I miss...

I promise my next blog post will be more positive.
But I've just been thinking a lot lately of
the people, places and things I've been missing these past 4 months.
[In no particular order]

I miss my "old" job



I miss the place, the daily routine, the teachers, and of course the kids!
I even miss the long commute to work...
especially passing by all those tree-covered hills.


I miss walking.

Yeah, I know I can still go walking, but it's not just the same.
[Especially when it's 100+ degrees for most of the summer!]
I can't walk down the street anymore and find myself in a place like this...



And I especially miss having just about anywhere I want to go
within less than a mile's walk.

• Grocery Store - check
• Post Office - check
  
• Drug Store - check
• Craft Store - check
• Dollar Store - check
• Restaurants - check, check and check
• Nature trail - check
• Church - check

[I think you get my point....]


I miss having a "real" bed

Oh...that bed looks heavenly!
I have spent the past 4 months sleeping on a queen size air mattress.
It was fine at first...until it started getting softer and softer....
to the point where I would literally roll right out of bed in the morning.
One night I was almost "swallowed up" by the mattress.
We found the cause, one of the seams had opened.
Since then I've been sleeping on an uncomfortable futon-like "bed".
Can't wait to sleep on a real mattress again....whenever that will be!
Maybe then I'll start sleeping better instead of waking up
half a dozen times during the night.
[Which is probably why I spend my lunch break napping rather than eating!]


I miss the ocean.



I miss being able to hop on BART to SF and take a bus to
Ocean Beach, to get away from warmer temperatures,
and to just relax and listen to the waves crash onto the shore.




I miss hills and mountains, too!



It is too flat here for my liking.
I miss all the tree-covered hills and especially Mt. Diablo,
which really helped me with my sense of direction,
which may be one reason why I feel so lost here!



I miss friends.


[And I don't just miss Heather...I just found this picture first.]

I miss going to the store and running into someone I know.
Or just walking down the street and having someone honk at me.
[Even if the majority of the time, I had no clue who it was,
until they mentioned it to me later.]
I just miss knowing that if I needed help or wanted to talk
that someone was there for me.


I miss my ward family.



They say the church is the same wherever you go...
that's true when talking about the doctrine being taught,
but it's not necessarily true of each ward and it's members.
I could probably share a memory regarding just about
every member of the Concord 2nd Ward.

About the ward I'm currently in...

• I can probably count on both hands how many members names I know.
• I had been here for 4 months before a member of the Bishopric introduced himself to me.
• There is one sister who I've noticed makes an effort to talk to me...although half of the time she thinks my name is Tracey. [But, at least she has 3 out of 5 of the letters of my name!]
• I don't have Home or Visiting teachers [or if I do, they've never contacted me].

So, yeah....I really, REALLY miss my ward!


And of course, I miss this little guy



My nephew Kaden.
He's one year old now and getting so big!
[And even cuter, too if that's possible!]


OK, seriously...my next post is going to be happy, happy, joy, joy! :)