Definitely!

I asked someone why Californians use a definite article in front of interstate names (THE 5, THE 805) and she answered that they deserve it because they are entities unto themselves. They indefinitely stand introduced into every conversation. Getting directions from Ethan today, THE was strangely absent from the indication to take 52 east. All interstate hubris aside, we at least don't have to figure out that 35W goes north and south or how to go east out of downtown Minneapolis.

Firsts

This goes without saying. New state, new home, new-to-parenthood (when DOESN'T it feel like that?), new people and places. The first first to top the list: surviving Natalie's first real illness. What makes it real? The debate about when and where to take her in for treatment. New felt like a serious detriment to this process. We made some calls, sweated some insurance details, and made our way to a clinic. Not the clinic across the street from us or one of the stellar university and/or Scripps clinics. No, one about 15 miles away (is it only us that sees something wrong with that?). This time, the NP was able to identify the issue immediately, with adding some sweet information (Natalie was also getting her first tooth) to the bitter (it's a virus, she'll sweat it out for the next several days). Things are much better.
We also hosted our first get-together at our apartment. We invited Nate's CILAS colleagues over for Weaver Olson-style burritos. The commiseration on the application process, class registration and the sharing of what brought everyone to the program was great. Ethan joined us, a voice of local knowledge and general good company.
Natalie exhibited her more demonstrative side at the playground by promptly retrieving the ping-pong ball from the grip of the other baby after it was given to the poor kid.
Nate officially began classes. As he keeps meeting professors and classmates some interesting opportunities and relationships are beginning to materialize. So is the exponentially growing amount of reading he has to do, which seems to have a inverse relationship to the amount of time he has to do it.
I'm continuing to slog through the DMV and MediCal/Healthy Families applications. I do have an I.D. from California with my name on it: a library card. (The crowd goes wild!) I'm also still looking for part-time employment, trying to exploit opportunities through UCSD and their medical centers (including Scripps) first, via my Nursing Assistant certification (still pending for California). Pickings are surprisingly slim. Maybe Starbucks wouldn't be so bad.

Days

We haven't put gas in our car in almost two weeks. That mostly means we drive shorter distances, but also much less than the 60 miles/day we did living in Lanesboro. I've found La Jolla drivers to drive as bossy as their luxury cars look, but for the most part people are respectful. Nate is really getting going at school, having started his research assistant job early. He's attending workshops offered by the Office of Graduate Studies and is feeling like he actually has something to be excited about! He's met some classmates, has registered for class and usually bikes to school, utilizing the bus when he doesn't bike. Natalie and I try to take care of daily tasks, find a new place to walk to each day, go to the playground and swing, and try to meet other kids her age. I (Kimberly) have applied for two jobs at UCSD, a bit reluctant to consider going back to work. I will go tomorrow to get fingerprinted for the second time since arriving in CA (the first to get the still absent driver's license) in order to complete the transfer of my nursing assistant license from Minnesota. We haven't decided to purchase Internet connectivity at our apartment yet, so many evenings find me walking ten minutes each way to the Mesa apartment cafe for free wireless. It's chilly in the evenings, even for a Minnesotan. Living near the coast provides a blessed breeze throughout the day and good sleeping weather at night. Now, to do something about those dastardly fighter jet sonic booms and the fire engine sirens....This past weekend we got a visit from Nate's parents and had a great time. It won't be said too much how pleasing it is to be so close to them. Natalie turned 9 months old today and gains skills every day. My favorite right now, which makes it more bearable, is her mimicking the sirens as they pass. That was how I knew she was awake from a nap the other day.

Strange how history has a way of repeating itself ... sort of. Thirty-six years ago, Kimberly's parents, Bob and Ann, packed up all of their belongings in a Uhaul truck, and moved with their nine-month-old baby to Minnesota where Bob was to begin graduate school. Two weeks ago Kimberly and I traveled full circle when we rented a Penske truck and moved with our eight-month-old baby to California where I (Nathan) will begin grad school at UCSD. Bob and Ann's journey was epic: they ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere; witnessed their Uhaul tip over on it's side while stopped on the soft shoulder of the interstate (none of the packed belongings moved, Bob was proud to say); found themselves comforting the youngest daughter of the couple traveling with them when they lost track of her parents, traveling with the truck, for days; and ended up on a fruitless search for the couple's new apartment at Iowa State. They never did find apartment 2Br.

Our five-day journey, although arduous, was less eventful. Our truck never rolled over (and had only 5,000 miles on it when we picked it up); we never ran out of gas; were able to reconnect with our friend Dain in New Mexico, who volunteered to drive the truck, after we parted company with him in Colorado; and had no trouble finding our own two-bedroom apartment in La Jolla. During our travels we stayed with friends who opened their homes to us each night, fed us dinner and breakfast, and sent us off with garden produce to keep up our strength along the way. I guess we're off to a good start. Feel free to follow the link we have posted to Shutterfly to see some of the photos from our journey.

The Golden State

In the spirit of I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson this blog will be a collection of stories and anecdotes surrounding our move to this new and bizarre place called California, our new life here, and the myriad ways that this culture differs from the one we are familiar with back home in Minnesota. Luckily for us, times have changed since the migrations of the Okies, and although California border agents did confiscate our apples and pears at the border, they did not look into the contents of our bank account. California, a garden of Eden? ... We'll find out soon enough.