Well, more like Long Beach for now.
My adventures now take me to a new and (not so far) away place….Los Angeles. The land of Botox, boobs, and Bentleys.
Ok, I have to admit, when I have ever heard of Long Beach,
I pictured Snoop Dog, Tupac, and front porch drinking…
I know terrible….
But it is in fact a cute place with lots to do! Reminds me a lot of Downtown San Diego.
<—-Downtown Long Beach
Downtown San Diego—->
Beautiful Downtown San Diego… the bay three blocks from my place….my place-gorgeous, the view-lovely. Why am I leaving again?
Fuck Cancer
I had in the past, often spoke of moving to LA with friends several times… in fact, I had planned on it, there is so much life outside of San Diego… However….I had also planned on it several times before, just that this time something happened that solidified my decision to go; made it so there was absolutely no looking back.
The weekend of my return from my France trip, my best friend tells me at the age of 30, she has been diagnosed with Stage zero Breast Cancer. She was to have a full mastectomy and possibly chemotherapy. Whoa. I knew nothing about Cancer. It hadn’t hit anyone in my family, no one I knew had it. I of course knew cancer existed and the foundations to find a cure..but I’ve never had it hit so close to home. I was in shock.
I decided then, I would move in with her to take care of her for her surgery, then just commute for work.
Yup, It’s all packed up, scheduled the movers, my porn and other “goodies” are put away neatly in boxes and ready to go to storage. This is happening.
After her mastectomy, we waited about 2 weeks for the pathology to come back. Turns out, she in fact has a very aggressive STAGE 3 breast cancer. They removed 16 lymph nodes under her right arm and 4 of those were cancerous. They had to explain to me what all of that meant because I had no idea. Apparently there are only 4 stages, and at stage 4, you are given about 4 months to live. So stage 3 is already pretty bad. She will have to have the maximum amount of chemotherapy and radiation, have her second breast removed, and because the cancer is so far on the margin of the skin of her right breast, that skin will have to be removed as well. Skin grafting will be done to cover the wound. All in all, 4-6 months of treatment and at least 8 months of disability to start. Wow, was not expecting that. We sat in the doctors office and cried. Even the doctor cried.
My friend is one of the nicest most amazing people in this world. Anyone that meets her says the same. I don’t know why this happened to her. In her genetics testing, it showed it was not hereditary. No one deserves Cancer, I just can’t help but wonder though, why her? She’s going to beat this, that I’m sure of. You hear me Cancer??! You worthless piece of shit?! You can’t have her, I won’t let you, so YOU.LOSE.BITCH!
Although it is going to be a long and hard road, the doctors say it’s curable and as long as she stays positive along with the treatment, she has a good chance of beating this.
So I decided then, life was too short, and she was going to need help, my priority was now my friend. Cancer is no fucking joke….I decided to put in my resignation for work then.
I had previously talked of moving on from my job, but decided it was going to have to happen sooner rather than later.
I also canceled my trip to Aruba for my 30th birthday. No way I was going to leave her. I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it.Besides, there are more important things and she needs help. I am no hero. I just decided to do what anyone else would do for their friend. We will go back when she beats this.
I will say I wasn’t really scared about turning in my resignation because see, I never drown…even with setbacks, I’m a survivor for sure..so I am positive I will not only do ok in LA…I will thrive there…
I thought work would give me an “Ok, see ya” but they actually came back and offered me an option to keep my job by working just one day a month, and should things stabilize and I decide to move back to San Diego, I will have my job! Working one day a month, allows me to keep my seniority and my certifications. I have no intention of moving back but I am so grateful for options! As of now, I can request more days or less as I need. Depending on how well she does with treatment, I may be able to work more days until I find work in LA.
For now my job is to be her personal clown,keep her in good spirits, and do for her..whatever she cannot. We are going to be like Thelma and Louise! Minus that particular ending I’m hoping because that’s just crazy…
WORRRRK IT GIRRRRL
So seeing as though I will have some extra time on my hands, if she handles treatment well, I want to start thinking of job options…I’m taking votes so feel free to comment on which you think is best.
- A. Dog Walker/Sitter-I love animals. I get a real joy from playing with them. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, bathing them, giving up my bed for them. I just love them. There is something very therapeutic about being around them. So someone mentioned becoming a walker/sitter. Wow, what a thought!! I get to play with them, and you want to pay me for this !?! Definitely an option!
- B. Finish My Edu-ma-cation -The Air Force will still pay me to go to school. I could finish my business degree. Also being that I am considered a disabled veteran, when it comes to some government jobs, I am automatically put ahead of the pile just because I’m disabled….suckers.
- C. Sit on my ass-I already make money from the military monthly.
- D. Sell Los Angeles- I still have my real estate license.
- E. Cleaning Lady-It’s like in my blood helloooooo. I would of course change my name to Consuela
- F.Goldigger-Find a rich boyfriend so I don’t have to work, and I just worry about being the pretty girl on his arm.
In thinking about that last one, I realize there are women out there who actually do this. Ewww.
Worst case, if all options were taken away tomorrow I can always commute to work at the borders and clean your car windows as you pass through and sell candy….
It is going to be weird for me to put my mission for world domination on hold because I always have a goal I’m working towards..but my ambition isn’t going anywhere. I’m just going to embrace and enjoy my new job of “Personal Biatch” . Everything else will fall into place. That’s just how I roll.
No Date
So does this change affect my dating life?…It does.
I am currently in my “no dating” phase which I’m enjoying….when I get text messages, or phone calls, or a guy tries to make a pass at me, I just ignore it…it’s rather liberating.
Well this move, for now, will add on more time to that. Why? Because I have nothing to offer anyone right now. I have no job and I will be on an air mattress in my friends living room.
Can you picture how a first date would go? :
Me: Yes, I’m living on my friends air mattress in her living room currently…Mmmhhmm, Ohhh and what do I do for a living?….Nothing.
Yeah, not a good look. I’ve heard as women we don’t necessarily have to have much to offer to someone in regards to work..but I’m not that way, and I’m not going to go in expecting him to have his shit together when I don’t have mine together…I’m not about to lower my standards either.
So my no dating streak will continue, I don’t mind that one bit.
But ummm yeah, if you happen to see me on the side of the freeway in a few months with a “Will Work For Food” sign…throw me a freaking dollar would ya? I am a veteran for fucks sake!
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