This entry is going to be a lot about nothing. Remember Seinfeld's show, which was about nothing? That's what this is. Because that's my life, a series of events that are nothing major but all add up to my life. And if I wait until something exciting happens, I may never have another blog entry again.

So I've been going to the gym pretty faithfully, first in Klamath Falls and now in Tracy and, imagine this: I'm gaining weight. Yeah, I'm thrilled. And before you say "muscle weighs more than fat," no. I'm pretty sure I'm getting fatter. I had to buy new clothes at one point. Now, I will say that one of my medications was switched and it causes weight gain, so that could be the reason. So I'm going back off that medication and going onto one that doesn't have that side effect. However, there is nothing worse than suffering through gym sessions, working with a trainer, being pushed hard past your comfort zone, only to step on the scale and have it laugh. Okay, maybe the laughter was in my head, but I still heard it. And it wasn't nice.

Also not nice is allergy season. Apparently, we moved down here at the beginning of the worst time of year for allergy sufferers. And suffering we are. Baby C the most, although the other day the wind kicked up something and I thought I was going to die. I felt like someone with a giant hand pushed my whole face in about an inch and the pressure was going to make my eyes pop out (sorry if I'm being too graphic for you non-allergy sufferers). My head ached and I couldn't breathe. Baby C had to have three albuterol treatments in one night, which is a lot, but he couldn't breathe and had that croup-y cough. Thankfully, the other two kids did fine with just allergy medicine. I finally remembered Emergen-C and took some, which made some of my worst symptoms clear up so I could at least function. Yay for Emergen-C. I took more this morning so at least I feel human. And hopefully the wind will die down today or tomorrow and whatever is in the air will go away, too. Supposedly, sometime in May allergy season will end and we will all live happily ever after, at least til next spring. Let's hope that's true.

What's not making me happy is trying to buy a car. Apparently no one else in this country has to be able to fit four adults and a child (or two adults, two car seats and a child) into a vehicle and still be able to afford to pay for gas. My options are a car that wedges my children in like sardines and gets decent gas mileage, or a van or SUV that fits everyone, drinks gas like it's free and makes me eat rice and beans for dinner to afford the payment. I know what you're thinking: We chose to have that third child. No, if you recall that third child chose us. We had made the decision to be happy with two, were done with babies, had given away the baby clothes and TA-DA, here comes Baby C, happily splashing into our lives and making a big disruption of everything, including the kind of car we can now buy.  It's a good thing we like him, because you don't know how often I think "if we had two kids we could......" and that sentence ends all sorts of ways, from cheaper vacations to smaller cars to smaller houses.

But we do like him, we like all three of our kids. They are adjusting to the move very well, overall. We are living in a fifth-wheel trailer right now, if you can imagine. They get along for the most part, which is a good thing in a small space. Big sister J is very helpful with the little boys, and when she's not around B takes over as big brother. He's very good as he has an excellent example to follow. Poor Baby C will be bossed his whole life. I imagine him marrying a bossy woman because he won't know there's any other kind. J likes her school, and I like that the class sizes are small..... I mean SMALL, like 16 students in her class. So she's doing well there. The weather has been sunny most of the time, so we can be outside, so we aren't trapped inside the trailer (which of course helps us not feel trapped in the trailer). There is a nice play area at my gym so the boys really like going there, and J too when she's not in school. And in another month school will be out and the outdoor pool at the gym will open, so we'll have that to do.

Which brings me back to the whole losing weight thing. Because the pool is going to open in another month and I really don't want to look like the only mom not even trying to lose weight. Seriously, after all that sweating, I want something to show for it! I'm not asking to be a size six (yet) or to have no cellulite (yet), just some tone and definition somewhere so I can look in the mirror and say to myself "look at those ankles, wow is the hard work paying off!"

Cha-cha-cha-changes

So I'm finally starting to adjust to a life totally different than the one I had in Klamath Falls. In some ways I don't think I'll ever adjust. For example, if I had to describe most central Californians in one word, it would be: Late. Apparently, everyone here has lost at least five minutes somewhere and they are all trying to catch up. The traffic light changes to green and immediately someone honks because he's not driving. But you can't go immediately when the light changes to green because at least three cars have to get through the red the opposite direction. Maybe there's also a lot of color-blindness around here, I'm not sure.

There is a lot of impatience, though, and for someone not known for patience to see it, that is saying a lot. The other day I went through the McDonald's drive-thru, where the person in front of me was from somewhere slower than molasses, maybe Mississippi, I don't know. Anyway, it was annoying for me, but the woman two cars behind me was apparently on break from open heart surgery, because she flew around me and the car behind me as soon as she had her stuff, scraped her car (some metal part, not the plastic bumper) on the curb, and blasted in front of oncoming traffic to race to the red light.

I waved at her when I pulled up behind her. I'm sure she didn't notice because she was talking on her phone.

What I do think I'm adjusting to is the shopping. It's great to have so many choices. Although it's funny, I'm still drawn to the same stores we have in Klamath because I know what they have. I needed a gym bag and my first stop was Big 5. Shoes? Payless. Anything else? Walmart.

Oh, my, the Walmart here is a maze compared to the one in Klamath Falls, and it's not a superstore or anything. For some reason I cannot get this store down. I needed dog food and wandered what felt like hours before finally finding it, by the people food. I guess it makes sense. In a kind of weird way.

But there is a real mall (as in, you walk inside and all the stores are there!). And I'm already thinking about how I can get different things at different stores, without having to worry about an hour-and-a-half drive. And I don't have to feel obligated to spend a ton of money every time I go, because "we came all this way, better make the trip worth it."

So the next purchase to think about for us is a vehicle for me. Do I go back to another van? A full-size car? I'm torn, so I'm open to any input. In the meantime I drive Erik's truck, which I park terribly, and probably don't love like my husband does. He wants it back, I want to give it back to him, so hopefully it won't be too long before we can make a decision.