Sick Animals and Sad Departings

Today, I woke up around 10:00 to my dog, Oreo, barking. Why does she bark when she is locked in my room, which is in the basement? Who knows. Maybe she wants to be let out to go potty.

Anyways, some gracious parent (my mom) came and got her and I slept for a bit longer.

I woke up, had a bagel, sat and watched a bit of TV, then began to cross things off my To Do List.

I picked up my room, which was the thing I wanted to do first. I then moved on to cleaning my hamster's cage. It is then when the problems began.

My hamster, Sammy, was sick.

He had a red rash all over his back, which was a bit swollen, he was sleeping instead of running around like usual, and his fur was matted. I called my dad, asked for advice, and then quickly called Banfield at Petsmart near my house. They said that they didn't have a vet in today that could treat hamsters, but the west side did, and they were very good with them. I quickly called the west side and explained the situation and they said come in at 2:00.

I then realized I didn't have a carrying cage for Sammy to be in while he was in the car... I rushed out to PetCo and bought one. I layered it with bedding and put a food bowl in it, and got Sammy ready. I ate some lunch around noon, and then went to start packing.

Preparing last night had been a great idea. All my clothes were folded in stacks by what they were: nice shirts, t-shirts, workout clothes, jeans, nice pants, skirts, and the like. I threw what I wanted into the suitcase and began to figure out what I would need for the trip.

By now, it was approaching 1:20 and I needed to get going in order to get to the vet on time. I went to my mom's computer and started to print a map, but the computer died and I couldn't get it in time. I ran up to my dad's computer, which took its time and was really slow. In the end, it didn't even print the right part. I memorized the directions and left with Sammy.

In the car, Sammy was breathing heavily and very nervous. He had never been on a car ride before. He threw bedding all over my passenger seat.

We arrived at Banfield, the pet hospital, and checked in. The vet came in and quickly diagnosed Sammy: he had a bacterial skin infection. He would need to take some medicine every day. I knew this would be bad: I'm going to L.A. for THREE WEEKS... how would this work? I called my parents and we quickly enlisted our neighbor, who is a nurse.

I came home and showed our neighbor how to do everything, and then ran to take the dogs to the Doggy Day Care.

My mom and I chauffeured Abby and Oreo to the day care and we left them, sadly. Oreo and Abby were not happy, and I reluctantly passed Oreo from my arms to the sitter's. I won't see my babies for another three, three and a half weeks.

We ran by Kohl's, because I needed a swimsuit for the camp. We got that, and ran to Wal-Mart, where I picked up a bunch of things from the travel aisle (LOVE that aisle).

We went home, and then I went to continue packing, occasionally weighing my suitcase, making sure it stayed under 50 pounds. It weighs 47.6 pounds total.

Then, my parents and I left for dinner at Cheddar's. We enjoyed rolls, entrees, and dessert.

My dad and I went to drive Jamie's car back to the workshop, where we stayed and played with the stray cats that hang around there. We then went to get my car gas and then we went home.

I finished packing, and now have two checked bags and one carry-on bag. The carry-on bag has my purse, a blanket, some DVDs, my summer reading book "Three Cups of Tea", and the laptop. I'm hoping that I can take "Three Cups of Tea" and read about half of it while on the plane. The other half will be read while I'm at the camp... oh dear, I hope I have time.

Now, I sit on my bed, typing this blog entry, thinking about my camp.

I'm not worried about making friends. I'm not worried about having fun. I'm not worried about being in a big city.

I'm worried that I'll fail. That everything I've aspired to be over the past few years will turn out to be nothing.

I KNOW I'm not a great filmmaker, but I aspire to be one. That's why I'm doing this camp... to learn if I'm cut out for this, to learn if I really, truly want to live in Los Angeles, if I really want to risk my well-being trying to break into one of the most difficult businesses there is.

I'm worried I will fail. But I hope I just have the will to complete the task, to finish it.

Who knows? This could be the beginning... or the end.