Wandering Aimlessly

It has, once again, been eons since I've updated. What's happened since the last true post? My sister visited and Grandpa's doing much better. (How to say this without coming across sarcastic? This is truly not sarcasm...) Thanks for all your concern. It meant a lot. :) He's scheduled to go home anytime between March 29th and April 3rd. Of course, those are the dates of Grandma's trip out here, but my uncle will be staying with him that week.

So. Onto Jessica's visit. She and three of her friends (Hol, 'Manda and Kel) came out during their spring break a few weeks ago. They arrived Friday night, February 25th. I went down to LAX to fetch them and their many suitcases -- it was creative packing of the trunk, that's for sure! -- and brought them back here for Sushi & Game Night.

We made homemade sushi, which the girls sportingly tried. Then played Trivial Pursuit. They were troopers and stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning, which were wee-er hours of the morning in the timezones they were used to, while we played the game right in their bedroom (aka our livingroom).

On Saturday, we set out for Santa Monica to see the beach, but changed plans mid-route when Amanda's aunt called and asked if we'd like to meet them for dinner halfway between their San Diego home and here. We agreed, and drove down to Newport Beach and Irvine. We were early, as there wasn't enough time to go to Santa Monica and then make it down to Irvine, so we just went straight there. We landed ourselves on a state beach in Newport Beach, which was absolutely gorgeous! I didn't have a camera, but the girls took pictures. I'll have to get copies. Very nice. Then we went into Irvine, which is super-cute and exactly how I expected Orange County to look, and met the relatives for dinner.

Sunday morning we set off with the boys for a "quick hike" in Griffith Park and the Hollywood Hills. "Quick hike", to us, apparently meant no water, and no real hiking preparedness. "Quick hike" connotated a bit of a stroll through well-defined paths at average inclines, lasting perhaps a half-hour or so. "Quick hike" was not what we ended up on. Oh, no. What we went on was a mountain climbing expedition! The "path" had mostly been washed out by the rain and overgrown by foliage. The pollen was out in force, making it difficult to breathe for those of us with allergies. It was mid-day, under the beating sun, while we climbed up a path too steep to go back down for more than an hour before reaching the "top", and we were without water.

When we finally got the chance to enjoy the view, it was truly amazing. We were on the next hill over from the Hollywood sign, although, sadly, my picture didn't turn out. I have other pictures, however, down in the "More" section. Once we started traveling downward, it was a much more pleasant hike. We'd found a horse path that was not of an intense grade, and along it saw not only horses, but waterfalls and other pretty things, all with a view down over Los Angeles.

After the hike, we made homemade pizzas and settled in for some Oscars viewing (that's how long ago this was... Academy Awards weekend).

I worked on Monday, but the girls did make it to Santa Monica, and then to a filming of The Tonight Show.

Tuesday, too, I worked. They had tickets to The Price is Right, which, let me tell you, is an insane thing to do. They had to be in Hollywood at 6 am to get a number. At 8:00 they had to come back with their numbers to get tickets. Then, they had to return at 10:00 to get in line. The taping started at 2:30, and they were not allowed to leave the line once they were in it. To top things off, I had to work at a branch waaaaaaay out on the other end of the Valley, so I couldn't give them my car for the day. They had to take public transportation. I felt bad dropping them off at the Metro station at 5:15 in the morning, but they made it alright.

I had Wednesday off, so we went down to Hollywood to be touristy. We strolled along the Walk of Fame, stopped by Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and had our pictures "drawn" in a photobooth at the Hollywood Wax Museum. We browsed through a few tacky souvenir shops and then headed home. Did I mention it rained off and on all week? It hasn't been the best of weather this winter. This was a day it was drizzling nearly all day. Meh. Oh well.

I called in "sick" on Thursday, which wasn't a total lie because the rain had given me one awful headache that started Wednesday and basically lasted into Friday. But they'd switched my day off on Monday and we'd already had plans to do the Warner Bros. Studio Tour on Thursday.

So. We went to Warner Bros. for the tour. Our guide was a bit annoying, but it was really probably the best of the three WB tours I've been on. A lot of shows were filming that day (ER, What I Like About You, Joey, Two and a Half Men, and one more I'm forgetting) so we didn't get to go onto many of the sets, but we did get to peek in at the filming. The set we did get to go onto was for Gilmore Girls (which I have never seen, and probably should watch sometime). I'd been on the set during the last tour I went on, but we saw completely different portions of the set this time. And our guide picked up a water pitcher that was, unbeknownst to her, full of water, and dumped it all over herself, the kitchen set, and anyone who was standing close. Oops.

They also had portions of the Friends set displayed in the museum there, which was cool. The Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban display was also still set up, which I'd seen last time. This time I was sorted into Gryffindor (last time it was Hufflepuff).

After the tour, the girls and I went to an Italian place to meet a coworker of mine for dinner. It was very tasty and I ate way too much.

Hol had to leave on Friday, sadly. I went off to work, and the girls took her to the airport. They went back to Santa Monica and then to the Burbank mall. We ordered Indian in for dinner and had a quiet night.

And on Saturday, the remaining three left. I was really sad to see them go! I miss my sister. But I'm glad they came, and I think they had a really good time.