Just a Little Get-Together With Some of My Pals at the Hollywood Bowl

Part of the prize of the trip to LA was concert tickets to the Hollywood Bowl. It was a cancer benefit called We Will Survive.

The Lineup: 5 Seconds of Summer, Nick Jonas, Demi Lovato, Sam Smith, Calvin Harris, The Weekend, and (yay yay yay) Maroon 5. Surprise guest at the end was Rhianna. It. Was. Awesome. These pictures aren't great because we couldn't bring in a real camera and had to use our phones. So, here's my experience at the world famous Hollywood Bowl:

                                           Ready for our adventure to the Bowl.

                                          The sign. With Maroon 5. Mmmmmmmmm.....

                                     Cut outs of the guys. He has that dark and broody look.

                                                        Us at the Bowl. Obviously.

These 3 are just lights and stuff.

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                                                                      5 Seconds of Summer

                                                                 Nick Jonas

                                                                     Demi Lovato

                                                                    Sam Smith
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Maroon 5

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                                                                        Rhianna

I couldn't get one of Calvin Harris because his was all techno and psychedelic lights. I don't even think I saw him.

Overall it was a bitchin' time and we had a blast. I don't think it would have been the same without my BFF. She makes everything better.
 
The next post will have to broken in to two or three. We went to Madame Toussaud's was museum, acted ridiculous, and loved every minute of it. I don't think I've had so much fun in my entire life. I know I haven't laughed that much in a long, long time. You'll thank me for the photos.

Now For Some Los Angeles Touristy Stuff

This post is random photos of touristy stuff. There's no rhyme or reason to them, I just thought they were cool. Most were taken when Jenifer and I went on one of those Starline tours. It was a convertible bus with me, Jenifer, a couple from Mississippi, couple from China and three people from Denmark. We cruised the Sunset Strip and saw the last of the strip clubs that were famous in the 1930's and 1940's, went through Beverly Hills (but not the 90210 area), saw some other famous type places, and got some awesome shots from the Hollywood Hills overlooking LA. Behold......

                                                   I ended up with about 12 pictures of
                                                  this hotel. I can't remember what movie
                                                  was filmed on the top, but I know there
                                                    at least one. And the fire escape is cool.

                                      Where celebs lunch and Lindsay Lohan got kicked out of.

                                           Used to be a strip club but now it's just a bar.

                                          The last remaining nude-y club on Sunset.

                                            Where all the greats in comedy have performed.

                                                   Kinda speaks for itself....


The world famous Beverly Hills Hotel. It's very pink on the outside and frankly kinda tacky. I wouldn't turn down a free stay there, though.

                                                   This is a sculpture thingy at the corner of
                                                   Hollywood and Sunset. I forget what the
                                                   4 people represent but the tiny thing on top
                                                   is Marilyn Monroe in her flyaway dress.

                                          Just a typical California street lined with palms.

                                      This is where the Oscars are held. It was actually
                                       off the courtyard of our hotel. Fancy Schmancy.

                                The Magic Castle Hotel and Club. It's an actual magic club
                                           and Doogie Howser is the current president.

                                        Where Adam Levine was born. And other people, too.

                                            Spectacular view from the Hollywood Hills

                                    Paramount Studios. If you look closely you can see a plume
                                    of smoke. They were filming an explosion scene. I wasn't
                                     quick enough to get the fire, but I got the smoke. Pretty cool.



And finally, this one. It spoke to me. It's like they painted this waiting on me to see it.

Overall, the touristy part was cool. It was a beautiful day and we were in a van surrounded by interesting people from other parts of the world. We also saw the neighborhood where Adam Levine lives. Sadly, I couldn't get the tour guide to point out his house. This is gonna make stalking him a little harder. We also saw the gate, just the gate, of Justin Timberlake's house. He has an armed security guard on duty around the clock and cameras all over the place. I hope he was watching. I waved and blew him a kiss. OH! AND we saw the house where Michael Jackson died. The tour guide said dramatically, "Through those gates drove the ambulance that carried out the body of Michael Jackson".  We did see a few other homes: Larry King, Al Pacino, and the dumpy apartment Marilyn Monroe lived in when she first got to H'wood.

So, enough with the geography lesson. Next post will be the concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
                                         

This Post Pretty Much Wrote Itself

I just got home from the dentist. I had a couple of cavities filled. I was supposed to have three done, but instead, I got two filled and one temporary filling. When she got into that third one, she realized it was way deeper than she thought. I wouldn't have minded if she'd went ahead and filled it, though. Because of two little words.

Nitrous. Oxide.

Here's a rundown of my thoughts while high on laughing gas. (Which, by the way, didn't make me want to laugh at all.)

-I wonder if I should tweet about this?
-OMG. I wasn't paying attention. Did she say to close or NOT close my mouth?
-Do I look like a dying fish with my mouth hanging open like this?
-I've never seen "How I Met Your Mother"
-Ooooooooh, Maroon 5 is on the radio. Maybe I'll drift off into sex with Adam Levine dreams.... (No such luck, though. Bummer.)
-My feet feel like they're floating...
-Why is the upper half of my body still but my legs are doing the hula hoop in opposite directions?
-I should get a manicure. I bet they're looking at my gnarly fingers and thinking the same thing.
-I want a pet opossum. I'll call him Petey and I'll love him forever. Or until he bites me.
-Did she just tell the assistant to crank it up to make me MORE comfortable?!
-Was that my phone? Shit. I thought I silenced it. (side note: I didn't silence it, but I'm not popular anyway so I was just hearing things. The phone didn't actually ring.)
-I should have eaten more than just Lucky Charms...
-Man. Each sound I hear has a different color. And I can feel them bumping against me.
-Maybe they should turn this shit down a litte.... Nah.

And then I was done. For the time being, anyway. I have to go back next week to get the other
filling(s). And yes, I'm boarding the Nitrous train again then, too.

My final thought as I was coming out of my gas-induced stupor was:
            My mouth may hurt, but at least my toes look smashing!!

This Will Be The Most Rambling And Convoluted Post Ever So Feel Free To Skip It If You Want To (But I Wouldn't)

Wow. What a ca-razy several weeks! Lemme see if I can recap without boring your brain or losing your attention.

So it's been a month since I posted. Well, let me tell you, I feel plenty guilty about that, but apparently not guilty enough to do anything about it before now. As you may or may not know, we are moving to Houston closer to the end of the year. It seems.... real now, somehow. But first....

Around September 11th I started feeling that wonky feeling. You know the one you get in the back of your throat when you are about to get sick? Yeah, that one. Anyway, that evening I started feeling bad. By the weekend I felt like crap. Not just regular crap, either. The kind of crap that was stepped in, scraped off and stepped in again. I just HAD to start feeling better, though. Monday the 16th was going to be a special day. I had a VIP seat to see the luscious and yummy Adam Levine (and the rest of those Maroon 5 guys) in Atlanta. I had gotten the ticket ($300!!) in May. It was a Mother's Day/birthday/Christmas present from the hubs. I had been counting down for months! Monday rolled around and I couldn't even muster the energy to take a shower much less ride over 2 hours and then sit through about a 4 hour long concert. My ticket was wasted. I cried and cried. There went my chance to be Adam's love slave. Oh, well. I figure after the new wore off I'd be bored anyway...

So, here it is the 16th and I still feel funky as ever. After missing work the previous Thursday and Friday, I skipped work today, too. I got a doctor appointment for Wednesday. Oh, and did I mention I had broken out in some weird boils/pox/blisters? No? Hmmm... Well, I did. All over my face, back and chest. I looked like I had leprosy. It was worse than chicken pox because these suckers were almost open wounds and they H-U-R-T.

Wednesday rolls around and I head to the doctor. She thinks it's a viral infection and loads me up with an antibiotic, an antiviral, some low grade pain meds and a goo to put on the boils. I thought for sure I'd start feeling better soon....

Bahahahahahaha! (That's Life, laughing at me.) By now it's Thursday the 19th. Happy frickin' birthday to me. I wake up to my wrists, fingers, hips, knees, ankles and toes stiff. Also, my feet are so swollen I couldn't even get my flip flop between my toes. Needless to say it was hard to get around for several days.

By the beginning of the next week my feet, particularly my left, was still so swollen. At one point my poor toes were turning blue. I ended up going to the emergency room. After a perfunctory exam and a chest x-ray they declared yes, it was viral. Oh, and we don't treat viruses. So basically I hung out at the hospital for hours only to be told to go home. I ended up stopping the previous medication, and when I did, the swelling went down. Finally!

So that brings us up to this week. Terry left Tuesday for Texas. (Say that 3 times fast!) He won't be back until Thanksgiving. This will be the longest we've spent apart in about 13 years. Monday night Maddie was distraught. She really didn't have any idea about exactly how long it would be before she saw her Daddy again. But, like the brave little trooper she is, she got up Tuesday morning and got on the bus dry-eyed. She and I had a good snuggle and cry that night, though.

Wednesday I began my temporary journey as a single parent. If this week is any indication, I'm pretty much gonna suck at it. It will either make mine and Maddie's relationship stronger or one of us will kill the other. It will also either make me more responsible, or I may just give in and give up all together (not really).

Now you're up to date. She has been doing well in school. Well, better since Miss Smith had a come-to-Jesus talk with a couple of bratty boys who were teasing and tormenting her. I've been doing well in school, too. Well.... except I'm pretty sure my Criminal Justice professor is a hard-ass and I'm gonna fail his stupid class. Other than that, though...

So here it is a beautiful Saturday. I alternate between piddling on the computer and packing some of our nonessential stuff. I'm out of boxes, though, so I may have to make a run to the liquor store.

For BOXES!

But.... since I'll already be there.............

There I Was, Just Minding My Own Business.....

...having my dreams of Adam Levine and peanut butter PopTarts, when BAM! Out of the blue <insert horribly disgusting sounds of kid barfing>. I know there is nothing I love more than being woken from a dead sleep to puke in my bed. Except maybe going around again on the vomit comet 30 minutes later after the sheets have been changed and everyone settled back down. So, yeah. Starting off the day at 4 a.m. to a sick kid isn't great. But you know what's even less great? Starting off the day before school starts with vomit. We are supposed to go register for 1st grade and meet her teacher at 4 p.m. today. I seriously hope she's feeling better by then.

OH! And THEN you know what happened? An hour or so after the last visit from "The Exorcist" (ya know. The whole projectile vomiting thing? Anyway..) guess who else starts to feel a rumbly in their tummy? If you said me, then you're right. You win eleventy bajillion dollars. The check's in the mail...

So, here I am. Five-o-freakin'-clock in the morning. My last day to "sleep in" until 7 a.m. and I've been up almost 2 hours already. Maddie is settled in snugly beside her daddy sound asleep. And me? Well, the tummy is still rumbly and there are some urgent issues there, but no vomit.

Yet.