Moving, Rain, and Ramblings

Above is our life's belongings for the next two weeks. Below is our life for the next two years.

We’re inching ever closer to that day when we depart San Diego for good. It has been a hectic few days packing up our house, loading boxeonto the U-Haul then unloading them, saying goodbye to friends and families and celebrating weddings showers for weddings that we’ll miss.

It has been both fun but also very busy. We’re so happy just to put our feet up and finish out our time at HSHMC.

The weekend was long. It all began on Saturday: we finished packing up our house then loaded our stuff into the moving truck. We had a wonderful brunch with two of our favorite friends (thank you so much Ed and Emily!) and then hit the road.

Driving a 10-foot truck is not the most relaxing thing, my heart raced, my shirt stuck to my back while sweat seeped from my forehead; fortunately, though, traffic wasn’t too bad.

We rumbled into Oxnard about 4:40 pm, we had just enough time to buy a padlock and head out to our friends’, Llewellyn and Tom, Bridal/Groom Shower out in Fillmore, about a 40-minute drive away.

The night was great we said some more goodbyes, talked about our upcoming adventures, drank some amazing home brew and received a “going away” package from the newly fianced couple filled with Mountain Dew, Ritz crackers, cheese whiz, and of course Flaming Hot Cheetos—all the things, I am sure, we’ll sorrowfully miss while abroad. (Note from Chelsea: As I have never eaten most of the things in the care package, it is likely that I will not miss them. But the thought of stuffing us full of traditional “American” snacks was so thoughtful and funny it made me cry).

Sunday rolled around and we unloaded our truck. We then drove up to Ventura for a delightful breakfast of waffles and bacon with mom. It was great.
 
It’s been hard for my parents to come to grips with me leaving. And we haven’t really talked much about it, but at breakfast we conversed quite candidly with mom.  And we have her full support, which is amazing because all the things we’ve been reading mentions how important familial support will be, especially with those early months.

After brunch we set up a Skype account for mom and then went to my dad’s house where we had another discussion.  He’s still wrestling with the idea, but I am almost positive he will come around in time.

We had dinner that night with my brother and sister-in-law at an old Oxnard family Italian restaurant, all rustically dim-lighted and wooden inside. After dinner we went to my brothers house and as we were chatting I felt this thrill of excitement course through my chest. I couldn’t help but smile. It was the first time I truly was excited for this adventure.

The next morning we took the train down to San Diego and went back to our now empty apartment. We cleaned a little bit then went to a co-workers house to sleep for the night. The rest of the week we have been staying at another co-workers house. It’s amazing. We have a whole floor to ourselves, a bedroom, bathroom, living room, TV, and it’s right next to the beach! We’ll be here until the last day of work on the 27th.

All week the skies have been gray and heavy with moisture. Rain has been constantly falling making all the kids a little crazy at school, and making me really happy. I love the rain. Unfortunately, out of those of us in San Diego, I am in the minority. They all want sunshine, but I say let the rain come down. Let us frolic and run around admiring how rare a treat this storm really is. (Note from Chelsea: I do not share Tim’s enthusiasm. Although I know the importance of the rain, I have packed most of my cold weather clothes away. This includes all my closed toed shoes. Needless to say, storms are not fun when your feet are wet and cold).

But now as Saturday dawns, I see blue skies. I feel a slight chill when I step outside. I think the storm is finally past. I mourn its passing, well only a few tears, since in Guyana we’ll have plenty of rain. 

However, I will say, I am so glad that last night, as there was a break in the weather, I went for a run around Solana Beach. It was twilight, that confusing time between darkness and light, and everything was beautiful.  The air was crisp with cleanliness, biting wind cut through my windbreaker, and there was only a tinge of dampness. I wanted to document this moment in time, not knowing when I’ll be in San Diego at dusk after a storm again, so I took my camera. I huffed to a beach off the old 101 to a place called Cardiff-by-the-Sea, then switched the camera to it’s low light setting where the shutter speed slows down, and snapped a few shots. As I finished, it was pretty much full darkness, so I turned and ran towards our shelter. Along the way, I saw some interesting perspective shots that I wanted to try my hand at. I don’t count myself a photographer by any means, but I wanted to practice. I found out that in order for a good, non-blurry, slow-shutter shot one has to pretend it’s like shooting a rifle. One has to exhale, and then click the shot as almost all the air escapes their lungs. This way the shot is steadier, and the slight movement of air passing through the lungs doesn’t affect it. Or if one has a tripod that would probably be better so there is no movement whatsoever. Anyhow, I hope to have more tips as I snap more shots of both San Diego and Guyana.

But anyway, that is enough. It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining

and it’s time to enjoy, proper, sunny San Diego.