The Dani Diaries: Life In Pennsylvania

November 22, 2011

I've been living in the Philadelphia area, out in the 'burbs, of PA for exactly 3 weeks. Well, three weeks yesterday if you want to get technical about it. For those of you that either were unaware that I moved, or you live under a rock (:D), here's a quick update: I moved. Ha! My dad got a job offer in Colorado and moved out there the last week of September. Our house was on the market for about 3 weeks and then a newlywed couple bought it. I really didn't have any desire to move out to Colorado and start all over out there knowing no one. I could have stayed in Texas, but although I had a job (2 actually) and friends and went to a phenomenal church (Gateway Church: www.gatewaypeople.com), I decided that living there without any family would be too hard. So I decided to move back home to PA. All my family lives up here- well excluding my parents and my brother, he's still at TSU in San Marcus. I'm living with my sister and brother-in-law (temporarily, till I get a job and my own place) here on the Main Line.

Life here in PA is really different that down south in Texas. For one thing, the weather is a lot COLDER here! More on that in a bit. The roads. Yes, let's talk about the roads of PA. For the most part they are two lanes. As in one lane going one direction and the other lane going to opposite direction. Yes, you read that correctly. Those are the back roads, the "main" roads have another lane in each direction, but most don't have that nice turning lane. So usually I get stuck behind someone that's turning left to get into a parking lot or onto another street and then that backs up traffic. It's a bit of a nightmare really. So, all my friends back in Texas, be thankful for your lovely 1709/Keller Parkway/Southlake Blvd!

The scenery and landscape is simply breathtaking. I will have to see if my iPhone will work with me and load some pictures up here. I'm borrowing my sister's Mac as mine is currently being used in Colorado... which reminds me that I have to light a fire under my dad to send me mine. The leaves had already changed when I got here and I was just in awe. I was so glad that the ~~insane blizzard~~ very-early-before-Halloween snowfall that much of the Northeast experienced did not cause all the leaves to die or fall off! I have taken countless photos of the trees and lush wooded areas around here. Which brings me to another thing that Texas doesn't have much of- at all- woods/forest/mountains/hills. Yeah, for those of you not familiar with Texas, it's pretty much FLAT. Every now and then you get a "hill" but other than that flat as a table top. Not here in PA my friends! Hills and mountains and trees and woods for as far as the eye can see!

And now to the cold. When I first got here I was mentally prepared for chillier weather. I mean, this is the North. But I was taken aback at how cold it can get- yes, I did live here before, but the last time was 8 years ago! My sister and brother-in-law's house is over 100 years old! It was built way back in like 1860's or something. For some reason- and call me crazy- but I don't think they ever really insulated it properly, like by modern standards. My first night here, I froze. Literally. Well, not literally, but you get the idea. My mom had the futon that folded out into a bed- which she didn't realize was a futon- and I took the blow up mattress. All my heavy bedding and heating blanket were on the moving truck, and the truck wasn't due for another week. So I had a quilt and another blanket on top of that and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night to put on a sweater over my pajamas, then leggings on under my pajamas, another pair of socks and my mom gave me a blanket off her bed- I was STILL COLD! I think it is because my bed is right next to the wall, under a window.... Needless to say, I did not sleep well that night. Now that all my things have arrived from Texas- and are taking up half of a room down in the basement- my heating blanket is on my mattress (no more air mattress that squeaks every time I move/breathe!) and the foam cover is on top and I sleep a lot better!

So the day after I arrived, I went down to West Chester to interview for a job I applied to online prior to getting here. It was at the Goddard School- which is basically another Primrose. For those of you unfamiliar with Primrose Schools, it's a daycare/preschool/pre-kindergarten/private kindergarten/after school child care facility. Turns out up here, you need ECE (early childhood education) credits in order to get paid decently. I have no ECE credits so if I took the job I would make about $1.25 more than minimum wage. That is not enough to live on and be able to keep up with rent and all of life's expenses. So my sister told me about SitterCity.com- a website for baby-sitting/nanny jobs. I made a profile that night after my interview and applied to 4 jobs. Took a few days but soon people were contacting me and calling me and I set up interviews with a bunch of families. Score! So far I have interviewed with 4 families, and I will meet with another one on Monday!

Families out here- especially on the Main Line- are ridiculously wealthy. Well, not all, but most are. There are a bunch of private schools around us that cost like $28k a year to send your kid to, no joke. Now, I don't know if that's just the Upper School (what private schools refer to as high school) or not, but still that is like college tuition! Two of the families I interviewed with, their kids go to private schools. They have all boy private schools and all girl private schools. I don't have anything against private schools, I'm just not used to it I guess. I went to public school my whole life. You should see some of the gorgeous, enormous houses they have up here. Insanely beautiful! Again, if my phone behaves I will load some tonight.

Tomorrow my sister, mom and I are going to the Flower & Craft Warehouse out in Blue Ball- near Lancaster- to look at Christmas decorations and such. It's a yearly thing that my Mommom goes with her daughters and this will be the first year we get to join!

This is a gorgeous house on the Main Line near my sister's. Most houses around here are grand and very large and typically country-like as this one.

I love this house, it's actually right down the road from my sister's and not too far from the park where I take her dog for long walks and throw the tennis ball around.