The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Saturday, the 31st-I returned the car today in the middle of a downpour. Daryl and I then went to see The Chronices of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because that's what you do in LA when it rains--and then also when it doesn't rain. Daryl didn't like it as much as he liked the Lord of the Rings series, but I was a big fan of the books and really liked what they did with the backstory here. Although I do have to say that I really liked the BBC miniseries version, even though the effects were terrible. Here the effects were better, but not seamless. They did fill out some of the backstory, which I thought was good and the casting was really well done. Tilda Swinton has said that she's "prepared for a lifetime of small children slowly backing away from her." and I think that's an accurate prediction based on her performance as the White Witch. And the kids all did a fine job of acting. I didn't quite get the awe that I had when I read the books, but they did a great job making you believe that beavers can talk. The movie also brought up a bit of oddness that I never noticed when I read the book, like, what is Father Christmas doing in this story? It really is a hodgepodge of myths. Beware of Turkish Delight!

I'd like to mention, also, that our window is leaking and the apartment is freezing. We have no insulation and at night it can get down to 40 degrees, which is cold, I don't care what you say. I bought slippers and I walk around with a blanket wrapped around me. Oh, and the heater, while it may work, when we turn it on, the smoke alarm goes off. Incessantly. Apparently, you've got to "burn off" the gunk that's on the heater and then it won't set off the alarm, but in the meantime, the alarm will go off and it will also stink up the apartment something awful. Yeeeuuuuck. So we just don't turn it on.

Early out

Friday, the 30th-Disney let us out early today, so I visited Daryl at work. Did I mention I love working at Disney? Because I've had my own car I've been able to visit him at work and it's nice, even though I don't stay very long. Today, he got to work during the day because people are on vacation, so we got to spend a little time together and we ate at a place called Poquito Mas. Pretty good Mexican food.

Whoops, someone had quite the morning drive

Thursday, the 29th-I was driving the usual route to work today, until I saw an accident at La Brea and Beverly. One car was smashed up in the front, with the hood open in the middle of the NE side of the intersection. Behind it was a car that was sitting completely on it's driver's side. I thought, ok, so I guess I'm not taking Beverly today. And later on that day there were 3 other accidents with cars landing on their sides. Weird. Had a very nice lunch with David and Robb (from Disney) at a place called Mo's. Way too much food for me, but yum. And the work this week has been very relaxed and easy and did I mention that I love working here? It's a good job and the people are nice and they pay me. Disney is nice.

Flying out on Christmas Day

Sunday, the 25th-Our flight was scheduled to leave at 1p. So we drove off, but we went to get gas before we returned our rental car, (Which was a lovely Subaru Legacy Outback, with HEATED SEATS. I am now a big fan of heated seats. We used them plenty while in the Midwest.) so that we wouldn't be charged the gas penalty. We picked the gas station closest to the rental car return, which just happened to be reasonably close to my mother's house. And after we gassed up, we turned out of the gas station and drove down the street---next to my mother in the next lane over. She was on her way to church and was just driving by when we were passing by. It was so funny. We waved and then turned off to return the car.

The flight itself was uneventful, which is how I hope all of my flights will be. I finally got to see The Polar Express, but they were also having problems with the audio. It took them three tries to get it to play correctly. But it was a nice flight and I think Daryl finally got some sleep on this one.

After a loooooong, long wait for our luggage, we finally got back home. And then we went out to Swingers, and got some food because our cupboards were bare. It was nice driving around on Christmas day. There was hardly any traffic.

And can you believe it? The cat LET SOMEONE PET HER while we were away! I always knew she was a kitty-whore.

Tracy and the Chois, Kwaks, and Yoons

Saturday, the 24th-I got to see my friend Tracy before I met up with my family. She's had some serious health problems recently, but I think things are turning around for her. When we met, it was like we hadn't left at all, we talked just as we had done for years. It was great. I'm definitely calling her more often.

Then it was off to my mom's place. She had cooked a lot of food and so did my aunt. My cousin Esther, my cousin, Michelle, her baby, Benjy, and husband, Brian, and my brother, Simmon and my mother were all there. We had a lot of Korean food, which Daryl was so happy about. And we all watched Benjy toddle all over the house. Michelle actually gave me my favorite hand cream, which I loved because the sores on my hand were not happy, which, by the way, has only gotten worse, no matter how many creams I put on or how well I keep it moisturized. And I have been really careful. But I'm guessing that it won't get better until after I get home in LA. A lot of people think it's stress related. I also think that it could also be something in the water.

Daryl and I left to meet up with another one of my cousins, Stella, who just got a new apartment downtown. We ate Vietnamese Pho with her and her 79 year-old boss at a place called Tank Noodle. Stella refers to her boss as "her dorm buddy", which I would imagine is an enviable position to be in. Stella's boss is friends with the owner of what he considers the best Vietnamese Pho place, 777, just down the street. It was really fun and great to have nice, hot soup in the middle of winter.

Grandpa Frame

Friday, the 23rd-Today, we all drove up to Ligonier to see Daryl's grandfather. He was making us all lunch. It was a lovely meal and then he had pecan pie and cookies for everyone. ( I did not partake, but it smelled great.) Apparently, he's been doing quite a bit of baking for the holidays. I think I heard the phrase, "30 dozen" bandied about that evening. He's been keeping himself busy and after Daryl's father and stepmother left, Daryl and I stayed behind to spend more time with him. I can't tell you how happy that made Daryl. He had been wanting to see his Grandpa for so long. The man is fascinating and has worked on many projects that have affected the course of history, like the Apollo program. He recently lost his wife and I think he's been holding up pretty well considering. The Frame men, they live long and love hard. I hope that our visit gave him some respite from his grief.

We drove back to Chicago and went on the Skyway, which was supposed to be the fast way, but ended up being really slow due to an accident, of course, just before our turn off. And once again, we stayed at the Gumski Bed and Breakfast. And this time we had dinner there, too. Wish me luck, tomorrow I see my family.

Ball State and Frames in Indy

Thursday, the 22nd-Muncie. We got to take a tour of the new Music Engineering Building at Ball State University. It's really beautiful and apparently the acoustics are terrific. The new facility is state of the art and has the very latest technology. It's almost too beautiful. I feel like the students are never going to work anyplace that good again. Daryl had a great time checking out all of the new technology and loved the whole building. I have to say, if I had a kid that was interested in music or audio engineering, I'd totally send them there. It's a great deal for the money, especially if you're a resident. We had to leave after eating at the new Thai restaurant in Muncie, which I was really happy to hear about. I love having food I can eat. We drove to Indianapolis to see Daryl's dad and his stepmother, Sherie. We all went out to a steakhouse called Sahns, which had some good steaks and a great dish made of mashed cauliflower and cheese. It was really good. And they gave us Christmas cards that were handmade by Sherie. Wow. Someone's keeping themselves busy.

Muncie

Wednesday, the 21st-Muncie. We went to see Daryl's old friend, Jeff Seitz and his wife Cassie. And she's pregnant, too. And their house has recently been renovated. The kitchen was totallly remodelled, by them, no less. I am really impressed by the level of woodworking that had to be done. It's really beautiful. And most of the drawers are dovetailed! And they're not done, they're going to turn their in-law into a master bedroom and bath. Oh, and turn the office into a nursery, too. Hopefully all done before the baby comes. We went to Outback Steakhouse to eat dinner and apparently, even though they have a gluten-free menu, the food handlers don't really know what that means because my salad came back with croutons, and then came back again without croutons, but still with the crumbs from the croutons. So annoying. They tried to make it up to us by giving us a coupon for a free appetizer, a bloomin onion, which, I also cannot eat. Sigh. Whatever. Not going back to that Outback Steakhouse again. But then the Seitzs played Catan with us and in the second game Cassie won! Guess who won the first game. Daryl, of course.

The Barneys and "Gog"

Tuesday, the 20th-We spent some time more time with the twins at Aunt Irene's Bed and Breakfast and then hugged Daryl's mom and stepdad goodbye. They had a long drive ahead of them and were anxious to leave. Poor Daryl. He misses his mom and there never seems to be enough time to spend with her. We stayed behind to have dinner with Aunt Irene, Jeff, Jenny, and their kids, Mason and Marryn. Later on Daryl played with Jeff and Matt and eventually, Mason on the Playstation. Mason really held his own and Marryn and I watched Shrek 2 in the other room. Apparently, Marryn calls Shrek, "Gog", so I guess we were really watching "Gog 2".

Boys and Star Wars

Monday, the 19th-Today we spent the day with Daryl's mom, and her husband, and the twins, Joseph and Andrew, and Mason, who was overjoyed to be spending the day with boys who were around his own age. We ate at the Steak and Shake and then shopped at the stores. All of the boys were terrific and behaved themselves remarkably well. They all love Star Wars so there was a lot to talk about with us. (Since Daryl and I are sci-fi geeks.) And then when we got to the twin's house they ran around playing Star Wars with Andrew as Darth Vader. He's surprisingly good with the fake light saber. I was really impressed at how well he picked up the moves. And he's got a Darth Vader mask and helmet, with cape, no less. Later in the evening, after we dropped off Mason at his house, we went to dinner with the family, Joel, (Daryl's brother), Lorie (Joel's wife), the twins, Daryl's mom, and stepdad. Poor Andrew got sick and vomited while we were at the restaurant. But later they gave him ice cream, so he was happier after that. And afterwards we tried to watch The Polar Express, but couldn't figure out how to work the volume on the DVD player so we just called it a night after that. I have to say watching the kids fall asleep on the couch is the cutest thing ever. And it just goes to show that a movie that's terribly written but with epic but PG ambitions, like Star Wars, really takes hold in a 7 year old's brain. Maybe it's all the fighting with lightsabers.

Fort Wayne and the Xmas Feast

Sunday, the 18th-We left late to the family gathering, but Daryl sped down the highway with virtually no traffic, which is unprecedented, even when we were living there. But I guess the best time to travel on the highways is Sunday morning. We got there right on time even though we were an hour and a half late starting out. Daryl is a demon on the road and there were even people passing him. Maniacs. Now Daryl's family loves Christmas, and loves getting together, so we had a great time catching up with everyone. Another one of his cousins, Matt and his wife, is pregnant and due in 6 weeks. Fun! And the kids are huge now. Marryn is 2 and has quite the personality. She was entranced by a tiny puppy that Aaron (another one of Daryl's cousins) had just gotten for his family. A schnoodle, a cross between a schnauzer and a toy poodle. They call it Jingles. I thought it was a tiny stuffed animal and was shocked to see it moving. Someone else thought it was a mitten, it was so small. Mason had the best time playing with his boy cousins, the Bubbies, the twins, Joseph and Andrew. And they ran all over the place, and even Morgan, Aaron's oldest girl got into the mix. They were pretending to hide around corners and shoot each other with guns and gun-like objects, while Daryl, his cousin Matt, (the expectant father), Jeff, (father of Mason and Marryn), and Aaron (father of Morgan and Emma) played the same kind of game (Halo), but virtually, on the Playstation. It was really quite amusing to see. They had a huge feast and Daryl's mother, the sweetest lady ever, made me gluten-free brownies and cookies. Aunt Irene also made meatballs without breadcrumbs. I had so much to eat. Plus, Daryl's mom gave me a bag full of gluten-free food and gluten-free food mixes. And the house! Jeff and Jenny had just bought a huge new house. They didn't even have enough furniture to fill it up. What is it with everyone buying huge houses? Anyway, it was great and we stayed at Auntie I's Bed and Breakfast in Fort Wayne. Best place to stay if you're ever there.

Chicago friends

Saturday, the 17th-The Gumski's Bed and Breakfast is the best place be if you're visiting Chicago, I highly recommend it. Nathan made us all a lovely breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. (No toast for me, of course. Although I did get to bake my own bread, courtesy of The Gumskis.) and then we visited our friends The Hendersons, or "Chicago" Dave and his wife Danielle. Now, they have a huge 5 bedroom house (Formerly owned by a restoration expert, so it's beautiful. They didn't have to remodel anything at all, or even repaint.) and a finished basement with a pinball machine AND an old arcade console that had games from 20 different arcade games from the 80's, like Ms. PacMan, Centipede, Galaga, Qix, etc. I couldn't pull Daryl away from it. We were there for 5 hours. And I had to get Daryl to leave so we could buy a few presents for his family. Finally, after much cajoling and, yes, nagging, we went and got the gift and were only gone for a half hour. Then we went to another friend's holiday party, Gina, where we saw even more friends and had a lovely time catching up and seeing her new condo, which was really lovely. Then we went back to The Hendersons for more games, which was unfortunately cut short by our sleepy (and sloppy) playing and the fact that Dave got a technical help call from his sysadmin, which was going to take hours. So we called it a night.

And we're off!

Friday, the 16th-Mo was kind enough to give us a ride to the airport. We were having such a good time talking that she forgot she was taking us to the airport. The flight was pretty uneventful, but Daryl couldn't get that much rest and I didn't sleep at all. Once in the Midwest we went to our good friends, Nathan and Mary Anne, or collectively, The Gumskis. They very kindly opened up their home to us and we had a lovely time eating Thai food (Thai Smile, yummy.) and catching up. They have quite the cozy little apartment in Chicago.

Ok, I have to mention that I woke up at 4a with a sore on my hand. What is up with my skin? Glad I brought my gloves.

Holiday Dinner

Thursday, the 15th-(My medicine arrived yesterday! Yay!) I finally finished my job, with real trepidation, because I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up while doing it, despite the wonders of Emetrol. In any case, today was the day Daryl and I got to have a nice fancy dinner, courtesy of Audio Mechanics. At this point in time, the smell of fish was still nauseating, so I opted for what seemed like the safest option and went with a grilled chicken breast and a small bit of flan. Daryl had lobster ravioli and a gigantic bowl of profiteroles with chocolate sauce. It was a nice dinner and I had a good time. And finally Daryl had a moment to rest and relax. I'm just so happy that he can take a break. The poor boy hasn't had a full night's sleep in weeks.

Nausea, you are a harsh mistress

Tuesday, the 13th-Maybe because it's the thirteenth, or maybe it's just my colossal bad luck, but today was not a good day. I had planned on working at Christian's until late into the evening, but found myself fighting the worst nausea I've ever had in my entire life. I had a boiled egg and some yogurt for lunch and was working away, when I slowly felt worse and worse and finally at around 7p I had to ask Christian to give me a ride home because I didn't think I'd be able to make it. I tried to eat a little but everything smelled awful, like garbage. I was bent over, walking around with an old garbage can waiting to throw up and I couldn't because I didn't have anything to vomit. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't even relax. It was seriously the worst I have felt for a long, long time. I waited as long as I could before I called Daryl. And I begged him to get me something for the nausea. He left work to take care of me. I so love my man. And I love the drug called Emetrol, even though the first three ingredients are all sugars. Daryl insists that I take it with me to the Midwest, just in case.

Now, just for some background. I had been feeling poorly since before we left for Thanksgiving. I don't think I ever recovered and all of my symptoms got worse and worse until I realized that I must have another ulcer in my colon. (Although the sores on my hand cleared up within a few days of coming back to LA. Except for a small spot that never itched.) So, I had to get my prescription filled. I hadn't been taking the medicine because I was trying to save money, but it became obvious that I really needed it. Did you know Walgreens can fill your prescription online, AND THEY DELIVER? The internet is so awesome. Also, I was trying to follow a diet that recommends no grains at all, which I tried before with horrible results, but I thought it would be different this time. Boy, was I wrong. You know, brown rice can be your friend.

LAX and lots of lots of overtime

Monday, the 12th-OK, this time I had to park at Christian's place which is really difficult because the parking police are really tough there. I had to park in a metered spot a good ways away from his place. Everyone had parked in all of the available places to avoid the street cleaners. Anyway, I had to cut work short to pick up Daryl at the airport. And I was pretty happy to have gotten there without much difficulty. Lucky for me the plane was a bit late, so I was actually there early. Poor Daryl had worked 21 hours in a row for his clients and then got on the plane home. He took a short nap when he got home and then he was off to work again. My poor husband. I really hope he doesn't make himself sick. I'd like him to stop and get a day's rest, just to reboot, cause really, 21 hours straight? They had better give him tons of cash, because that is so wrong.

LAX redux

Saturday, the 10th-Drove Daryl to the airport. He was exhausted. I'm worried about him working too hard. I mean, yes, we need the money, but I don't think working day and night is really a good idea. So I drove him to work some more in SF. This time they're flying him up there. You'd think it'd be easy to leave the airport once you've gone there, but no. Not if you're me. It took me quite a while to figure out how to get out of there. I kept circling the terminal, trying one exit, then another, then another. And then I finally left only to find myself driving in the opposite direction from where I wanted to go. So I had to turn around again, and try not to get into the airport. I'm really hoping that when I pick Daryl up that it won't be like this. And then I drove back home and took a nap, because it was 6:30a when I got back. Man, it is just way too early for me. Thankfully, I didn't have to work today, so I got some errands done and tried to relax. Stress, stress, stress. Man I hate the holidays.

Work on the Cheap and Xmas Cards!

Friday, the 9th-Okay, I'm working a lot these days, for very little money, but I am thankful for the work that Christian throws my way. Plus, he pays me within a reasonable amount of time and it's nice working at his place. I'm working on a video for a play that consists of only stills. My client would love to use the video they taped the show with, but the actor's union has demanded that they pay a certain amount of extra money for the privilege. So, instead, she is allowed to use stills. It's a little weird, but it's a job and I feel like I have a bit of experience working with stills. The play itself is very interesting and the actors are fantastic. It's all about the rocket program during World War II and the Apollo program in the United States.

Because Daryl and I are leaving on the 16th for the holidays, I've been doing all of the shopping and card writing quickly. Which, btw, I love online shopping. Harry and David's website has a button that, if you click on it, will send the same gift to everyone you sent a gift to last year. That was awesome. I didn't have time to make chocolates this year, so I ordered them from Godiva for all of my work contacts. I just found out that UNICEF cannot send me my cards because they were sold out. But they didn't call me or email me with this info, I had to call them. Arrg! Now I have to go look for cards and I hate doing that. Plus, I'm super busy these days and feeling sickly so it's just one more thing I have to take care of. Daryl is going to SF tomorrow and I have to wake up before the crack of dawn to drive him there. And then I might have to work in the afternoon. I am feeling stressed already.

Harry Potter and Puberty

Monday, the 5th-Daryl actually took some time off to watch a movie with me, so we went to go see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And while the kids in the movie are supposed to be 14, they look more like 16, which they actually are. This is the movie where things start to get really bad and people die, people we actually like. And people have acne that they had to DIGITALLY remove. I mean, really, couldn't they get these kids some dermatologists? But it was a dark, wild ride from the very beginning and you will not be bored here. And the adolescent failures and successes when dealing with members of the opposite sex are very nicely portrayed here. Those moments are really the only bits of comedy throughout, so enjoyed them if you can. And the trials that the kids have to go through are very seriously protrayed and whoops, dangerous as all get out. You do wonder, if you haven't read the books, if they really can avoid the dragons. It's a not a movie for little kids, cause, "scary", but I think preteens will be ok with it. And what is it with the Defense of the Dark Arts teachers? The first one was under Voldemort's thumb, the second one was a fraud, the third one was good, but outed as a werewolf and deemed "unsuitable", and the latest, well, I won't get into it, but it's like the drummers for Spinal Tap. You'd think that the word would get out that it is not a good job.

Teresitas in East LA

Saturday, the 3rd-Mo is on a quest to try out all of the best Mexican restaurants in the city. So we tried out a place called Teresitas in East LA which we reached after quite a bit of unexplained traffic. It was a good place but I think it was a bit too spicy for Mo. Even their mole sauce was too much for her. Daryl was unable to join us because he was working, which he will be doing a lot more of this month as he is working on work during the day AND during the night and also weekends. Because he is a crazy man. I love my husband, but I think working this much is not a good idea. But we are going away to Chicago early this month so he's trying to make sure we have enough money to pay the rent this month. Oy. I've been working at Christian's, but it's not nearly enough. I've really got to find some more work.