This and That

We have been in San Antonio now for six months, two months in our rental house (we lived with our friends for four months), and it still doesn't feel like home.  We were in Vancouver/Portland for 14 years so I think it will take some time.

A few things I have noticed:

*The trees are ALL as tall as a two story house and lots of them don't even look like trees, just overgrown bushes on steroids.
*There are no gutters on the houses so you walk out your front door and through a waterfall.

*There are no drains for the rain water to go into.  The water either floods the street or it flows to a huge drain randomly placed between houses.

 

*Drivers here don't know what a Yeild sign means.
*Driver licenses expire in 6 years.
*Instead of registration stickers going onto the license plate, they're put on the inside windshield of the drivers side.

*There are no major landmarks (like Mt Hood) to know if you're heading North, South, East or West so I'm constantly turned around.
*You can make a U-turn at almost any major intersection, I love it!

I have started working for an older couple as a CNA.  The woman had a stroke in January.  I go every morning for a few hours to get her ready for the day and then go back in the evening to get her ready for bed.  I absolutely love this couple!  We have been the answer to each others prayers.  It drained all of our money to move down here, who knew there would be so many deposits and fees?!, so it has truly been a blessing for me to pick up a few hours of work.

For the most part, Doug is enjoying his time working for Pepsi.  He especially loves the discounted price on soda!  We attended a company picnic two Saturdays ago and had so much fun.  They had games for both the adults and kids, face painting, a clown making balloon sculptures, chair massage, free food and drinks.  Towards the end of the night we played BINGO and Olivia won $50.  I should have kept track of how much money they gave away but if I had to guess, I'd say it was around $700-$1000. Doug was saying he heard talk of a Christmas party with big ticket items they'll be giving away.  We'll definitely be there!!!

In church, I've been given the calling of 4th Sunday Relief Society teacher.  That's a huge change from YW President and I love it.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed working with the youth but I love only having to teach once in a while.  Doug was just called as an Assistant to the Wolf leader in Cub Scouts.  I think he'll like it.

We do Sunday dinners with the Walker's and each week (or close to that) we take turns inviting another family over for dinner.  It's been fun to finally get to know some more families.  It's a really young ward with lots of people moving in and out; lots of military and internships.  This is something that I had wanted to do back in Vancouver but never quite got around to it.  Plus, it helps having another family doing the meals every other Sunday.

It's not set in stone, meaning they haven't signed the contract yet, but I have the opportunity to help a young couple in the ward with a home birth.  Her husband is from Beaveton, Oregon and his sister was in my primary class many years ago when I used to live there as a child.  The doctor that delivered him was the doctor who helped me with the twins.  It's such a small world!  I'm super excited to be working with them.  I just pray that it will work out well with my other job. :)