Ok, so we are temporarily trapped in the state of mormons. So far everyone is really nice, we are in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately there isn't coffee within true walking distance the way the heat is.

We are waiting on news for the transmission and that isn't going to happen until Monday. We broke down on 80 and hopefully it is nothing major. We are thinking that the transmission filter is clogged because the driver of the tow truck said it came up onto the bed just fine. We will find out.

So here we sit in the motel room waiting for monday to arrive so that we can find out about the car and what the damage is going to be. Hopefully it'll be nothing major and we can get back on the road. We are under 800 miles out from our destination and that should be easy to do in one day - we are hoping anyway.

Ok, well things have been fairly easy until now. I prefer the uneventful parts of the trip. Laters.

1) Yes, we've made it safely to California.

2) No, the car did not make it to California.

3) No, the car didn't have a transmission problem other than the spring that was replaced.

4) Yes, the car did blow a rod through the engine and left a hold the size of a baseball when the mechanic was test driving it.

So the Honey's loving, amazing, wonderful parents are going to help get a reliable, safe to drive vehicle for me so that I can go job hunting and so forth. I think his parents are amazing. They actually care and they don't bombard us with their presence. There is no whining and crying and throwing three year old trantrums from them either, which is a huge change for me, since the mom always did.

School starts on the 16th so we have to go up there monday and get a list for the kid and get her registered for school. Yay, no more trash talking teachers anymore!

Soon I will update my resume and start interviewing people who want to hire me. Yes, you read that correctly. I told honey that I know we don't really have the time frame for me to find a job that I am comfortable with, but I seriously don't care to go job hopping and I would basically prefer to tell them that if they don't meet my standards I'm not going to work for them. Hopefully I can do that and get away with it.

The screen design class is over next week. I have to finish up this week's homework and do my final presentation for next week and then the programming class starts - intro to PHP.

We haven't finished unpacking yet, but we are sort of taking our time doing so. We want things in their place and we are trying to do it right the first time. That way everything will be in order and we can have company over, etc.

The weather here is beautiful. I get cold quiet often, even in the shade, but there isn't any humidity and it will take time for me to adjust, if I ever do. So in early evening time I'm usually putting on a jacket so that I don't sit there with shivering limbs and chattering teeth. The winter here should be quite easy though because they don't get below 20 often and snow is a rarity here.

I will post some pics as soon as I can. There are a ton of pics we took on the trip here that need to be edited (lots were through the windshield) so once everything is unpacked and settled in I will try to start that whole process.

We are hopefully going to Bodega tomorrow so that the kid and I can officially see the ocean. I was warned to bring a jacket because it will be quite cold so I will be taking one along. I think the kid will definitely enjoy the site. Honey thinks that the sea lions and/or seals will be around.

There are two llamas, two alpacas, sheep, a goat, three cats (including our two) and two dogs here. So it's a true farm! Lots of animals to check out and feed.

I really don't want to but I think I'm gonna get off now. I'm basically running maintenance on the laptop after the kid has been on it the bulk of the day. I want to get all the junk off that she's put on it. I hear the family, so off I go! Laters.

Yeah.

Things are going really well out here in the sunny land of California. I'm really enjoying it here. I love the fact that at night I can walk outside, look straight up, and SEE the stars. I mean really see them. I don't recall ever seeing them so clearly in Ohio. I can see the actual 'web' of stars around us. It's so beautiful. I am going to attempt pictures, but I doubt it'll work.

The Little Lady had her first day of school today and it went ok. She's in classes that are mostly beginner classes but I think that's because they didn't receive her transcripts from her former school yet. They don't start until August 27th, but that doesn't mean they are going to hop right on it or anything.

If they don't send her transcripts by then I'll give them a nice phone call. They won't like me very much, but I'll be so sweet to them they won't know what hit them.

Other than that things are going fairly well. We are almost unpacked. I feel like I've been unpacking forever, but we've been running around a lot making sure we have everything we need (like a cookie sheet) and we've got people scavenging for a car for me so that I can start working.

Well, I have to get to bed. It's after 10:30 - I may have to change my posting time on here yet - and I need to be in bed before 11 so I can get the kid up properly. Laters.

Wow I've really got to get posting, don't I? Schoolwork has had me so frustrated and flustered that I haven't taken the time to post. Car shopping is the same way, but that's over and done with. Yes, we found my car.

Things that have happened (that I can remember) since my last post:

1) The Little Lady started school and is doing really well, she has made a few friends. She's much happier lately and she's enjoying the beauty of northern california aka norcal.

2) I started my PHP class. Truly dislike my teacher. Truly dislike the book we were told to buy. Completely dislike the online reading assignments. They are more confusing than helpful.
But I did get all 100% As the first week. I don't think I did so well this week.

3) After two weeks of searching we found me a car. Which means I can update my resume and go job hunting. It is a 92 Nissan Maxima, yes auto transmission and it's in pretty good shape for being 15/16 years old. It drives really nice, the interior is in decent condition. It's got a better stereo and speaker system in it than it originally did. It doesn't have a cd player, but a tape player and a plug for an ipod. Honey told me he's going to steal it. I really don't want the car torn apart. I have a feeling there's no choice in the matter.

4) I've been invited on a girls day trip with Honey's mom and sister to San Francisco! We are going on the 19th and I will be taking my camera. It's going to be great.

5) Since we now have a nice car with AC and it's reliable (we are going to have it doublechecked by a mechanic before going anywhere major) we will get to go to the coast! The Little Lady and I will finally get to see an ocean! The Pacific Ocean! Woohoo! I can't wait, and yes I'll be taking my camera.

For those of you who want to see some pics and don't care, I have uploaded a whole bunch to myspace: http://myspace.com/swtlyevil/.

For thsoe who won't go to myspace I will try to upload pics here, soon. I'll have to create thumbnails and have them open in a popup window because of their size. They are worth the wait though.

Ok, well I am off. I can't think of anything else at the moment. Laters.