Well We've Got the Land, But They've Got the View

Here are just a few shots from around the place. I really should have brought Boyfriend's camera over with me so the quality would be better on these, but I guess we'll just have to wait until next month when he's here for really sharp and clear photos.

This is the back of the house. We've got a fairly big saltwater system pool and the deepest jacuzzi I have ever been in. The big structure is obviously the main house which has a huge master suite upstairs, a big open living room and kitchen, and a half bath. Downstairs there is an office, another big bedroom, and a full bathroom, as well as some really big closets, a 2 car garage and a laundry/mudroom. The white low level building to the right is the poolhouse where I stay. It has a sitting area and a full bathroom downstairs and then the upstairs loft part has a bed. Below the poolhouse is the RV garage that my parents currently just keep boxes and stuff in. Out of picture to the right is my Mom's garden. She grew green beans and lettuce there this year, as well as tomatoes that didn't do well because the whole summer was foggy and they never got any sun. Directly behind me is this:

Although we are only steps from the beach, the land behind us is all agricultural area. Those fields are all heather fields and soon they will be a bright fuscia or orange color. The buildings you see are tons of different green houses holding the littlest of the heather plants. You can also see our pomegranate tree and one of two lemon trees we have. There is also a little lime tree back there that hasn't really taken off yet, but boy we sure do have lemons:

Year round you can go out to our one lemon tree and probably get about 50 lemons off at a time! It is so prolific. While I'm home I like to make fresh lemonade all the time and Nae makes lemon bars that my Mom, who normally has some pretty strong self control, goes nuts on.

That's the view around here for today. Not much else is happening. I'm still job hunting and turning in applications online everyday and have yet to hear back from any shops. Keep your fingers crossed for me because I really, really need a Christmas job and the money that comes with it.

Finding Home

I was excited to be back in California. I was nervous to see the new place, I mean it wasn’t really MY home anymore was it? I hadn’t seen it, hadn’t lived there or grown up in that place, I wondered if I’d feel comfortable. Nae and Mom came and picked me up, Dad hates that kind of stuff, and we drove back to their place. My parents are so lucky. Nae’s house is maybe a 15 minute drive from them. They are out in farm land and have a nearly 180 degree view of the ocean from their front balcony. It is an awesome house and they set up the pool room as a separate apartment for me to stay in. It was like heaven getting in to their Jacuzzi, it was so deep, you’d sit and the water would be over your shoulders. Most mornings when I got up there would be muddy raccoon footprints all around the pool. At night we would hear and see 3 great horned owls fly around the pine trees. We went for walks pretty much daily, with Mom down to the beach, and Dad and I started doing this loop walk with a killer hill on it. Dad and I even saw a bobcat one day in the parking lot near the beach.
I had hoped to get a job at the local Target until S arrived. I applied the day after I got back. I got a rejection letter from them. Me, who already had experience working there. Me, who had a freakin college degree. I couldn’t get a job at Target! So I applied other places. Nobody called me back so I didn’t work before S came out, I had only a few hundred dollars (like 4?) in my account for Christmas presents, travels while S was here, and money to take back to Oz with me. It wasn’t looking good.
It was really nice to spend the time with my Dad everyday though. We lived at the movies, walking, treasure hunting, and at the dollar store! They have the best chain Mexican fast food place up there, Super Taqueria, I love that place.
It was a pretty stressful time for my parents. They had just moved for my Mom’s work, my Dad had retired for it, then there was rumblings that she was going to get laid off. She was freaking out. She eventually did get laid off, after Christmas, along with a boat load of other people, but she’s managed to get by and find work again so it’s turned out ok.