3 posts tagged “cali”
I don't usually pay much attention to the qotd or vox hunt - I generally stay in my own little vox watch bubble - but yesterday's caught my interest.
QotD: How I Ended Up Here
Why do you live where you live?
It has now been more than a decade since I left the state I grew up in. It's a lovely place to visit, but not a place I feel especially attached to. My parents both grew up where I live now, and in many ways I considered myself an East Coaster by blood. Even though I lived there for less time than my birthplace or current home, California is my heart's home. (I know "I left my heart in Los Angeles" doesn't have quite the same ring as that other version...)
I majored in government and economics, and interned in DC for a summer. The summer after Monica, a great time to be an intern if you don't mind constant blow job jokes. Living in Washington it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of being at the center of the world. So I came back after graduation. I needed a roommate and L had broken up with his Australian fiancee and had nothing better to do, so he moved down here (from NY). You can probably guess what happened next. Our jobs both revolve around politics, so while we talk about moving away, we've yet to figure out the best way to do so. As much as I love Cali, Sacramento just doesn't have much appeal.
Having lived here for 8 years now, my soul aches to be back home on the west coast. Blue - or brown - sky, green - or brown - mountains, pacific ocean. (And in-n-out, thanks for rubbing that in Janette!)
Book: Show us a book that has helped or inspired your writing.
I enjoy tormenting my coworkers with AP style and my trusty red pen, but this is the true writing bible (at least for a CMC alum!).
It can be isolating having a baby. Especially when your families are 250 and 2800 miles away. The area we live in is known for its transient nature. It’s a common refrain that no one is really from here. (My parents actually are, but that’s another story.) When we first moved here, we had a group of college friends who moved here at the same time. Over the years, they moved on, so there are just a few left. Our single and childless friends either disappeared entirely or have just kept their distance since the Monkey was born, and all our pre-existing friends with kids live back on the West Coast.
We made our first two pairs of “couple friends” here five years ago now and they are still some of our best friends – one couple had a baby in November and the other is due in September. But, the latter couple moved away last summer. I’m grateful for the moms’ group that spun off of the hospital support group I attended during my maternity leave, but it’s such a large group that the attendance varies every week at playgroup. I haven’t gotten close enough to any of the moms to take it to the “next level,” one-on-one (or two-on-two) play dates. Naturally, the stay-at-home moms are closer, and those of us who are “Friday moms” have limited time to work with.
We live in a baby-friendly neighborhood, so you wouldn’t think it would be so hard to make parent friends. At our local playground, there are cliques of toddler parents and older/multiple kid moms. There’s a group of babies our age on the next street, but whenever we see them the moms are intensely conversing and rarely even look up, let alone say hello. One of them, a Bugaboo mom (not that that inherently makes one snobby, but…) has a kid the exact same age who was in the sandbox with the Monkey and I one day and barely said three words to us. There’s a mom of a two-year-old girl who we see nearly every time we’re there; she isn’t part of the mean mom clique and at least makes polite small talk. There were two families we were getting to know as the weather started to get nice this spring, and we were talking about inviting them over for a bbq. One had a little girl in December; the other a little boy a couple months older than mine.
One day this spring, the girl’s dad comes over (they were just across the street) to invite us to a bbq that afternoon. “Oh, what’s the occasion” we ask. “We’re moving.” “Oh, where to?” “California - Orange County.” They’re now living half a mile from the beach and paying just $100 more a month in rent. (Orange County was my weekend home during college and I miss it fiercely, so this was just heartbreaking for me on many levels.) Recently, we’ve been trying to stalk the other family – swinging by his house on our walks – because we rarely catch them at the playground. Last night, L finally ran into him and his mom, and guess what? They’re moving! Of course. At least they’re not moving back to my coast. They’re headed to South America.
Procrastination tool of the day: drawing personality test.
The results of your analysis say:
Your friends and associates should generally find you a dependable and trustworthy person.You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way.
You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.
If it's not obvious, my drawing is of Joshua Tree, inspired by a recent episode of Dirt that made me think of how much fun it will be to take the monkey hiking there one day. As for the results, I'm nothing if not sunny... ;-).
