I still can't believe I live in California.  Ten minutes from the ocean.  Ten minutes from San Francisco.  I can't believe I've been here for six months.  Someone told me that time stands still here.  Because there aren't any seasons.  I get it.  It feels like spring time.  Like we just skipped winter.  It's odd.  I'm still adjusting to it all.  Moving across the country.  Being a stay at home mom.

  I feel like I'm on an extended vacation.  I'm starting to miss my friends and family a bit.  I'm a planner and I feel good when I have some things on the books.  We have the whole demolition of our new house coming up so that's exciting.  But I like to have trips planned and purchased.  Dates when I know that I'm going to see my family or friends.  I have nothing planned.  So I've been pestering my family.  Course, the whole demolition of our house is going to happen in the next week or two so it's really not a good time to have a lot of visitors.  Hopefully living without a kitchen for a few months will keep me busy and I won't miss my family so much.

The One with the View

Before I get into pictures of our house...let's talk about the view.  We bought this house for a lot of reasons...but the view was at the top of the list!  Photos do not do it justice.

This is early morning.

This is mid day.

 

 

 

Early evening.

The One with the Adjusting

There are some things that are different in California from Ohio.  And some of them are a little harder to adjust to.  Maybe it's just me but some of these things are just bizarre!

1)  Motorcycles.  There are a lot of them.  And they drive higgly piggly through traffic.  They freak me out coming up the middle of the highway.  Geesh!  I used to try to avoid motorcycles.  I'd stay back as far as possible or pass as quickly as possible.  But there's no getting away from them here!

Maybe its that I was in a horrible car wreck flying through the air on the interstate...but I always think of the worst case scenerio when it comes to motorcycles.  A small pebble.  A little wobble here or there.  And then I run over a body.  It's one thing to hit a car on the freeway...but hitting a motorcycle.  I couldn't handle it.  They would have to take me away in a white coat.  I'm not adjusting to this one.  At all!

2)  Drive thrus.  Come on!  People in Cali have cars.  Why aren't there any bank drive thrus?  Why aren't there any Starbucks drive thrus?  They're all over Ohio.  Those peeps in Seattle know they work in Ohio..why not Cali?  People have kids in car seats in Cali too ya know!  There are random McDonald's drive thrus...and your Jack...whatever restaurants...but I need caffiene!!  And a bank every now and then.  This one's not easy either!  Update - I enrolled Max in a preschool...the only one that had availability.  Guess what, it has a drive thru!  I can't believe it.  It's genius but I still can't believe it.

3)  No rain.  It seriously hasn't rained since we've been here.  One day of sprinkles...and it wasn't enough to send Hugo running.  It's been total sunshine for 2+ months.  I can live with this one! Update - We're now in the rainy season.  It's still been like 10 random days with loads of sunshine in between.  I'm loving this one!

4)  Shopping mall.  I'm in need of a shopping mall.  I'll be driving to Concord tomorrow for a shopping mall trip.  I'll let you know how it goes.  It's 20 miles outside of Emeryville.  Seems odd to me coming from the land of retail.  I'm adjusting...though it's weird.  Update - Now that we're in God's Country (aka Marin County) there are mountains, ocean, the city and...MALLS!  Nice ones!  Yay!!

5)  Grocery stores.  I know I've complained about this one but I just haven't found the right place.  Yeah...there are Whole Foods everywhere.  And the Berkeley Bowl..(which is fabulous in its own right) and Trader Joe's.  But we're feeding a family of four here.  And $5 for a gallon of milk that lasts about 3 days just ain't happening.  So I've been going to BB, TJ's and Pak N Stab Save.  I hate having to go to 3-4 different places to get what I want.  Although the fresh fruit and veggies are fabulous!  I'll adjust..eventually. Update - In God's Country there are better Safeway's and a great Trader Joe's and Mollie Stone's (even more expensive than Whole Paycheck) but I still miss my Market District Giant Eagle. 

Overall, life is good.  Being a SAHM is great.  Now if we can just find a house... Update - We found a house!  Yay!  More of that to come. Now that we're somewhat settled, hopefully I'll post some more!