Holy cow I live in Texas!!!!

This is what I say to myself at random times because it's all a little surreal still. But, Texas, here I am. It has been kind of a rough adjustment for me, but things are starting to feel a little more settled now. Of course, I think PMS then a week of the flu conspired to make the transition that much more difficult, but I digress.

Things didn't exactly go smoothly from the beginning. My saint of a brother Matthew can attest to that. Getting here from California was a bit of a chore to say the least. I had already driven Ian down here to live with his Dad while I stayed in San Diego and looked for jobs. I found one quickly, thankfully, but then I faced the task of packing and moving by myself. Lots of wonderful people helped me on my way, and I finally got to moving day. Matthew flew in the night before. The elders quorum showed up in force to help pack the truck. First snag--the rental truck wasn't big enough. We had to go back and get a bigger truck, it ended up being much bigger. But, we finally got everything packed and two wonderful friends stayed up till wee in the morning helping me finish up. They even scattered rose petals around my truck as they left. Oh how I miss them.


(It did not look this happy and organized)





We left early (well, sort of early) the next morning. Matthew drove the rental truck and I drove our Chevy truck with two whining cats in tow. At first things weren't so bad, then--second snag. The rental truck starting emitting dark smoke somewhere in the middle of Arizona (a bad sign) and Matthew pulled over. Long story short, the truck was a no go. We had to call for a tow. Meanwhile, pulled over on the side of the road in the Arizona desert, my poor cats were really not looking so good. I tried to leave the truck on with the AC, but then the truck started to over heat. I was kind of starting to freak out (in a calm way of course) and didn't know what to do. Matthew made the executive decision. I kept going while he waited for the tow truck (for a very long time). So to make a long story even shorter, they ended up having to move our stuff to a different truck and Matthew ended up driving all night long after the swap. We kept going, but in the end we took 3 days instead of two to get to Dallas. Oh I owe my brother big time. As soon as we got to Dallas, I drove him to the airport so he could head off to work. Thank you, Matthew, more than I can say.

(I thought I had pictures on the road, but they're on my cell phone, so sorry.)


Settling in to our new apartment has taken me forever, but I like our new place. It's smaller, so storage solutions have become increasingly creative (found one up high for the cats). It's nice and cozy though and we have a great view out back. One downside is the electric stove. I'm so used to a gas stove I struggle with that one. I've had to air out the apartment at least three times so far cooking dinner. Live and learn--eventually. (Pictures to come, when it's just a little cleaner.)


As for my job, well, that's probably been the hardest transition of all. I loved my job in San Diego. I loved my coworkers and everything was so comfortable. Here's some shots of my goodbye party--I miss them so much!






Anyway, I'm kind of back down at the bottom of the totem pole and have to work my way back up again. I have to cover at two different hospitals in the same health system to be able to get hours and I have to work every weekend. Blah! I have to assert myself all over again and prove that I really do know what I'm doing. I have felt so incredibly uncomfortable. I suppose that's when growth happens. Sigh.



On a side note, we can wear scrubbs to work here. I've never had that option before. We have to wear a certain color to designate that we are dietitians. Of course, the two hospitals I cover require different colors for their dietitians. I just know I'm going to get mixed up and show up in the wrong color one of these days. I HATE shopping, so the scrubs thing works out well for me I think. I will say it feels weird to look down and see you are wearing turquoise pants to work, but oh well. I felt so energetic the first time I wore them. Wearing pajama bottoms and running shoes at work made me feel like I should be super speedy or do lunges down the hall or something. Don't worry, I just contented myself with walking down the hall really fast instead. Here's me in my super scrubs with my super dietitian binder and wonder calculator.

(I was going for the super hero look, but I think I just look like something smells really bad.)

Things I've noticed so far about Dallas:

-my hair doesn't like it here
-drivers are terrible, really terrible
-pedestrians don't wait for lights
-Greenville (a road) is pronounced "Greenvull"
-Cowboy's jerseys are available with ruffles and sequins

Also, in a two to three block radius of our place there must be at least 5-6 liquor stores and several stores called Condoms to Go and my personal favorite (of store names that is), Condom Sense. On the up side, two, count them two Targets within 5 minutes. Yee haw!

Well that's all for now. I know it's November again, but I really am going to post more now. More to come as I learn about Dallas!












My fellow young women leaders in San Diego felt it was only fitting to send me to Texas with a proper Texas Do. We didn't have a Bump-it so we had to make do with a toilet paper roll. Phew! Now I'll fit in!