Nope... not dead yet.

It has been a while… to say the least.

This may end up being a pretty long entry, just a heads up. I have not quite managed to organize my thoughts about what has happened over the last many days, and I imagine that my article will reflect such. It should, however, be pretty informative about what has been going on in Pete’s life. Side note, and kind of a bummer, I cannot find my camera, and do not have many pictures to go along with my rambling.

The migration was a success. I now reside in Sandy, Utah. It is different, no doubt about that. The weather has not been as intolerable as everybody said it would be. It has snowed a couple times, but not enough to stick. I have had to scrape ice off my windshield before work twice now. Not to tough. I like to wear gloves when I drive now, mostly because if I don’t, my hands freeze on the way to work in the morning.

We have moved as planned… mostly. We had planned to stay with my parents for the first couple weeks and then move into our apartment behind my sister’s house. We would use the time at my parent’s house to set up our house so we would not have to live in a work in progress while Kristin is babysitting two infants during the day. I think we stayed with my parents for three whole nights. We just couldn’t wait to get back in our own space after our extended vacation from a lease. In spite of the mess, it was really nice to be able to brush my teeth in my own bathroom for the first time since mid-October. Pretty much all that is left to set up our house is to move my two milk crates full of tools out of the living room and set up our computer area. It has been a smooth move, and Kristin and I have really felt the support of our friends and families.

We like our neighbors. It has been pretty fun living in such close proximity to my sister’s family. It was kind of fun to knock on her door and ask to borrow a salt shaker, then a couple days later have Kelton knock on my door and ask for some salt. I am excited to get back into writing, and put in some studio time with John.

Work has been fun. I feel like I am fitting in at my new store pretty well. It seems to me like they don’t mind crazy animals or jokes or poor accent imitations or random idiocy in general. It was kind of nice to have finally meet, and work, with all of the partners at Taylorsville Starbucks, as well as have some of the regulars start to recognize me. I don’t feel so much like a visitor anymore. As far as finding a second job, I have had little to no success as of yet. I do have an interview tomorrow for a position I would really like to have, but don’t want to get too excited because the cat is not yet in the bag.

Clover has been growing like crazy. She has not yet managed to grow her hair out anywhere besides the back of her head, and is rocking the mullet like its nobodies business as a result. She likes to squawk and smile and wiggle her little appendages. She likes to fall asleep listening to the guitar and being bounced on a lap. So far her favorite songs are my renditions of “Reach for the Sky” and “Folsom Prison.” ……. After thinking about it, maybe those are her least favorite songs, because those are the ones she falls asleep to. Ohhh man… am I a mean dad? Boring my child to sleep? Anyway, she likes hanging out with her mom during the day and her cousin Penelope. She has also started to drool like crazy and blow bubbles with her spit. She is super precious, and like I said in the beginning, I can’t find my stupid camera, but I will have pictures of her up… soon. Maybe I can borrow my sister’s camera for sweet photo sesh. Clover does not seem to mind the cold one bit, and that is okay by me. She still shows no sign on whether or not she likes her rhinoceros blanket... I do know that whenever her dad tucks her in, she falls asleep hugging it… I hope it doesn’t give her nightmares… waking up and staring at a rhinoceros… man this parenting thing is a little bit tougher than I anticipated. I think I need to start thinking things through a little bit more… *sigh*

I miss all of my people form San Diego. I wish you all were here. I am pretty bummed out that you are all so far away from here. All y’all are what I miss about San Diego. I don’t mind the weather or altitude or anything like that. I don’t miss the ocean or palm trees, just the people that I know.

I have not yet managed to talk to the people up here that I already know. It has been so crazy trying to get stuff situated that I have not really had time to do anything just for fun yet.

So… It has stopped feeling like a vacation though… this whole move thing… the first week I spent every night hanging out at mom and dad’s playing cards or visiting or whatever, just because I have not been able to do that for years. I am finally feeling settled in. The permanence of everything that has been going on directly related to my move is finally sinking in. I am happy and healthy and excited for the years to come.

-p