Don't Run the Red Lights

Today I ventured out on my own on the California streets. Scary, I know! I looked up the address of each stop I planned on making and looked at a google map for reference. I felt nerdy. But it was nice to find out that both of my stops were along the same main street - Contra Costa Blvd! I also noticed the the mall was along that same street, so hey, why not stop a visit the motherland? So I talked with my sister and asked her for what freeway exit I should take. FREEWAY??!! Yes. The freeway. *Que Jaws theme song music*
As my solo venture started, I stopped at Nob Hill (grocery store) to return the Redbox movie (New Moon - we had to see it again before we see Eclipse tonight!). I'd been to Nob Hill before and there is a REALLY easy back way from my sister's neighborhood. Then I made my way to the freeway.... As I got onto the 680 freeway, I felt exactly like Di and Cher from Clueless - I wanted to start freaking out and let go of the steering wheel. I knew I had to move over quickly because of exit lanes and connections to other freeways. I found the exit I needed and made my way over to Barnes and Noble to buy a lap desk (for my laptop when I'm sitting on my bed). Then made my way to the mall. Before I got out of my car, I remembered I had to fill my prescription because today is the last day that my medical insurance is effective. So I call my mom - hey, mom, will you pick up my prescription and mail it to me? Thanks! And then I call the pharmacy.... to make a long story short, the freaking insurance company had terminated my benefits THAT DAY!!! My prescription (which I get the generic pills) was going to be $57. Gah. I called my mom and told her and like the sweet, sweet lady that she is, she offered to pay for my pills this time. This was the first time I shed tears since arriving in California - over $47! Oh well. Mall time. I decided to torture myself and go in to H&M. Bad move. There were SO many things I wanted. Of course I had to touch them all. Love 'em and leave 'em. Then I saw sunglasses were on sale for 2 for $10. Wow! But then I thought... it's $10 and I have no job. No job means no money. Gah. I passed. On the way out I spotted a really cute purse. So I had to go touch the purse. And then leave. I went into Arie, looked a few things but didn't buy anything. Then went into Victoria's Secret. Soooooo many pretty, colorful bra's I wanted... And what is this?? A bra that adds two cups sizes?? Sign me up! But not for $48.... dang. I decided that I had enough rejection for one shopping trip and left. Made my stop at Bed, Bath and Beyond but couldn't find any rugs for my room. Then I drove back home. I had to remember one rule... don't run red lights. My brother in law told me that if you run a red light here, they take a picture of your license plate and send you a $391 ticket. EVERYONE breaks at a yellow light. I mean, NO ONE even chances it. It's soooo different than Utah. In Utah, everyone thinks that yellow means speed up (I admit - I thought that way too). Something else VERY different that I experienced was that bikers can ride in between cars. Even though I knew they could do this, still freaked me out when I saw one coming up behind me. But I made it home safely! No getting lost, no physical freakouts, and no running any red lights.
My good news for the day was that the pharmacist that I spoke to help me get my insurance mess straightened out and my prescription was only $10! Woo hoo!
No new happenings on the job front.... I have to remember to be patient. When I was laid off from Bach, it was over a month before I started my new job at Sallie Mae. So when I start slightly freaking out that no one has called, I remind myself to breathe. I am really hoping I get called for two jobs - NCAA and Wells Fargo. I really don't want to have to work in the city if I don't have to. I had to recruiting appointments with two different agencies in the city on Monday. My sister went with me and one of them was really good and the other one was sucky. But after riding around on BART (like Trax), I quickly realized how tiring and time consuming it would be to work in the city. So my fingers are crossed! I have to remember that I am following Heavenly Father's direction and he will put in my path what I need.
It's so weird to not have any friends (close friends - I have Timmy and Jared in East Palo Alto, like an hour away) here. I was so used to having friends always so close. But it's only been five days. I met talked to seven new people in church on Sunday - which is an accomplishment! Pretty sure I could have just stayed in my shell and not talked to anyone. The singles ward is planning a summer retreat to Santa Cruz on July 24 - sounds like fun! Making friends will be interesting.... but I gotta be patient! I don't want to be the weird girl.
So far, I am really liking it out here! Just gotta figure out to get my hair the way I want it... the humidity throws it off!