My mother and an exciting day at Universal Studios
In this slow time, right before the beginging of my second year of grad school and post wedding planning frenzy, finding fun things to do is a must. Once school begins I will return to my hermit crab state. But for now Jose is at work everyday from 9-5 and I have little to no agenda. My mom, who recently moved down to the LA area, suggested we do some LA touristy things that we havent done before, such as Universal Studios. It didn't take much convincing for me to hop on board that plan, although i was surprised to hear her suggest it.
I was so excited to ride the metro today for the first time from our new apartment. The metro ends right at universal studios, so the trip was a breeze. The walk to the station was short and not too hot. I realized as I passed by the starbucks to get to the station gate that it would be hard not to purchase starbucks on my way to class each day. It will be a strong temptation to resist. Riding the metro felt freeing in a way. It was nice not to have to focus on driving. I sat and read my book for forty-five minutes until I arrived exactly at my destination. It was such an easy trip. If only if only there were more rails here and we could always travel this way!
It was a long, fun, and exciting day at Universal. I will share the highlights only. We rode every ride except Shrek (because we heard it was lame). None disappointed. they were all awesome. We took the studio tour and went to all of the different special effects shows. We didn't arrive at the park until 1pm, and we only stayed until 7pm. The only reason we were able to do all of these things in such a short span is because my brilliant and generous (as well as crazy) mother spent her next months grocery money buying us "Front of the Line" passes. These passes made us feel like stars. The employees greeted us at the entrace of each line and guided us past the line to the very front. My mom and I relished the looks on all the faces of the jealous people waiting in the long lines.
These are the moments I wish I could have had on video tape: First, as I am turned talking to my mom, a man on stilts bends down right next to me. when I turned around I was so shocked to see him right in my face that I screamed bloody murder and clung to my mom. It made my heart stop! Following my freakout, stiltman tried to make friendly conversation. My mom began trying to recruit him for her cross country team. He responded by saying that running made his glutes burn...my mom said "I like burning glutes".
The second best thing was the House of Horrors. Somehow (thanks to the front of the line passes)we ended up being first to enter the crazy scary horror house. Had it just been the creepy decor and noises we would have been fine. But this haunted house had actual live actors that would jump out dressed as awful things and try to grab you. I was almost caught by a warewolf and then a chuckie doll. After those freaky experiences I made my mom go ahead of me. At one point a man with a bloody butchers knife jumped out of the shadows at her. she screamed so loud and jumped about ten feet back. At this point (already almost near the end) we realize there are two guys behind us who we should have made go first all along. We pushed them up ahead of us, and they proceded to weed out the scary monsters for us, so we didn't have any more heart attacks. Okay, here's the best part. At the very very end there were these two monsters that looked like ugly fat, rotting, decaying women with aprons and a bloody rolling pins. They walked right up to us and made these weird noises. They were following us. My mom started meowing at them. And so one of them kept following her and she just kept on meowing right in the monsters face. It was really funny *(maybe you had to be there?)
Following our fun but exhausting time at the park we had a delicious dinner at Bubba Gumps. It was a shrimp feast! We had some nice talking time. I love my mother. I guess at sometime, probably as a preteen, i didn't like her very much. But I can't even imagine that now. I remember when she first begun dating brooke during the separation from my dad that I hated her, but I still loved her at the same time. it was the hardest emotion I think I have ever dealt with. But we are beyond all of that now. My mom is such a source of support, warmth, and love in my life. I cannot imagine life without her. I cannot imagine not being able to call her and talk to her whenever I want to. I feel so blessed to have this kind of relationship with my mom where we enjoy each other so much. Today was wonderful. Thanks mom.
I was so excited to ride the metro today for the first time from our new apartment. The metro ends right at universal studios, so the trip was a breeze. The walk to the station was short and not too hot. I realized as I passed by the starbucks to get to the station gate that it would be hard not to purchase starbucks on my way to class each day. It will be a strong temptation to resist. Riding the metro felt freeing in a way. It was nice not to have to focus on driving. I sat and read my book for forty-five minutes until I arrived exactly at my destination. It was such an easy trip. If only if only there were more rails here and we could always travel this way!
It was a long, fun, and exciting day at Universal. I will share the highlights only. We rode every ride except Shrek (because we heard it was lame). None disappointed. they were all awesome. We took the studio tour and went to all of the different special effects shows. We didn't arrive at the park until 1pm, and we only stayed until 7pm. The only reason we were able to do all of these things in such a short span is because my brilliant and generous (as well as crazy) mother spent her next months grocery money buying us "Front of the Line" passes. These passes made us feel like stars. The employees greeted us at the entrace of each line and guided us past the line to the very front. My mom and I relished the looks on all the faces of the jealous people waiting in the long lines.
These are the moments I wish I could have had on video tape: First, as I am turned talking to my mom, a man on stilts bends down right next to me. when I turned around I was so shocked to see him right in my face that I screamed bloody murder and clung to my mom. It made my heart stop! Following my freakout, stiltman tried to make friendly conversation. My mom began trying to recruit him for her cross country team. He responded by saying that running made his glutes burn...my mom said "I like burning glutes".
The second best thing was the House of Horrors. Somehow (thanks to the front of the line passes)we ended up being first to enter the crazy scary horror house. Had it just been the creepy decor and noises we would have been fine. But this haunted house had actual live actors that would jump out dressed as awful things and try to grab you. I was almost caught by a warewolf and then a chuckie doll. After those freaky experiences I made my mom go ahead of me. At one point a man with a bloody butchers knife jumped out of the shadows at her. she screamed so loud and jumped about ten feet back. At this point (already almost near the end) we realize there are two guys behind us who we should have made go first all along. We pushed them up ahead of us, and they proceded to weed out the scary monsters for us, so we didn't have any more heart attacks. Okay, here's the best part. At the very very end there were these two monsters that looked like ugly fat, rotting, decaying women with aprons and a bloody rolling pins. They walked right up to us and made these weird noises. They were following us. My mom started meowing at them. And so one of them kept following her and she just kept on meowing right in the monsters face. It was really funny *(maybe you had to be there?)
Following our fun but exhausting time at the park we had a delicious dinner at Bubba Gumps. It was a shrimp feast! We had some nice talking time. I love my mother. I guess at sometime, probably as a preteen, i didn't like her very much. But I can't even imagine that now. I remember when she first begun dating brooke during the separation from my dad that I hated her, but I still loved her at the same time. it was the hardest emotion I think I have ever dealt with. But we are beyond all of that now. My mom is such a source of support, warmth, and love in my life. I cannot imagine life without her. I cannot imagine not being able to call her and talk to her whenever I want to. I feel so blessed to have this kind of relationship with my mom where we enjoy each other so much. Today was wonderful. Thanks mom.