We went to see Avatar in 3-D tonight. It was really good but in my opinion, a little more violent than it needed to be. The visuals are really stunning. You watch and wonder, “How did they do that?”

The sun is out! The endless rain finally stopped, although it did rain yesterday too. All seems to be well so far in Los Angeles. Last night four of us went to see Riverdance at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood and I loved it. We had dinner beforehand at Musso & Frank Grill. Everything is “a la carte” there – everything. $3.50 for salad dressing! This restaurant has been in Hollywood for almost 100 years, in fact Charlie Chaplin used to go there. Most of the waiters are old. I think I recognized one of them from the Last Supper. :o)

Rain Report 4 p.m.: It rained the hardest today, sideways part of the time. But by dinner time, the rain stopped and it seems like the worst is over. It’s still going to rain tonight, and tomorrow but not as heavy. Then the rain starts back up Monday… oh well. The city has had mud slides and rock slides and we’ll see if the saturated hills hold up. So far, the mud slides have not taken down any houses, probably thanks to all the sandbags and K-rails everyone put up to divert the flow. I miss my walks, so for exercise, I walked around the house, up and down the stairs. I can’t wait to see the sun again.

Second Rain Report 11 p.m.: Just after I posted the entry above, it started raining really hard again. By the time we had dinner, there was lightening and thunder, and a few minutes later – hail and very strong winds. Around that time, there was another tornado, this time in Ventura, that lifted trees and seriously damaged some homes. Then after dinner, we heard helicopters hovering above the house. I couldn’t believe they were flying in the strong winds, but it turns out a power pole came down on Mulholland Drive causing power outages close by. We’re not done yet.

Rain Report: We got pummeled again today. There was hail in Malibu, lightening at the beach, in fact 2 planes coming into Burbank were hit by lightening. The waves at the beaches were huge and dangerous. One person did try to surf but quit as fast as he started. There is mud rolling down the hills where most people have evacuated so I guess they’ll watch the news to see if their homes got hit. Several schools are closed tomorrow and more trees have come down. We have water coming into the house in 5 places. The ground is very saturated right now and the biggest storm of them all – #4 – is coming tomorrow.

Rain Report: We had a tornado today at Seal Beach. I couldn’t believe it. It lifted an SUV off the ground and two boats out of the water. It also broke windows. This storm has also uprooted trees and a lot of cars were under water. On the news last night I saw that a 100-year-old tree fell on a house, and other trees fell on cars. So far no one has been hurt but there is lots of mud everywhere and some of our freeways are closed. It rained really hard today but the worst is still to come… on Thursday.

Rain Report: It poured down hard most of the day with so much wind it was raining sideways. I went out to buy a rain slicker and rubber boots and driving along Mulholland, there were microwave-size boulders on the road as well as many smaller rocks and a tree that fell across the road. There were flooded areas all along the road so drivers were swerving to avoid either the rocks or the sitting water. It was a scary drive but I got my slicker so I could go out and check the drains around the house. Some were clogged with leaves and debris so I cleared them away and 20 minutes later, they were clogged again. I guess the water was flowing so fast, it kept picking up debris every time. Authorities have started evacuating people from the burn areas because if mud starts coming down, it can take a house with it. On the bright side, the roof’s not leaking.

We got sandbags yesterday and placed them across the back patio in anticipation of the deluge of rain that’s coming. The fire stations are providing the bags and the sand for whoever needs it and since our backyard slopes toward the house, it seemed like the smart thing to do. We’ve never lived in this house during torrential rains but if we do get the 20 inches of rain predicted, who knows what could happen. I went grocery shopping and bought enough food for a week in case the roads aren’t passable. The last time it rained like this about 10 years ago, part of Mulholland Drive collapsed and went down the hill so the road was closed. We live in the hills so with the extra food & water, we are covered if we can’t get down the hill. It started raining at 1 p.m. this afternoon and it’s still raining now (11 p.m.). There will likely be mud slides where the recent fires were. Everyone is anxious and hoping for the best.

Why did I have to be a girl? We have a wedding to go to next month and I still have nothing to wear. I’ve been out shopping the last three nights, I’ve bought two dresses, took them both back, just bought a third one tonight, but I’m leaving the tags on. I don’t like dresses but the last wedding I wore pants (beautiful silk ones) and I was the only woman in pants, so now I need a dress, since I do not own one. Men just put on a tie and jacket or suit but it’s not easy for women. Here’s my dress dilemma: How long? Above or below the knee? Something frilly? Don’t want to out-frill the bride. What about color? Will fuschia be too distracting? “Look at her trying to steal the spotlight!” Then black. Can’t go wrong with basic black. Too morbid? Will it send a message that their marriage is doomed? What about a jacket? I might look like I stopped by the wedding on my way to a business seminar. What’s the dress code? Even restaurants will tell you “upscale casual.” It’s just too stressful. I need to bake some cookies.