Vennie's AdVenture, Day 5

Good Morning! Both Vennie & I woke up with a hankerin' for Smoked Salmon, so off to
Western Bagel we went for a Bagel & Lox Breakfast.

We were joined by Eric, who Vennie is now officially dating. Eric & I have a goal. We are going to be on the Jerry Springer Show. Reason? Eric is dating everyone I know!
Vennie vs. the Red Line. Will she, or won't she be sucked into the tube?

Boarding the train...

and going along for the ride!

Vennie in Union Station. Where everyone is required to make some kind of union.

About to do Olvera Street.

SCORE! First official purchase of the day is made. Says Vennie: "So many pretty things, so little time!"

In the family room of the Avila House. Vennie just walked in and made herself at home. The Avila's were not in. Since they originally moved in back in 1818, we were not surprised.

"Please do not touch the cactus." Vennie did not touch the cactus. But she held on to the sign for dear life!

Until she met her latest boyfriends! I think she likes the one to her left just a little better. Says Vennie: "If one is good, two is better."

"I think this is known as a "book end."
Did she, or didn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.

Grand Central Market.

Missing half the Fab 4. Beth and Claudia, where are you?

Thirty posts in thirty days. This is day 20.

Vennie's AdVenture, Day 4

Good Morning! Vennie's cooking early!!!!!
Bon Appetit!

Chicken Soup with Sweet Potato, Onion, Broccoli, Carrots, and Celery.

Vennie hugs her first man of the day. She likes them with hairy backs.

And then she found herself another lawyer. Unlike day 1, this one has a small practice. But he advertises on TV with the moniker "We are here to serve you."

Back home, and Vennie receives Ian, a Gentleman Caller.

However, Ian quickly deserted her in lieu of the dogs. Here, he's trying to teach Sunny how to use the dog stairs, aka "Stairway to Heaven."

And, unlike Laura, he is successful in the venture! From this point forward, Ian is to be known as "The Stairmaster!"

Happy smiles all around signifies a job well done.

Come evening, and Vennie is at Slimmons, exercising her heart out.

She insists that it's only water in the bottle.

Look at this! Dana's "Exit" sign has not been replaced. Slimmons. You can check in but you can't check out.

And once again, happy smiles all around signifies a job well done.

Thirty posts in thirty days. This is day 19.

Vennie's AdVenture, Day 3

Good Morning! Vennie is all ready to pick up men. Check out the hair, make-up, tee shirt, and jeans! A perfect California look.
Shopping in Lululemon, Beverly Hills Triangle branch.

Check this out! In Calabasas, they only had the "Vennie Memorial Dressing Room," but in Beverly Hills, they had not only one for Vennie, but they had one dedicated to Laura too!

Look what Vennie's dressing room came equipped with!

Hmmmm. Is Vennie just trying on clothes, or is her newest boyfriend still standing on the stool?

Speaking of relationships, this couple haven't made much progress since this time last year.

Smoked Salmon on Arugula with Roasted Beets. YUM!

Eric's Mediterranean platter. Yes, he met us in Beverly Hills because Laura was getting a little tired of Vennie monopolizing all of the man-cake action!

Menage-a-trois!

Thirty posts in thirty days. This is day 18.

Vennie's AdVenture, Day 2

Good Morning! Every day should start off with a good breakfast. (Click image to see a closer view of Vennie's Pajamas!)
Vennie goes shopping at Lulu Lemon! It's weird that they had a dressing room with her name on it waiting for her.
The Ronald Reagan Library. Where Vennie finds yet another boyfriend. Based on the last two days, I'd say she likes them tall.
She claims that she's just borrowing Ronnie's gloves out of his back pocket, but I think she's pinching his butt.

Did you know that they offer art lessons at the Ronald Reagan Library? (A piece of the Berlin Wall.)

Somebody's laughing at Vennie behind her back.

Says Vennie, "Coffee, Tea, or Me?"

The wing of the plane almost reaches the railing. "Please do not lean over railing or touch the wingtip. Alarm will sound!"
Vennie is a real rule's player. She did not lean over the railing. She did not touch the wingtip. The alarm did not sound, even when she spit at the wing.
Vennie may play around with other boys, but at the end of the day, she comes home to her main squeeze, Cosmos.
After all, they have coordinating pajamas.
Thirty posts in thirty days. This is day 17.

Vennie's AdVenture, Day 1

Vennie Arrives in Los Angeles! First stop,Venice Beach.

They have a paricular way of making us feel very special and welcome.

"Venice Beach Welcomes You.

No Alcohol
No Bicycles
No Dogs
No Pedestrians (on bike path)
No Graffiti (Fuck you)" - If you don't believe the sign says that, click picture to enlarge.

These guys went head-over-heels for Vennie!

And here's Vennie! Sitting in the Sidewalk Cafe, watching the world (read men) go by.

Didn't take Vennie any time at all to find herself a boyfriend. And he's a Lawyer!

Whoopee! I'm here!!!!!!!!

Here's to California...

and to all, a good night.

Thirty posts in thirty days. This is day 16.

Visiting Dr. V-

After getting my blood test yesterday, I needed to be back at Cedars Sinai this morning at 9 am. I am not crazy about morning appointments; my auto immune stuff tends to be most active early in the morning and also, Cedars is near Slimmons and what normally would be a one-hour drive turns into something closer to two. Rush hour traffic in Los Angeles is nothing to sneeze at.

As it was, I showed up in the Thalien Building only about 5 minutes late, but waited for about 30 to be checked in. But when I started that process, I got a big surprise! It seems that the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic had moved. (Again.) Nobody had told me. I needed to go to Adult Center 3 in Speilberg. Fortunately, not only was that just across the street (as if there's anything that's really "just" at Cedars), but where I had parked my car in the first place. So I headed back and checked in about 45 minutes past my appointment time.

Then came the waiting. Two hours worth. I don't know if I was pushed back that far because I messed with the schedule (a possibility although today's episode was not my fault and not the traffic either) or, more likely, it was just that Dr. V- is an extremely busy man dealing with patients of a critical nature, and he couldn't get to me sooner. Either way, I was a patient patient as I know that I have been the one so sick in the past that I bumped other patients around. Since I don't work, I stay calm and just wait it out.

The appointment was not eventful, and ended after about 15 minutes with me making another in January. I talked to Vanessa about the new location while she scheduled me, telling her that I did not like this particular office. She agreed, saying that nobody who worked there liked it either. But she assured me that they weren't going to be staying long. They were scheduled for yet another move in approximately six months. Have I ever mentioned that this office gets moved around an awful lot?

Anyway, I thought about it for a moment. Then I looked at her levelly in the eye. (You know I'm feeling a little better when my brain is in 'drive.') "Have you thought about telling the Administrators to just move you into the hospital proper?" I asked. "You know, someplace like the basement. Deep in the bowels of the building. It seems appropriate to me."

Vanessa did not respond - probably out of fear that acknowledging the idea might actually make it happen, but she looked like maybe deep down, she thought it was just a little bit funny.

---

I'm just going to blame
Angie. Not that she had anything to do with it, but back at the end of October, she posted about her
broken beyond any chance of revival oven. I was interested, I was sympathetic. But I was also a little detached. After all, mine worked just fine.

Last Wednesday, I had Eric over for dinner. By the time he arrived, I had the stuffed chicken in the oven. "Baking." Not. My oven was dead.

Well, I contacted Sears through their appliance repair website and scheduled a visit. Rushed home yesterday afternoon to await their arrival. And come around 3 PM, it occured to me that maybe I should double-check the print out. Oy. They're not scheduled until NEXT Friday, not this.

Of course, this is an issue because Vennie will be arriving tomorrow. A whole week with a fellow dieter staying with me without an oven? OY!

There's only one answer to this quandry; it's something that I've been considering for quite a while and I guess I'm going to finally break down and do it. Two words:

Toaster Oven.

Thirty posts in thirty days. This is day 15.

A Visit to the Vampires

As always, I had to get a blood test today in preparation for my doctor's appointment with Dr. V- tomorrow. I have a great relationship with the Phlebotomists, and upon arrival announced that I wanted a really big bandage after the draw. "For the pity factor, you see. Big bandage, lots of pity."

Surprisingly, after we were done, my blood sucker pulled out a pressure bandage for my wound rather than the normal tape-and-gauze application. A big ol' honkin' pressure bandage that was quite impressive! I reacted with happiness and glee, which seemed to tickle her pink.

So it was time to leave, it was almost 6 PM when the lab closes up, and the rest of the techs were up front chatting. I showed off my bandage, proudly announcing that I was really going to work it during class at Slimmons. They all started laughing, liking the concept. One of them applied about 90 minutes worth of parking validation on my ticket that required only 15, and another pulled out a "baby sticker" for me. A really big sticker announcing that "I did very Whale."

Wow! Give a little entertainment, get back a lot!!!!!