Found My Camera

I came back with about 70 photos from my trip to L.A. That probably doesn't sound like much, but when I think about it, our "totally tourist" days were Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday (which was the last day for me, because I had a flight back to Philly first thing Thursday). Monday we chilled out at the hotel pool and Tuesday we spent the day at the studio.

The above photo is from that Wednesday and is the last photo I took. We spent most of the afternoon on Hollywood Boulevard--we had been there briefly on Saturday, but Wednesday my cousin was meeting up with a high school buddy who wanted to meet us there. I bought souvenirs for my family and took photos (obviously) but for the most part I was pretty much just thinking about coming home. I was a bit fried by then.


I snapped the photo below from the car as we were leaving the San Gabriel Mission, most of which we didn't get to tour because we arrived about 15 minutes before closing. It still strikes me as strange to see a wedding on a Sunday, but maybe it's more common on the West Coast. Let me tell you, I lucked into that shot because we were stopped at a red light and traffic was coming and going around the curve of the road.



Oddly enough, it's a fairly appropriate subject for today. It was Pre-Cana day at my church again but even my dad who always knows what's going on at church didn't know it beforehand. Double surprise: I ran into the Ex's cousin. . . because she's finally marrying the guy she's been going with for years. She's a lovely person--in fact she and her parents are the ones I really got on with the best out of the whole family--a very gentle personality. She's a teacher so she asked about my school, which was nice. Still, I felt that prickle of shame standing there without a ring on my own finger (see: feeling like a nobody, a year ago today), singing at the same church I've been singing for years. I did mention I'd gone to California the week before, but I didn't say why. I'm kicking myself for not asking how her parents were, but I'm presuming they're ecstatic she's engaged and dammit I felt so awkward that it just didn't cross my mind.

And maybe it didn't matter. I wished them well and that was about as involved as I needed to be. But man, that was just. . . random and uncomfortable. I'd already spent the day before, singing for a wedding ceremony at the city church, and that was actually kinda nice (plus the money I earned almost took care of one of my medical bills), but enough wedding for me for one weekend. Did I mention I had my niece and middle nephew in tow while talking to the cousin? I can't even begin to explain all the mishegoss that led to that situation. They were pretty good in church, though.

So, all in all, a weird weekend.

Anybody do anything actually fun or interesting this weekend? I need to know.