I can rent a car now!!

Or at least rent one without being charged an additional "under 25" fee. So, Saturday was my birthday, and like the past 5 years, I have spent it away from my family, thanks to Beach Projects, CCP, training at UCONN, and my new job. But, I did get to talk with everyone back home and listen to their well wishes and teasing about me "getting old". My first birthday involved going to the 28th Annual Garlic festival in Gilroy, CA, which is the garlic capital of the world (and they are proud of their garlic)..haha. I met up with this girl from Boston that is interning at a nearby school. Actually, we've hung out twice in the past week. So, i could possibly call Saturday a 'date'. Not sure if anything will happen with that. Of course she leaves in another week for Boston, but she has two of my favorite qualities: Latina, and can dance salsa! Last Sunday we spent the afternoon at the famous Boardwalk amusement park and ate dinner on the Santa Cruz wharf...good times. If anything more comes of that friendship, I'll be sure to let you all know.

So, the other thing I did for my 25th was eat, drink, and be merry with my co-workers and their partners/spouces. Come to think of it, we do a lot of that...eat, drink, and be merry. Thanks to our lucrative budget and our convenient location, our RD (Resident Director) staff retreat involved us spending a day and a half in San Francisco...dining at fancy restaraunt, staying in a nice hotel, karoake bar, going to famous musical..good times I tell ya. I can stand this for a few more years..haha. We're even going to the Giants vs. Dodgers game as a staff in a couple weeks!!

So, overall life has been fun in the bay area. I shared at a community group meeting that my biggest challenge is trying to find a group of friends to spend time with and just getting adjusted to my truly single adult life. Don't get me wrong, I am sooo thankful that I already knew folks before moving here. But, the truth is its hard being single and working at a university. I can't exactly make friends with the undergrads, cause I'm a full-time staff member (the line was a lot grayer when I was a grad student). And, most of my colleagues are so different than me, that I find myself getting frustrated because I know that we couldn't just hang out all the time outside of work.

The church thing is sort of a struggle too. I've enjoyed my time attending church with my bama friends, but (i can't believe I'm actually saying this) well.... I just don't know if I'm ready to be the only black person in church again. I did that thing in Connecticut and it was pretty much the same at Briarwood in Birmingham. It can be emotionally draining and culturally confusing over time. On top of all this, my relationship with God has been less than good over the past few months (or year for that matter), and I'm having a rough time with spirtual things altogether. Honestly, it feels a lot better to just avoid the whole issue and superficially "hangout" at church. So, hopefully, I will get all this stuff worked out. Pray for me.

Sorry, if this is too long of a blog...I have more to say, but I'll dish it out in portions....

Day 1 is done...

I started work today and things don't seem too overwhelming. We went to HR and become official employees and got our ID cards made. I swear I felt like I was a freshman all over again. The good thing is my boss bought all of us new RD's one piece of Santa Clara Clothing. So, despite the warm weather, we all as a group decided to get the more expensive items...sweatshirts and jackets...I know EVIL!...haha. But we figured if it was free, we might as well save our money for the cheaper items like t-shirts and hats.

I also got a chance to see my new office, which is a regular double room for students minus the furniture, but including the mirror and sink( to wash up after lunch I suppose.) It also has the long bulletin cork boards running along the wall. I'm gonna have SO much fun decorating and getting this place to feel like a real office. I am also living in a faculty suite until late August or early September, while my actual apartment is being built. I checked out the future site, and it is currenly four rooms on the top floor of my building with vaulted ceiling and beams from the roof...so there will be a nice feel to my new place complete with new appliances and furniture..I'M SO SIKED!! Til then, I will continue to live out the boxes I packed back in May...haha

I'm a Cali boy now!!!

Well, I made it here safe and sound. Drove up to the Grand Canyon on Tuesday and was so exhausted that I took the shuttle to a couple stops, snapped some shots and hit the road towards Los Angeles. I will add pcitures later (I forgot to bring my camera with me to the coffee shop). But, anyway, if you get a chance to visit the Grand Canyon....DO IT!! and take a couple days to take it all in. flagstaff is a wonderful city just south of it, and hotel rates aren't that bad if you travel with a few people and use priceline.

After driving 12 hours on Sunday, and another 13 on monday, my 8 hour trip to LA was a little bit tiresome. But I got some good rest in SoCal. Besides the awful smog that is everywhere because of pollution, hollywood was a fun place to visit. My buddy there took me to see the famous sign and we drove down to Venice Beach for the day on Wednesday. I took my final trek north to Santa Clara, which took me about 5 hours. Said Hi to a few folks in my departments office, and crashed like a plane with no engines until sometime this afternoon. I haven't been this tired since I took some sleeping pills on my 13 hour flight from LAX to Taipei, Taiwan. I kept trying to get up and move around, but my head wouldn't move, just kept sleeping.

So, I am totally lost in this new city, in terms of finding different things. Apparently, the campus is pretty central to a lot of things, but that also means I need to learn the lay of the land in order to get to the different places....UGH. thankfully the constant 85 degree breezy weather and endless palm trees keep me company when I lose my direction...haha. However, i'm sure the gas prices will encourage me to learn my way sooner than later. I paid a crazy 70 DOLLARS for a fill-up yesterday!!! AHH!!! Until I get my first pay check, daddy is not going to be happy with the amount I ask for during my weekly allowance calls...LOL.

Miss everyone...but have a feeling Cali will treat me right.... To start things out right, I get to hear BP preach this Sunday at church :-D

Cheers,
~DD

25 is my sleep number, whats yours?

Well, I made it to Flagstaff, Arizona last night...and managed to get a good rate at a Radisson Hotel for the night...needless to say the beds are more than comfortable, complete with remote control to adjust firmness of the mattress...haha. Well, I'm about to take a trip up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and then driving to Burbank, CA to visit a friend and his family...Santa Clara soon enough....

Something I learned yesterday...Arizona (Indiana I knew about) is also a state that doesn't recognize Daylight Savings Time...I was a bit perplexed when my cell phone's time rolled back an hour when I crossed the AZ state line. I certain that AZ was in the Mountain Time Zone, but the desk clerk at the hotel educated me on the matter last night.

Fun fact: The restaurant I know as Hardee's is apparently called "Carl Jr.'s" out west LOL. I'm serious...at first I thought I was passing a former Hardee's that "Carl Jr." was too cheap to change the sign with the star and red awning. But, to my surprise, I passed at least 5 or 6 Carl Jr.'s throughout North Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Enough for now, time to get movin...

Stopped in OK City....

I drove about 11 hours yesterday, traveled thru Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and halfway thru Oklahoma.....I think I'm gonna cut out a day in my travels....I stopped in Oklahoma City last night and had my last taste of Waffle House for quite a while. (I don't think they have them out West.) So, my plan is to get to keep goin thru Texas, New Mexico and stop in Flagstaff, AZ (just south of grand canyon) before sunset tonight. If nightfalls beats me there, I will just get up really early to catch the sunrise in the grand canyon. Well, I'm off to check-out and hit the road.....

Cheers!