Abruptly Back in Texas

I am so far behind on this little blog I'm not even going to try and apologize for it. I'll get around to posting eventually I'm sure, but first a quick update- while in Seattle Jess texted me with a little change in plans..

Ok, wait, let's just stop for a moment. Right above me, "texted" is underlined in red. Seriously blogger? Can you maybe dip your toe into the 21st century and recognize totally commonplace things like texting? Oh, wow, texting is "misspelled" as well, because clearly such a thing as a text message doesn't exist. Nice. Why don't you go jump in your dune buggy with your hoop skirt and take a nice Sunday drive blogger. Clearly you can't handle 2009

... sorry. Anyway, there was a change in plans. Jess's sister had sublet the room I was staying in beginning Dec. 1st, and as a result I would need to leave about two weeks early. I then realized it would be pointless to leave November 30th and miss Thanksgiving by a mere 4 days, so I got with the boy and planned out a surprise homecoming road trip. After three days of hard driving we made it back at 2 a.m. Thanksgiving morn, and I walked into the house full of family while I was talking to my Grandma on the phone "from California" ;) It was a good day. But ever since
then I've been working on my thesis, which is due in two days. So, with 4 pages left before I'm officially a master of something I'll leave you with a little Thanksgiving leftovers- everything minus the turkey, though, gross.

Halloween on Hollywood Blvd

Can you guess what we were for Halloween?

What about now?

Okay, you have to know NOW, right?

We were Spelling Bees! :) All in all, after walking about 5 miles roundtrip from the apartment down Hollywood Blvd and back, eating some good pizza, seeing a few people get arrested, and seeing more T&A than if we went to a strip club, and getting hit on by way too many drunk sleazy dudes, it was a pretty fun Halloween in Hollywood.

And also we clearly had the best costumes there.

The Boy

I like him....

kind of a lot :)

Strange

I was reading a personal finance blog today, and the author links to other sites at the end of each week, referencing articles he found interesting. One was on a very amicable separation. The author went through all the issues surrounding the divorce, and, as was appropriate through an online forum through which he also does business, he addressed the issue without a lot of emotion, but certainly with an appropriate amount of sobriety given the situation. Back at the original blog that linked the article, lots of commenters were shocked at him, saying things like "well, it didn't seem THAT bad, he just didn't want to be a dad" or "if they got along so well, why did they get a divorce?" or "he doesn't seem too upset about it!" or "he's deserting his kids!"

First of all, while divorce shouldn't be a quick fix first option, where the hell did people get the idea that divorce is acceptable only if you have toughed it out for years, living in misery and despair, slowly growing more and more resentful until you have amassed a ball of hate that is an appropriate justification for divorce?! How is that healthy for the kids? I am shocked that the response to amicable divorces is "well, they don't really DESERVE a divorce then, look at how well they're getting along!". Um, maybe it's because those two people were compassionate and understanding enough to realize it just wasn't going to work and they weren't going to waste each other's time, or put their kids through an awkward couple of years of faking it. Some couples go to counseling, reconnect, and it's great. But you know what? Some try desperately to stay in a marriage that makes them miserable, and it just doesn't work. The spouse that is being patronized can't possibly feel good knowing that their partner doesn't want to be with them and is just "toughing it out", the spouse "toughing it out" is likely also miserable and depressed, and HEADS UP PEOPLE YOUR KIDS CAN EFFING TELL IF YOU HATE EACH OTHER. Sorry. They can.

It just blows my mind how all of the people could be outraged that the married couple dare get a divorce without being at the point where they wanted to kill each other first. What an awful way to approach life. Not to mention a totally immature way.

Fall in Utah

This is a *bit* out of order, but I really love these pictures of the hike to the hot springs we took as we were leaving Utah to come to LA on the road trip. Texas never gets much of a fall- it just goes from hot to cold- so it was very nice getting to see the leaves turn.

LA...

is pretty awesome. Wonderful vegan options as far as the eye can see, beautiful weather, a great friend that is letting me live with her right in the middle of all the action- life is good :) Some pics of the beach and the apartment...

Walkway up to Jessy's gate- yay purple flowers :)

Santa Monica as we were walking to the pier

More of Santa Monica

Turning onto our street- that guy is an over achiever

Travelin' Songs

So, Oct 3rd I left Dallas, and Oct 15th I hit LA. Bobby and I took 4 days to get to Salt Lake City from Dallas, camping in Amarillo the first night, driving to Santa Fe and getting dinner and playing downtown and staying in a hotel the second, driving to Mesa Verde National Park to climb amongst the cliff dwellings and ending up camping in Moab, UT on the Colorado River on the third night, and then spending the fourth day hanging out in Arches National Park before we hit SLC the fourth night. We then spent a week there, eating all sorts of awesome vegan food, hanging with family, seeing the parks and generally being lazy. We then took 3 days to drive to LA- day one was a hike to the hot springs in Provo on the way out of Utah, day two was AZ and a day in Grand Canyon North Rim National Park, and day three was driving through Las Vegas and playing there a few hours before hitting LA right in the middle of rush hour :)

We stayed in LA together for a week, and then I took Bobby to the train station yesterday. It was a fabulous, super awesome, very fun trip. Now I have to get all the research for my thesis done in two weeks so that I can meet up with everyone in Seattle Nov 4-9, and then head down for ten days in San Francisco to stitch all that research into a paper. After that is a carefree run from November 20th to December 15th where I have no obligations other than to enjoy LA before I drive back to graduate end of December. I think that's me :) Too many pictures to even begin to upload them all, but here are a few in no particular order-

Arches National Park
Me on top of a cliff overlooking the Grand Canyon

The cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde in CO

Me being ridiculous somewhere in New Mexico

Cadillac Ranch on the way out of Texas after our first night camping in Amarillo