Fall on the East Coast

I was driving to the grocery store the other day with kamron and realized how beautiful fall can be over here. There are actually seasons here! The leaves on all the trees are turning all the wonderful colors of fall. It is especially scenic because there are so many quaint tree-lined streets. The air is starting to get a little crisp and the days are getting shorter.

Another thing I have noticed is that Halloween is more of a big deal on this side of the U.S. In Cali, Halloween has been relegated to costume parties and a reason to decorate your house. Here, kids still actually go trick or treating, the costume parties are much more extravagant and the decorated houses are out of this world! This is evidenced by the great abundance of Halloween superstores on almost every other block. I think I seriously live within 5 miles of like 6 stores. Unfortunately, I have to work until 8:00 on Halloween, and we dont know anyone here yet, so Halloween at least for us will be quiet. Maybe next year.

I am officially working 40 hrs a week and it is killing me! I have a new appreciation for everyone that must stand on their feet for eight hours a day. But I will finally be able to finish getting things for our new home with my paychecks. Kamron will be done with his ob/gyn rotations soon and will have to take an exam. Thankfully I will be working a lot so he will have plenty of time and quiet to study at home. After that he will start his pediatrics rotation which is reputed to be substantially easier with fewer hours. We miss all of our family and friends back home at this time of year and look forward to maybe having some visitors during the holidays....

Is it cold in here or is it just me?

Okay, I knew that an East Coast winter was going to be hard for me and Kamron since we are from Cali (where 'winter' means sweat jackets) and have been living in the Caribbean for three years, but really? I mean, why is it already SNOWING in some parts of NJ and we are still in October? Is this normal?

In California it gets into the lower to mid forties at the end of November/December not October. Heck, I remember wearing shorts until Halloween back west. Now I am miserably huddled on the couch trying to stay warm! Much to my dismay, our heater hasnt been working properly. We live in an apartment building where heat is included in the rent. Unfortunately this also translates into: the heat only gets turned on when the building deems its necessary. This in turn is very bad news for me. So I called the office to inquire about this and was promptly instructed by the Yugoslavian maitenance man to fiddle with the nobs some to get it to work. Lo and behold nothing happened and it is still about 60 degrees in here.

I have come to the realization that sweatjackets, thin bedspreads and mediocre jackets just arent going to cut it out here. I better start stockpiling scarves, gloves, hats, long johns and more thick sweaters if I am to survive.

New job, New Apartment and New Kitty

This week has definitely been the week of 'the new'. It all started shortly after I wrote the previous post about my perpetual joblessness when I got hired in a seasonal position at Macys. I will be working in the Fine Jewelry area during the holiday season. While this definitely isnt my dream job it will be perfect for now. My teaching papers are taking longer than expected to go through and I cant take my teaching test until November. That means the earliest I would be able to teach would probably be January...... So for just the next 3-4 months working this job will prove to be sufficient... And YAY I finally will be able to do something productive with my days or nights for that matter.

In addition to this, about three days later we found out our permanent apartment was FINALLY ready for us to move into. It is in the same building but on a different floor and minus the ocean view. That is the only thing I will remotely miss about our old apartment. I WONT however miss: the noisiness of people passing in the hallway, the sun blaring in my eyes every morning (the blinds didnt work properly AND we faced the ocean-the east), and the general run-down condition of the place. Our landlady person gave us basically one day to move all our stuff out.... That was definitely an interesting experience and very tiring! But thankfully, we havent acquired that much stuff or furniture yet since we have only been here a month. It only took us one afternoon.......

And lastly, we completed our new home with a new addition to our family: a domestic short haired black and white cat named Jenna. I decided to rescue one from the shelter here because we wanted one that was a little older (Jenna is 3) and because there are so many that need homes. It was inexpensive and generally a good experience. It is just a matter of getting her acclimated to her new home here with us now. She still likes to run and hide in the bathroom when she hears loud noises and she isnt eating much yet. Hopefully this will pass soon as her anxiety and stress subside..... Here is a picture of her