Wandering Aimlessly

I'm eating a Salisbury Steak Lean Budget Gourmet for breakfast. Yum.

Actually, it's almost 10:00, so it's really kind of brunch.

No work today, because I have my exam for my L&D license at 1:00 in LA. I should probably be a little nervous for it. Eh. I will be when I get there, I'm sure.

Last night, R and I went downtown to see a collection of scenes his friends were putting on. We met C down there. It was nice to go do something different.

So I haven't really gone to work in the last two weeks. Last week, I had training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. I was at work on Wednesday, but the other days, I was off-site. This Monday I had an exm prep class. Tuesday I was off, Wednesday I went to work, but was there a total of about two and a half hours. I went to the exam prep place again to study. I hope I don't get in trouble for not going back to work... the exam prep closed at 3:30, and I just kinda went home. My brain was fried, I hadn't eaten lunch, and I did come back and study some more. So I was productive. Today is the exam, so I'll be downtown. Tomorrow and Saturday I'll work. It's been a nice "vacation" though!

My cat will come home either today or tomorrow, three-legged. Gosh, I hope he does alright.

Oo, have any of you watched "Lost"? Great show. I am loving it. Doesn't hurt that there's a character named Kate (even though she's irritates me and is probably one of my least favorite characters right now). It's the new X-Files. *laugh* Watch it! Wednesday nights on ABC at 8 Eastern/7 Central. <./shameless plug>

We apparently had an earthquake the other day. 6.0, but it was north of us, about halfway between LA and San Fran. It was supposedly felt all the way to south of LA, but not by me. I missed my first feel-able California earthquake! Not that I want a massive one with damage, but I was looking forward to feeling a little one. Bummer. I think I was driving in the car when it happened. Oh well.

Posted by kate at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

News on the cat front: we've decided to go with the amputation. I hope the decision is the right one. His surgery is Wednesday, and he will come home three-legged. I wish I could be there with him.

There were a number of things that tipped us toward the surgery. The vet said his leg breaking would happen before the cancer killed him, and if the bone breaks, it's lost enough bone mass that it will never heal and we'll have to put him down. Right now, he's healthy other than the leg. He's got a great attitude and appetite, and he's learned to compensate for not being able to bend his leg (it's in a cast from hip to toe). When he first got the cast put on, he wouldn't sit, he wouldn't get up onto things, he wouldn't go up stairs. He'd only stand and lay down, and laying down took a lot of effort and reorganization. Now, he's going along as if nothing was ever different. He gets up onto the couch, he sits with the leg sticking straight out, and he even goes up stairs. The vet thinks there's no reason to believe he won't adapt just as well to not having the leg there at all.

The other thing that pushed me towards the surgery was stories of other cats just as old as Specks is that survived cancer/surgery/whatever and went on to live a good handful of years, finally dying of old age. He's just too spirited and full of life to put him down now. That's so final.

So when I go home at Thanksgiving, my kitty's going to be a tripod.

Posted by kate at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just found out my cat has cancer. He had tests done a little over a month ago, and they came back negative. He's been limping the entire time, so my parents took him to a specialist to have more precise tests, and those came back positive for osteosarcoma in his leg.

He doesn't even live with me anymore, but he's my baby. I was the one who begged and begged for a cat from the time I was four or five until I was seven, and my parents finally gave in. I was the one who picked him out at the shelter, I was the one who named him, I was the one who refused to take him back when the vet said he had a heart defect and wouldn't live longer than a year or two. He slept at the foot of my bed for most of his 16 years, even when I was away at school. He was my cat, even when I wasn't there.

My dad just called to tell me the news, and to tell me to think about what to do. The vet recommends amputation, says Specks is otherwise very strong and thinks he'd do just fine with three legs. It's his back leg, though. I keep thinking of all the things he needs that leg for, like scratching his ear, or jumping up onto the couch, or whatever. I'm trying to decide what his quality of life will be without that leg. Is that the better option? Or would he have a lot of good years left without that leg that we'd be taking away by putting him to sleep?

Right now, the vet thinks he's in pain. I don't want my baby to be hurting, so we have to do something. It just breaks my heart! People will say he's "just a cat," but he's a member of my family, and he's been there for over 2/3 of my life. God. I wish I could be there.

Posted by kate at 07:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today is a gorgeous day to be in LA. It felt like a touch of fall, cool and breezy, but sunny and bright. It kind of took me back to those first few weeks of the semester each fall at college. I expected to be walking to the Psych Building, or something. Lovely.

Anyway, in honor of having gotten my bed, I took a couple pictures of my room. Once we finish decorating the living room, I'll do some in there, too. So far, though, there's nothing on the walls downstairs at all.

This is my lime green desk. Isn't it fun? *laugh* Kind of my crazy purchase, but what the heck. And you see the cooler I use as a desk chair. I need to get myself an actual desk chair one of these days...

My brand spankin' new, super-comfortable bed that I am so excited about. Bed! And the sheets were the inspiration for the sort-of color scheme of the room. Stripes! I was looking for the larger version of that Kandinsky poster, but I never found it, so that one'll do.

Here's my shelving unit, my closet, and a peek into the bathroom there. I love my walk-through closet. It holds all my clothes! It's about twice as big as my closet at home. Definitely one of the things that sold me on this apartment.

And the bathroom. Nothing super-duper exciting to point out in this shot, except for the Finding Nemo pictures above the mirror. Aren't they cute? *g* Then, to match my green desk and the Nemo/water creature-ish theme, I went with the green frogs to tie it all together. Or something.

And that's that. The room I spend a lot of my time in, when I'm at home. I think we're going for all-you-can-eat sushi tonight. My stomach's rumbly. I think it's ready.

Posted by kate at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I saw Garden State tonight. I finally found enough people who saw it and liked it (and no one who saw it and didn't) to convince the friends to go with me. So glad I did. Loved it! Loved. It. If you haven't seen it, do.

I also bought a bed. Or, a mattress and box spring, specifically. I'm sitting here trying to think if it's the biggest purchase of my life, and I think it might be. The security deposit/first month's rent was the biggest check I ever wrote, but that doesn't really count as a purchase. So the bed might very well be it.

I was having some buyer's remorse today, what with having gone with the expensive bed and all. The salesman was kind of looney. We were there, no joke, almost three hours. He told some great stories of his limo driving past, with some really fabulous rock-legend passangers. He offered us weed, he told us of his dysfunctional marriage, informed us he didn't want to have S-E-X with us (yes, he spelled it), and got out at the intersection to rock out to some apparently awesome song on the radio (we were there after hours and ended up leaving at the same time he did). Yeah. *ahem* It was, er, interesting. Did I mention he was, like, sixty?

So anyway, he talked us into the expensive beds. Totally nice, amazingly comfortable, but more money than I'd planned on spending. I guess that's his job. He threw in a free bedframe, cut the delivery fee in half, took off about $100 from the regular price, AND called us back to give us free memory-foam pillows ($69 retail value, yee haw!). I was hemming and hawing this morning, though. Thinking maybe I should go back and get the $400 mattress instead.

And then we did a little research, went to another mattress chain (that promises to "never be undersold or your mattress is free"), and found out that we really did get a kickass deal for the beds we bought. The guy at Store #2 about lost his gum when he found out what we'd paid. Guess he was glad he didn't have to beat that price!

Anyway. It gets delivered next Sunday. I can't wait.

Posted by kate at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So Friday, right after work, C., S. and I hopped on the 101 and headed northward. We arrived in Santa Cruz about 2:00 in the morning and promptly crashed at M's house.

On Saturday, however, we got to see a bit more of this fine state of ours. Especially because it was light out at the time. We first drove to Big Basin to see the redwoods. So. Freaking. Cool. I've never seen redwoods, and I'm positive these weren't the largest in California, but they were big to me! We took pictures, climbed, and hiked, and then headed to the beach. Beautiful! I haven't found a beach in LA that hasn't been packed with people (of course, I haven't had time to really look too far), so it was a nice change, if not a little chilly. We spent the evening wandering in downtown Santa Cruz, window shopping and eating gelato. Yum!

We got up bright and early on Sunday and headed up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco. Can I just say that San Francisco must be one of the coolest cities ever? We only spent the day, but I fell in love. It's SO much prettier than here. LA's like a big, sprawling, cement suburb. Which has its charm, to be sure. But San Fran was just so neat! We took a cruise on the bay, went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. Then we headed to Chinatown for lunch and bartering (if the woman would have come down three dollars on the price of the purse I wanted (she came down from $70 to $48, but I only had $45), I'd have bought it), and then over to Golden Gate Park to walk through the gardens.

Afterwards, we drove over the Bridge, and then down Lombard Street, which is the zig-zaggiest road in the world, or something. It's literally a zig-zag. So much fun. And then home, back down Highway 1, which was right in time to pull off to some rocks overlooking the ocean for the sunset over the Pacific. There were surfers and a wedding going on, and it was the most gorgeous sunset I think I've seen.

The trip was not even ruined by the hour wait for food at Denny's, which we never got before giving up and going to Taco Bell.

Then today, we set off back down the PCH at about 9:30 in the morning, which is, again, the most beautiful road I have ever been on. The views were breathtaking. I made S. drive for a while, since I'm always behind the wheel when there's cool stuff to see. Plus, I think he was frustrated with the slowness at which I was taking the curves. Heh. We landed in Santa Barbara to visit with a friend of mine for ice cream, and then made it back to LA about 7:30.

It's been a long day, and a long weekend, but for sure the most fun I've had in a very long time.

And then tonight, C and I went out, but that's a story for tomorrow, as I'm about to crash. *yawn*

Posted by kate at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

To all my Florida friends: Carolyn, Karen, Amy, Gina, and everyone else... I don't know if y'all have to evacuate for this second hurricane, but either way, be safe. I'm thinking about you!

***

C, S and I (ahahaha... CSI... love that show) are going up to San Francisco tonight for the long weekend. We don't have much of a plan, and are staying (hopefully) in Santa Cruz with C's friend. We're planning on leaving right after work, which I know won't happen until 7:30 at the earliest. And it's a six-hour drive. Man, that's gonna be rough. I just hope they stay awake to keep me company while I drive. *laugh*

But I now have auto insurance. AND renter's insurance. I am officially an adult. Would you believe, though, that my auto insurance premiums are almost triple what they were in Illinois? I mean, given, I was an added driver on my dad's policy, and the primary driver of the '92 Dodge Caravan, but still. Gah. And, if I get a ticket, my premiums double. Can you believe it? Double! Who can afford to spend almost $2000 every six months on car insurance? Not me! Now I know why people don't bother. Yeesh. Let's just keep my driving record clear, shall we?

Also, renter's insurance does not cover earthquakes. I guess that's the same as homeowner's insurance not covering floods, but that's a sucky deal, yo. And you have to have renter's insurance before you can get earthquake insurance. I suppose I should look into that, too. Suckage. The money, it's a-goin' fast.

But I have my California plates on my car, and I got my California driver's license yesterday, so I'm practically a Californian now. Heh.

Posted by kate at 07:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't feel like I've got anything groundbreaking to report around here. Heh. My days usually consist of work, and then some kind of shopping (Wal*Mart, grocery store, IKEA, Home Depot, etc). Someday, I will have a finished apartment. Today is not that day.

I do, however, have a refrigerator! It was delivered on Sunday. It's SO nice to not have to use the cooler anymore. I had three weeks with that cooler, and it was good to me, but boy is it nice to have a real refrigerator. And a freezer.

I also have a computer desk. It's super-cute, even though we put it together backwards. *laugh* Oh well, it's fine. Heh. The instructions were the WORST instructions I've ever read in my life. Bah.

My also major time-taker has been shopping for auto insurance. What a headache! I hate, hate, hate it. I've gotten quotes that sound astronomically high, and then one that seems reasonable, but I don't know if the "reasonable" one is that way because they're very selective in who they insure, or if the company's crap. Ugh. I don't know how to find out, either. Suck, suck, suck. Can I be a kid again?

Posted by kate at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)