Ever since I received word from UCLA, I have been trying to come up with a new plan. You know. The Plan. Capital letters and everything.

What to do? Well, first of all, I found two schools that interest me. One is CSU Pomona, which offers Zoology as a major. It's a polytechnic school, has received fairly good ratings as far as I can tell, and has an Equine Research Center in which students can work with the Arabian horses. I had an Arabian gelding when I was 15, so this piqued my interest quite a bit. The downsides? It's way the hell out there, 35 miles east of L.A., where it's hot (no ocean breeze there!) and hilly. And according to one student I spoke to online, parking's a bitch. Sadly, you just can't escape that anywhere near L.A., it seems!

The other school holding my attention is CSU Long Beach. They offer a B.S. in Biology with an emphasis in Zoology. It's south of L.A., but not too far south. It's got a great Marine Biology department, of what I can tell from their website. And it's close to the water, so the weather isn't too bad. Also, I know someone who went there and liked it, so that's always a good thing.

CSU Pomona is a quarter school, and winter quarter starts in January. CSU Long Beach is a semester school, and spring semester probably starts in February. In addition to school decisions, Joe and I have to make lease decisions on this apartment. Going month-to-month will increase our rent, so we're probably going to sign the short lease, a 6 month one, and move to the L.A. area sometime in November. I may even have time to take a Speech class at my old school in Santa Monica in January, before the new term starts for me (CSUs like it when you've taken Speech, and I have not...). So, by next year, we'll be in L.A., and I'll be on the road to getting a degree in Zoology. That is, if all goes well. I can make my Plans with a capital P all I want. Life will still throw surprises my way every once in a while. But, I guess I brought it upon myself. After all, I've always said, "I love surprises!" Life has a sick sense of humor, I think.