Bender: Robots don't have any emotions, and sometimes that makes me very sad.
Bender: There's nothing wrong with murder.
Leela: You're blackmailing me?
Bender: Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer "extortion." The "X" makes it sound cool.
Leela: I can be impulsive... it just takes me a while.
Leela: Why is Zoidberg the only one still alone?
Bender: Because he's a loser, that's why.
Two ear infections and more full anal glands! Poor AJ! The little poodle who didn't have anything wrong with him suddenly had ear infections and anal gland problems when we moved to San Diego. Apparently...he's allergic to San Diego and needs to take allergy medicine. At first I thought it was a bit crazy, but now that he's been on it for over two weeks, I can definitely tell the difference. He isn't itching nearly as much, or sneezing, and he has a ton more energy. He's quite the pill popper though. All you have to do is open a pill bottle now and he comes running.
It started freshman year in college. I was wearing some drum corps shorts and he was a tuba player who appreciated that. And no...I’m not talking about James! I’m talking about Mike (SAM), a friend we made 6 and a half years ago at band camp! (Craziness....I know!) 
Ever since I met Mike...I have been convincing him that San Diego is the most amazing place ever and that one day, I would move back. Funny how things work out! So when he called asking if he could come and visit, you can bet how excited I was. I couldn’t wait to show him where I was from, and was stoked when I actually picked him up at the airport. 
It was the perfect time for him to visit since I was still unemployed and James had a fairly flexible schedule. The first place I took him was to see the beautiful skyline that is San Diego, and then of course the tide pools, my favorite place here. It was great having someone to talk to about the old days (ha!) and about our futures. 
It’s amazing to me that we’ve been out of college for so long, and that so many of us are still trying to figure out what we want to do and where we want to go. And trust me...there’s no better place to talk about that than sitting on the cliffs listening to the waves crashing and then eating Mexican food! Mike flew in on Wednesday morning, and the next day was James birthday, so he was able to head out a bit early. 
So we hit up the zoo, balboa park, and ocean beach, all three incredible places. I think I bored the boys a bit with my obsession with these awesome globes that are on display, but other than that, it was a great time. Mike had to head out early Friday morning, as he’s a pilot and had to get back to his routes. I was sad to see him go, but excited that he came to visit. I told him to bring Elise next time! Can’t wait for him to come back! 
I love fall. In fact, I love it so much that I put fake leaves all around our apartment, with gourds and pumpkins and corn. AJ was confused at first, but he has since gotten used to the leaves on the ground, and ignores them. I also regularly spray the Autumn Leaves and Pumpkin sprays from Bath and Body Works, and wear my orange pants to pretend that we are having a fall! 
Even though the weather and the leaves don’t change in beautiful San Diego, the annual season events still go on, so we spent an awesome Sunday afternoon driving into the mountains to enjoy a fall day at the pumpkin patch. As a little girl, we would always drive up to pick out our pumpkins, take adorable pictures, pet the animals, and buy candy in the little country store there. 
We have the cutest pictures from when we were little of visiting the patch, and my mom was nice enough to look over an hour to find one! :) Laura, James, and I made the 40 mile trek to Bates Nut Farm to pick out the perfect pumpkins in San Diego! The patch was just like I remembered; only cluttered with hundreds of little kids and their parents. The massive pumpkins were still there, and I am still amazed not only at how big they are, but how someone could spend that much money on a pumpkin. 
Though they were only 30 cents a pound, we saw someone check out with one that weighed 90 pounds! You do the math... I bet it doesn’t add up to how much you spend on pumpkins over the course of a few years. The large pumpkins remind me of James and the Giant Peach, as there is something that just isn’t natural about that. The pumpkin patch has changed a bit over the years, as there is now an espresso bar and taco stand, along with an entire mini carnival to entertain children and keep parents happy (the espresso of course). And the tacos add a bit of Southern Californian flair. 
I did miss the warm apple cider and homemade pumpkin pie that we were used to in Christiansburg, but just being at a pumpkin patch was a nice step in experiencing fall. After finding the perfect pumpkins to take pictures with, we visited the adorable country store to buy some candy and nuts, including my all time favorite all sorts licorice that I discovered there so many years ago. Yay for childhood fun and pumpkins! 
In Southern California, San Diegans enjoy the crisp autumn winds and colors of the season in the comfort of the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.
I was greeted at work with a cake adorned with a “too old to count” candle in the shape of a headstone. While sometimes feeling old after sleeping for 8 hours in a work week, I am continually told I am quite young looking, with constant comments towards “does your mom know you are playing navy?” 
In any case, Mike, Laura and my wifey took me out to Hodads in Ocean Beach for greasy, awesome hamburgers and onion rings. Nothing like good old American food! The place is a little dive, with amazing food and drinks served in mason jars. The walls, as you can tell, are covered in license plates. We might donate one, since there is always a need for Virginia representing! 
We spotted an FSU plate, so now feel the need for there to be a VT one. After an awesome dinner, we got some fall flavored frozen yogurt at one of California’s THOUSANDS of yogurt shops. They are self-served, and you can mix any flavors you want and add any toppings...sort of like a do-it-yourself Cold Stone with yogurt. Since ice cream is full of fat and not good for beach bodies, despite many great dairy farms located nearby, yogurt is all the craze. We miss Blue Bell...one of our favorite things about Texas! 
Mmmmmm....I've always dreamed of the day when I could lay out on the beach with smoke stacks on the horizon and a thick layer of smog overhead. Oh...Newport Beach...
Mike was able to come for a few days last week, which was great! He is a pilot and found great transportation to Charles Lindbergh field right here in downtown San Diego. 
This is a good time to visit, as I am not as busy at work as I will be next year, and Angela is still in school, and at home most of the time. Since we live so centrally in the city, most sites are within a few minutes drive. We were able to hit most of the best sites vacationers like about San Diego, including our world famous zoo. 
After watching Anchorman, we really wanted to see the Pandas, but had to walk past some neat exhibits first. I have been to the National Zoo in D.C. several times, but this one is immensely better. I felt like we were walking around an amusement park, but with animals everywhere. 
For a fee you can take a double-decker bus around the zoo, but we decided that it wouldn’t be worth it as we could spend as much or as little time as we wanted at different sites. The Koalas were sleeping and the monkeys were sleeping, but the bears were ferocious and scary. A Grizzly Bear was taking apart some meaty pulp, and reminded Mike and I of a Family Guy episode involving President Reagan taking down a brick wall bare-handed, dubbed “Reagan Smash.” 
This bear could kill you in seconds, and I hope to never see a grizzly in public. After standing in line to see a fat male panda eat, we took a sky ride over the whole park, offering views of Balboa Park and downtown. After a short but educational trip to the reptile building we checked out Balboa Park, coming across a man dressed as Indiana Jones practicing his whip routine, probably for some skit in the park’s many theaters, but he seemed odd! Balboa park is home to San Diego's museums and awesome outdoor art you can play with! 
And the HTPINK has been hit twice already! (Once in an accident and another in the parking lot.) The one thing we have not seen is highway patrol. In VA and TX, cops were everywhere, enforcing RULES. California passes thousands of absurd laws, but does not have the money to enforce them. With such a cash poor state government, there are few cops patrolling. Locals say police are everywhere, but apparently these locals have not been to the east, where cops are REALLY everywhere. Merging lanes is insanely difficult and frightening, as most do not bother with turn signals. At work we have been facing a rising number motorcycle fatalities as sailors are buying bikes to save gas but have to drive on these dangerous road-ways. Driving in California is really one of the scariest things I have ever encountered.
Following a great few days with our friend Mike (more to come later!), we headed up to the world famous Orange County to watch the FSU game. The Orange County Virginia Tech Alumni Association invited the Los Angeles and San Diego chapters to meet in the middle at Newport Beach. 
Getting stuck in traffic, we listened to the beginning of the game on satellite radio. Hearing that Tyrod Taylor was injured on the first play from scrimmage, we gave up hope on winning the game as our receivers have been horrid. After driving around for 20 minutes, we finally found a parking spot (one quarter was only worth 15 minutes...I hate this state sometimes…though meters on Coronado do yield an hour for a quarter) and we were pleasantly surprised to find the Hokies were playing tough and actually winning by the time we got to the bar. 
We were meeting a friend from Tech who is now working in Hollywood, Tim Leaton, along with a fellow communications graduate. The crowd at Sharkeez bar was great, and everyone was into the game. There were no seats left, but we ended up squeezing in and sharing a table with strangers (more like family since they were Hokies)! Though we ultimately lost a tough game, our young team gave the Seminoles a battle, even though our two starting quarterbacks were both injured. Hopefully one or both will be ready to go by Miami next week! 
After the game we played tourist, getting churros and famous frozen bananas on Newport Beach pier. The fishing seemed poor and everyone was catching small fish, nothing like fishing in Corpus Christi for sand trout! When we were out of quarters, we sadly said goodbye to our east coast friends, and drove south along the Pacific Coast highway, grabbing pumpkin spice chai and enjoying the beauty of the coast. Laguna Beach, site of a teenage drama for MTV was quite trendy, with artist studios and high fashion boutiques near the beach. (And people with extremely intense Starbucks orders...) Other than the mass of people, California is beautiful! 
First impressions were that San Diego State is horrible at football since Marshall Faulk graduated. We sat behind the Air Force bench and enjoyed their military band, as it was something we knew about. I was reminded of my mother dating my Dad, attending a University of Richmond game and commenting that “This was not the same division as Nebraska.” I will say that this is not the same division as Virginia Tech. Most fans were there to watch a fire works show following the game… and the large NFL stadium was barely a third full. I would say maybe 20,000 people were there. 
The game was slow and there was a marked talent gap between BCS conferences and these guys. Watching Appy State and JMU is more entertaining. But watching live football is great, no matter how bad it is, and it was just across the street. Mary texted us during the game, wanting to know the Hokies score, so I told her we were tied with BYE. These bye weeks are tough! But next week Boston College is a night game on ESPN2, meaning we can watch it in HD at home! 
We may have people over, but few know how crazy we can be for the Hokies. We CANNOT wait to be in Lane Stadium in November. Traveling the country has been great for the past few years, and we look forward to traveling overseas in the future, but there is absolutely nothing like being in Lane Stadium for a late Fall game. We do hope to make a Charger’s game this season though, to watch something we’ve been missing…some great offense!
The California Coast is much closer to mountains than back in ol’ VA. We drove less than an hour from sunny San Diego into the parched, hot desert hills of San Diego County. This County is gigantic, perhaps larger than many countries and states… We enjoyed a simple hike up a couple hundred feet to the summit of Iron Mountain, which had a great view of the surrounding hills. 
With water being so scarce, the presence of lakes and reservoirs were immediately obvious in the expansive view. We carried a lot of water for our short hike, as we have heard of quick deaths from heat stroke out in the non-humid desert. Two shipmates from my new command were hiking nearby, and one died from heat stroke, even with water. So we knew that the absence of humidity was not to mean that we weren’t sweating, it was just evaporating quickly. I bought a new toy, a camel back, which is awesome and I felt like quite the outdoorsman. 
At the summit was a trail book, which we signed Go Hokies!, and we were surprisingly not the only folks from East of the Mississippi, as there were many military signatures. We did not see any rattle snakes, but plenty of signs telling us of their presence. The West is harsh in nature, and we long for seasons, tall oaks, pines, and maples escorting us along an ancient mountain chain. Despite the lack of trees, there are numerous curious hikes out west for us to check out, so we are making the most of it. We love it out here, but have realized you can only truly enjoy the beauty and good people that live in South West VA until you leave it. 
Down the street from our place is the San Diego Brewing company, providing unique flavors and greasy food. In nearby Pacific Beach, Karl Strauss, some guy I have never heard of, brews his local favorites, which are sold in the commissary. So we tried some of his obviously San Diego inspired Red Trolley Ale. 
It is tasty, but much smoother and not as much flavor as stuff you would get at Old Dominion brewing from VA. I miss a good New River Pale Ale, and the East Coast’s most drinkable, affordable beer: Yuengling. I developed a longing for the Pennsylvania lager while living in non-accessible Texas, and now am even farther away in a foreign country.
It seems like just yesterday Laura and I were dressed up in our middle school sundresses with our classmates shuffling into the theatre to enjoy a night of opera. We all hung over the rails admiring the chandelier, feeling classy and pretending we were much older. 
Ten years later, Laura and I were all dressed up, peering over the railings looking down at that chandelier that seemed much smaller. (What can I say…I’m attracted to things that sparkle!) Compliments of her company, Laura and I were back in the same theatre; excited about a musical we knew nothing about. Having a lack of expectations is very exciting, and I think it made the Drowsy Chaperone that much better! Not to mention the complimentary champagne and front row seats!! 
Sipping champagne with an amazing friend front row at the theatre was incredible, and it is a night I will treasure for a very long time. The show was amazing, an entertaining comedy that takes place in an interesting guy’s apartment where an old musical comes to life in his imagination. (http://www.drowsychaperone.com/tour/tour_thestory.php) It was hilarious, very entertaining, and very sparkly! Sitting in the front row, you could see the faces of each of the performers, and really felt like you were part of the show. It was incredible!
The day went by without too much excitement, with mommy playing with me and taking me on walks. But then around 10:00, we went out for the last walk of the day, since mommy doesn’t like for us to walk late at night. I saw something on the stairs, and I wasn’t sure what it was, so I sniffed it…and this thing started biting me!! I later learned that it was a bee and it stung me right on my nose. Right on my nose?!?! How was I supposed to sniff anything? And then it started swelling and mommy called daddy and I was sitting on the counter so I wouldn’t squirm, and mommy brought this silver thing to my nose and pulled something out. 
She showed it to me and it was so gross…I can’t believe that stupid little bee put that thing in my nose! But I wasn’t scared at all, so we still got to go on our walk. We hadn’t even reached the pool yet, which is about half way of one direction of our walk, and I met this HUGE ferocious dog that was more like a monster than an actual dog. For some reason, mommy talked to the owners, so we sniffed, and the evil huge beast BIT ME!! On the back!! He was HUGE! (EDITORS NOTE: It was really a white girl poodle that was slightly larger than AJ) And I cried! I couldn’t breathe, and started wheezing, so mommy thought I was having an allergic reaction to the bee (stupid little thing!) so she didn’t even notice that this beast had bitten me! It hurt, but so did my nose, and I was scared and couldn’t breathe, so mommy took me home and put me on the counter again. 
That’s when she saw the blood, and then she started crying, and I thought I was going to die. I mean…why else would she be crying? It hurt, and she kept touching it with things, and then she locked me up and told me she was going to buy me medicine so I could breathe, but I was sure that I would surely die before she returned. Thank goodness I was still alive when she came back, but she bought this disgusting liquid stuff that she thought I would just drink…ha! Keep dreaming! So she poured it into some doggy ice cream, and I made her think that I didn’t understand what she was doing, because honestly…it’s doggy ice cream, and that’s awesome! So I took my medicine…and it actually helped me breathe and helped my nose not hurt as much. 
Mommy is awesome! But, she was still freaking out because it didn’t stop bleeding, and she kept crying, and I still kind of thought I was going to die, but felt better about it since my last meal would be ice cream. Mommy kept saying she wanted to take me to the vet, but that it wasn’t an emergency, so we needed to wait until Monday. So I tried to pretend that nothing was wrong so they would forget and not take me to the vet…I hate those people! They put a muzzle on me and tell mommy and daddy to feed me less because I am fat! How dare they call me fat! I’m just cute and cuddly! Can’t they see that?? But the vet shaved my back and cleaned it all up, which felt really good, but I tried to bite them anyways just to prove a point. And they gave me medicine so I get people food every night right now! It’s awesome! :)
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