Rockin the East Bay

When I first started this blog, I thought I would blog daily. Hilarious. Especially considering I was in grad school and working 2 and 3 jobs at the time. Oddly enough, I feel busier now working one "real world" job with no school (well, I do have a few requirements left for graduation, but that's nothing compared to 3 and 4 classes at a time) At this point, I am simply aiming to update once a week. Especially about experience of this move. It will be cool to look back on these experiences one day. It's already fun to read past blogs, and introspective. My journals, on the other hand, should not be re-read. Ever :p
So what's up with life here? It's in session, for sure. I feel like I have been here much longer than it's been (just now a month? Wow) My first week was just one giant fog. I definitely could have used a week to rest, but I hit the ground running... getting involved with the fellowships here, signing up for commitment meetings, speaking, hit two conferences (one was more of a day-long workshop deal), checking out the sites of the East Bay, going in to the city for work  at least once a week (not this week though, thank goodness!), Pride weekend, last weekend in the city for a conference, and work. Lots and lots of work. I love it! But wow. No wonder I'm tired!
I do love that I have quiet time in Oakland, but can still go in to the city when I want. And there are countless trails and hiking spots within a short drive from my house. I also just realized Santa Cruz is only an hour and a half away... I've wanted to go there for some time. Yosemite is only a couple of hours away. But I will wait until I have more than a weekend to go there. Then there are all the areas of Oakland to explore, I really like it. I thought I would prefer living in the city, but this seems to be a nice fit. Sunshine, but cool weather at night, not too much fog, but I get to see the fog over the city, a lot of hiking spots, tons of farmer markets, yoga at Lake Merritt, Piedmont, Temescal, Jack London Square, so much to explore. Oh, and free yoga at Intertribal Friendship House on Tuesday night, that will be my new Tuesday staple. And Berkeley is about 5 minutes from me as well, so that is nice to visit (at times lol) Emeryville is eh, so-so. Looks like a mini pleasantville with all the Pixar execs in their ridiculously priced houses. My street looks run down until you drive 0.5 miles and get to Emeryville. I still don't understand how the wealth is so disproportionate here. Same when you cross over to Berkeley. But that's for another time.
All in all, I'm enjoying it here. I am just tired. Energy is low. So I will sleep very well tonight, and be back on my game tomorrow :)
Oh, I should mention my 4th of July, because it was pretty awesome. I have joined these MeetUp groups... various social club type groups (not hoity toity type, that's just all I can think to compare it to), but they have them for hiking, rock climbing, LGBT events, photography, etc... So I joined the East Bay hikers the morning of July 4th at Lafayette Reservoir. Beautiful. Then, I hung with Cassie and Jasia for the rest of the day. They are in a REALLY nice area called Moraga (I'm wondering if that is what the Oakland Hills are or if it's just Moraga) but it reminds me of a little mountain town. A little too wealthy for me to feel like I'd ever live there, or be comfortable there, but it's nice. They have a great neighborhood, so it was cool to see all of the families get together for BBQ and fireworks. I love that I met Cassie and Jasia, it's like an instafamily right when I moved here :) And yes, my biological clock has been screaming at me. (I will talk more about that later, but Cass is part of Single Moms by Choice group... I am considering checking it out...5 year plan) For now, I just enjoy learning about it and thinking about my future. I am without a doubt where I belong, and that is good by me.
That's about all I've got for tonight. Nice respite from the grant I'm writing. Those who know me well can tell that this post is definitely low energy, but it's better than none :)
Love to all, Light to all,
DBear