First week in Davis

Friday night my mom and I arrived in Davis. We immediately bought a mattress so we could have somewhere to sleep, made a Target run (I got a new TV!), started unpacking, put together my new couch, and watched Hurricane Ike coverage on the TV in the apartment exercise room. While my dad was getting our house and backyard ready for Ike, wasps came out of the birdhouse he was taking down, causing him to trip over my mom's statue of a girl feeding ducks. He not only decapitated the statue but fell down and broke his arm! So not only did my dad have to suffer through a hurricane by himself while we were in sunny California, he had to do it with a broken arm.

On Saturday my mom and I went to Walmart and Target again, put together my two bedside tables (they took forever!), ate lunch outdoors at the bistro and had delicious pizza at Steve's pizza, and checked in with everyone in Houston. Our house and my grandparents' house had fence damage, and they both still don't have power, but other than that everything's ok. My dad was supposed to fly into Davis today, but that wasn't going to happen thanks to hurricane Ike.

On Sunday my mom and I had lunch at Little Prague, a Czech restaurant, and then walked around campus. We walked along the lake on the southern edge of campus and saw cork and redwood trees! We ate at a Thai restaurant for dinner, and then watched Baby Mama (finally! I've waited forever!) and the SNL Sarah Palin-Hillary Clinton debate. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen!

On Monday my dad was finally able to fly into Sacramento. Before we picked him up, my mom and I took a short walk along the greenbelt behind my house and stopped by REI, where I got a new tent and sleeping pad! I'm so excited. I can't wait to use my new gear on the fall field trip. After we picked my dad up, we took him to eat Steve's pizza. My parents left to go on a Napa Valley vacation, and I met with Isabel Montanez, my advisor for grad school. She recommended that I take three classes this quarter: a Paleontology seminar, an analytical instruments class, and a stratigraphy class that will focus on the rocks that I will be studying for my thesis. It's kind of unusual for grad students to take 3 classes (most take 1 or 2 because I'm also going to be TAing and taking 2 other seminars), but if I can handle it and take 3 next quarter too, I can be done with my classes by March! Crazy!

On Tuesday I got my keys and saw my desk/office. I'm in a huge room with 7 (yes, 7!) other grad students. We're all focusing on generally the same stuff, and I think I'll really like being in there since I'm living by myself and I'll want to be around people. I also put together my TV stand, so now I am officially unpacked!

On Wednesday I bought my bike! It's a sunkruizer. The basket reminds me of the wicked witch of the west, but the overall look is very 70s I think (or at least I haven't seen bikes like this outside of Brady Bunch re-runs and movies). These bikes are everywhere in Davis! I love the super wide seat and my basket. The grocery store is on my way home from school, so I just put my groceries in there! Mom and Dad came back from Napa Valley, and we all had dinner at the thai bistro. After dinner, we walked along the greenbelt behind my apartment. It's really pretty along the path. We watched the movie Smart People as I finished putting together my chairs.

On Thursday, after having coffee at Peet's coffee, Mom and Dad flew to New Mexico for Dad's high school reunion, and I was all by myself in Davis. I went to campus to pick up my new student id card, so now I'm official.