Transplanted

So there goes the weekly update.  But I have a really good excuse–I was getting ready for my first trip back to NYC since moving out here.  I had planned this trip a couple of months ago, just to get in some face time at the office.  It was sooo nice to be “home” again. I don’t think the A train has ever seen a happier commuter.  Plus, I missed all of my coworkers, and that back-and-forth rapport that you get when you work in an office.  Calling people over the phone or messaging them throughout the day just isn’t the same.   I stayed with my in-laws on the Upper West Side, and that was really nice too.  First of all, I’m fortunate enough to really like my in-laws.  And second, after several years of business travel, I’m just so tired of hotels.  Unless they are either really awful or really amazing, most hotels are exactly alike.  So-so food, inadequate cable, and too much bedding.   But yeah, I missed New York.

That said, there are a few things I didn’t miss.  Like the fact that so many places don’t take credit card unless you spend a minimum amount of money.  $60 withdrawn from an ATM in Marin County can last a good three weeks.  That same amount of money in New York lasts maybe a week if you’re lucky.  And the whole stealing cabs thing.  I admit, I’m guilty of that one, having stolen many cabs in my day (including one at the airport the other night).  But there are certain unwritten rules to stealing cabs.  You don’t steal cabs from old people, people toting kids around, and pregnant women.   What kind of person steals a cab from a pregnant woman with luggage?

The biggest surprise of the trip, though, was that I kind of missed California while I was away.  Maybe it’s just the convenience of having all of my things around me, of just being home, or maybe it was just the severe weather delay, but I was really happy to land in San Francisco on Friday night.  I think this place is growing on me.

And speaking of growing, I seem to have grown out of my first set of maternity tops!  So I had to go buy more or else face the next few months wearing Jason’s sweatshirts.  The baby’s kicking, and now I can feel her kicks when I put my hand on my belly.  It doesn’t hurt, but I’m sure that will change.  We’re halfway there, which is just mind-boggling to me.

So when Jason gets home tonight from his trip to LA, he’ll be able to feel the baby. How cool is that?

I don’t have all that much to say, but I’m trying to get into the habit of posting weekly. We’ll see how that works out!

I think we’re starting to settle in a bit now, and we both have our little routines. Since I can’t run at the moment, I’ve been walking and exploring on foot, as well as by car. We’re looking at daycare centers, shopping for a pediatrician, and making weekly visits to the local Target and Safeway (I’m sure a Costco membership is only a matter of time). I can feel the baby move a little bit, but it’s probably still going to be a few weeks before Jason can put his hand on my belly and feel her too. I signed up for a class at our new shul.  And I’ve been slowly meeting people, so things are a little less lonely.

And the best news this week is that tomorrow I can ditch my crappy rental and pick my car up from the body shop–brand-new fender and all. Shrubbery beware! Seriously, I do plan to avoid any and all shrubbery from now on.

Or an alien. You decide. Either way, we’re keeping her.

Here are some long awaited pictures of our apartment. I took them about a week ago so things are in slightly better shape now (the trash on the deck is all gone, for one thing!). Please don’t ask me about how I dented my car when I hit a bush, or about the fly infestation in the upstairs bathroom. These topics are taboo, and they will remain so until such time as I can look back and laugh at them.

Rosh HaShanah has come and gone, and it’s 5768. Among many other things, this is a time when we think of the year that has passed, and the year that awaits. I’ve been thinking a lot over the last couple of days about new beginnings. There have been a lot of them this past year, and not just for us. We’re going to be parents in a few months, and we just moved across the country, but everyone already knows that. Jason started graduate school last year, and I’m hoping to finally finish this year. My sister-in-law also moved from Virginia to California this past year, and so she’s starting over in a new place as well. My brother Sam is starting a new job, a career finally, so he will finally have some stability. My brother Howie also did the same in the past year.

My new friend Meg and her boyfriend David moved from Brooklyn to San Francisco recently so that David could attend law school. My friend Carole is a first-year HUC rabbinic student living in Israel for the year, the latest in a series of career changes, and one that I think fits her perfectly. My friend Julie just got engaged to the love of her life, and I wish her every happiness because she deserves it. There are tons of others, and I’d love to hear about them, so feel free to post on new beginnings–yours, your friends’, or anyone’s.

Gemar Chatimah Tovah! May this be a good and sweet year for everyone!

Here are some statistics on Novato, CA. “Sprawling” is putting it mildly, since the town is very spread out, but some neighborhoods are really pretty and there is a lot of open space:

We’ve already found a brewery and a winery, which I’m sure will be lots of fun for me once this whole pregnancy thing is over.

Between unpacking (which is sooo much harder to do while pregnant), buying and assembling new furniture, getting phone and cable service installed, and getting a new driver’s license (according to California, my name has remained Haselkorn, even though I changed it over five years ago, so now I have to go back to the DMV with my marriage certificate, which I found in a box yesterday), and all, I’m amazed anyone ever moves anywhere.  And I really, really need a pedicure.

Don’t worry, there will be plenty more to come once we’re out of our temporary housing situation. Stay tuned for pictures of cars and of our new townhouse, baby news, and random grousings about moving to the lesser west coast.