we walked in, the house-keeper hustled to get her coats, purse, fruit, and turn off the TV. We thought it was odd that it seemed like she was hanging out, but quickly dismissed it. My sister had to go to the bathroom, so she rushed in there, but found that it was completely clogged. We asked the owner to fix it a few times during our stay, but it never really worked properly. In the meantime, we realized that a condo with one bedroom, a loft, and a sofabed (and one broken toilet) was really too small for the 6 of us, so we asked for a 2nd condo. The guy warned us that the last guests had just left, so it had not been cleaned and that the 2nd unit was "colder". What he meant was "no heat". So, between the two condos, we ended up having one working toilet, one with heat, one working oven, one working hair dryer, one loft window that wouldn't shut, and one condo full of smoke. Admittedly, the last thing was my mom's fault, because she mistakingly assumed the dampers would open the same way, and they didn't, so one condo filled with smoke before she realized the damper was closed. Another "fun" discovery we had was during my first shower. The water was luke warm, so I turned it toward the red (heat). It got colder, so I turned it up all the way and got a shock when freezing cold water shot out at me. I shrieked and jumped out of the shower. Then, I turned it toward the cold (blue) and it got hotter!

We learned to live with all of the quirks of the cabin and wondered what other people would do if they just had one of those condos, with half working amenities. The same day we checked in, we decided to do a half day of skiing, so we changed clothes and headed to the slopes. By the time we got there, we were hungry, so we ate and I rented skis. Then it was 2:30pm and it was getting darker and colder, so we decided not to buy $50 lift tickets for only a couple of runs. We went to town instead and got some drinks and dinner.

The next couple of days, we went skiing and it was COLD! They told us it was 0 on the top of the mountain at noon! With the wind, it was almost unbearable. My toes froze so I had to take a break to warm them up. I went to the ski store to ask them if my boots were too small, but they told me that they were in fact one size too big! So, I got new boots that are custom-molded to my feet. The slopes were un-crowded and the snow was nice, but most of the runs were black diamonds and/or moguls. Compared to some of the other mountains we've been to, it was not worth returning to. Maybe Utah next year...

Mom's First Recycling Experience

When I went home for Thanksgiving, my mom pulled me aside and with excitement in her eyes she told me, "Did you know that you can turn in bottles and they are redeemable for 5 cents?! This whole time I've just been throwing them in the bin at home! I could be getting 5 cents for them!"
"Uhh, yes," I said and added, "You can do that with cans, too..."

She explained to me that she had been saving bottles and had them clanking around in her trunk. She wanted to find a recycling center. We went to the one at the local Safeway. She pulled up and got the bags out of her trunk, but the people told her that they were full for the day. She came back to the car highly disappointed and shoved them back into the trunk. "They told me to go to 51st and Broadway! Can you believe that?! How can they be full?"

Later, my dad was driving and we were near the other drop-off center, so we told him to pull in and park nearby. We rolled up in our silver Mercedes and he didn't park in a space. Instead, my dad pulled RIGHT up to block the recycling drop-off center. My mom got out and unloaded the Ann Taylor bags filled with bottles. Meanwhile, a bum strolled up with his shopping cart full of cans and started sorting them. My mom recieved help from the attendant who sorted and weighed her bottles, then gave her some bills.

I was appalled that she didn't give the pocket change to the guy next to her, who clearly needed some financial assitance. Instead, she popped back in the car and announced: "I got $2.50 for that!"

As soon as the initial elation wore off, she realized, "I don't think that the $2.50 was worth the gas it took to get here..."

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!

Italia

A few months ago, in the midst of my work's busiest season, I decided that I would need a good reward when vacation time came, so Chris and I decided on a trip around Italy. I've never been to Italy and Chris has never been out of country, so it was very exciting for both of us! Our trip was 2 weeks long and we started in Rome.

We were pretty jet lagged the day we got there, but managed to check out a few churches near our hotel. We also took a walk through Rome, recommended in our guidebook, to the Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Piazza Colonna, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.


On July 24th, we went to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and Capital Hill. It was pretty interesting to see all of the ancient ruins. We skipped the line (thanks to our Rick Steve's Guidebook) by going to the line at Palatine Hill instead of the Colosseum. It was extremely hot, but we were happy that there were lots of water fountains to fill up our water bottles.




On the 25th, we woke up early and went to Vatican City. The line to get in stretched around the block, but moved pretty quickly. But after, when we came out, we saw there was no line, so I guess we shouldn't have waited. We were impressed by the museum's big art collection and lots of painted, gaudy ceilings, but a little disappointed with the Sistine Chapel. It was not what I thought it would be at all. We seemed to stumble on it like any other hallway in the Vatican, when I thought it would be some grand cathedral. It was really hard to see the famous painted ceiling, because it was painted in lots of really small panels. Then, we went to St. Peter's Cathedral, which was as exciting as we thought it would be. In the afternoon, we went to the National Museum of Rome and saw famous statues, like the Discus Thrower, but many of them were copies, so I was confused whether what we were looking at was the real thing or not.

Our last day in Rome, we went to the Villa Borghese. The gallery there was gorgeous and we felt the ceilings were what the Sistine Chapel should have been. They were colorful, dramatic, and large! There were also some fantastic sculptures there with lots of emotion. There were no photos allowed and they were very strict about it. They wouldn't even let you in with a camera! Maybe this is why the art was kept in such pristine condition? We spent the rest of the day in the Villa Borghese, which is a big park (like Central Park in NYC), except with statues and roman columns scattered around. We rented a boat and rowed on a small lake there. Then walked back to our hotel.

On Friday, the 27th, we took a day trip to Pompei. We had to take a subway from Naples, which was very sketchy, and dirty. They kept announcing to beware of pickpockets, so we kept a close eye on our bags. The weather was predicted to be 95 degrees (and feel like 101!), so we prepared for the worst. But it wasn't as bad as we thought, except for the subway, which was extremely humid and made poor Chris sweat profusely. In Pompei, I was expecting just to see lots of plastered people, but there were only a couple. The more fascinating thing was to see how an ancient city was designed/run. We were shocked how large it was, it would be so easy to get lost!

On the 28th, we took an express train to Florence. When we got there, we ate lunch atop a department store in Piazza Republica (recommended by a friend), and went inside the Duomo. In the afternoon, we walked around the San Lorenzo Market and bought some leather souveniers. The next day, we went to the Uffizi Gallery (again skipped the line, by making reservations - Thanks, Rick Steves) and saw many famous Medieval and Renaissance paintings, and read through the tour in our guidebook to learn how art developed through the years. It saved us quite a bit of money not having to do the audioguides at every museum. We walked across the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and went to the Boboli Gardens in the afternoon.

On Monday July 30th, we went to the Bargello Museum. It was kind of a bust because many of the more famous statues were under restoration. We walked to the Santa Croce Church and saw quite a number of famous people's tombs, like Galileo, Michaelangelo, Dante, etc. From there we went to the Science Museum which had lots of mathematical tools and some of the first clocks. It also had the middle finger of Galileo. There aren't too many pictures of Florence, because most of the museums did not allow cameras!

On the 31st, we went to the Accademia in the morning, to see the famous David statue by Michaelangelo. We paid 13 Euros for that museum and the only thing there was the statue of David! What a rip off! The statue was HUGE, but a pretty good piece of art. They said no pictures, but everyone was taking them of the statue. Chris and I didn't break the rules, so we don't have any photos of it. After that, we decided to take a day trip to Pisa, which wasn't in our original plans. We went up the Leaning Tower, which until 2001 had been under renovation to partially correct the lean. They brought it back about 6 degrees, to the same place it had been 200 years ago. It still leans pretty badly, enough to give you some vertigo at the top! We had to wait a few hours because they only let a certain amount of people up at a time, so we ate a leisurely lunch and went into the Church there before getting to climb the tower. It was pretty exciting to get to the top and there were some pretty good views. Chris got a little nervous at the top (I just thought it was exciting).

On August 1st, we left Florence for an overnight in Siena. It was nice, with lots of winding streets and hills. We went to the Duomo there, and then relaxed in Il Campo, the main square for the afternoon. We walked to the San Domenico Church, with the Patron Saint of Siena (St. Catherine). It was not very interesting, so we walked back to the square with some gelato and waited for dinner pigeon/people watching.

On the 2nd, we left Siena and took a train to Venice. We had to change trains in Florence, it took most of the day to get to Venice. We rode the Vaperetto (Water Bus) from the train station to St. Marks Square. Then we attempted to walk to our hotel nearby. I say attempted, because we took a couple of wrong bridges! They tell you to get lost in Venice, but it wasn't so fun with our luggage! It ended up that we were on the right track and we found our hotel without getting too frustrated. After we checked in, we decided to get a good map of Venice that showed all the side streets and alleys.

On the 3rd, we headed to Saint Mark's Square, but it was drizzling a little. We were happy to see some cool rain after all the heat! Venice looked beautiful and I thought that maybe this is how Venice was meant to be seen: rising out of the fog, a gray, city from the past... Again, we got to skip the long line at the Basilica, thanks to tips from our trusty Rick Steves Guidebook! Then, we bought some birdseed and fed the pigeons. It was quite fun. and we finished, just before a big rain storm dumped on us and cleared the square. To get out of the rain, we followed everyone else into Doge's Palace. It was really neat to see the workings of Venice's (VERY) proud republic as well as the corrupt parts, like the covered Bridge of Sighs that took prisoners to their jail cells in secrecy, never to be heard from again! After Doge's palace, the skies had cleared up and we walked to the busy Rialto Bridge. For dinner, we went out to a very nice dinner (my mom's gift to us) and had some great wine.

On the 4th, our last day in Italy, we got a ride to Murano island, where they make beautiful glass art. We saw a quick and lame demonstration, then walked through the shops on the island. The glass museum was closed, so we went back to Venice and wandered around for the rest of the afternoon, getting lost (this time on purpose). But everytime we walked down some back alley, we'd end up back on some square that we recognized, so we wandered our way back to the hotel. Then we went on a gondola ride at dusk for our last views of Venice. It was definately not worth the Euros, but something that was nice and of course, mandatory for a couple's vacation in Venice.


On Sunday, the 5th, to complete our 2 weeks abroad, we left early for the airport to fly home. Overall, it was a pretty perfect trip. Good travel partners (though, we already knew we got along), and I really like the amount of time we spent in each city, as well as the order we did it in. It seemed to go from the beginning of western society to the end of the renaissance. Chris (a tomato-hater), even found a liking for Bruschetta!! Hopefully, he also discovered a passion for traveling, to keep up with me! =)