Prison bound

Well I made it here and so did my luggage. So I'm off to a good start. I am settled into my relatives place which is about 5 or 6 miles from Crosby or Baytown. The set up here is pretty neat in that I am staying with one of my grandma's brother's sons and his family who happen to live next door to the previously mentioned brother and his wife. So yesterday, my first night here, I was able to see some family I haven't seen in awhile and some more cousins and their kids too. Family is so great, I am so lucky to be able to stay with them even though life here is a little different than I'm use to. After sleeping in today, I went to the store to buy some groceries and a lot of ziploc baggies. I have to pack anything and everything in a clear bag when I go to the prison. Today I also received a very important lesson - driving lesson. See originally I was going to be using the family car, then when I got here I was told I would have to rent and then this morning it was decided the family would somehow make the car thing work (which is great because it saves me $1200). The only hurdle to using one of the family's care - I would have to learn how to drive a stick. So after dinner, Tim, the dad, took me to the primary school parking lot for me crash course in how to drive the Miata. I did pretty well having never driven a standard before, and I didn't kill the engine until I had to reverse to turn and then go again, unfortunately I killed it perpendicular to traffic - maybe I need a sign that says student driver. And after only 15minutes of circling the parking lot Tim took me to the highway where I opened it up - ha ha no - but I did manage to get going up to 60 with relative grace and style. Then it was back home. So now, after my 37minute crash course in driving I am ready to hit the open road tomorrow, throw the top down, sunglasses on and head to prison. Can't wait. I am pretty nervous about this rotation, although if I weren't nervous I would think something was seriously wrong with me.
Despite all the fun I had today, the best part was talking to Shawn. I feel homesick already, I swear I feel like I have been gone a month. As soon as I got on the phone with him he said "wanna hear Wrigley bark?" and she did with some persistent growling as well. He had her so wound up before he got on the phone with me so I could hear her. It was very sweet, but it did make me miss the three of them (especially Shawn) all the more.
Well, it is getting late, I should probably get some rest before the big day tomorrow. And now that I think about I'm not sure if I am more nervous about driving or the actual rotation. Beep Beep.