Mikachu · nu

I have been fairly occupied with life for the past two weeks. It started with my sister-in-law ¹ getting married. It was a beautiful Catholic ceremony, mass included. We spent almost the entire long weekend with the husband’s family. The bride and groom decided to go with a break in their first dance to bust out “I Like Big Butts”. It was quite funny, but thanks to the Internet, nothing I hadn’t seen before.

It was also the husband’s 24th birthday and we celebrated the day after with a long over-due patronage of Porn Star Karaoke and guess who makes an appearance? Jennifer Love Hewitt. Husband is smitten, of course. He managed to get a picture with her and she performed one of her own songs ² karaoke-style with three of her friends.

Starting the Friday after the wedding, I joined my parents up on the annual family trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevadas. Specifically to Silver Lake Resort in the June Lake Loop. You may have heard me talk about this at various points, maybe even exactly once a year or so since this has been an occurrence way before I was brought into this world.

The weekend around 4th of July is one of the resort’s annual horseshoe tournaments that benefit a memorial scholarship fund that was set up after the death of the owner’s wife many years ago. All the winners of the tournament donated their prize money right back to the fund. I thought that was great! My parents won a bunch of raffle prizes, included the pretty coveted bears. I won one item. One of those bears… I only participated in two of the three raffles since I don’t have any need for most of the fishing gear they pad the regular raffle with. The other two raffles are for adorable bear statues and the 50/50. None of us won the 50/50, but a member of the extended family did. Just over $300! I definitely could have used that cash.

My intention for this year was to explore the surrounding points of interest. Unfortunately, I feel back into just lazying around my parents’ new RV for the most part. I did get my parents on board to go up to Bridgeport for Independence Day fireworks. I had hoped to get up early enough to explore the booths they set up, but we ended up having dinner at one of their restaurants. Unfortunately, we ended up with the one place that seemed to short-staff the place for the night. Getting our dinner took so damn long. One waitress seemed to be busting her ass, serving, busing tables, taking orders and two other young girls who looked like they were supposed to be waitressing too, but they were just flitting around, doing not even half of work. While I was fed up with the wait almost as much as my parents were, I was less upset with our particular waitress and more so with the whole perceived situation. The comments my parents kept making didn’t improve the mood either. While I’ve only worked fast food, I definitely understand part of the hustle and bustle and shit you get in those kinds of jobs. The fireworks were very nice and it was fun watching kids light up the firecrackers they bought earlier that day, especially right in front of sheriff officers. Nothing happened, but growing up with fireworks and such being illegal, it’s all quite amusing.

One of the things that’s always looked forward to is seeing wildlife around. The RV park was being stalked by a couple of bears late at night. I never got a chance to see it, but he apparently had a fondness for beer, as it kept trying to get into ice chests and coolers that contained my dad’s back-up stash of the stuff. Our neighbors were awake and somehow shooed the bear away. I want to know how does one shoo a bear? On the heels of that man who was attacked and killed by a mother bear in Yellowstone³, I don’t know why my parents joked about setting out food for it. However, we definitely have no qualms with tossing peanuts around for the various ground squirrels, chipmunks and birds. They had become quite familiar with my uncle, so the rodents had no qualms with coming up and taking the legumes straight out of our fingers, especially the larger fellas. The teeny chipmunks and blue jays always stayed a little weary and cautious, though.

One of my favorite sights in the Eastern Sierras is Bodie Ghost Town. It’s in a state of arrested decay and so it’s left just as it was when it was abandoned for good back in the early 1900s. Admittedly, it’s the only ghost town I’ve visited, but I don’t know how it could be beat. This year, I took the Stamp Mill tour and took pictures along the way. I wanted to attempt photographing most of the buildings and sites on the walking tour, but it’s quite a daunting task. I didn’t have the stamina and ended up with a good burn on the tops of my shoulders from being out in the sun as long as I was. I apparently didn’t get every exposed part of me with sunscreen, as proof of the ring around my chest and back of redness that fades into whiteness above. It’s one of the weirdest looking burns, really. I’m currently peeling! No fun.

The 7th was what would have been my grandpa’s 84th birthday. My parents and I celebrated with dinner at his favorite restaurant for the occasion, Carson Peak Inn. We ceremoniously had a glass of white Zinfandel poured in honor of his memory, ice cubes included. The dinner was delicious and we even partook in dessert. The waiter would pitch it to every table with the saying “There are no calories over 4,000 feet!” One slice of cheesecake between three people can’t be all that bad anyway, can it?

Friday was my day to make the 6+ hour drive back to my parents’ house in L.A. I bid adieu to the extended family, family friends and my parents. However, not before we had an early lunch at the divine Whoa Nellie Deli just outside of Lee Vining and just before you get to the Tioga Pass which leads into the eastern portion of Yosemite. My cousin, Hilary, joined us, as she got in late Thursday night and it would’ve been the only time I could spend with her. That was followed up with a classic of half-and-half cones from the Mono Cone, which also has bomb ass food including deep fried pickle spears! I had those earlier in the week, on my way back from Bodie.

Ultimately, it was a great vacation, though always too short. I do hate that the mosquitoes were so thick this year and they seemed to love me. I came home with at least a dozen bites. A dozen! Ugh. I’m quite proud that I avoided getting burned except for the one day at Bodie. I’m definitely not about carrying on with a diagnosis of any sort of skin cancer in my family.

I knew I had started an entry about my upcoming vacation(s), but it didn’t appear on my actual site and lo and behold, it’s simply an empty draft with the title picked out.

You know what’s amazing? Managing almost 40 hours of work this week. I closed Saturday & Sunday nights, worked an 8 hour mid on Friday, picked up a shift on Thursday and then my usual Monday & Tuesday, minus being let to go home early on Monday since it was slow. Had I not gone home early, I would’ve/could’ve¹ gotten to that 40 hour point. Maybe. If they let that happen. I’m not savvy on the rules of my company’s labor hours…

Anyway, I have some decent time off coming to me². The weekend of the 25th is my step-sister-in-law’s wedding followed two days later by the husband’s 24th birthday. Who knows what he’ll end up planning for that.

A mere few days after that I’ll be making my way up to Silver Lake Resort for the week over 4th of July. An annual family vacation that’s been occurring since before I was born. I absolutely love it up there, spending a week in the June Lake Loop, just east of Yosemite… It’s where we reconnect with distant cousins and old family friends³. I plan on taking time with my camera and trying to take some good pictures of places like Mono Lake and Bodie ghost town.

I took some decent, if not good, pictures of Bodie last year with my parents’ camera, however I forgot to keep track of which buildings were which. I don’t think I’ll ever get to even the “amateur” stage of photography since I just don’t do it enough, but I like to take pictures of stuff that I love and want to be able to do so in a … good way? Not to mention, I don’t think I’ll ever learn enough about it to go beyond the camera I have now. For a point & shoot, it’s got some nifty settings to mess around with, but I won’t get myself a DSLR. As much as it’d be awesome to have talent and use for one, I just don’t see myself as one of those people. I lose steam in hobbies much too quickly. Yup. I’m one of those people. I try a bunch of different things and end up putting it to the side to never⁴ be picked up again.

Anyway… The parents and I are still trying to figure out exactly how I’ll be getting to & from since they’re staying two weeks and my brother nor the husband won’t be going up this year. It’s just a matter of figuring out the preferred logistics. One way is taking one of the family cars and driving myself, following my parents and driving myself back to L.A., or riding with my parents and coming back with my uncle⁵ or a couple of other ideas. Initially, there was a possibility of my flying out of Mammoth and back down to San Diego, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary.

After all this hubbub will be my quarter-of-a-century-old birthday in August. I have no idea what I’ll be doing for it, but I did take time off to cover that, my parents’ 28th wedding anniversary and my dad’s 55th birthday. All of that is between the 19th & 23rd.

Needless to say, I’m kind of excited for the majority of summer, even if I do hate the season itself. *squee*

I was still misspelling “tomorrow” going into my junior year of high school. Not to mention how cringe-worthy my writing quirks were! I lot of replacing normal words with some altered version of it such as “gawd” instead of “God”. This is coming from one of my old LiveJournals. I wrote a lot about my ex-boyfriend and all the back & forth drama of that. We were on & off for a total of 3 years or so. Pretty much up until I met and started going out with the husband. We were mostly off, but I was fighting to get him back as my boyfriend. He finally wanted to get back together, but by that point I was over it. I miss him, though. He was a great guy and a good friend. I found him on Facebook last month and I requested him as a friend. He didn’t reciprocate and that made me sad. I understand, though.

It feels like the week I spent in AZ was much longer than it was. I cleaned out the refrigerator tonight and I was questioning how good all the food in it was, but most of it would’ve been just fine for the week I was gone, I’m sure. The items I threw out included leftovers the husband had stuck in there that I know he wouldn’t touch again, let alone me. I do swear that my memory isn’t very good considering everything is such a blur, even just over a week ago.

Overall, my trip out to AZ to visit Angel, Kristen and (to finally meet) Robby was nice. I got to meet all of the cats, dogs and ferrets I’ve heard so much about. I can’t say I’m a fan of coming home with a suitcase full of clothes covered in pet hair, though lol. I’m so grateful that they flew me out there & back. It was great spending time with friends, especially since I haven’t done so in a while as far as my friends out here. Just little visits here & there, but it never feels like enough

I can’t believe how hot it was when I woke up around 0945 this morning. I had turned the fan on during the night, but not the actual air conditioner. Unfortunately, I don’t know how cool it’s supposed to get starting tomorrow, so I’m not sure if I should keep the windows closed and set the thermostat for the AC tonight or leave the windows open, letting in the cold of tonight and risk it being warm when I wake up. I do not like waking up in a sweat. I do not like heat, what-so-ever. Bring on the cold, baby! I’d rather bundle up any day!

The husband left a large hickey on my neck and though it wasn’t as dark as hickies typically are, it was enough to warrant concealer and other make-up to mask it for work this afternoon. Of course, I couldn’t just do my neck and risk the difference in color compared to my face, so I ended up doing my whole face and neck. I added some light eyeshadow, mascara and little blush to brighten up my face beyond the shoddy cover-up job I managed. The foundation I had available had been in the car for over a week, exposed to temperature changes and it separated so I need to throw it out. Not to mention I wasn’t able to prep my face for makeup application, which includes a washing, scrubbing and moisturizer. Foundation seems to cake and shit when I don’t prep my face appropriately, so I end up looking flaky and weird. I’ve always been wary of makeup. I’ve seen so many shoddy applications in my years and I never want to look that bad.

For one, I wish that more women and girls knew that they need to blend their foundation not just into their face, but ears and NECK too. Haven’t you seen those pictures of girls in revealing tops and as you move north to their faces, it’s a completely different shade? It’s awful. That’s one of my pet peeves about people and their makeup. When I was in high school, it used to be the girls who seemingly took a Sharpie to their eyebrows and drew clown-like arches on their foreheads. They got made fun of a lot by me and my best friend of the time, Dee. Boy, we were relentless in the way we made fun of them, but just to each other.

I was just overwhelmed with sleepiness. I suppose it’s a good of time as any to head to bed. I want to work on laundry but our washer/dryer unit isn’t drying our clothes at all, pretty much. I had to hang a throw, my work pants and a small handful of hand towels so they’d dry thoroughly. Ridiculous.

Guess what? Deathly Hollows is coming out in a couple of weeks! EXCITING! *SQUEE* I won’t be making the effort of a midnight showing, however. I went to one for Half Blood Prince and the experience just turned me off. Who smokes pot in a movie theater waiting to see the newest Harry Potter flick?? I never saw the correlation between Harry Potter and pot. Except the obvious play on words in regards to his last name, of course.

I’m a little overdue for an update about how my family vacation went. That’s partially because the husband came up Saturday evening and we did a lot of hanging out with each other and friends. I did manage to spiff up the site with a new theme and tweaked it to my pleasure, so if you’re reading this via RSS, I’d love for you to check it out and let me know what you think! Now, on to what went on during my vacation

July 2nd

We left the house a little later than what I’ve been used to. This was so we could stop by the Indian Wells Brewery around the time they open. Unfortunately, they weren’t open even though it was past their posted opening time when we got there. Calling them didn’t work. My dad was hoping to get some of their beer before we made the rest of our trip up to Silver Lake. We arrived to the resort after a total of 4 stops and checked into our usual cabin. Unpacking went fairly quickly and smoothly with five of us working on it. Since it was Friday, we enjoyed dinner at the Tiger Bar in June Lake. It’s a tradition for most of the folks who’ve been going to Silver Lake Resort (SLR from here on out) over the years during the summer. They have delicious Mexican food, and I usually get it, but this year I went for their meatloaf. It was pretty delicious.

July 3rd

The first Saturday of July is when SLR holds one of their horseshoe tournaments. This year there were more than twice the amount of participants compared to last year. While it usually last until the mid-afternoon, it was early evening by the time they finally announced the winners. The gentleman who the husband played with last year managed first! My dad and I were partners and managed the same amount of wins/losses at last year. I scored 3 ringers, though, and my dad got none :lol:

The family managed to score pretty good in the raffles, though. My mom got some wearable gear and a new fishing rod. I won enough fishing gear to have the start of a decent tackle box, including a nice reel, long needle-nose pliers, fish hooks and a floating fillet knife. The best, though, came when they finally did the “larger” raffles – the 50/50 and the “bear” raffle. We didn’t score in the 50/50, but both me and my uncle won wooden bears. Mine has a cute scarf and is holding a trout. My mom was jealous

July 4th

We drove 45 minutes further north to Bridgeport to have part in the pancake breakfast they were holding and then the 4th of July parade. The kids were out of control trying to go for the candy and frisbees being tossed out from a majority of the “floats”. There were a LOT of them and most of the parents didn’t do much to keep them from going far into the road or chasing the floats. It was pretty damn ridiculous. I managed to get a forgotten about Tootsie Roll midgie. On our way back, we stopped by the awesome Whoa Nellie Deli. Their lobster taquitos are absolutely delicious!

I went fishing once on the trip, and it was with my dad. We suited up in waders, sunscreen and bug repellent. I managed to catch one fish and hook (but lose) another. My dad did pretty well, catch half a dozen at least but he released them all. We ate ribs for dinner, which is one of my brother’s favorite foods. Unfortunately he didn’t keep it down for long since he smoked a cigar with my dad and it messed up his stomach.

July 5th

June mountain opened one of their ski lifts for the summer. It was m first time on a ski lift, though in the wrong season & weather We rode it to the top where they opened their café. We all got something to drink, my brother and his gf ordered burgers and my parents & I shared an appetizer of some pretty darn good ceviche. The view was unbelievable! We could even make out Mono Lake. I took a lot of pictures.

I actually sent out a couple of postcards this year! I’ll usually pick some up and put names on them, but I end up not writing anything and sending them out.

We finally had our first campfire of the trip. My brother doesn’t know how to get a fire started, so after his failed attempt, I got it going for him. I’ve been converted to using Nutella instead of a regular chocolate bar in my s’mores! The spread is already “melted” and creamy – the yummy hazelnut flavor with it just adds to it, too. I had maybe a total of two s’mores our trip up there, though.

July 6th

My brother and I took his gf to Bodie ghost town where I took tons of pictures, trying to pull off the artsy composition and angles. I don’t know how successful I was considering photography isn’t even one of my hobbies and I was using a temperamental point & shoot Sony camera. Apparently I managed a very similar shot of one of the shop interiors as my friend, N. She and her bf had gone to Bodie the year before (I think) and she took a ton of GORGEOUS photos. I had hoped to manage anything close to what she manages – but there’s no way I could since she’s active with her photography and she has a nice DSLR camera and is just that much more talented and artsy than I am. I think I manage a couple of pretty exterior shots. I also finally made the trek to the cemetery on the outskits of the town. I’ll have to do that first next time since it was actually a bit of a climb.

On our way back, we stopped at our favorite place to get ice cream at the Mono Cone. This time we actually got lunch and their deep fried pickles were AWESOME. The burger I got was pretty damn good too.

For dinner, we had a bunch of family & friends over for tri-tip. I ended up drink a LOT of wine, crying about grandpa and breaking my brother’s gf’s phone. Yeah, that was awesome… This was after everyone had left, of course. There may have been some drunk dialing of the husband.

July 7th

I slept in and recovered from the night before. I did nothing. Exciting, no? I went and stayed with my grandma in the trailer since my uncle was in Reno. I’d been sleeping on the (strangely comfortable) love seat in the living room of the cabin. This day also would’ve been grandpa’s 83rd birthday… RIP

July 8th

It was our last night and we had dinner at the Carson Peak Inn, which was grandpa’s favorite restaurant up there. I had a delicious filet mignon. It was like buttah.

The next day we headed home after saying goodbye to everyone and I drove the whole way. The end.

If you read that, good for you. I’m actually tired of typing :lol:

I’ve decreased how much and how often my cat eats and yet, she still manages to be fat. I know she doesn’t get into any other food since the trash can is upright, the cat food is on top of the refrigerator and untouched, and there’s no food in the low cabinets that I know she tries to get into, but she never manages to open the door. I wish I knew what to do to get her more active in our apartment besides getting her a friend. Another cat isn’t an option right now. Any toy we buy her doesn’t hold her attention, however I’ll toss a crumbled up piece of paper and she goes fricken crazy. Unfortunately, it’s not really fun to have what looks like trash all over the floor of the apartment

I think I may actually be ready to quit smoking. The past few days I haven’t had a craving to smoke and if this is the case, how awesome! There’s nothing like ending a bad habit and not suffering through forcing yourself to do it. I had to suffer through the stopping of sucking my fingers when I was 10. Yes, I sucked my ring & middle fingers on my right hand until I was about 10 years old. It took an infection near my nail and blistering to make me stop. Even the desire to wear nail polish didn’t get me to stop. I was forced to since I couldn’t well suck an infected finger! I was facing braces if I didn’t stop, too. Thankfully after I stopped, my two top front teeth straightened themselves out.

That didn’t keep dentists from asking me if I wanted braces, though! I have this “snaggle” tooth on the left side of my mouth. There’s a small gap where my canine should be, and the canine itself is actually up a ways on the gum. My brother has the same affliction, but only he has an issue, apparently, with it. You wouldn’t know about the tooth unless I laughed or smiled nice and big. Supposedly it’s inherited from a paternal great-grandmother.

A week from now I’ll be up in the Sierras with my parents, brother, his girlfriend and my grandma & uncle. Unfortunately, the husband didn’t have enough time to take off for the trip so he won’t be joining us – even for his normal days off since two days just isn’t enough for the drive he’d have to make. It’s 5-6 hours (depending on how many & how long the stops) from Los Angeles, so add another 2-3 hours since we now live in San Diego… that’s just too much driving to make, especially alone! Too bad, since he won’t be able to compete in this year’s horseshoe tournament and maintain his winning streak He won 3rd place in the winner’s bracket last year with a random partner, coming in behind my cousin. I played with my dad and we made it to the loser’s bracket but not far enough to rank. Hopefully we’ll do better this year, if I’m his partner, that is!

I’ll need to take books with my that I haven’t manage to finish since I’ve bought them. I have quite a few!