Oh goody!

Well, it's almost that time, but first-

The trip to California was awesome. The drive wasn't so bad after we made it through the mountains. I hate driving on the side of a cliff. The whole time I had my camera and my dad's and I was taking pictures with both, pretty much just aiming the thing at the window and pressing a button with out looking. We didn't really have a set destination, but we had discussed San Fransisco and that's where we ended up. We stayed in Vallejo for two nights. Took a day trip into San Fransisco and first off, toll booths can suck a dong.

My aunt Sandy had run away from Minnesota when she was in her mid-teens. She ended up in San Fransisco during the "Summer of Love". We went to Golden Gate Park where she and her friends had spent time doing all sorts of illegal activities. We also saw the place she lived in, just down the block from "Haight and Ashbury". That general feeling of being free and a sense of a community within a community is still alive. There's still many people down there doing the same thing that was done 40 years ago. It's quite a beautiful part of the city, really.

We did some normal tourist-y things, too. We drove around for awhile, relying on my dad's nifty GPS system to get us around. We spent the rest of the day at Fisherman's Wharf and took a boat tour around the bay. It went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz which was way sweet. We didn't actually go on the island; all the tours were booked up. Took some awesome pictures and finally got to see the ocean for the first time.

When we left SF, we drove to Santa Cruz. It was a pretty drive, but I admit, I was getting crabby and just wanted to get into a hot shower and go to bed. Drove back to Vallejo and ended up doing just that.

We left the next morning to drive back to Medford. We stopped at a casino but they were lame and you had to be 21 to gamble. My dad won a hundred bucks, though so it was not a wasted detour. The drive back was calm; California was sunny and I didn't want to leave.

The past few days I've just been relaxing. Hanging out in town for a few hours with my dad. It's been pretty cool having him here, we haven't just hung out in years.

Right now, it's about 4 hours away from when we have to leave to go to the hospital. I still need to pack a bag and shower with their special soap. I'm getting pretty nervous. I had to stop eating and drinking at midnight, and although I was hungry, I wasn't at the same time. I forced myself to eat, sat down and started writing this, got about three words down and promptly threw up. I get a bit more freaked out by the minute, but I've been proud at the way I've been keeping it at bay for the past few days. I've had a ton of destractions which has obviously helped.

I've also had a lot of support from many surprising places. My family have been there from the start. I haven't had too many friends the past year or so, but the ones that have stuck have been amazing. I've also made a few really awesome friends since this has started. They know who they are and they have been absolutly wonderful. Everyone at Cracked/PWoT has been amazing. They sure are a bunch of dicks, but when it really matters, they're always around.

Anywho- Once I get to the hospital, I get to dick around for awhile, probably signing a bunch of paperwork and then getting all doped up. Hopefully in that order. Once surgery goes down, as soon as I'm lucid enough I'll be texting a good pal on PWoT to have him post in the thread I have there. I won't be able to update this for a few days, most likely. The headache I'm supposed to have for the next few weeks will make it difficult for me to concentrate on anything so the next post will probably consist of a face mash on the keyboad and telling my mom to hit the post button. I supposidly will have dranage packs up my nose, facial swelling and matching black eyes so there's always that to look forward to.

Once again, thanks for reading, all your well wishes and keeping me in your thoughts. It's greatly appreciated.

Cheers, mates!
~Emily