Bielski and Zuma

What a weekend it has been, and what an exciting week ahead!

Things have been so great lately, especially this past weekend. Isabella visited the weekend before this and we had a lot of fun. We got sushi, korean bbq, dim sum.. the food was great. We even went to a little lunch on Rodeo Blvd with her friend Dave. They are dating now so it was so cute to see them having fun together while they were here. We did smores one night and another Zach and I just stayed in and relaxed for possibly the first time since we've been here while they went out. It was a very nice weekend.

We had a week where no one was here visiting or anything so life was pretty normal then. Some days were just very nice and quiet and others we were working a little. Donna and I went to look at some cats at the local shelter because we had been looking at so many online and found a local kill shelter. We loved so many there, and it turns out it can be really hard to adopt certain cats because there is such a high demand. They show off the cats before they are available sometimes, so people come back the day they are available at 7am when the place opens and they get auctioned off. Its so great to see that a lot of these cats get rescued, but it was still a really sad place. There were also a lot of dogs there so I wanted more pupsters, especially some of these incredibly sad looking pitbulls. Pitbulls were obviously the most common breed there and it was really hard to walk away from them - but our rental situation is already hard enough as it is... more on that later ;)

Then Kristen flew in!!! I was sooo exciting. Having her here was so great, it was probably the couple of days I've had since I've been here. Some of our plans didn't go accordingly because of communication problems with her boyfriend and stuff, but we had a blast anyways. We got to go to the beach, we toured downtown.. and we also got a lot of quality relaxation time in. Last night, her last night here, she had planned on going to the bars with her boyfriend and his friends, but Zach got a call asking him to come babysit last minute, so she decided to come with the us to babysit. It was essentially just hanging out at the house because the girl went to sleep within 45 minutes of us being there. We knew the pool was heated, so we felt the water by the stairs and it was SO warm so we got in. Big mistake - by the time we got up to our chests we realized the rest of the water was freezing. So we rushed across the pool and jumped into the beautiful hot tub that seemed to be calling our names with all of the steam coming off it it. Wrong again, it was cold. We're really smart so we stayed in the hot tub jumping up and down hoping Zach would see us from inside and come help us. It worked, after about 45 minutes. :/ He comes out and tries to figure out how to make it warmer and bring our towels closer to us because it was like 50 degrees last night, and after another 45 minutes the hot tub is finally getting warmer, but since it was already 1:30 and we'd been in there so long we decided to get out. It was torture getting out. Actually the whole thing was kind of torturous, but also hilarious. We were laughing at ourselves the whole time for how much pain we were in, despite the fact that the water was a minimum of 94 degrees the whole time. The ladies we were babysitting for got back soon after we got out because the party they were at (some TMZ party) was apparently very boring. Perfect timing.

This morning we woke up bright and early to take Kristen to the airport. Not only did it suck having to take her home, but I was sooo exhausted. Usually I can't fall back asleep in the morning, especially after being awake and doing stuff for an hour or so, but I came back home and completely passed out. It was amazing. I planned on not doing anything all day, until Mitchell asked me if I wanted to go to the shelter with him again. While we were being tourists downtown yesterday they all went to the shelter and adopted 2 cats. The shelter puts microchips in the cats and fixes them before they let you bring them home, unless they're sick because then they have to do it once they're healthy, so they hadn't brought them home yet. Mitch had seen a cat that he fell in love with so he wanted to go back and check it out, so Zach and I went with him. Wellll, we got two kittens for ourselves!! Here's the whole story, because I think its a cute story. When Donna and I went the other day there were so many incredibly cute kittens. It was one of those situations where you want to bring home every cat in the place. It would have been impossible for me to pick out a cat - especially because there was one cage of 5 little kittens that were so cute, 3 of which were siamese. ughhhh cute. However, there was this one black and white kitten that started meowing and got my attention. When I pet him through the cage he was leaning up against the wire and was going crazy. When I walked away to pet other kittens he started meowing wondering why the heck I was paying attention to someone else. Basically, I fell in love. When Mitchell and Donna went back yesterday they didn't see him and thought he got adopted. I had been content with the fact that I hadn't gotten a cat because of the rental situation (even though I DID look into buying instead of renting so I could adopt - but I'm not sure that would work out right now with a couple of the loan requirements). Once I heard he was gone I was so sad, though. I realized I had realllllly wanted that cat. When I went back with Mitchell and Zach today we were looking at Mitch's little kitty and WHAT DO I SEE but my guy!!! That was it, I was getting a cat. Part of me considered waiting until Mitchell's cat was available, because it's a 2 for the price of 1 deal there, but we looked around to see if I liked any others because I was afraid the cat would get taken before we came back. He was sick with an upper respiratory thing, which in kittens can be dangerous, so I thought I might be safe that no one would take him, but who knew. We walk around, I cuddled with a few kitties until I found this super cute and playful black kitten with bright green eyes. She was so playful that I almost just gave up on her, figuring she wasn't a cuddler. Then, when I walked away from her she got upset that I walked away! Apparently I can't handle that because I was pretty sure I needed this cat after that. I held her and she was so cuddly. We went back to get the information for the first cat and this chick was looking at him and was like "oh and this is the cat my boyfriend is getting" to one of the ladies. I was like uhhhh that's the cat I'M getting. She wasn't thrilled, but she was nice, and I got my two kittens!!!!!! The all black girl is Zuma, the black and white boy is Bielski. Zuma is a beach here that I absolutely love and have always been obsessed with. Bielski is the last name of the brothers that started a village in the woods in the Holocaust to save themselves and eventually 1200 other Jews. They even fought back against the Nazis. The movie Defiance was based off of their story and they were the inspiration for and a major part of my senior thesis on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. My Bielski still has his cold, but hes very happy in his new home. Not so used to Kaos yet, but it could be worse. It will be a process. Zuma comes home tomorrow, as do Mitch and Donna's new kitties - Maui and Paris (two of their favorite places they've vacationed with their girls).

The kitten homecoming is only one of several exciting things happening this week. Tomorrow I have an interview that I'm super excited for. I don't want to get my hopes up because it seems like a great law firm so I'm sure they are interviewing several people, but I already know I really want this job. The guy I'm interviewing with talked to me on the phone for about 30 minutes the other day before asking me to come in, so I think I've already passed phase 1. It is a firm in Beverly Hills that does a wide array of cases, which would be perfect for me because I'd be exposed to a lot different sides of law. Plus it is right in a great part of Beverly Hills and is a small firm so I'd have more interaction with the partners. Awesome. Also, the guy I interviewed with seems to be the top guy and he is really into photography and hiking, so we have that in common.

After the interview I am bringing Zuma home and Bielski in to get some new medication for his "cold." Zach and I will then be a family of 5 psychopaths. Perfect. At this point we're just going to take any apartment that will take us - don't really care about how nice the kitchen is or anything anymore since we have 3 pets. Also, I am still looking into FHA loans because I would love to buy a place. Even if I can't now it is another reason for me to rent something lower end so I could put more money in the bank for when I buy OR go to Europe ;) I'm also very excited for all of the new TV starting this week! All of my favorite shows, really. Survivor.. Always Sunny.. plenty of others that aren't nearly as important as those two. Also, the girls start school tomorrow so that should be very fun and a new experience for me. They're very excited and got great teachers. That's all for now!