I'm baaaa-aaaack...
2004-11-08 at 11:01 a.m.
I'm back.
I had a wonderful trip despite being sick the entire time. I woke up the morning of my trip and the scratchy throat that had plagued me the previous day, was now a full-blown sore throat, complete with earache and runny nose.
My ears hurt so bad on my flight to Phoenix, I thought I would die. Like most people, my ears bother me while flying. Unlike most people however, I can't just swallow or chew gum to free them. I have to yawn and yawn hard. I yawned so much it made me gag and I spent much of the flight with the barf bag on stand-by.
My mom picked me up at Burbank, which is now called Bob Hope Airport, and we drove to my brother and SIL's new house in Woodland Hills. The house itself is okay - plain and small and nothing out of the ordinary for southern California. As I stepped onto the back patio though, I saw why they felt this house was worth the three-quarters of a million dollar price tag...
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You can see from Tarzana all the way to Chatsworth. It was an especially clear day, perfect for enjoying the view at its finest.
We went out to lunch at a diner near their house and saw Dule' Hill, from the West Wing. I didn't know who he was, but everyone else seemed to.
We drove to Ventura County, where the clear blue sky continued to yield views like this one, coming down the Conejo Grade:
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This is the city where I used to live, Camarillo. Off in the distance, you can see the ocean.
Throughout the week, despite my feeling horrible, we shopped and ate in all of our favorite restaurants. We found amazing deals every place we shopped - so much so, that I had to ship two large boxes home. Factory 2 U had pants for $1.99. I stocked up. The Carter's outlet had pajamas for the kids for $5 and $7. I stocked up.
I had trouble sleeping all week. My throat was so sore one day, I almost went to the hospital. My sinuses drained all night and I would wake up feeling like I was being attacked by my own head. Aside from not being able to go and do as much in the evenings as I would have liked, I didn't let it stop me from having a good time.
I had dinner Wednesday night with Larry. We went to an Italian restaurant near his house, where we were entertained by a drunk who pontificated stupid opinions at the top of his lungs. I gave Larry the picture of his dad that I had found online and printed out. He hadn't seen it. I was glad.
He and I saw each other again Saturday night. We went out for dessert and sat and talked for awhile. His mom had wanted to see me, and I would have liked to have seen her, as well, but I thought it best not to visit being as sick as I was. She understood.
My flights home were delayed, and as usual when I have to make a connecting flight, it killed an entire day. I've decided I will never again accept anything less than a non-stop flight. In addition to the already two-hour long layover in Phoenix, we had to wait another half an hour for the plan to arrive from Oakland. The pilot actually lost time in the air, causing us to arrive an hour and five minutes late.
So now I'm home and have mounds of laundry to do. I owe the kids a week's worth of hugs and kisses and have tons of emails and bills to sort through.
I better get to it. Here are some more pictures, if anyone is interested... I'll be posting the rest to my photo page later today!
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