californ-eye-eh

alas, the silence is broken.

happy january, everyone.

i've said my goodbyes to good friends in scotland, i've packed my things and moved to california. i've spent a lovely christmas and new year's celebrations with my steve, toured oregon and california, spent time with family, ended one chapter and began a new one.

i have question marks looming over my head once again- this time referring to the job i have yet to land, my own place i have yet to move into and the future plans that are still unclear.

it's exciting. thus far.

i'm staying with some family for the moment-- trying to make their town mine, their church mine, their dog mine. yes, i'm taking over. i'm not sure how long my wicked plan will last before all chaos breaks loose but for now i'm enjoying stockton, california. it's a tiny drive away from san francisco (okay, 2 hours) and every third person is a farmer but there's enough city noise to passify me.

i'm a cat lover learning to be a dog lover. i spent some time with other dogs while in scotland, but it's a process, i believe, adjusting to the idiosyncrasies of dogs. i love taking rusty for runs but i still jump a foot in the air when he barks during playtime in the house.

speaking of running, i test drove a local running group last saturday morning. nice group of people. and they didn't even laugh when i locked my keys in the car.

still speaking of running, i signed up for a 10 mile race that takes place this sunday. yep, that's 5 days from now. i'm dangerously out of running shape, but there's a bad influence sitting on my shoulder that says this'll be fun. i'm in california. the sun's out. what can go wrong?

speaking of the sun, the sky is blue here every single day (minus the previous thursday) and the blue lasts all day long. it's like the sun says, "hey, clouds: BOO!" and the clouds vaporize in fear.

that's not to say that it's hot here. well... not hot for california, at least. today was almost 60 degrees... WARM! (for northern california in january) wooh! and i talked to mom today who is visiting in LA and it was 81 degrees. OIY!

i took the kids to the park on wednesday and we had to have our picnic lunch in the shade because we got too sweaty sitting in the sun. what a foreign concept. sweating. i haven't done that in almost 3 years.

i'm revocabularizing myself- slowly working back in the parking lots and throwing out the car parks, ditching the rubbish bins and using the garbage cans... remembering what it's like for drivers to give pedestrians the right of way anywhere, anytime...

i'll have to confess to being hit with such an incredible reverse culture shock when first arriving that i was sick of everything i saw in this large country. i'm still finding it hard to accept some differences... but the transition will be over soon enough and i'll feel at home once again. i hope.

loads more to tell, but once my thoughts are better sorted, i'll come back and share them with you. for now, feel free to view a large collection of photos from the last few weeks.

i hope to be back here a bit more frequently but i don't doubt you've left me for dead. i don't blame you. it's been a looong couple of months.