December.

I was getting crazy sick of school. This last year wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be but I was still just so exhausted. Luckily, winter break was coming up and I was looking forward to a trip to New York to visit my dad and stepmom. Ben had taken me to a concert and I took him on MY version of a date: a tour of the UCLA campus. I also took him to the coffee shop and introduced him my coworkers. Still, he wasn't officially my "boyfriend" and we were dating very casually and sporadically but I was looking forward to telling my Dad all about him. I already told my mom, leaving out the Vegas incident of course.

I took the red eye, fell asleep immediately and I couldn't believe it when I was jarred awake. It was daytime. I looked at my watch and it was 4am California time. No wonder I was out of it. Obviously we'd be landing soon so I went to use the tiny airplane bathroom and splash some water on my face but the smell inside immediately made me dry heave into the toilet. Jeez, I don't remember airplane bathrooms being THIS gross but I hurried up and got out of there. I guess I was gonna hold it until I got to the airport so I can use the bathroom there instead.

Samantha picked me up and I hung out with her at my dad's place until he came home. He was so happy to see me as he walked in the door. "Boontsie!" he cried.

"Hey Dad! I missed you so much!"

I hadn't seen my Dad in almost 2 years. He was busy with work, I was with school. I suppose we both could have made a better effort but hey, I was here now and that's all that mattered. He aged a lot in the last 2 years too and I assumed it was due to his workload but I'm sure, like Mom, he'll be retiring soon as well.

"So, what are the plans for the week?" I asked.

He folded his arms and looked off to the side, like he was in deep thought before saying, "We'll do something..New York. I don't want you to forget where you came from."

I laughed and said, "Oh Dad, I'd never forget where I came from."

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Hmm..that California glow tells me otherwise."

I gotta admit that I really had grown to love the sun.

The next morning, my dad had to work, of course but since it was Friday, he was planning something special for me that night.

Samantha made a great spread for me too. Bacon, eggs, french toast and fresh fruit.

"Um is anyone else coming over?" I asked.

"Ha! No, I just wanted to give you options. Well eat the rest of this over the next few days," she replied.

I decided on a small portion of eggs, a piece of French toast and 2 pieces of bacon as I sat down with my stepmom. We chatted a little about what we should do that morning and just settled on walking around Central Park for a bit and we'd figure it out from there. I was getting ready in the bathroom when she knocked on the door. "Come in!" I said.

Samantha said, "Hey hon, I just wanted to ask. Do you want to go to Bloomingdale's?"

Oh my gosh, I LOVE Bloomingdale's but my budget would not allow that so I told her, "Oh, Sam I dont have any money to do that."

She waved her hand at me and said, "Oh no. It's my treat. I haven't seen you in so long."

I couldn't say no to that so I accepted the offer and immediately, I felt this weird feeling in my stomach and then suddenly I turned and threw up in the sink. It came out of nowhere. I covered my mouth with my hands and just stared at Samantha who had her mouth open in shock. Obviously she didn't expect me to do that either and I was so embarrassed. I stammered, "I'm so sorry. I'll..I'll clean it up."

"It's ok, it's ok," she said and then she ran to the kitchen and brought back a trash bag and roll of paper towels.

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate puking and now I was going to have to clean up a whole bunch of it. She was looking away but asked, "Are you ok?"

"I don't know.." I trailed off.

"Have you been sick?"

I shook my head and said "No, not that I know of."

She asked, "Wanna check your blood sugar or something?"

I replied, "Yeah, I can do that" but after cleaning the sink, throwing the bag away, brushing my teeth and washing my hands, I felt fine. I checked my blood sugar anyway and that was ok too. How weird.

Thankfully, I was able to spend the rest of the day with Samantha and had no more problems. It was freezing but we strolled through Central Park, i got a beautiful new silver bracelet from Bloomingdale's, we took two taxi rides AND a quick ride in the smelly NYC subway. It felt good to be home.