It was quite a long drive (2 hours) to pick up Alyssa and Madison, but worth it of course. Madison just loved the lights of the big city as we drove in Saturday evening. After we got home from dinner, Kim had set up a 'tea party' which the girls were delighted with. So on we played into the night.
On Sunday the girls wanted to go shopping. They were very excited about the 'Little Tokyo Mall' we had driven past on our way into town. But I think they were a bit disappointed with it...it's really not much of a mall, just a two-story complex of asian shops, and they're not very exciting shops. We also rode ponies in the park, which was very fun! On the way home, Alyssa (prompted by a phone call with Grandma) asked me why I had decided to live in the neighborhood I do. I tried to describe to them what 'resources' mean and that the people in my neighborhood don't have much of them. I think they gained some understanding, but their attention span wore out before we could get too far into the explanation :) On Tuesday we got our couch. Our friend Brian, who has a truck, took me to get
one...from a thrift store, even though Mom is repelled by the thought of all the 'bugs' that must be inhabitants of it. We found a quite nice one, and it matches our other decor nicely. It was amazing how homey our place felt as soon as the couch was added. I also got this fabulous little 50s-looking cabinet. Just what I needed to put my art supplies in! (picture = couch + haircut)And lastly...I finally got my PA application finished! Yippee! It was quite a lot of work. There was a ton of information to enter and explain, every college course, all previous work, community, and health-related experience, etc, etc. The biggest things to finish at the end were deciding who would do each of the 3 recommendations and writing the narrative on "What is my motivation to becoming a PA?" They only allowed about 1/2-3/4 of a page, so I had to be very to the point. But I think I finally nailed it, Kim, Mom, and Aunt Pam were my fabulous editors. In it I basically explained why and how I'm motivated by serving the poor. So now I just have to wait for my transcripts and recommendations to come in. And start studying for the GRE, I take it Nov.2nd. I decided to apply to 5 different schools. 3 are in the area. The other 2 I decided to add last minute, just to keep my opportunities open and to save time and money. They're both the same school, but one is in Las Vegas, and the other in Vallejo, CA and that one's a cool joint Masters of PA and Public Health. My first choice is to stay here in LA, but if it comes down to it, I'd like the option of deciding.
I still don't like my ambulance job, but Friday evening at work was interesting. We had to do a standby for two professional basketball games. First the Clippers played the Warriors, the the Lakers played the Hornets. I've never been to a professional basketball game, and was amazed at how huge the players are! They made the court look tiny (although it doesn't look so tiny on tv?) We had to stand at the tunnel opening where all of the players come out of, so I was standing in the midst of all these humongous and kinda famous people, and even though Coby Brynt wasn't playing, he showed up too and I was standing right next to him! LA is an interesting place!
Last night we had people over for a housewarming party. It was fun and good to see different faces together in the same room. I tried making horchata from scratch, which is a Mexican drink made from rice and cinnamon. It turned out okay, but I think I'm supposed to use plain rice and I used jasime, so it was a little funky. I also made baked plantains (in the banana family) which are traditionally served with black beans, fresh cheese, and sour cream. They were very tasty...in fact I'm off to eat a left-over for lunch and to enjoy the rest of my Sunday.
Next week I have a number of appointments and will really be working hard on trying to get another (or second) job.
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