Wednesday, October 17, 2012

california love

i miss writing. i have missed writing regularly for most of this year, but especially now that i have things to write about. so instead of wisely using this time while tony and haven nap to either take a nap myself or work on unpacking some more, i'm going to fritter my time away blogging. i'm not moved in enough yet for anything deep, but at least i can do newsy.

moving is no fun. i have moved more than 20 times in my life, and it has never gotten funner or easier. driving across country used to be fun, but is not so fun when pregnant and accompanied by a toddler.
but San Diego is really freaking super fun. i can't even describe how lovely it is here, and how excited i am to live here for the next few years. i liked it right away, but with each step of getting settled in i like it more. the house is beautiful - probably the nicest and definitely the newest place i've ever lived in - and the neighborhood is quiet and full of kids and walking distance to great sushi. we have a fenced in patio where haven can play without me worrying about her running into the road, and it is always (seriously, always) sunny and breezy.

and then there's being at a navy base rather than an airforce base, and actually getting to be in the loop about resources and activities.
and then there's the awesome birth center where i will be seen and give birth, rather than the crummy hospital i birthed haven in. with midwives rather than doctors, and free doulas, and birth tubs.
and then there's the wicked-cheap produce, and way better buying options with WIC here than with WIC in maryland.
and then there's tony being at a command where people actually care about each other and the command is actually interested in helping out the families. we stopped in today just to meet the folks he'll work with, and an hour later left with a long list of everyone's numbers in case i need to call for anything, and resources to look into, and offers of help and friendship, and invites to activities. more in an hour here than in 3 years in DC.
and did i mention in-and-out-burger? you poor east coast suckers who have never tasted its burgery goodness have my deep pity.

in spite of the welling panic i feel at the thought of trying to finish moving in by myself, and go through these last two months of pregnancy by myself (panic that will probably become a wordy and dramatic post in the near future), i still feel like i can breathe here in a way that i never felt in DC. life is slower here, and people are not less crazy but they are crazy in a way that i'm far more comfortable with. every time the panic starts to rise, all i have to do is step out to my patio and feel the breeze coming off the ocean, and look up at the hills, and remember that i get to live here for the next 3 years. getting settled in is not going to be easy on my own. i will probably be exhausted most of the time, and snap at haven, and cry hormonally, and miss tony like crazy, and miss my family. but i will do so in a place that already feels like home, and then i will walk to get sushi and feel much better.

2 comments:

  1. in and out is good, but i always liked hot 'n now better. i'm really glad you are happy with the new place. walking distance to sushi goes a long way to making one feel at home.

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