Notes from me to you

hello friends..

thanks again for checking in. all is well in CA... i continue to learn more every day! :)

yesterday, as i was finishing unpacking, i had a craving for sushi. i figured it'd be good for me to force myself outside of my comfort zone (my apartment), so i "citysearched" and found a place less than a block away! ha! the area i'm living in is pretty busy so i hadn't been brave enough to venture out, on foot, until i had to go find my sushi bar. it was as i was walking to the restaurant that i happened upon a GREAT outdoor shopping center.. the gap, express, DSW.. what more could a girl ask for? ;-) so i made a few "necessary" purchases, dropped my things off at home and went back for some sushi.

the bar tender was great... i had to admit that this was my first time ever eating sushi alone so i wasn't sure what to order for one. she made a recommendation and then asked me if i had just moved here. how could she tell? ;) she was super nice and we talked the whole time i was there. she warned me to be careful and even gave me a phone number of a taxi driver whom i could trust as she'd once had a bad experience with another. she invited me to go out with her tonight in the downtown area in which i live. i thought about going, but i'm not sure i'm feeling that adventurous yet. oh Nook, how i miss thy familiar faces.

today i went to a church that someone had recommended.. and it was one hip happenin' catholic church. lots of young people so i suppose that was the reason for the recommendation; however, i tend to favor the more traditional type worship and this service was more rockin' praise and worship. beautiful service and church.. though i'm not sure its where i'll continue to go.

i drove around awhile and found the hospital where i'll be starting wednesday.

this afternoon i drove down to a friends house and hung out with "little people" and one of the moms while the other parents were working. fun times with 5 kiddos.. 5 very active and sleep-lacking kiddos!

on my way home i took a detour to check out an old bike i'd seen on craigslist. and i drove home with a big, ol bike in the back of the car.. :) its an old schwinn beach cruiser, one speed, white-wall tires with a rusting white basket. PERFECT! watch out so-cal.. its been a long time since i've back-peddeled in order to break! ;)

oh! i almost forgot to mention that in the elevator today, i asked a woman how to get to the interstate and she said it was in the direction of a restaurant of which i was unfamiliar. i had to give the ol, "i just moved here" excuse. she asked from where i'd moved and i told her. she said she was also from MN- edina, to be exact! that was great! we would have talked more but the elevator door was closing as i had arrived to my destined floor, so we exchanged apartment numbers and "hope to see you again"-s. i never did understand where the interstate was.. oh, and here is where you ask, "why don't you have a map, laura?"

another fantastic question, friends, as in fact, i did! ingrid's lovely grandma gave us an atlas since our rental car was not equipped with one, and ingrid graciously let me have it! then on friday, when i had to return the car, i hadn't yet taken the atlas out, and since there wasn't any time to hike it all the way back up to my apartment, i hid it behind a pole in the secured, underground parking. oh.. just take a guess.. you bet! it was totally gone when i got home from the airport friday night. seriously.....

anyway, all in all, my first sunday in CA was a good and productive day, including a stop at another, less "city" target.. but you better believe i didn't walk out of eye-sight from cart!

blessings to all..

love
laura