day 282: that's a nice rack you have

"That's a nice rack you have," the gentleman coyly said at the gas station. I was a bit startled, but quickly realized the double entendre in his statement. I imagine that he's had this statement in his arsenal for quite a while; waiting for the perfect moment when a girl would have a ski rack on her car.

I needed to clear out the junk in my trunk (haha) to make way for moving boxes. It's been four years since I've put the rack on my car. I hope it stays on through the ski season and is generously used. With the recent snowfall in NM and CO, it won't look as crazy driving across the desert with skis on my car. For now, it is quite hilarious to drive around SoCal.

day 281: Cafe Stella

Rod and Chadonna are a couple to admire. They are so comfortable in their relationship, it's a pleasure to see.

For me, Rod will always be that perfect junior high dance partner who grabs my hand, leads me out to the dance floor and slowly sways back and forth. :) He will be my conscience: the one tugging me away from the Pig and the Whistle on New Year's Eve.

Chadonna will always be my fellow Pisces cohort. Although she's a Snake, so she's a little more cunning than the Rabbit, but as a pair we're not to be reckoned with. She will be my fellow vampire book reader and first showing of a movie watcher. She will be my eternal wing man.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cafe Stella in Silverlake/Sunset Junction. It's like a little bit of Paris in LA. With dim lighting, bottles of wine on the sills and comfy benches, this little cafe is a gem. The Bordeaux we ordered was nice on the palate and not too dry. Rod and Chad had a variation on the steak. I don't think you can go wrong with any dish. I ordered the short ribs that fell apart as soon as my fork touched it. It was so tender, it must have been made in heaven.

day 280: American Girls

Jamie, Angela and I went to the Grove today. Gawd, the weather has been so nice lately. I kinda wish it would get cold so it would be easier to leave, but that's not going to happen. We had lunch at the Whisper Lounge where we once had a GNO (Girls' Night Out). After a nice conversation among close friends we walked the loop and it was my idea to go into American Girl. It's crazy in all of it's spectacular oddity. We enjoyed coffee (tea for me) at the Coffee Bean and sat in the warm sun. It's always lovely at the Grove, but this time it felt like a moment stolen from the dawn of time. Even though it was filled with people I felt like it was just the three of us hanging out.

I was accustomed to wearing heels for work, now you can see the tan line from my flip flops. Walking around all day in these little heels was a pain.

Only in LA are pooches pushed around in strollers.

day 279: Paradise Cove

For my job I would drive out to Malibu twice a week. I'm familiar with many restaurants along the PCH, so I was surprised to hear that I had never been to Paradise Cove Cafe. It's nestled in the Paradise Cove trailer park right on the beach just before Point Dume and Zuma Beach. This cafe is not pretentious, not touristy and not over priced. The food was delicious. We shared two appetizers and each had a drink. This was more than enough food for the three of us. The location felt like Mexico, because literally the tables and chairs are in the sand. It was a nice getaway from Los Angeles. Malibu is definitely a mental break from the craziness of LA.

Today I spent the afternoon with Fish and Amery. Fish and I met in Architecture 101 in undergrad.  We had to introduce each other to the class, and ever since we've been friends. We've live in the same city for about the same amount of time. There was one year when I lived in Santa Fe and she lived in Los Angeles. This next phase of our lives will be interesting. I know that she's a friend for life, but it will be strange not to have her a few blocks away.

day 278: a letter in the alphabet

 

Joanna and Bianca hosted a slumber party for Fish, Carla and myself. I haven't been to a slumber party in a long time (like since I was a little girl)
Joanna and I started with a marathon viewing party for Project Runway at 4:30pm. Earlier in the day we exchanged email about bringing food and Bianca assured us that she had enough food. I don't think she knew what she was in for. Joanna and I proceeded to eat a whole tray of snacks, just the two of us. We had to turn up the volume on the TV, because our crunching was so loud.  What can we say Bianca makes delicious food, so how could we not devour it? We enjoyed pizza from Mozza, and stove-top popped popcorn. mmm, mmm, mmmm
The night was filled with games. As a result, I'm gonna buy Catch Phrase. This game is hilarious. The best descriptions were "it starts with a letter in the alphabet" and "it's a word in a book" Awesome. I have not laughed so hard. It was definitely what I needed.  Sooooo much fun!
It was a bummer that my allergies started to affect me. As soon as I took an antihistamine I was out, both at night and the next morning. I had to cut out early the next morning, because I couldn't breathe. Thank you to Joanna and Bianca for hosting such a wonderful party. Thank you to Carla, Fish and Jeannie for providing all of the laughs.

This photo was provided by Bianca, I didn't take out my camera once. :O I've been so bad lately.

day 277: venison

Nowadays, it's rare that I go to west LA by car, but I made the exception for Brian and Kara. They invited me for dinner. I met Brian in graduate school. At 6'11" (just kidding, I don't know exactly how tall Brian is, but he's freaking tall) he feels like an older brother, and he sure does treat me like a little sister.

Kara prepared a delicious and tender venison. It was a wonderful evening among friends. Of course, I forgot to take out my camera, so here is a photo of Century City, the portal to west LA.

day 276: apart once before

I spent the night at Tim and Mark’s and had my first night of seven hours of sleep. It is so relaxing at their house. I’m able to mentally escape my situation when I’m there. It’s so nice. I was up before the sun rose and was able to cross paths with Mark before he left for work. I made breakfast and one-by-one all of the Jordan-Cohens came crawling up the steps. Tim took Steven to school, so Kristy and I had one-on-one time. We danced to the Wiggles, played with Playdoh and started the laundry. We enjoyed the beginning of lunch and just like that it was time to pick up Steven from school. After lunch and “because Auntie Prue was visiting” they didn’t have their nap and we finished Toy Story 2. After TS2, they took a nap and this was by far my most difficult good-bye. Filled with the non-stop questions of “Why? Why? Why?” I was bawling. I will miss these two little darlings, and I hope that they remember me. It’s always gets me in the heart when I hear them say, “Auntie Prue!”

 

After kissing them goodnight and saying good-bye to Tim, I took off for downtown. I met with Henry. My outings with friends have turned into a theme of trying new places. I figure that I know the places I’ll go to when I return for a visit, but the option I won’t have at home is trying new restaurants. We went to the Broadway bar, which amazingly I’ve never been to. It’s an historic staple in LA and nope, never been. Well that’s checked off the list. It’s a nice loung-y bar and would be great for a group. Henry remembered a recommendation of a Brazilian restaurant not too far from the bar called The Wooden Spoon. Wow! I hope this little restaurant survives these crazy economic times. The food was super fresh. We ordered a appetizer sampler and sangria. As our waiter described the sangria, we both said, “you had us at Sangria” It was a fusion of clover, cinnamon, raspberries, strawberries and red wine: very delicious. We picked two entrees: a chicken pot pie with the flakiest crust I’ve ever had and bacon wrapped chicken. Of course it was accompanied with morro, collared greens and plantains. It was a delicious comfort meal.

Henry and I have endured a few years of living in different cities before and I know that we will continue to be friends through this time. I’m so happy I was brave enough to send out the email searching for a roommate, oh so many years ago, and that he responded. I love these! I was wondering when I would be able to post them, and now seems appropriate.

day 275: tour of LA

Amery came over to help me load up my table onto my car. I’m storing it with Tim & Mark. I went on a bike ride this morning and my legs were so tired. They were shaking as we were carrying it down. Remind me next time that it’s not a good idea to go on a long ass bike ride, then move a table down a flight of stairs and onto the top of a car. As soon as we loaded it I was on my way to Montecito Heights, by way of downtown LA, Silverlake and Glendale. hahaha Today I decided to take a tour of LA with a table strapped to the top of my car!

Tim and the kids were at gymnastics so I killed time by shopping at Santee Alley for some new sunglasses. I refuse to pay more than $5 for sunglasses, because I lose, break, or scratch them. My last pair was lost to lower Grand Avenue back in July. I’ve somehow managed to make it through the summer sans sunglasses. After gymnastics I met Tim and the kids at a park in Silverlake. Can you imagine my car driving through downtown with a table strapped to the top? Awesome. After the park we took a route into Glendale to avoid the freeways. All that time I forgot to take a picture of the table on my car! Oh well, I’m sure there will be another opportunity to take that picture.


I spent the afternoon/evening with the kids and Tim. We played, blew bubbles and watched Toy Story 2. Somewhere in there was a snack, a nap, and dinner. My allergies got the better of me and I was ready to pass out by 9pm from the antihistamine and the energy of the kids.

day 274: The first transport is away and MNF

My cousin, Git, and her brother-in-law, Tim, came and loaded up the boxes I had been packing. I know that it’s rare to have a loving and supportive family and I feel more fortunate to have a LARGE loving family. I’m so thankful to Git for taking some items home. As soon as they left the first thing that popped into my head was, “the first transport is away! the first transport is away!” I know: very nerdy.

This evening I met with Irene. We have never talked sports….not really. I think we’ve mentioned it, but soon realized that we were on opposing teams in the NFL. As long as I cheer for the Dodgers and she cheers for UCLA then we’re all good. Well, this Monday was the Mecca for sports. Denver was playing Monday Night Football and the playoffs are happening. Irene forewent our plans for a Vietnamese restaurant for a microbrewery in Silverlake. She’s so awesome. I know that I’ll see Irene sooner than later, because she’s from NM. It’s always nice to have friends from ‘home’ when you’re so far away.

That night I didn't take a picture of Irene, but I love this one from a few weeks ago.

day 273: you dig?

I’m still marathon packing. I found out that my cousin is coming tomorrow. I’m surviving on little to no sleep. Somehow I managed to meet with Chris.

Leave it to Chris to allow me to escape my reality with humor. We watched Black Dynamite. Wholey freaking hilarious! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. I’m not sure if the humor is for the masses, but with my love of film, I was dying. We topped it off with a meal at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles, which was a perfect match. Chris is an amazing person and has always been a source of support through laughter and tears.

day 272: marathon packing & BarBQ

I’m marathon packing. My cousin is in town and is willing to take some items back to NM for me. I’m so lucky.

I stopped by Joanna and Bianca’s for a BarBQ, this is the ice cream maker making delicious grapefruit sorbet. :(

day 271: Don’t Stop Believin’

Carla is one of the biggest Dodger fans I’ve met. She comes from a Dodger family who bleeds blue, Dodger blue. For Friday, she had an extra ticket and invited me with the caveat that I had to cheer for the Dodgers. I’m not a baseball fan perse, but I do enjoy watching the playoffs. The first pitch was to be thrown at 1:07pm (I don’t understand the :07), and we arrived at 11:00am to miss the traffic. Yeah, as you can imagine we missed the traffic. We enjoyed our sandwiches and walked around the ballpark waiting for the game to start.

One PM in October may sound like a pleasant day anywhere else and any other year in LA it would be perfect, but this year, “OMG! It was freaking hot!” Mind you two days prior I was running in the rain and turned on my heater, well a heat wave moved into the southland and it was a warm 93 degrees. Sitting in the bleachers it felt like 100 degrees. The game finally turned around in the 8th inning and the Dodgers walked away with a 2-1 victory tying up the series 1-1. Here’s hoping they take it all the way! Don’t Stop Believin’

After fighting the traffic home and washing the ballpark stench off, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner and conversation with Tommy. Presented with a list of restaurants, we decided on the Hungry Cat in Hollywood. The oysters were fresh and tasty. The menu was an eclectic mixture of tastes. The clams with chorizo piqued our curiosity, as did the mahi mahi with coconut rice. It was an exceptional dinner and I know I’m very lucky to have Tommy in my life, just the way he is.

day 270: the familiar

My old haunts, well, my old stomping grounds were visited today. Two places that were are familiar and so close: one was in my hood and the other was near my previous place of employment.

I met up with Meredith for lunch today at Stone Fire pizza on La Cienega. They have the best Chicago-style pizza in Los Angeles. Why is it that after all of the stress has happened I can reach out to friends, but when I'm in the middle of it I shut down. I'm thankful to have met Meredith. She is an inspiration for a successful female. Thank you Meredith for you business advice.

Reidy and Ceci: I shared a quad of cubicles at my previous office with them. This evening we met at The Arsenal on Pico Blvd. These two are like Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, or Felix and Oscar. It was fun to work with them and eventually become friends. I had to steal these pictures, because I forgot to take pix. I believe Ceci took both of these.

day 269: another delicious evening

My usual desolate inbox was graced with the following message a few days ago, "It's booked! Yay!" It was in reference to a Wednesday night reservation at Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali's Mozza Pizzeria in Hollywood. This locale is the hip and delectable restaurant-of-the-moment. Reservations are scarce. It was a bustling scene filled with a varied group of young patrons. With the high ceilings and dim lighting, conversations resonated in the space. Tables were composed to accommodate large parties and intimate couples. Our seat was along the bench at the rear of the dining room, but welcomed the observation of the whole. Although our table was 6 inches from neighbors, it was intimate.

The dinner was another gift of deliciousness from my friend, neighbor, fellow Pisces, Nate, and his girlfriend, Giulia. Nate is a researcher and fine food lover. He will travel to Bell or Arcadia, CA, in search of the perfect Mexican restaurant or Chinese dumpling. So when he recommends a restaurant, be rest assured that you're in for a savory meal.

Mozza did not disappoint. Antpasti included Arancini alla bolognese and Meatballs al forno, compliments of the house. We paired it with a Furore Wine, a full-body white wine. Unfortunately the signature pizza, Squash blossoms, tomato & burrata, was unavailable which meant the antipasti dish, Fried squash blossoms with ricotta, was also not to be devoured. We were a little forlorn, but it encourages another visit. The menu is one to be relished. With words like panna, taleggio, guanciale, bagna cauda, it stimulates your taste buds. I would have been lost, if not, for Giulia. She's fluent in Italian and was able to translate for us.

We chose three pizzas:
-Fennel sausage, panna, red onion & scallions : sweet and a little spicy
-Tomato, mozzarella, sausage, salami, bacon & guanciale : the meat lovers, the right proportions of meat for perfect bite. All three of these meats were discernable in their taste.
-Prosciutto di Parma, rucola, tomato & mozzarella: my choice, I cannot express my love for prosciutto and arugula. The saltiness of the cured meat with the bitterness of the arugula is a lovely pairing. As soon as I read it, I knew it was the dish I would order.

The combination of toppings is amazing, but I have yet to mention the crust. The dough is sweet and bitter. Its the perfect combination of chewy and crispy. The crusts are a little blackened around the edges from the oven. Pizzas are cut into four slices allowing a fold to capture all of the ingredients into a bite.  Mozza is good. Mind-bogglingly good.

Intriguing conversation is par for the course with Nate and Giulia. I'm so fortunate to have met Nate and to have been introduced to Giulia. It was lovely evening capped with a mystical fog that had rolled in. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

day 268: for rent

My apartment joins a growing number of apartments for rent. Just within this 600 feet of my street there are six buildings with 'For Rent' signs in the yard. I'm not sure what my managers are thinking by raising the rent (they are adding $600 to what I was paying), some of these apartments have been for rent for as long as I've been unemployed. In addition to raising the rent, they have confidence in leasing it with a 'For Sale' sign out front. I wish them luck.

day 267: For Sale: FML

I posted an ad on Craigslist to get rid of items that I don't want to move. This is where a mirror hung.
Read 'Doing Without' for more about selling my items.

Sorry for the delay, I promise that I explain why in 3.5 - the breaking point

day 266: 5-0

5-0

With the imminent cold weather moving into Southern California, it's time to bring out the warm weather gear. Yeaaay! the Broncos are  5-0!

day 265: finding fall

I went for a long bike ride along the coast. The weather is perfect today. So I've been looking for fall in LA. As I was riding on Carmelita, I came across these trees with their leaves changing. Here it is! I found it: Fall in Los Angeles. Don't blink, because you could miss it.

 

The next street over looks like this. hahaha

day 264: and so it begins

Instead of having a large going-away party I'm having small intimate gatherings with close friends. It allows me to spend some quality time with my dear friends before I leave. Sandy and Adrian invited me over for green chili stew and fajitas. For dessert we enjoyed an apple strudel with an apple, raisin & walnut topping. It was absolutely delicious. We, or rather I, cried to Marley & Me. That movie is so sad.
Doesn't Sandy look absolutely beautiful in these pictures? She has a certain glow. Could it be that's she's expecting?? Yes! I will be an auntie once more. Congratulations to Adrian and Sandy. I'm so happy for you!
GG's foreva!

day 263: humbled

I'm humbled by the generosity of others.

day 262: GNO + Glee + Amery

Carla, Fish and I had a Girls Night Out, or rather in. As Carla put it, "I don't know what we're doing, but it involves alcohol." It wasn't a typical girls night out, because Amery was there: Girls Night Out + Amery.

the is the typical picture of Amery 

the aftermath.

day 261: icebox vs sauna

OK, I've been saying how much I love my apt, but one thing I will NOT miss is the fluctuation between sauna & ice box that is my apt. These are my gloves to work on the computer when it's cold.

day 260: BBC 100

This is loooong overdue.

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.
How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions:
Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read once. Enter a number for the number of times you read something. Make sure you delete my x'S!

When you've finished, tag 10 people and the person who sent it to you and put your total at the bottom.


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen- X3 (every so often I will go back and read chapters)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien – X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling -X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - X2
6 The Bible- X2
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwel
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott – X2
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller - (reading now)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare – (deadline by the time I'm 40, I have about 8 finished)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier-
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - X2
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger – X
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger X
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell -
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald – X2
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens -
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy-
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - X
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh X
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky-
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - X2
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll –X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy-
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens - X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis – X2
34 Emma - Jane Austen X
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen X
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis – X2
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - X
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres -
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - X
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne – X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell -
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown – X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - X
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving -
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery - X2
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood -
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding - X
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan - X
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel - X
52 Dune - Frank Herbert -
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons -
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon -
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley-
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon -
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - X
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov -
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt -
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold –
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas – X
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac -
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding – X
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie -
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville - X finished it before I turned 30
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens - X2
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker – X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - X4 (1st 'big' book I ever read)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -
75 Ulysses - James Joyce -
76 The Inferno - Dante –
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome -
78 Germinal - Emile Zola -
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray – X
80 Possession - AS Byatt - started this one twice
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens – X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell -
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker- X
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro -
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert -
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom - X
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton -
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks -
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams -
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole- X
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute -
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas -
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factoy - Roald Dahl - X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo –

51 without counting Catch-22 and Shakespeare's complete works (which I'm in the middle of reading) There are many books on here that I want to read. 1984 has been looming for a while, but I always forget about it when I'm looking for a new book.

Quot libros, quam breve tempus

day 259: oasis

This patch of grass was like an oasis in the concrete wasteland. It's on San Vicente at Wilshire Blvd.

day 258: airstream

Here are pics of Tim & Mark's new project: renovation of an Airstream.

day 257: Morongo Valley

Spent the weekend in Morongo Valley with Tim, Mark, Steven, Kristy, Bianca and Joanna. After my meltdown, I'm so thankful that my friends took me away.

 

day 256: 3.5 - the breaking point

This was the breaking point. I haven't posted anything since this day, because this day was so exhausting. I needed some time to come to terms with my decision. It was the beginning of October and for the few days before I was thinking of moving to NM. If I made the decision it was gonna be today. I had to give a 30 day notice to my manager. My roommate gave me his notice a few days earlier and said he would be moving to Colorado.
Factors in my decision were:
finances: I'm losing so much money by living in LA, and if I'm still unemployed at the end of my unemployment insurance, I'm not sure what I will do.
looking for another roommate: I figured my luck of finding another cool roommate was running out, between Duane and Lucas, I was very fortunate.
the rising unemployment rate: the national unemployment rate is 9.8%. I always forget that the beginning of the month starts with bad news.
holidays: most companies don't hire through the holidays (even when  the economy is good)
potential jobs: I had three potential jobs and didn't get any of them. This was a definite blow to my confidence.
my car: I've had some recent car problems... I swear, when it rains it pours. 
the moon: maybe a little bit of the full moon came into play. :P 
stress: each day I'm losing a little bit of myself: my confidence, my sanity, and my happiness.

I was so stressed I worked out 3.5 times (0.5 is the brisk walk): I ran 3 miles in the morning, rode my bike down to Redondo beach, came home had lunch and rode to Bel-air and then around midnight I took a brisk walk to Fairfax and back. The picture above is one I took in the morning: before the meltdown, before I made the decision. The photos below are in Manhattan Beach.

A huge "Thank you" goes out to Mark and Tim for making sure I was ok. I know it must have been scary for you, but thank you for talking to me so late at night. Thank you for being my friends.