Ok, so I didn't come back the next day and finish the school year. Nor have I told you about my summer. In fact, I don't even have any pictures! I fail. But truly, I have no excuse to NOT update my blog regularly. (Other than that I am really boring.) So, here it goes...
Spring Quarter of school: I was one of two ASM's for TFT's production of Cabaret! It was hard the first few weeks back to school because I wasn't allowed to lift anything or push/pull stuff. That's kinda half your job as an ASM. I probably wasn't as good as I should have been to adhering to that edict, and some of my scars are a little wider than i would like because of it, but it is what it is!
The musical itself was a lot of fun. The cast was awesome, and the show was fun to work on. Our choreographer, Jane Lanier, used to dance with/for Bob Fosse. She was really nice, and I learned a lot about dance rehearsal etiquette, which was really interesting and good to know! I guess it's one of those benefits of being in school... you LEARN! :)
One of the things I enjoyed and am the most proud of from Spring quarter was my final project for 3DS Max. I'm going to have to scan the photocopy of my picture in, so you can truly appreciate why I was so proud of my project! It took HOURS to finish, but it was a lot of (frustrating) fun. I also got to take Theater History with Gary Gardner, who is one of the funniest and most entertaining teachers I have ever had! If every class I had were taught by Gary Gardner, I would have found more reasons to stay longer!
The one kind of shocking (yet pleasantly surprising) things that happened Spring Quarter was that I won a scholarship! I was very surprised! I got to go to a special event with all the other scholarship winners from TFT, and a yummy reception afterward. My scholarship donor wasn't able to attend, but it was still fun to go and see the show. Last school year I got to go to the show, but I was backstage. One of the one acts I had Stage Managed was performing, so I have to be there to make sure everything went according to plan. This year I just got to watch. :)
Our musical closed on a Saturday. Sunday afternoon my mom showed up, helped me pack up the car, and I moved away forever from UCLA. I was actually kind of sad. It was a fast two years... well, some days were faster than others. But it's amazing how different life is when you have to leave a routine. Coming home (and being home) has left me lost. What did I used to do with my free time? I have no idea.
I spent that first week at home playing with Laura, Ben & Haley. They stayed with us for the month of June. I wanted to make sure to come home as soon as possible to play with them, because the following week I would once again be going under the knife. It worked out well though. We had a chance to play, and visit. We went to Sea World, and Haley got to meet her favorite person: Elmo. I bought a picture of them together, and it is downstairs in the living room. Very cute.
That friday we all loaded into the car and drove back up to school for my graduation! I was surprised at how laid back the processional and name reading was. We didn't have to be in alphabetical order or anything! WAY different from high school grauation, where they make you practice. I sat in the front row by the speakers, so I was one of the last to have my name read. I also was not willing to spend $30 on a stupid gold cord that I didn't even get to keep, so when they asked everyone who had latin honors to stand, I didn't stand. I DID however get latin honors. Cum Laude, thank you very much. I would have been Magna Cum Laude, but there was this B in Winter Quarter... I don't want to talk about it. (grumble, grumble, grumble) It was exciting and fun to see so many people come and watch me graduate. It was more people than ever came to visit me at school! I appreciated everyone who came. It was a lovely day.
The following week I was once again on the operating table. This time I had a belt lipectomy. Basically, they cut me in half. They cut your skin all the way around your body at your pubic bone, and again right above your belly button. Then they take all the skin inbetween the incisions and remove it. They cut a new belly button hole, and pull the remaining skin down and sew it together. You're left with a scar that goes all the way around your body. Hence the name 'BELT' Lipectomy. Ben is a nurse, and has had a lot of experience with gross stuff, so when I came home, he and mom became the "drain team." I had a pain pump that was woven into my stomach muscles, and 4 drains that had to be emptied several times a day. The very first day when I came home I also had a catheter. My least favorite part. Yuck. The most dramatic part of recovery, however, was finding out that I am apparently allergic to Perochet! I passed out twice; once alone late at night in the bathroom (which was apparently heard due to my ripping the door off the hinges), and once when my sister Laura was in there to aid me. She said she never realized that you could actually see the blood drain from someone's face, until she saw it happen to me. The amazingly large and colorful bruise on my side was a lovely reminder of that whole affair. Luckily, it's long gone. Oh! I also apparently had a seizure in the doctor's office. I don't remember it. I just remember feeling sick, and then waking up in the chair trying to figure out where the heck I was, and why there were suddenly 5 additional people in the room that weren't there before. It freaked the nurse out. But you know me. I like to keep people on their toes. :)
Ok. Part 2 is done. It's late. I'm tired. I make no promises that Part 3 will be posted soon, but I'll see what I can do. Like I said, I really have no reason not to get everything up in a timely manner. So...