Picture update

It's been pretty hectic this last month or so. Most of last month I spent my days working and evenings packing all of my stuff in NY to move back home to CA. I have soooo much stuff. I didn't even have to pack any furniture since it is all Ed's. I have to say, it didn't really look any different after I moved out. All of the furniture was still there and it looked well lived in. Even my friend Rolando said that it still seemed familiar to him. I guess I didn't really make that big of a difference there. You wouldn't have thought so though since I had half a U-haul full of stuff to bring back. I joke with my mom that I'm never moving out of the house again. I already disliked having to move, but moving across the country is an even bigger pain in the patoot.

Mary Beth, Neil, me, and Dave in front of The Ruck

The night before I left we had a going away get together at a local dive bar called The Ruck. We played table shuffle board and had some delicious bar food. I don't remember the last time I cried so hard. When I got home I could barely contain myself. I had called my mom and was crying so hard that it made her choked up. I miss my Celery-folk dearly, but I talk to them everyday while I work from home so it's not so bad.

Smiling faces at Louis' house before we took off.

Originally my dad was going to come out to drive me, but then the guy I started dating, Louis, offered to drive with me instead. This worked out really well since both my father and I have horrible night vision. It also allowed me to introduce him to my parents (thank goodness they like him). Louis did most of the driving, which was fine with me. I was surprised that the U-haul was so comfy. It wasn't a luxury car by any means, but it wasn't as bad as I was thinking. It was extremely loud and I think that we were missing shocks (it was bumpy), but it was a pretty good ride. By the end of the 3000 mile trip I think we both had a small attachment to the truck.

This was our route and plan of action.

Fri 21st: Hopewell Junction, NY to Dayton, OH ≤ 10hr 37min
Sat 22nd: Dayton, OH to Tulsa, OK ≤ 11hrs 37min
Sun 23rd: Tulsa, OK to Albuquerque, NM ≤ 9hrs 19min
Mon 24th: Albuquerque, NM to Grand Canyon, AZ to Needles, CA ≤ No time limit
Tues 25th: Needles, CA to Concord, CA ≤ 8hrs 29min

We took a detour to go to the Grand Canyon since it was sort of on the way. It was pretty nice, but after a while it started to all look the same.

Two hams goofing off at the canyon
I had the hardest time getting onto this rock and then an even harder time getting down. Louis literally had to carry me off of it because I was afraid of falling. Meanwhile, Christopher was hopping around the trees and rocks like a little billy goat.

Is this the kind of stuff you learn in the scouts? This tree log is like 10-15 feet high and the one other is over a big cliff. Sheesh! It's a good thing my mom wasn't around.

After we got back Louis, Christopher, and I went to Muir Woods as a half day trip. I hadn't been there in a long time and felt like I needed some exercise from all of that sitting I was doing. We had a lot of fun and Louis got to see redwoods. New York has a lot of trees, but none of the ones in our area looks like these.

The USS O'Brien is a ship that's docked right behind the Musee Mecanique on Pier 45 in SF. I've been there before but I never noticed the half naked lady at the top!

Christopher had a dentist appointment with Patty at Uncle Baldy's so afterward we went to have dim sum. It was sooo good.

The resident Great White shark.

For my birthday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to check out the new sea horse exhibit. I thought it was pretty cool. There are so many new exhibits since the last time I was there! I think out of all the aquariums that I've been to, this one is my favorite. It's a long drive, but I'm considering getting a yearly pass. I love watching the people watch the fish in the salt water section of the aquarium. I find it very relaxing. After we were done with the aquarium itself we went along the beach to take some pictures and admire the view. If it wasn't so darn expensive to live down there I'd make the move (to live there forever) in a blink.

We got stuck in rush hour traffic on our way back home, but we did make it in time for our reservations at Black Angus. Oh man, I love that place. One pound of meat and two sides of garlic mashed potatoes down the hatch for me. Yum!


I finally bit the bullet. I've never bought myself anything from Coach before, but I did last week. Auntie Mary sent me a coupon for the Coach outlet so last week I took the drive out there and got myself this purse and matching wallet. I love them, but will not disclose how much they set me back. I wasn't feeling so hot afterward, but Auntie Mary came by with her friend Gleda and they convinced me to keep it. It didn't take much coercion.

Other than that, I've started to redecorate my room, which is a bigger undertaking that I realized. At the moment I have a new desk and bigger bookshelf. I'll be getting rid of my old bed and getting a newer one. I wanted a full sized bed, but the room is just too small. Instead of spending money on a frame, I'm just going to go back to having a mattress and box spring on a plywood board and cinder blocks like I had in Riverside. The way I see it is, if I get a new twin size frame I'll have to take that with me when I do eventually move out. And when I make this move, whenever I forget how much of a pain it was to move back in was, I'll want to get myself a bigger bed for sure. So I don't see the point in spending money on a new frame. I'm tired of my old frame so I may as well go frameless, which eliminates the possibility of becoming tired of the new frame. Plus, with the cinder blocks I'll be able to store stuff under the bed where as right now there is the trundle that doesn't allow me any storage space. Hopefully by the end of the week I will also have my new closet doors put up. Christopher and I both took down our old ones and I bought bifold doors so that I can access my clothes a little easier. I'll take pictures when the whole project is complete. Right now the room is quite a mess.