So you’re not truly indoctrinated into being a Southern Californian until you’ve experienced your first earthquake, at least in my mind.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, I was painting my nails on the bed, watching a show about Soul Train with the hub. The bed shakes, annoying me, since I’m about to get Hot Fuschia all over my fingers.

“Honey, are you shaking the bed?”

Nothing. If you have a five year old who loves [insert favorite ugly monster/robot show here]  show and can completely be engrossed, this is my husband watching anything about Soul Train.

“Quit shaking the bed!”

“I’m not shaking the bed.”

I look on the other side to see if Max is trying to sneak up on me. Nothing. Puzzled, as bed is still shaking.

“It’s an earthquake,” says husband, calmly as if telling me the laundry is done.

EARTHQUAKE! OH GOD! WHAT DO WE DO? STOP, DROP AND ROLL? WAIT, NO. UM. OH GOD THIS IS CRAZY.

That, needless to say is me.

It was weird. We were upstairs and you could feel the house sway back and forth. The pictures didn’t even move on the wall. Nothing broke. It was kinda like a theme park ride.

And after a minute, it was over.

I, doing what any red blooded Tweeter would do, jumped on Twitter to see what the hell that was. It was indeed an earthquake, originating in Baja California. Or was it Mexico? Anyway, it was a 7.3 on the Richter scale. Out of 9. So pretty damn big.

It was kinda cool to talk to people I didn’t know in San Diego on Twitter about it. Everyone told their story of what they were doing at the time (a la 9/11 only on a smaller scale). I even found a few bloggers I didn’t know lived here, like Sugar Jones. So now I look forward to meeting my new Twitter pals.

I realized I really didn’t know what you’re supposed to do in case of an earthquake. I did my homework for next time:

• If you’re inside get on the ground and under something if you can
• Or go outside away from things that can fall
• Don’t panic (oops)

After I was sure we weren’t going to have an aftershock, I went to the grocery store, where more people were talking about it. They said this was the biggest earthquake since the 1970s, so that makes me feel good. If I can withstand a 7.3, I can withstand anything!

Mea culpa for not writing sooner. I let the fact that I literally have 500 photos to fix up and upload stop me from writing about my move. It went well.

Driving across country on (or near) Route 66 was interesting. There’s sadly not much left of this historic road and its attractions. But what pleasure I had coming across a giant indian or fun motel sign! And I’ve got the photos to prove it. I’ll have to break my trip down in a few posts to share with you in the next few weeks, so be patient.

California is wonderful. It’s so beautiful here. San Diego is covered with mountains, and just walking through my neighborhood, suddenly I’ll be at a vista of valleys and peaks, and it just seems so dang wonderful. It’s chillier than I expected (mornings about 45 or 50 degrees) but from what the locals say, they don’t expect it to be this cold either.

Our house is beautiful, and has a magical garden full of hummingbirds. And a mama hummingbird on a nest.

Max is adjusting nicely to his French language school, and is really taking to the language. He’s also taken to piano, of which we have one in our rent house. Bonus!

The boys and I are adjusting to being a family together. No more cramming in quality time over three days. We’re in it together forever.

And I’m sick. Have a cold. Lovely. Stay tuned for more snippets from Life in California.

The husband and I have always been wanderers. If not in actual life, then in our heads. We were ready to drop everything and move to China. We’d move just about anywhere in the world. Being in Arkansas was a product of what happened last summer, and I knew it wouldn’t be permanent.

We’re headed to San Diego, where we will be for a while.

We’re still nomads at heart, but Max is getting older, and needs stability. He can’t fear we’ll move every year. So we’re dedicated to staying around for a while so he can build roots.

As for me, I’m thrilled. I’ve always wanted to live in San Diego. It’s like Orlando, only moderate temperatures year ’round (I can do without humidity). There are so many things I want to do there, like visit all the museums at Balboa park, shop at the green, eco friendly grocery stores, enjoy the sunshine, take Max to Legoland, learn to surf (after the snowboard incident I may wait a while on this goal)…and we’ve got time to do it all.

I actually have a long-time friend in San Diego, so that’s an added bonus. And there’s an IKEA! Heaven.

I’ll miss a few (very few) people here, but I’m grateful for the bonus time I’ve gotten to spend with people like my mom, best friend and her family.

Meanwhile, my house is emptying out and I can’t find anything.

Mom is driving with Max and I to California then flying back. We’re going across Route 66 for an adventure. I’ll be taking lots of photos w/ my new camera, so stay tuned for that (but forgive me if I don’t have time to post them!).

Wish me well. See you across country!