Happy New Year! What a Year It's Been!

I've been meaning to update this blog for so long, now!!! But as the sun's setting on 2016, I thought that now would be a good time to FINALLY do so! (I also spilled ginger beer on my laptop a while ago, which made it difficult to type! But Robert got me a shiny new laptop for Christmas (one of the new MacBook Pros with the touch bar thingy!), so things are much easier!)

In the time that I haven't posted here, we've had our first Halloween, our first Thanksgiving, the election happened and Christmas has come and gone! What a year it's been. I said on Facebook earlier today that all in all, it's been a good year for our little family. Our move here has been a mostly positive experience. I start my graphic design studies in a few weeks, and the toddler is officially enrolled into pre-school that starts in August! Life just seems to be racing by!

My family was here for a week over Christmas. It certainly didn't last long; felt like I blinked and they were gone. :-( But it was so awesome having them here, and it was SO nice to have a WINTER Christmas! The only downside to that being that it didn't really feel like Christmas in the weeks leading up to it. Despite the Christmas trees, the carols playing in all the stores and the huge amount of decorations around the city, ironically for me, the Summer heat is what makes the Christmas season feel like Christmas. Despite that, both my Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys were pretty good successes!

Looking back, the year really has gone in a flash, but I don't think we really have any regrets. Missing my family is really the only thing that has made things difficult.

The best things have been (in no particular order):

~BALLET is still the no.1 for me. Aside from injuring my foot a couple of times, it's just been a dream come true. I've been doing pointe for almost six months, now (I think?), and I just feel so grateful for the whole opportunity every time I go to a class! I've also become Kathy's graphic designer. LOL. I make online flyers for her, which in turn, is giving me some great design practise (you know what they say: 10000+ hours of something makes you a master in it!).
~The 2 year old boss and I have also made some really lovely friends, which I'm just so happy for. We don't know whether we'll have anymore children, so it's really important to me for the little guy to have friends early on. I'm also incredibly anti-social and was always a really awkward, shy kid, so I just do what I can to encourage the little dude to not be like me! So far, he's much more easygoing than I was as a child, and I'm very glad for that! Haha! Having good friends that we see regularly has also taught him so much! His language skills have improved so much, and he's learned to share!
~AMAZON. LOL!!! Amazon makes life even more convenient. I'm mentioning Amazon here because as of yesterday, I'm so thankful for it! The toddler and I bought Robert a pair of Coach gloves for Christmas (toddler even picked them, himself). But they were the wrong size. We went back to the store yesterday, only to be told that not only did they have none left in stock, but they weren't able to order more as they've stopped making them! We wandered around the city in the hopes of finding another pair from a different store, but I didn't like our chances as they'd gone on sale, so they'd pretty much sold out everywhere! I was so gutted (probably even moreso than Robert!). But we had a chance look on Amazon and found they had ONE pair left! So I was very happy and am now more appreciative than ever of Amazon. LOL!!!
~All the kids' facilities and activities available here. The Bay Area has (so far) been an awesome place in which to raise a family!
~The adventure of it all. From just being in a brand new place to learning to drive on the opposite side of the road to exploring, it's really been a fantastic experience for someone as unadventurous as I am!
~People are generally quite friendly. Unless you're on the road in which people simply become impatient douchebags.
~The appreciation for the arts. Enough said.
~The opportunities available to Robert and his career. Also enough said.
~The city's multiculturalism. Also something that's very important to me.
~The convenience of everything. Whether you're wanting ice cream delivered in the next couple of hours or you're looking to study, it seems that everything's available here. Of course, the flipside of that being that it really makes you feel spoilt. I feel like a spoilt brat of the world, especially compared to what so many others are going through these days. I'm not an overly religious person, but I find myself saying little prayers to myself (or God or whoever's up there) everyday for the fortunate life we lead. It's scary to see how easily it can all be taken away, so I'm grateful everyday for the blessings I've got.
~Living in a country where everything seems relevant. Whether it's a TV show you're watching or politics, I feel like we live in a place where I'm immersed in what we see on TV, online, or wherever else. Maybe that's thanks to the media, but it's sort of exciting to see things and think 'yeah, I get that now', or even 'crap, how's that going to affect us now?' (in RE: to the recent election). I've found myself caring a lot more about world happenings since I feel like they're a little more relevant to our lives now.
~Feeling like an anonymous nobody. This sounds a bit strange, but I like cities. And I like feeling like I don't know anyone or that there's a big chance of me running into people I know. I like anonymity, and that was something I looked forward to in having a new start. For some reason, anxiety really kicks in living in a small town or the country, especially if it means I constantly have to see people that I need to make small talk with. Yes, I'm anti-social, yes, socialising makes me incredibly anxious if it's random, but hey, that's just the way I am. Sigh...

And I'm sure there's more. However, I've had my annual new year's drink and I'm already feeling the effects. I have no idea how I've managed to type this much!

So in saying that, I wish anyone reading this a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! I really hope that 2017 is fantastic for you. Thank you so much for reading/following this blog. Hopefully I'll make more regular posts in the new year!

xoxo

Exploration Can be a Tad Boring at Times...!

The weather here is slowly warming up. We're now a few weeks into Spring here, and I must say that I'm quite enjoying the weather more than Sydney's. Usually the first few weeks of Spring in Sydney mean 30+ degrees celsius as well as humidity. Well, it has in recent years, and I usually hate it and the oncoming of summer. This past weekend was described as being "warm", and we've just had a couple of days of 25 or so degrees, which has been quite nice. Thankfully, it also cools down quite considerably in the evenings here, too.

One thing that comes with having no idea of what's around you is the possibility to explore. However, with that comes the chance that you find absolutely nothing! I'd planned for the three of us to head about an hour's drive south on Saturday to attend a kids' book fair at a local high school. The way there was a nice drive and we just happened to pass Google, LinkedIn and NASA on the way. Unfortunately, the event itself was smaller than I was hoping and they didn't have any food stalls. And being the lazy mum that I am, I hadn't brought the toddler any lunch. But no matter, surely there'd be something around, right? After looking up Google Maps, I directed us to what was meant to be a mall. Walking in, it felt like we'd truly entered the zombie apocalypse. There was a terrible looking Chinese place, but other than that, this huge shopping complex was mostly empty. The shops were run down and abandoned. And we were getting hungry. One of the few shops that was open, however, was a games shop that sell Magic the Gathering cards: the game that is my husband's favourite hobby. So at least he got to check something out while we wandered around hoping to find something vaguely edible! Our day was salvaged when we drove another half hour to a different set of shops. Thankfully, I have a relatively patient child, and he behaved himself quite well while we wandered around aimlessly. 

Presidio Picnic! Overlooks the bay. :-)

This weekend also saw us finally get nearish to the Golden Gate Bridge. Sort of. Haha. I managed to drag my little family out this afternoon to The Presidio, which, I guess, is sort of a big national park that contains a lot of things like the Walt Disney Museum, restaurants and other tourist-y things, right near the Bridge. There are also some houses in there. So obviously, we didn't see the whole thing. We just went in to go to the weekly Presidio Picnic which happens on the massive lawn outside the Disney Museum. A heap of food trucks (which are very popular in the city) set themselves up and you set up your own picnic on the lawn that's on the bay. We weren't there for very long as we then headed to the playground a bit further up, but it was a good thing to do, and it's awesome that it happens every Sunday! This is also the closest we've been to the bridge. Haha. 

I have also been slowly getting some practise driving! I'm pleasantly surprised that driving a manual car hasn't really been an issue at all. The hardest thing is getting used to being on the other side of the road. Oh, and also the stop signs. They don't have round-a-bouts here. Instead, their intersections have stop signs and cars just take turns going. It's a bit unnerving, but I guess I'll get used to it...

Anyway, this blog hasn't been written very well. I'm a bit tired! But thanks again for reading! 

xoxo

P.S. I saw a lovely penthouse available for sale in SF advertised today. It's only $8.5 million! HA!

One of Those Weeks...

To add to the past week, I spent a long time
on hold to Safeway (the supermarket chain
here). It really has been one of those
weeks...

So we're recovering from a pretty crappy week, hence the lack of updates on here. Not a lot has really happened that's worth posting about! There was a random heatwave during the week that lasted 2 days. It was short, especially compared to Australian heatwaves, but it put me in a bad mood, nonetheless. I know "most" people like warmer weather that's around the 30 degree celsius mark, but I don't; I just can't handle the heat. Our little family has also been sick and we're only just recovering. Also, I'm not sure what it says about your life when the highlight of your week has been buying your toddler more books because you can't handle reading the same ones over and over again anymore! I would have loved to have bought myself books (in many ways, I prefer buying books over buying clothes!), but these days see me living vicariously through my child because we can't both afford for us to shop! Haha...

City life definitely has its benefits insofar as I'm able to walk anywhere to get whatever I need. But I am starting to feel the need to get myself and the toddler exploring a bit during the week, which means I need to learn to drive our car and on the opposite side of the road! Which still scares me a lot (heck, I went to get into the passenger seat of the car today, only to realise that I was getting into the driver's seat.). Drivers here are also a bit crazy and people seem to just drive by their own rules and do their own things. So that doesn't fill me with confidence. However, I'd love to be able to explore a bit more and to take the toddler to some new places. 

Living in a different country has sure taught me a couple of things about myself. Well, not really taught... more just that it's emphasised some traits about myself. EG: when we were in the process of moving, I got a few people telling me the importance of finding new friends ASAP and making contacts as soon as I could. To be completely honest, a lot of the time, the main reason I socialise is for my child; because I think it's important for him since he doesn't go to daycare. But I, myself, am perfectly fine being a solitary person. I don't crave company, nor do I crave the need to always be around someone. Yes, it's nice that we've met some friends and people who seem really nice, but with my track record of bad friendships and being somewhat anti-social, I don't bond with people easily, and for once I'm pretty much OK with that. Socialising is scary for me, so I'm happier than most to be in my little bubble.

Scuse my little deep, personal thought moment.

Anyway, must run as the toddler has woken up! Just as I was about to sleep, myself!

xoxo

A Wet, Wild, Wintry Week

This is very true. Except for the wine part; I'm not a big drinker, unless you're talking about coffee.

I struggled through motherhood a lot this week. I had quite a few of those moments where I just thought 'I can't do this' or 'I can't handle another tantrum. What has my life become?!'. LOL. And usually I like cold, wet weather. But not with a toddler; this kind of weather only makes life more difficult when you have a small child who needs attention 99% of their waking time. Apparently this weather is unusual for San Francisco. Just our luck that we should get it in our third week here. When we don't have a car. For the Aussies who may be reading this, the weather here has felt quite similar to the Winter temperatures felt in the Blue Mountains around Leura or so. Just with a lot more wind. Unfortunately, I also wasn't prepared for this kind of weather, so all my Winter clothes are in a box on a boat somewhere! So I'm not surprised that I'm a little bit sick now! On the other hand, Robert - the lover of jackets - has very much been enjoying making use of his various black jackets that he always has on hand (even when it's about 40 degrees C outside. Crazy person). 

This will basically be me for the next couple of months or so!

Speaking of cars, we have a car. Well, not just yet. Robert should be going to pick it up over the weekend sometime. But our bank account has a lot less in it. It's a BMW. It's black. It's shiny. You'd think I'd be excited about this especially after the past few years of car drama with the NRMA and not having our own car. But I'm not. Cars are expensive things (regardless of whether BMWs are cheaper here than in Australia or not). Especially when you and your husband are very picky and have quite specific wants/needs in a car. I'm also extremely anxious over having to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road. I get very anxious over a lot of things, driving being one of those things. Plus, my husband had to get a manual, which I basically had no say in. Thankfully, I know how to drive a manual (he taught me on his old, old car many years ago), however it still only makes my anxiety worse knowing that I need to learn to drive a new manual car in a foreign country, on the other side of the road, in a very hilly city. And it doesn't help that drivers here seem to enjoy communicating with their horns more than they do in Sydney (I didn't think that was possible!). Still, at least we have a car. Now I can get places, and getting places is good.

We also have some furniture. Which is also a good thing. Our apartment isn't as empty now! The toddler also has a high chair again, which thankfully means I don't need to chase him around all over the place trying to get him to eat! 

I've managed to make a few contacts/friends here who are also Aussie, which is great! It's interesting/great that this place seems to appeal to lots of us, and the company of others makes me feel slightly less alone. We're also all quite similar; most of us being here because our partners or us ourselves work in computing and technology. It's interesting to hear everyone's backgrounds but also know that we came here from the same place. I don't like to separate people based on nationality, but the reality is that culture separates us (whether we like it or not), so being able to come together with people who may understand you just that little bit more is a good thing, I think. 

It's been interesting to see my husband go from being a relatively big fish in a small pond to being a little fish in a big pond. He is just another tech worker in San Francisco now, whereas I think he was feeling a bit like he couldn't go much further with his career in Sydney. 

I'm certain that I had more to write, but I'm beginning to doze off. So I will say ciao! Thanks for reading this far if you have!

xoxo