Pictures that didn't make it to the Newsletter

All of the below pictures were too fuzzy for the newsletter but they are still sort of interesting, I think. Murray was mad, and slinking around in his ribbon. He finally sat still on the chair. Mac didn't like to have the tiny santa coat sitting on him (it's just wrapped around him, I don't make him wear it) so he kept wiggling and complaining.





Murray mad, Mac ok

















Fake smiles all around :)

















This would have been the one, if it wasn't so fuzzy



















Test pic without Mac, Murray refuses to look at camera

Christmas Newsletter

Hi All! After a thankfully uneventful trip across country where we stayed with wonderful friends and family, we are here in sunny Orange County, California. I love California so much! I don’t ever want to leave. It is beautiful and clean and the people are very nice. We miss everyone back East but are making new friends here. The weather is so awesome! (See, CA talk already) :)

We are having a great time, traveling around and visiting new places. In the few months we have been here, we have been to the Santa Monica pier, Corona del Mar, and driven up the Pacific Coast Highway to see Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Seal Beach. We go to Disneyland often. We are about an hour away from Los Angeles and have visited Little Tokyo. Eddie also loves to show me all the places he grew up and I love to see them.

We both have new jobs. Eddie is working for the same company in a new position and studying hard for the LSAT’s, which he plans to take next year. I got a new job in Santa Ana, working for a small payroll tax firm. Even with California traffic, it only takes a half hour to get there, and I don’t have to go on the freeway! This may seem like a long commute but many of my coworkers drive an hour or more one way, daily! I enjoy my job and love working for a small company, after so many years at a big one.

We are both active in our wonderful and friendly new ward (church) and already have a calling (a job within the church), we teach the 11-12 year olds, but next year we will be teaching the 10 year olds. Even though the ward building is only a couple of blocks away, we still manage to be late nearly every Sunday.

We are enjoying every minute with our cat Murray and rat Fatty MacChubby (Mac) - see picture above. Mac (in Santa coat we stole from stuffed animal) is getting a little fatter and lazier and now that he is an elderly gentleman, doesn’t care to do his tricks anymore. Murray (angry, in bow) enjoys lying on the patio and being taken for walks in his cat stroller. It’s true- we have a cat stroller. We bought it for the trip west and never used it, so we decided to get our money’s worth from it by taking him for near daily walks. Since he is a cat, we sense that he feels it is his due to be wheeled around by his minions.

Thanksgiving and shorts in the winter

Here we are giggling because we are wearing shorts in December.













We had a pseudo-Polynesian Thanksgiving. The thing in back is our Palm Christmas tree. It lights up, and I keep it out year round and decorate it sometimes for different holidays.










In my Muu Muu

Disneyland and some random things

Guess where we got a season pass to?

















I bought ears to wear every time I go :) Oh brother...













Here I am, delighted by Its A Small World :)














I really love Disneyland. It has the tame baby rides that I love. And their fireworks display actually brought tears to my eyes, it was so good and moving. I know, I am a crybaby :)

Random Stuff:
So I am really glad that I am not single here in California because my gaydar is way off. In New Jersey, you see a man in jeans and sandals without socks, and this man is probably gay. Here, it’s just another guy on the street.

I pass a sign every day that says “Irvine 1971”. This means that I am one year older than the town I drive thorough every day. It’s kind of sobering being older than a town...


This is the Science Museum. It speaks of my nerdiness that when I first saw it, I said "Wow, it looks like a Borg Cube!"

My New Job! And my old boss, me

Here is part of the Saddleback Mountains. I am in the valley. This looks more like a mountain in person, instead of a big hill.




























Here is part of my drive to work :) I am still thrilled by palm trees.

This is the front of my new office building. Across the way is the American Cancer Society, and yet people still smoke off to the left side in full veiw of their giant sign that says CANCER. This would be the thing to make me quit if I smoked.

I love my new job. I work for a small company that does payroll taxes for companies. It sounds boring but it is really researching problems and resolving them and I like that.

It’s really nice to work at a small company; everyone is very teamwork oriented and friendly. After being on severance and then unemployment for almost a year, I sort of forgot what it was like to have to go to work. I forgot what kind of lack of time that you have. I love working and going to work and having a routine but I also liked being my own boss. I was very lax, I let myself nap and watch movies during the day, but I made myself work nights even sometimes at midnight or later. I enjoyed an extremely loose dress code, sometimes to the point of no pants at all.

Speaking of dress code, no one wears pantyhose here really. I went in for a job interview before I got my job, and there was a woman there with me, impeccably dressed but with no pantyhose on at all. I looked around at the whole office, not a soul had them on. And at my new office too, people just go without. This means a whole new level of leg shaving for me. In New Jersey, winter was a leg shaving break time. It was too cold to wear skirts so why shave? Here, I have a special shaver that I give morning touch ups to my legs if I am wearing a skirt.

The whole office is casual though, especially now at year end. Today I wore jeans, a t-shirt and converse sneakers. :)

Always late to church and NPR

We live in a town with so many members of our church, that there are not one but TWO wards. I can hardly believe it, my old ward was a bit smaller and it was like 20 towns. We live about 3 blocks away or so, and yet, we still manage to show up late every Sunday. We already have a calling (job within the church). We are the teachers of the 11-12 group. When it is my turn to teach, I use PowerPoint presentations- nerd alert!! The kids like it though, especially my incredibly bad clip art.

We also have to give a talk soon. I LOVE to give talks, I don’t know why. No wait, I do. I feel super comfortable in front of a big crowd, very uncomfortable in a small crowd.

We already made some new friends. One family invited us over to their house, and then we had them over. It was great- we got to play with their kids and see their neat house. They have all sorts of stuff from all over the world, they are real travelers! I think that they lived in Thailand or Hong Kong for a while! This is the most exotic place I have ever lived so I am jealous of people who have lived overseas. We also babysat their two lady rats while they went away. I thought that our gentleman rat would be very very interested in them, but he was like, eh, whatever. They liked him though, and groomed him, and licked him. It was darling.

We were afraid that we wouldn’t be able to find Mormons like us in this area, considering that it is a very “Red” area. Let’s just say, I am the kind of Mormon that listens to NPR and leave it at that. But we think that we have found people here who share our beliefs in that respect.

You know, speaking of NPR, is there not a soul who records for them who can back off the microphone a little bit? Or use a filter? I get really tired of hearing every smack of the lip or every swallow. Sometimes I get so disgusted, I turn it, even if I want to hear what they are saying. People- let me tell you something. Take a hanger, twist it into a hoop and slip a pantyhose leg over it, already! It could be a makeshift filter for you! Then I can hear the end of a story.

Speaking of stories, this one is funny that I heard on NPR. Dame Judi Dench was in a play in a super small theatre and one night people kept leaving, and eventually they had only one patron. A homeless woman was sitting in the front row, getting warm from the cold night. The other actors were very discouraged and during the intermission, they all wanted to stop the show. Dame Judi rallied the other actors. She gave a rousing speech that said among other things that this poor woman has come in to enrich her soul with art (or something like that) and so the other actors, buoyed by her speech went out to finish the play with renewed fervor. When they got out to the stage, they saw that the woman had left.

went to the beach! too cold to swim :(

Here I am in Newport Beach














The pacific ocean is cold!
















Here I am after climbing a gigantic rock at Corona Del Mar

Settling in Nicely, thanks!

Well, I got my license, I voted as a California citizen, I brought cans and bottles to a Recycling Center and got 4 dollars for my trouble, and I have a new job I like. However, I still kind of feel like I am on vacation, albeit a vacation where all my stuff is here including pets and I have to work. Every so often I look around, and think- Man! I LIVE here! I keep rushing through sightseeing stuff, because I have a vacation mindset- better hurry and see all the stuff I can before I have to go home! Like the malls- There are huge outdoor malls here, like the Spectrum, and Fashion Island, and an indoor one- South Coast Plaza. South Coast Plaza is the super fancy one, very “Rodeo Drive”. Or if you are from New Jersey, very “Short Hills Mall”. They have valet parking there- ooh la la. I ran through that mall like a tornado, until after an hour of running or so, my husband said, “why are we rushing? We can come back any time we want!” Duh!

Fashion Island and the Spectrum are really cool. There are outdoor sitting areas and fountains and koi ponds, plus all of the regular mall stores in separate stores you can walk to, with your tiny dog, should you have one (many people do). I wondered what happened when it rains, but it doesn’t seem to rain a whole lot.

Speaking of dogs, this is a perfect area for a dog. I really wish I could have one, but the cat won’t allow it, ha ha. The weather is great and there is a giant dog walk a couple of blocks away. It is also perfect weather for motorcycle and bike riding. I may take one or both up :)

I would be more enthusiastic about the weather, but lately we have been going through a cold-ish spell. People are wearing coats, and complaining of being “freezing”. It has been about 55 to 60 degrees. I refuse to wear a coat though, and have been making do with a thin jacket. I’ll be danged if I moved to Southern California to wear a coat! I was led to believe that it was always warm here! Of course, I was the one that led myself to believe it. Still, it is weird to be chilly and see palm trees.

Old Leftover NJ pictures- Gay Pride Parade, NYC

Here I am at the gay pride parade in NYC, note that I am at Gay Street, and getting in the festive spirit!

And at Christopher Street, just as festive!

These people were VERY festive:

Floats full of drag queens,

Floats with guys in g strings,
Guys in the street with their rear ends out,

Elderly drag queens on the street,

A guy in a spangly sailor uniform.

The cheerleaders were super!

Pictures, finally, part 2

Here I am at the beach, at sunset- so California :)

Hibiscus!

Santa Monica!

The Ocean at Santa Monica!

The cat sleeping on me :)

Pictures, finally

Duh, I just figured out how to add pictures.

Here I am delighted by the foothills and the view (not the view in the picture, the view off to the left of me. It is a view worth being delighted over- but you have to believe me, I didn't take a picture of the view.

Here is the giant spider I saw:

And here is is up close:

The horror!!! I didn't take the above pic (obviously, see copyright) but it is the same kind of spider all right.

Here is a lemon tree!

And an orange tree!

And some awesome flowers!

California is awesome!! Some observations and some NEWS!

I absolutely LOVE it here. I really do. I had high hopes before I came, but it is so beautiful here that every day I look around and say wow! I can’t believe people move away from this area, ever. I sure as heck won’t. I may change my tune when it comes time to buy a house but I cannot imagine anywhere else being as wonderful as here.

So it has been six weeks and I have had some reflecting time in between my unpacking and my job hunting to come to some conclusions and make a little list of some differences and observations.

It’s getting a little chilly here some days, which in Southern California parlance means you throw a little jacket on over your t-shirt, and maybe you wear the sneakers verses the flip flops. You can still wear your shorts of course; I’m not saying you can’t. I like how it is warm during the day, and then at night, you can still get under snuggly covers.

Everything is “county” this and “county” that. I can’t imagine saying – hey, I’m from Essex County. You say- I am from Montclair.
I live in Orange County. Apparently, we have a rivalry with Los Angeles County. We think they are dirty and dangerous, they think we are boring. I like where I live, in Southern Orange County, the best so far. It is so clean and new and nice everywhere.

There are highways in the east, there are freeways here. You refer to them by number. “I was stuck in traffic on the 5.” You would never say in NJ- “I was on the 3, and I got pulled over” You were on Route 3 when you were pulled over and you were going to The City. Here, you would be going to L.A. never “the city”.

There are fast food places here that are not in the east. The greatest place EVER- In-N-Out burger. In-N-Out should be franchised every place in the world. It has the best burgers, the best fries, the best shakes, it is incredible. It has a great 50’s vibe. They only make burgers, fries and shakes and that’s all they need to make baby. Wahoo’s Fish Taco is great too. Plus, I have never in my life had such good Mexican food. There are all sorts of little places and they all have huge menus, tamales and tacos and enchiladas and eggs with chorizo (awesome, I never had this before) However, you cannot find good pizza to save your life.

In NJ, I would separate out my recyclables, and I set them outside and they would disappear. In the garbage area, I couldn’t see a place to put them so I asked my husband- where do we put these? He said, we take them to the Recycling Center and they give us back our deposit. Since I had no idea there was some kind of deposit involved, this made me regret just throwing everything away at first.

Orange trees and lemon trees! Hummingbirds and dragonflies! And I never get tired of seeing palm trees and hibiscus flowers. :) I always see crows. I love them, they are so pretty. They are like a pigeon in an evening gown, acting exactly the same. And remember that spider? Now that I’ve seen about 20 of them, they have a lot less power to horrify.

Before I moved, I wondered what would give me a pang of “homesickness” for New Jersey. I assumed that maybe if I saw the NYC skyline or if heard someone with a NJ accent, that I would get a little awww for “home”. Here are the real things that gave me that pang: not being able to find Goya stuff in the supermarket, seeing Yankee stadium on a show and realizing that I wasn’t going to just see the Yankees on regular TV anymore. That was it. Those two things.

HOWEVER!! I really am starting to miss my family. I knew I would, but I thought it might be centered around the Christmas holidays or something like that. I was at church, and a cute little kid came up to me and he was so adorable that I wanted to hug him. But I couldn’t because I didn’t know him. Then I felt lonesome to hug my little nieces and nephews, then I started to think of the “hug-a-rounds” I used to give my sisters and nieces and nephews and then the whole day was lost to bouts of crying and depression. I keep thinking, maybe if I really talk this place up, family and friends will come! They should!! It is awesome here. Come on people, pack those bags! If everyone I loved would just move to California (I’m looking at you, Best Friend) my life would be perfect!! :) Selfish, I know.

I have had to answer an inevitable question over and over again. That question is “Are you from New Jersey originally?” Everyone asks this, because I don’t have a New Jersey accent. So I have told my little story of moving from Illinois when I was twelve many, many times.

A couple of semi negatives:
I thought I saw crazy driving in New Jersey, but I was mistaken. Some people drive here like they are starring in their own little action movie- weaving, speeding, etc. However, I find that now that I am here, the roads are so big and cushy and awesome to drive on, that I go a lot faster than I ever did in NJ. Since everything is so much newer, the roads are bigger and there are more lanes and there are logical places to make a U turn, I feel MUCH safer on the road, despite other people driving crazily.

Man, I really hate pumping my own gas. I have done it 3 times so far, with significant coaching involved. I feel so nervous, like I will do it wrong, and blow up my car. It’s stupid, I know. :) I’ll get over it soon, I hope.

And now for the BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL…………….drum roll please! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I got a job!!! I started searching 3 weeks ago. I applied to a bunch of places and someone contacted me. At first I thought it was like a spam offer, because I had gotten maybe ten million of those, but I researched it a little better and called them back. They called me in for an interview Wednesday and I start on Tuesday!! I will tell you more when I know more.

So! I am registered to vote, I get my California driver’s license tomorrow (if I pass the test) and my plates come tomorrow as well! As of tomorrow, I am really and truly a Californian.

Next time, I will tell you all about outdoor malls. The Spectrum! Fashion Island! (I swear, that is the real name) They are the greatest!!

Giant Spider

It is lovely here with beautiful landscaping and all sorts of different trees and bushes that I have never seen before. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of new bugs that I have never seen before. I looked outside one day and I saw a gigantic spider web. It stretched between two trees and was easily 5 feet wide. I jokingly (and stupidly) said to my husband, “I’d hate to see that spider”. Well, yesterday, I looked out the window to check on one of the two hornet’s nests that are in the eaves of my apartment, and right in my line of sight was the biggest spider I have ever seen in real life. Its body was nearly as big as a quarter with legs to match. I am not afraid of spiders and in my old apartment I would leave the spiders alone to do their thing. I would name them all Fredrico and jokingly talk to them.

But this spider passed some kind of comfortable size point with me and I actually broke out in chills from fear. I watched as he grabbed a hornet and wrapped it up like Frodo and sucked it dry. I finally managed to get over myself enough to get a pest spray from under the sink. I sprayed through the screen at first because I couldn’t reach it but finally I pried open the screen and sprayed it directly. I think I actually heard it scream as I sprayed because it went wild and finally dropped down to my neighbor’s yard below. I kept spraying but I thought I saw it still moving so I went downstairs to tell them and see if I could spray a little closer.

Picture this-you come to your door to find a sweating, wild eyed girl clutching a pest spray. She tells you that she has just killed a giant spider, and can she come into your back yard to make sure it is dead. My downstairs neighbor wasn’t home but her next door neighbor was and she actually let me in. I leaned over her fence and sprayed this spider like mad while we both discussed how incredibly huge it was. And that’s how I met that neighbor :)

Finally Here!!!

So I’m here two weeks now and finally unpacked completely. Whew!!!!

Here was our moving plan:
We would rent space on a truck where we would put all of our boxes and furniture, including my husband’s car. We bought a Honda Element and planned to drive it cross country with the cat in the back with just the essentials. We were going to camp maybe and stay with friends on the way.

Here was the reality:
We greatly underestimated the amount of space we would need on the truck and only our boxes were able to fit. We had to leave/give away nearly all of our furniture including 9 bookshelves. The only furniture that came with us was our bed, a futon couch and a coffee table. Oh and one shelf.
The trip across country was exhausting and boring, with me driving nearly the whole way (thank you canned Starbucks Double Shot Espresso). I had books on CD to listen to and the first one (a murder mystery) was great. It passed the time and kept me awake wonderfully. My second choice, Little Women, was terrible. I know it is a great book and everything, but there is almost no action at all and kept putting me to sleep.
The cat didn’t mind the car ride, but deeply minded staying places overnight and complained all night, every night, while my husband stayed up with him. I tried to sleep at night and my husband tried to sleep in the car during the day. We never camped, but we did sleep in a New Mexico rest stop for several hours once. The sign outside the door said “Beware of rattlesnakes.”
My husband and I were discussing if we had to do it all over again, would we just have flown? It would have been easier, but I appreciated the experience of seeing the landscape change as we went from east coast to west. And it was kind of an adventure too, like pioneers, but faster, and with rest stops. We did eat a lot of beef jerky though.

I live now in Southern Orange County. It is SO beautiful here, with the palm trees and the wide streets and the new buildings. It is SO clean and the people are so nice. When we first got here, I tried to unpack as quickly as I could because I was afraid someone was going to come and say “There’s been a mistake, you need to move back to New Jersey” and I thought if I unpacked, they would say, “Well, I guess if you are unpacked…” We have taken some little trips to northern Orange County and I guess I am biased, but it is not nearly as nice as here. I think it is because this area is much newer, but also, I am starting to see that this is an area with a lot of money.

The apartment so nice, carpeted with great huge ceilings. It is so quiet we haven’t had a decent nights sleep since we got here. We had to go and get a new fridge and washer and dryer when we first got here. I can understand having to get your own washer and dryer, but apparently, around here a lot of places do not come with refrigerators and you have to supply your own.
I had fantasies of swimming daily in the pool but the pool is super cold and it is not as hot outside as I thought it would be. It is pleasant every single day though, and on the days when there isn’t a haze, and I can see the mountains/foothills and I look around and see the palm trees and the blue sky, I think that I am a very lucky girl.

So excited! And TV on all day

I am SO EXCITED to be moving!! I feel as though I should be nervous, but things seem to be happening really quickly and easily that I really feel great about the move. I walk around all the time with a smile on my face thinking- Yay! I am moving to CALIFORNIA! My expectations are so high that there is no way any place can live up to my expectations, but I am going to wait until I get there to be hideously disappointed when the weather is not perfect, or the people are rude, or if I don't magically learn how to surf, or the angels don't sing in the streets.

I am a little nervous about me not having a job yet-I am still waiting to hear from his company to see if they want me or not. I keep looking online for jobs but I don't know how to work that exactly. Should I use my new address on my resume even though we aren't technically there? Should I use my Mailboxes Etc address? I find many jobs that I qualify for that are similar to my old job (payroll) but I was hoping to switch careers. I was hoping that I could be an administrative assistant to someone who was really talented and end up learning a lot from them.
I know that seems like a small dream but with my move, I really just want the same life I have here, mostly, with better weather. And a different sort of job. Maybe a different car. And kids, pretty soon. That's all I really want.

Since I am home now, unemployed and looking for a job in CA, I've learned a few things from keeping the TV on all day:

Charles in Charge is still a decent show, and frankly, they mess up a LOT and still keep it in! And the 80's outfits on that show are bitchen' :) Man, on today's show, I saw a girl in bike shorts and black pantyhose. And socks too, that matched her sweatshirt. I can't really mock it though because I have pictures of me in the same kind of thing.
Scott Baio was awfully cute. I rented a movie the other week that I thought would be a heckler, because he was one of the stars, but it was actually good! It was called A Wedding for Bella, I think. And Scott Baio has aged well, veeeerry well. But that might just be me.

The Cosby show was pretty preachy. I don't need to learn a lesson every show. But again, totally bitchen' 80's fashions, thanks Lisa Bonet! I was crazy jealous of her then.

The couple on Mad About You have a great apartment. That show is kind of an example of bad 80's fashion. Or maybe early 90's. And just like on Seinfeld, all the men need a haircut. Why was fluffy hair in for men back then?

Anyway! back to changing my address to my California one!! Yay!! I am so EXCITED!!!!!

I think one thing might be different-September 11th

Of all the things that I think may be different about moving to California, I never thought about September 11th and that reaction might be different on the west coast. When my husband was there, he told a group of people that his start date was going to be September 11th, one person said, oh jeez, and someone else said, why did you say that? And they had to REMIND HER what it meant.

No one will EVER have to remind me about September 11th. People in this area saw it with their own eyes either close up, or just a few miles away. I know I did. I saw it burning, I smelled that smell. Everyone I know, either lost someone, or knows someone who did. Someone I used to work with, her daughter was in one of the towers. She died. Thank God, Thank God, I didn't lose anyone. The few people I knew who worked there or near got out.

I went later to Ground Zero and looked at the mess and remembered how the area was. I used to work in a building across the street. I remember walking out of the PATH train and the newsstand that was there. And going up those big escalators to that mall. I used to go to the bookstore that was there and buy paperbacks for my commute. I remember walking out the door and going across that street and there was that little firehouse there off to the left, with the cute firemen, and the guys that used to hang out by the wall of the firehouse. When I went to Ground Zero, this firehouse was STILL STANDING. Until I saw it, I couldn't get my bearings about where I was. I couldn't figure out landmarks anymore. But when I saw it was there, and looked around and realized all that was gone, I started sobbing and sobbing. It was uncontrollable and I was mortified at myself because I was with two people I barely knew, showing them around the city, and they wanted to go to Ground Zero.

I thought about those firemen on Sept 11th, and hoped they were safe, but I bet they weren't. I bet they were the first through the door.

I both want to see, but know that I can't bear to see the new movie. When the commercials first started coming out, I would sob so hard I couldn't breathe. Now, they changed the commercial a bit, so it doesn't bother me as much, but I still try to look away, or change the channel. For the entire year after it happened, I cried every day. On the one year anniversary, I didn't cry at all, and I was surprised at myself. I think I felt that we had made it through a year, and brave people had managed to clean it up within that year, so ha ha ha to the people who did it. You got us pretty good, but we got over it, mostly.

I still cry all the time about it and think about it, though. Anytime I pass the memorial at Eagle Rock, which is all the time, I tear up a little bit. I don't know why I am so upset by it. I didn't lose anyone, or personally know anyone who died, but I really feel for the people who did. I cry for the people who walked in to save people, not knowing that they weren't coming back out, I cry for the people who were trapped with no way out, I cry and fear for the people on the planes who may or may not have known what was coming. I don't cry for the guys that did it, but I do shake my head at them sadly for thinking that was what had to be done. I cry a little bit too for the whole area that I remember, but that won't ever be the same again.

And I will never, ever forget what it was like around here afterwards. Everyone was afraid and shocked and still tender and because we were, everyone was kind. People were Good. Everyone wanting to help. People lining up to load packages to send to the people working at Ground Zero. Boxes in my work lobby overflowing with things that people were donating. People giving blood. I remember driving to work in the days afterwards and meeting peoples eyes and nodding, knowing what they were going through, because I was too.

I know this sounds stupid but, sometimes I fantasize about if someone gave me a wish, that my wish would be to go back in time to like, September 1st or so with newspapers from the weeks after the 11th. Papers that had the events and the names of those guys and just trying to give them to people who could stop it. I know its silly. And probable that no one would believe it enough to stop it anyway! I mean, who would believe that someone would come up with that? I still can't really believe it happened.

I just hope that people aren't glib about it there. I don't think that I could bear it if they were. And I hope that they do something there at least to commemorate the day. I don't think that they will show the reading of all the names from Ground Zero like here, but something would be nice.

Orange County, here we come! Right back where he started from!

Hooray! My husband went to California this past weekend and came back with a job, an apartment and a Mailboxes, etc box!

Well, it wasn't as simple as all that of course- he already had the job, he just had to go and meet the people he was going to be working with. He transferred from the New Jersey office, back to the Irvine office he transferred from 6 years ago. The job is great, they gave him a bit of a raise so that was nice.

And we had already put the hold on the apartment, over the phone. I spent the last two weeks combing the internet for both available apartments and apartments that got good ratings on apartment rating sites. I compared, I contrasted, I narrowed down my huge list. I pondered, I prayed, I second guessed myself. After all that, someone from his new Irvine office told him about her apartment building, put in a good word for us, and that night, we had a hold on the only available apartment in a great complex (I hear it's great that is, good reviews from the review websites, looks nice on their website, etc), at an affordable price, for Orange County.

I am incredibly excited!! I always wanted to move to California, and I just can't believe it is happening! I was watching The Power Of Myth, with Joseph Campbell and he was talking about the word "serendipity" and that it came from a source meaning "silk road" and that is what this feels like - that our road to California is lined with silk to ease our way. I tried so hard to find an available apartment and I couldn't seem to find any that were affordable, and if they were affordable, they were not in a super neighborhood, or had terrible reviews, or didn't have an apartment available. Then this great apartment just fell into our lap. Also, my husband's company took my resume because they may have a job for me! It just gets better and better.

Moving to California! Part 2- why move?

Why am I moving to California? As I look around my apartment and see all the crap I have to pack, I start to think, well, damn! Why AM I moving? But I really do have good reasons, I think.


1. I can not, can not, can not take another winter anywhere. I have a thyroid problem, and one of the symptoms before I was diagnosed and started taking synthroid every day was that I could not handle the cold. Some mornings in the winter as I would head out to my car, I would be near tears because the pain of the cold was almost too much to bear. Now I think I have residual fear of the cold from that time.

2. My husband is Japanese and I am Scottish/English/Welsh/Dutch/French, etc. Let's just say whatever caucasian is out there, I am probably a little bit of it. My "culture" is everywhere but Japanese stuff in the US is in very limited areas. I want to be able to go to Mitsuwa market, and maybe go to some festivals in a kimono. I don't want my kids (not born or even started yet) to be the only biracial kids in the school. I want to be somewhere where they have a Japanese school to go to after school so they can learn how to speak Japanese and write it.

3. We have been married for a little over a year and we want a new start somewhere together.

4. My husband wants to go to law school in CA so we have to live there to establish residency or something so it will be cheaper.

5. Man, I always wanted to move to California! 3 times in my life so far I have made efforts to move there. The last time, I actually trained and changed jobs so I could be transferred to the CA office. However, after I trained, my company shut down the CA office. Dag.

So now, we are going! My husband has transferred within his company, and hopefully (fingers crossed) they are paying for our move. He is flying out on Thursday to finalize stuff for the job and to get us an apartment, and PO box.

Moving to California!

At the end of August/beginning of September, I am going to be moving from New Jersey to Orange County, California. I don't know what town yet. My husband is from there, and I might have been too, if my mother hadn't met my father when she did. She packed all her stuff and was going to move to Anaheim with my sister, when she met my dad at church. She changed her mind and stayed in Illinois to marry him and later have me. :) When I was 12, we moved to New Jersey and I have been there ever since-24 years.
I thought I would chronicle my move to California and all of the culture shock that I might encounter moving from one coast to the other.

Here are some things that I assume I will never see in California that I see all the time here in NJ:
Commercials for New York City tourism- those "this land is your land" ones that I really like
Bon Jovi cover bands
Commercials for terrible Broadway shows (Wedding Singer commercials, I'm looking at you)

I am also looking forward to hearing a lot less of New York/New Jersey accents. I like them Ok, but even after 24 years here, I still have a bit of a nasel-y Illinois accent and no Jersey accent at all. I can fake one pretty well now though :)

I poke fun at New Jersey and New York, but I am already starting to get a little melancholy about leaving. This area is all that I know, and even though I have always dreamed of moving to Southern California, I am still full of nervousness. I am a pale East Coast girl and I wonder if I will "fit in" (as though California is a giant high school, ha ha).