I have had a day.

At UCLA, we stopped by the mascot. I guess I'm now a Bruin! Ang wanted to take a picture in the ocean for my mom, she wasn't expecting to be quite so in the ocean. Even her pants got in the ocean:-)

The famous Santa Monica Pier!
Inside the Hollywood United Methodist Church.

(Note: I started this Sunday night and needed to sleep before I could finish. Just getting back to it Tuesday night.)

Yes, a day. Actually two. Going on a week now. Saturday Angela and I headed for Los Angeles. We made it over five hours later, thank goodness for our new Sprint Instinct phones with the crazy GPS lady. She helped us get back on the right freeway and find our way to our hotel without incident. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Century City and it's pretty nice. Like the nicest bed I've been in outside of the Bellagio. And that's saying something.

So we made it to our hotel then we headed out for the theater. I'd gotten tickets for the musical The Next Big Thing and we wanted to make sure we got dinner before we saw the show. We found the theater, on theater row in West Hollywood, and then backtracked to find a restaurant. We ended up at Target, yes, the big red-themed store, because it had an underground parking garage that ended up being free because we were there less than an hour. I've heard it more than once, and now seen it live and in person, Los Angeles loves its' cars and parking is at a premium. So we parked and found this cool little Italian place to eat at. And yes, I had to go and order red sauce. And yes, I got it on my blue shirt. (But not the white pants I was wearing!) So over to Target we went for a Tide pen. Crisis averted!

We got to the theater early and parked on a side street. There was a lot with a "valet" (a man checking his teeth in a car's mirror) for ten bucks but we decided to take our chances. Worked out fine, everyone we saw at the play seemed to park on that street! The theater was beyond small. But this was an awesome experience. The woman who took our names and gave us our programs/tickets was the writer's girlfriend and some of the actors sang outside with a karaoke machine before the show. Very cool.

Then there was the show. It was a musical, set in 1983, with lots of great pop culture references and set pieces. One of the stars of the show was Missy who is in the band Breech and she was awesome. Has this unforgettable voice and was just great. I'll tell you - if you're in the LA area at all in the next few weeks (I know so many of you will be) check out The Next Big Thing. Definitely worth it!

Afterward we hung out and talked with Missy and her bandmate and one of the other actors, very cool. Then we found a 7-Eleven and got chocolate sorbet to eat at the hotel. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your view, we got home well before Shia LeBeouf's accident so we didn't get to see the Indiana Jones co-star in all his drunken glory (but we did drive through that intersection just hours earlier).

Sunday we got up and had breakfast at the hotel which had these surprisingly okay cheese omelettes and really good cinnamon rolls and then headed to church. I'd researched United Methodist churches in the area and found four to choose from. We settled on the Hollywood United Methodist Church for two reasons (click on the name of the church and look at the pics and you can even hear the sermon!). One it was built to look like Westminster Abbey, big and Gothic in style. Two, it's trying to start a 20s/30s group which I thought sounded like a good idea. So off we went. Thanks to GPS lady we found it pretty easily (only had to turn around once - she tells us to make a lot of u-turns which are really not all that easy to do) and were very impressed with the building.

The sermon was interesting, they're doing a series on films and this week's was Ratatouille. Yes, the Disney movie about a rat who cooks. They did a great job with the PowerPoint, we saw scenes from the movie throughout the sermon and that was cool. The songs were familiar and it was a overall good experience. The pastor, Rev. Kathy Cooper - Ledesma, seemed very nice and we walked around the church grounds afterward.

That's when we crossed paths with Pauley Perrett. At first I wasn't sure it was her, she smiled and then I heard her talking to a young boy who said he felt like he was staring at her and she said something about she gets that a lot. She seemed pretty normal and I saw her again a little later talking to some younger kids. For those of you who don't know who Pauley Perrett is, check out the hit CBS show NCIS. She plays Abby. Yep, this was our very first celebrity sighting! It was pretty exciting! And apparently a woman at my parents' church knows Pauley's boyfriend who went to the United Methodist's Camp Kinawind! Small world!

After church we headed back through Hollywood and West Hollywood and Beverly Hills (Ang likes Beverly Hills because she knows where the police station is, we've driven by it about twenty times already) and tried to find the school where Ang would interview on Monday. We found a school, several actually at that address but none looked the part of Jewish day school. Also, we seemed to have wandered into Koreatown and then suddenly, a Hispanic neighborhood. We noticed mostly because of the gang tags and then because of the Hispanic men giving us a look that said, "We know you don't belong here." So we left. Of course not until we'd walked around for half an hour and I'd tried to get the ice cream man to help me out, which he wouldn't.

We were defeated but not about to give up so we headed to UCLA. This required getting a valid address for the GPS. Luckily our fancy new Instincts have the Internet. So off we went to campus! And it was beautiful! We stopped and asked for directions and quickly found the student union/bookstore. We ate at the only restaurant open, Panda Express, which tasted so good because it was about 3:30 at this point then we wandered into the bookstore which is HUGE! I have never seen so many sweatshirts in one room. Seriously. We got some postcards, Ang got a magnet and I got a sticker for my car and off we went (we only had an hour on our parking meter, yep, they enforce on Sundays!) to find Melnitz Hall where I'll take some of my classes. It's right on the edge of campus which I think is a good thing.

Then we started calling about some apartments. And guess what? No one answered. This is why I feel Craigslist might be sketchy. So we decided to try this westsiderentals.com we'd heard a lot about (okay, one of the actresses in the play last night is from Michigan and she suggested it so...). They have offices all over LA so we found one in Santa Monica and signed up. For sixty bucks we get a password for two months plus we could use their computers and printers right there for free. We printed off some listings and made some calls. And off we went again.

The first apartment we saw wasn't too great. It was stuck in the sixties, the fixtures, the colors, even the carpet maybe. The counters were all cracked and the stove looked way older than me. Hmmm...all this for $1850 a month. Oh, and no parking which means finding street parking. And did I ever mention that parallel parking is the one part of driver's ed I never passed. Nor was I ever tested on. Yeah. So we went to the next one. But before that we needed to recharge. And find a bathroom.

Did you know restaurants don't have to have restrooms. I think this is ridiculous. Subway had no bathroom so we left but we did find a Frogo that had a restroom. And this awesome nonfat chocolate frozen yogurt. Seriously. If I lived in Santa Monica I'd be buying it by the gallon. So we recharged and made another apartment call.

The landlady was about 97 years old and seemed very sweet. When I talked to her on the phone she wanted to know my name and what I and my sister did for a living. She also wanted us to come right over so we did. The apartment was nice, much better than the first one but (there's always a but isn't there?!?!?) there were a few snags. First, no refrigerator. She's hoping someone will have their own and she won't have to "think about it". Yep yep. Then she told us that someone had applied for it already that afternoon. Finally, neither of us have a job yet so we couldn't apply anyway. We thanked her and found our car and decided to give up apartment hunting and head to the ocean for a walk.

Over an hour later we'd made the three or so mile drive to the ocean. Yeah, it really took us that long. Santa Monica was hoppin'. We paid three dollars to park and walked to the pier. We headed to the water where we both got a little wet with the tide coming in but it was great fun. And cool, something different from life in Yuma!

About this time Ang got a call from the other school and set up her interview for Monday afternoon so we headed back to the hotel for our PB&J dinner. And then we headed out to Kinkos to get copies of her resume. And then we watched some TV on our 40-inch flat-screen TV. Yeah, life's rough!

Monday we managed to find both of Ang's interviews and another westsiderentals.com office. Her second interview was in Encino, in the "Valley" which is just north of LA. We are actually quite found of the Valley despite what some people say and we looked at an apartment there as well. For $1650 we could have three levels, washer-dryer hookups, a roof patio, and two parking spots in a garage! So we're really liking the Valley. So we'll see.

It was quite the weekend. We got home Monday night about 9:30 after driving down the coast and through San Diego (not the route we'd intended but the GPS had other plans). Today I'm tired. Tomorrow I'll try to get a little more caught up. I'm still applying for jobs but think I'll wait on too many more until I have an LA address or some more direction. We'll see. All in all, a good trip. It was great to start to get a feel for the city and surrounding areas. To see where I'll go to school and have a little fun too!

Patience DOES pay off!

I'm trying not to be too excited. Because generally when I get really excited about something, it fails to live up to that expectation. I find this a lot as an adult. I'm really excited about a lesson I'm going to teach to my students and bam, no one gets it. I'm really excited for a new movie to come out and bam, it's just okay. I'm really excited for someone to open the gift I bought them and bam, they barely acknowledge it (I SWEAR TO ALL OF YOU, this applies to no one who's reading this blog! PROMISE!). So I'm just going to be a little excited and a little practical and a little dreamy right now. Just a little of all three.

Yesterday we were exercising, doing one of those great four-mile walking tapes. This one snuck in some "boosted walking" which is jogging. They shouldn't lie, it's jogging. I was really working up a sweat because for some reason I had a ton of energy and I had my iPod cranked up and was jumping in circles and dancing and kicking and punching and enjoying moving around. (And yes, the blinds were closed!) Then Ang's phone rings. I look at it and it's a 310 area code and I scream, "STOP!" It's an unknown Los Angeles number. So all out of breath she picks up and it's a principal! YES! She has an interview (which I am sure she'll tell you more about in her very own blog!).

So I move into practical mode, I try to find us a room to stay in since her interview is at 10am Monday morning and it's almost a five hour drive there. Lo and behold, things are all booked up. Well not the suite at the Beverly Wilshire (yes, I know it's the Pretty Woman hotel and yes, I know it costs A LOT of money to stay there). At the hostel we could get beds, in the dorms, in different rooms. Ang was not impressed by this idea. So I found a Holiday Inn Express that had a vacancy and booked it for Saturday and Sunday night. By this point we've decided to make a weekend of it since the gas is the same price anyway.

And since we're going to be there Saturday I went ahead and ordered tickets to a garage band musical called The Next Big Thing. When Ang and I were at Western we met this band, Breech, who's lead singer is a friend of a friend. They played at a birthday party we attended and then we heard them a couple other times when they were in the state. I've stayed on their mailing list since then and knew that they were stationed in LA. Come to find out the lead singer, Missy, is in the musical and wrote the songs for the play. The mailing list came with a coupon and now Ang and I are going to see a show in Hollywood Saturday at eight o'clock. I'm just a little excited.

The other good news is that the school Ang's interview is with is like two miles from UCLA which fits perfectly with our apartment searching! So we're going to scope out some potential habitats and the university while we're there. We're also thinking of finding a church to check out Sunday morning. Okay, I'm just a little more excited now.

But not too excited. I'm still going to be patient. It's just a weekend scouting trip. It's her first interview. God's plan is God's plan. I can't worry (Justin, and Jesus, say so). But I can plan. And smile.

Patience

Patience is not my strong suit. I can be a very patient person but I'm not always good at it. For the past week I've been working hard on this. Angela and I arrived back in Yuma a week ago yesterday. We had plans to start packing up our apartment, to go to Los Angeles and look at new apartments, to secure jobs, and to move. Yes, we had plans. And yes, I know the old saying about what God does when we make plans.

Needless to say there have been no job offers. You all would be among the first to hear. I've applied for a lot of jobs in the last week. So has Angela. She's cold called schools, sent emails, talked with the headhunting agency she paid to help her find a job. And still nothing. She's been told that hiring will pick up again in August when schools start to freak out. Again we're on a different time table here. I think I'm running into two roadblocks: one, I don't have a local L.A. address so I have a feeling that's limiting me in the types of jobs I am applying for (let's just say they're hourly, not salaried) and two, I know I am overqualified. I'm overeducated, I've had a lot of diverse experience and I've been told by employers that they know I won't stick around. No matter how much I tell them I will, they don't believe me.

Also, we didn't go to L.A. I made reservations at a hotel (the hostel and on-campus places were full) and everything but it just didn't feel right. We'd found all these apartments to look at but we really have no concept of a budget yet. Maybe we'll be able to afford the two-bedroom with laundry hook-ups for $1850 or maybe we'll have to try the one-bedroom for $1100. We just don't know and I just didn't want to get my hopes up that much. Or put that much effort and money into an apartment search that wouldn't end with an application and a down-payment.

We've started packing, and now stopped. There's not much point in continuing right now. I packed all the pots but two and now cooking is like making a meal on the trail a hundred years ago. Last night I finally unpacked a box to find my exercise videos so I could work out this morning. (I have carved a small space between boxes and moved the living room chair to the dining room, here's hoping that goes well.) So we're half in boxes and half out. And trying to fill our time with other things right now. Yesterday we went to the movies and Walmart. (Can I just say I choked when I saw our bill at Walmart - $91 for hardly anything, the only meat we bought was bologna, fat-free bologna that might not even be real meat!!!)

So...I'm trying to be patient. I've decided to get on the job sites once a day and look for possibilities. I can't do it every fifteen minutes or I'll go crazier than I already am. I'll apply for the promising jobs in the area we're committed to (UCLA is in the neighborhood of Beverly Hills, Westwood, Santa Monica, etc.) and write some really good cover letters. I'll keep working on my novel because maybe that's what this period of in-betweenness is partially about. I'll read some more (Just finished Janet Evanovich's Four to Score, seriously, they are addicting). I'll go to the matinee movies (because really, five bucks isn't going to be the end of me). And I'll leave the worrying to God.

At least I'll try to. It's hard. This is my life, my dream, my future. It's really hard not to feel guilty about being at home all day, not working, not bringing in money right now. That's one of the hardest parts about writing for me, allowing myself the time and space to write without feeling guilty about doing it. But I'm going to try. Maybe that's my lesson from all of this, patience, for a lot of different reasons.

Swimming in circles

I'm nervous. Nervous and anxious and teary-eyed. I can't help it. I want to be that brave, strong, nerves of steel girl I know I should be but I'm scared. Scared that when we drive to Los Angeles this week I will get lost and drown in the sea of millions of people and concrete. Scared that the apartments we've found online will so not look like their pictures. Scared that even though I've applied for what feels like hundreds of jobs, the only response I get will be the job I don't really want that doesn't pay very well. (Yes, I got a response from a resume I sent out Friday and yes, it's the one job I really didn't want, public speaker for a Fashion College. It sounds interesting and I know I can do it but they want a commitment of 2 days a week - and it's contingent on high schools asking you to come speak, whatever, that will so not pay the bills!)

Scared that UCLA will be way bigger than MSU and I'll flashback to the summer year between high school and college when I flipped out and quit MSU before I even moved on campus. Scared that I will have nothing to fill 180 pages/2 screenplays with. Scared that I'll suck at writing like I've always feared. Scared that maybe I won't suck and I'll have to keep putting myself out there.

Scared that the L.A. I see on television is the L.A. of real life. Scared that the U-Haul won't fit into the parking spot or that our apartment won't come with a refrigerator (not unfounded can I just say). Scared that I will be sleeping in a twin bed my entire life.

And I know, it'll be okay. It has to be. But that doesn't mean I can't be scared, at least a little. I'm excited too, don't get me wrong. Excited beyond belief. Excited because I'm moving to a city where I can go see this girl I know from college who's in a rock musical in a cool little theater in Hollywood. Excited because I might live two blocks from where the freakin' Academy Awards are held. Excited because it'll be 80 degrees and not 180 degrees outside. Excited because someone who graduated from the very same program I've been accepted into has been nominated for an Emmy award.

Scared and excited. Excited and scared. It leaves me swimming in circles a little. So I look for apartments online. I look for refrigerators online. I pack a box. I balance my checkbook. I call my grandparents. I play scrabulous on facebook (way better than Scrabble's new game). I make some muffins. I read one of the 20 magazines that came when we were gone. I quit MySpace. I think about the back story of the Vietnam vet in my novel. I try to decide whether or not the main character in my screenplay should be 40 instead of 25. I pack up the baby gift I bought for Kelly to send to her shower. I put my flip flops back on to go downstairs for water. (We broke a vase yesterday and I do not need anything else going on with my feet.) I watch a movie. (So far this weekend: Lions for Lambs which I thought was really good, and Charlie Bartlett, which made me laugh and smile, a lot.) I print out some resumes to take with me to L.A. I think about what it will be like when I can buy a house in Beverly Hills and have everyone I love come and visit for as long as they want. I think about trying to download a fun ringtone for my new Instinct.

Okay, I've talked (or rather, written) myself down a little. I'm excited again. I'm okay. I'm still swimming in circles but they're my circles and I'm still moving, right? Right!

El Fuego!

On fire! Yep, that's right! I am a job applying machine. This morning I "helped" Angela apply for six teaching/nanny/daycare jobs. Since lunch I've applied for six of my own jobs. They range from assistant to blog writer (I really want this one!!!) to mail room staff to public speaker for a Fashion Institute to a curriculum writer (okay, seriously, I WANT THIS ONE!!! AT LEAST AN INTERVIEW FOR IT!!!).

So I haven't been a total slacker today. Sometimes without a "job" to go to or pressing issues at hand I can feel rather slackerish, lazy even. But not today. I got up, made the bed, showered and dressed, then started working. No writing yet, hopefully tonight or tomorrow but I feel good about the direction I'm heading.

This morning we decided to renew our apartment lease by two weeks, yeah, I know, big deal. But it was, it kinda freaks me out. I mean I'm supposed to be leaving not staying. But it'll work out. This means we won't be homeless at least not until Angela's birthday or so. It also means we have a little time to think, plan, and prepare.

And yeah, I am going to order my computer today. Back to Best Buy. I'm going to try and not lose any other body parts while I'm there. I've been working on Ang's MacBook all day and the ease at which it works has left me needing a better machine. Wish me luck!

And to add insult to injury...

It wasn't enough that I was crabby yesterday. We went out to get dinner and then decided to go look at laptops. Mine is dying, and I am finally resigned to the fact that I need a new one. This is fantastic since I still owe over a grand on it. But the video card won't let me play movies on netflix.com (I know, the tragedy!), it takes ten plus minutes to boot up, yesterday I couldn't get into my hotmail because Internet Explorer just wouldn't open, and the I was using itunes to listen to music and shut it down and yet Eminem still blasted from my computer. No, itunes was not on, but the music still was. I have no idea.

So I am looking at laptops and they have this really good deal on a new one, one I'd looked at online and was interested in and shock! they don't have it in stock. So I moved on to look at another and BAM! ran my foot into the lovely metal computer stand. And yes, my big toe nail broke off completely, taking a big chunk of skin with it. FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC.

We browsed a little more, stood still a while longer, and then left the store. Not ready to go home yet, Ang pulled the first aid kit from the trunk. My dad had given it to her when she'd moved and she was just a little excited to use it for the first time, hoping this was practice for her new career as a bounty hunter (yes, she's reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels nonstop right now and yes Mom, she'll get a gun first).

And can I just say this first aid kit will come in handy for her new career?!?! Not only were there band-aids but also abdominal pads, surgical scissors, etc. We wrapped my toe, I wiped my tears, and we moved on to Circuit City.

So yes, that was an exciting adventure. Also, good news - I now get to sock away the $24 I was going to spend on a pedicure today. I think it'll be a few months before I get another one of those, seeing how my toe has raw flesh when the nail used to be. Lovely. Let's hope the day improves, I'll let you know when I get out of bed!

"Strap on the floation device, jump feet first into the sand and run!"

That was the advice of our flight attendant yesterday on the flight from Phoenix to Yuma. It had been a long day of traveling already and even though our planes were on time, even early, it was a long day. It helped a lot that this flight attendant had a sense of humor. She even asked if we all knew what a seat belt was. It was great.

So we're back in Hell, excuse me, Yuma. I think it's really worse when you leave and come back, you've forgotten what it was like. It's 115 today in the sun. I went out after a shower, to pick up some boxes from a friend, and sweat was literally running down my face before I made it to the car. I got burned three times on my seat belt and I can't have the arms down on the seat of the car. Yes, I'm complaining, yes, I moved here, and yes, I am crabby. Hellish heats and poison ivy do not mix. In fact, they sort of hate each other - yes, a turf war on my skin. "Isn't that just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?" (Yes, I stole that Friends' Rachel and yes, that's how I feel today.)

So anyway, we're back. We've yet to unpack, we've made several meals of honey nut cheerios, pizza, ice cream and pop. We've watched a little TV (Burn Notice started last week - love it! and In Plain Sight is still funny!), I've finished another book (Janet Evanovich's Three to Get Deadly), I snuck off and bought Ang a birthday present, I had a massage, and I have jet lag. I have no idea what time it really is or if I should eat or sleep so I just am.

So yeah, that's all there is right now. I have a lot of other blogs in my head, including one on golf I've been meaning to write for a while now so hopefully soon I'll get them down. I also need to find a job and an apartment and move to Los Angeles. All in the next 15 days. I think I'd better just jump feet first into the sand and run right now.

The Purple Rose

I wonder how many people know what's in their backyard? What exciting, interesting things you can take advantage of without going to far. Yes, yes, there's been a lot of talk of the "staycation" this year - not traveling because of the price of fuel (mind you I flew a long way to get to my vacation so this really doesn't apply to me) but I'm talking about all the time. Taking advantage of the community you live in - that's what we did Sunday and it was a truly entertaining experience.

Jeff Daniels, the actor (yes, he of Dumb and Dumber fame, among many other, better movies), founded The Purple Rose Theater Company back in 1991. I remember, when I was much, much younger, my parents and their friends went to a play there and always recalled the experience fondly but never returned. I'm not sure why, we went to other plays, to MSU, to WMU, to Detroit, etc. but never back to the Purple Rose. Until this past weekend.

My mom and I read about Jeff Daniels' latest play in the paper. Panhandle Slim and the Oklahoma Kid. Yes, in addition to acting, Daniels is quite the accomplished playwright. It was to be the world-premiere of this play, and it was only about 45 minutes from our house. I called up the box office and away we went.

We walked through downtown Chelsea, where the theater is located, because we got there early. (We also got rear-ended by a woman while we were waiting at a red light but luckily there was no damage. The funny part is, it happened in front of the police station and there was quite the noise and no, no one from the station or the patrol car parked out front came out to investigate.) We browsed in shops and art galleries and then headed to the theater.

I remember my mom always saying how small the theater was but this was quite the shock. It holds just over 200 patrons and is intimate enough in it's setting that you see everything on stage, AND all the people in the crowd around you. But there were comfy seats and nice ushers and then the show began.

It was the perfect way to spend 90 minutes of a Sunday afternoon. Laughing, smiling, tapping toes as the four actors sang songs and even a hymn. The play was about death, life, regret, experiences, spirituality, love, and owning up to it all. It was funny, smart, and included one character watering an invisible horse. It was great.

I'm so glad that Jeff Daniels decided to put his little theater right here smack-dab in the middle of Michigan. I'm glad that on Sunday afternoon I could watch this play with families and senior citizens and just ordinary people who, like me, probably don't get to the theater very much. I'm glad that we moved out of our backyard for a day and found something new, something enjoyable.

In December I'd love to go back, there's a revival of one of Daniels' other plays (he's quite prolific). And I'm excited to keep discovering things in my backyard, where ever that happens to be!

Hope and a Future

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
- Jeremiah 29:11

This is my verse, the one I go to every time I need reassurance or a boost or just a quick reminder. And lately I've needed it a bit more than usual.

Here's the lowdown:
- Neither Angela nor I have a job right now. Yes, technically I still am being paid until July 30th which is great. But after that, nothing. I've applied for eleven jobs so far and I have another to apply for this morning. But still.

- I don't have a place to live come July 31st. There are some beautiful apartments in Culver City, Santa Monica, even the Valley but I'm pretty sure I need a steady income to secure a lease. At least a lease in a neighborhood I want a lease in.

- I am officially a member of the UCLA professional screenwriting program. I get a reminder of this emailed to me every day in the form of a Listserve. It's pretty cool - there are job opportunities and agents who want to represent writers and alumni updates. Lots of alums are writing and being paid to write right now. Yeah, I'm excited.

- We're in Michigan until the 15th and my parents start their vacation today at 5pm. We're planning lots of fun for next week, and lots of downtime.

DESPITE everything that's going on or not going on in my life right now, here's something I do know. God has plans for me, BIG PLANS. I know He wants me to do awesome things and will help me to do these things. I know this because He's given me hope and a future. And baby, I'm going to ride that hope all the way! Future here I come!!!!!