Tag Archives: michigan vs. california

Nov 11 2015

A Ride on the (Optimism?) Elevator

Posted by Musings & Misc. 6 Comments
A Ride on the (Optimism?) Elevator

No Negativity November began boldly. On the first of the month, we put down a deposit to reserve a plot of land.

We are going to build a house.

Well, WE are not going to build a house. But you understand. We are going to pick out a bunch of stuff and watch enthusiastically as a house gets built by people who know what they’re doing.

Before I tell you that story, let me explain my intentions behind NNN — what it is, and what it most definitely isn’t. This little experiment is not meant to force me into faking my way through a month of my life. It also does not require all blog posts and conversations with friends to be fluffy and light and overly optimistic. Mainly, it’s for the sake of my husband. Continue reading →

Oct 31 2015

It’s Halloween Day

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It’s Halloween Day

I’ve never in my life experienced an eighty-degree Halloween — but then again, I’ve never experienced Halloween in California.

P didn’t care WHAT the temperature was. She has been counting down the seconds until she could wear her Elsa dress. This morning, when I went to get her out of bed, she knew the time had come.

“It’s Halloween day?!” she gasped. Everything is a day — she says things like morning day and evening day instead of just “in the evening.” No idea where she got that, but it kills me. Continue reading →

Jul 27 2015

California Drivin’

Posted by Musings & Misc. 5 Comments
California Drivin’

If you’re traveling to Ireland from America, you probably expect to alter your driving strategy to match the whole left-side-of-the-road thing. But I kind of figured that if you stayed within the U.S., driving would more or less stay the same.

Not so, as it turns out. At least not for me. Driving in California has been more of an adjustment than I anticipated. I’ve mentioned the U-turns and the cyclists — which were obvious from minute one — but there have been a whole host of new surprises now that we’ve been out here for a few weeks. Here are eight things this Michigander is still getting used to: Continue reading →

May 24 2015

An Indefinite Vacation

Posted by Moving 4 Comments
An Indefinite Vacation

We officially, as a family, moved to California on Saturday, May 16. Al flew home to help with the movers and to assist with the whole flying-with-a-two-year-old thing.

When the plane touched down, I felt the same rush of relief I always do. We grabbed our luggage — one suitcase each, plus a car seat — from the carousel. Standard issue. In fact, everything felt just like every other trip I’ve ever taken (except now we had a child with us). Sitting with Peaches, waiting for Al to pick us up in the rental car, I looked around at all the travelers and thought, We are just on vacation. We were going to take Peaches to the ocean, show her some sights, and then we were going to board a plane again and head home. Right?

The flight.
I was semi-dreading a four-and-a-half hour flight with a toddler. P has flown once, for forty-five minutes — she was ten months old and slept in my lap the whole trip.

This time, there was no sleeping. Continue reading →