Stuff going on here lately

We have spent the past week getting used to living in Arizona, and I think it's going pretty well, minus the weather. The movers came last Monday and my parents hired two helpers, which managed to squeeze all of our furniture and extra stuff into storage. Of course we can't take anything out now, but don't think we'll be moving for awhile, so we should be okay. I got a hair cut, which is totally necessary in this weather where I am sweating all the time anyways (would rather be doing it with shorter hair than longer). I got my new Arizona driver's license the same day and my picture didn't come out too horrible. I am discovering a bit how to drive in the NW Valley, where my parents live, though I've not attempted Phoenix yet as I still find it insanely confusing. I've only been on the highways once, to drive my parents to the airport and that was intimidating. It's like my hubby says, the towns in this area are more like subdivisions in one giant town because they are so close together. It's really confusing sometimes when you're driving around and you enter two or three different towns in the space of a couple of miles. For example, we live in Sun City but if you go a mile in one direction, you end up in Youngstown and the other direction, you end up in Peoria, but there are pockets of Sun City mixed up with these other towns to make it even more confusing. So it is better for me to go by directions vs. city names as they're all squished together. 

The local library system, Maricopa County, has 17 branches and most are in the NW Valley. I decided to try out the NW Regional branch first, which has a nice children's section and seems to do storytimes regularly. It is right next to a huge park/sports complex with a gigantic kid's play area. It also is right next to a lake where you can go fishing, and there are lots of ducks and we even saw an egret there. I may end up going to another branch in the future, but for now, this one is close enough that it works for me. The only thing I don't like is that you are only allowed 10 books on hold, and I've already got six on my list. Most of them are books that aren't coming out for awhile, so I've got a bit of a wait. I picked up an interesting book called As Always, Julia, which is about the letters written between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. Now if you have seen the movie Julie & Julia or read Julia Child's brilliant memoir My Life in France, you will know that Avis was a great friend of Julia's that she "met" by accident. Their letters are a fascinating look at the culture and politics of the 1950s onwards, especially about women and cooking. However, it is pretty dense as it is mainly just their letters, so not sure if I will be able to finish it now or will have to try it again later. 

I saw my new Nurse Practioner and I liked her, though she will not be my main medical person. I'm supposed to meet the doctor on the 25th. Hopefully I will have been able to start processing my Medicaid application by then, which I need to start on tomorrow. This doctor's office is much more organized/professional than the last one, and the hospital looks really nice. I'm hoping John and I and maybe my parents can get a tour of the maternity wing of the hospital next weekend. Meanwhile, me and the baby are doing just fine. Other than having a bit of time adjusting to the heat. This Friday it was up to 99 degrees F again and I thought we were going to melt in the house. My hairdresser in Columbia wasn't kidding when she was talking about being pregnant in the summer (she had both her kids in July). She told me that she used to wear next to nothing and still be melting, and I'm already feeling the same way. Plus with the little one kicking a whole lot more and my belly feeling like it is swelling to massive proportions that makes things more interesting. Sometimes I feel like I have to sit in very unladylike positions just so I can be cool and comfortable. That and with the heat, all I want to do is sleep, even it is a sweaty sleep. Anyways, I'm off to bed.