LA trip

Happy Halloween everyone! Last weekend it finally dipped below freezing here in Ames, but I was lucky enough to be in sunny LA for a few days. It was great to re-visit old friends and my old favorite haunts.
I flew out to LA Friday afternoon after my class. The beauty of flying out of a small airport like Des Moines is that you don't need a long lead time before your flight. My grad-school friend Katherine put me up for the night and the next day we drove around my old neighborhood, took a great hike and then went to my favorite LA eatery (Curry House). This was the same trail that we did several years ago for the 4th of July. It's fun to compare this year's photos to the photos from 2+ years ago.
Saturday afternoon my friend Jo-Ann Krohn and I went to a Halloween party hosted by my great friends Anne and Rick Lainhart. Anne and Rick always throw GREAT parties. It certainly helps that they have a hand-built pirate ship and pub in their backyard. I'm always amazed at how many people Anne and Rick know, because I am always meeting new people at these parties.
Sunday morning I re-visited the LA zoo, one of the things that I miss most about LA. Jo-Ann showed me the new gorilla exhibit and some of the other new zoo features. Sadly, we didn't have enough time to see everything and it was VERY crowded because of "Boo in the Zoo".
Sunday afternoon I had lunch with several zoo friends, although there were many people who were not able to join us. It was good to catch up with those who could make it. Then I drove down to Long Beach to visit with another good friend before heading back to LAX for my red-eye flight back to Des Moines. In Long Beach I was finally able to sample the new "Pinkberry" frozen yogurt craze. It was great! Very tangy, and great with fresh fruit, mochi and fruity pebbles! I wonder how long it will be before Pinkberry makes it to Iowa....
It was a great trip, but I was glad to come home and get back in the swing of things. Hopefully I'll be able to visit again next fall. There are more pictures here.

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since I got my female cat Cassie. I snatched her from a feral group that lived under my grandparents' house and she's been great company ever since then. She's moved with me from Kentucky to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Florida and now Florida to Iowa. Her asthma can be problematic at times, but other than that she is doing well. She keeps the rest of us in line. Speaking of her asthma, I finally acquired a home-use oxygen tank for the next time she has a flare-up. Taking her to the hospital for oxygen treatment is NOT cheap, so I'm glad to have my own emergency back-up per the recommendation of my new vet here.
The weather here has turned chilly, but hasn't yet gotten below freezing. My new coat keeps me toasty when I'm outside and I have a space heater (and central heat) for the house. Because Sheba has such short, sparse hair, she needs a good winter coat. We made a trip to the closest Petsmart last weekend, but they didn't have any good coats large enough for her. It's not that she's too fat (though she is overweight), but her barrel chest is too large. PetsMart was completly unhelpful in my request to find a larger coat, but I did find what seems to be a good one on the petco website. Hopefully it will fit her. In exchange for the chilly weather, we get great views like this one (as seen from my front door).
When I moved to Gainesville, I bought a second-hand white couch/loveseat set. Sheba spends most of her time laying on these and I do too when I'm home. I spend a lot of time mentally complaining about how dirty they look and decided to finally do something about it. I unstuffed all of the cusions (check out this MOUND of stuffing here and here) and washed them. The results are great. Not surprisingly, the clean cushions now emphasize how disgustingly dirty the rest of the couch is.
This week my neighbor's dog (Magic) will be staying with us. He's a real sweetie. He stayed with us one night last week. While the cats aren't happy to have another dog in the house, he's good about not bothering them. Then this Friday I'm headed to Los Angeles for a weekend with friends. It will be quite a treat to see my old friends and old stomping grounds.