Back to your regularly scheduled spaz!

Yeah so I have been MIA due to the fact that I have no computer at home which means I have to get all my moving/ car/ location searching done during business hours, replacing my time where I could be writing to you, my internet friends. I hope you missed me ;)

I am on my way to having a full on melt down. This whole idea of giving someone all my worldly possessions where they drive away and may or may not hijack (every company has this complaint against them at the Better Business Bureau) said items is blowing my mind. On top of that I have to pay them....a lot!

Today I am selling my car but I have not found a car so I am going to be car less and potentially insurance less. Oh, oh, oh and did I mention I have not packed and that no one who shows up to look at our apartment is qualified (out of 10 appointments only 1 person has shown up, grrrrr).

I had these delusional visions of spending my last days in Miami enjoying the palm trees, my friends and relaxing. I also mentally omitted the fact that if all my stuff is packed on a truck somewhere in the USA. Where is my family eating Thanksgiving dinner? So I am also potentially looking at spending Thanksgiving eating at a Waffle House and or eating microwave turkey with plastic sporks.

I'm going to go breathe into a brown paper bag now....


*This post has been brought to you by Dunkin Donuts Large Coffee Coolatta.

Roll tide.....or whatever they say...

The trip was a welcome and beautiful, where I realized how much I enjoy seeing the leaves change, how nice it is when the air is crisp and how nice it is for strangers to smile and wave.

We went for a walk Sunday morning at 6:30 in the morning, then we walked to church (a miracle in itself) where everyone asked our names and then listened to the answer. The men open doors, people call you Miss and Ma'am and smile. Did I mention how people smile and wave?

After going through my life thinking I have no identifiable accent and loving that fact I started to hear how harsh my voice is. I pronounce hi as "high", harsh and to the point, I can be snarky and I'm very direct in dealing with people. This may be the excuse I have needed to further hone my skills in diplomacy and the effective smile. Who can be mad at you when you are always smiling? I sure as hell don't want to be known as that Yankee bitch!

The cultural differences are astounding. Even the concept of beauty is altered. Women really take care of themselves. The hair, makeup and nails are all done up. These women make sweat suits look classy. I even took the time to do my eyes and lips, it felt great to get it together for a moment.

I can finally say that I am excited to make the move up there. I can't wait to be part of a true community where I know my neighbors and care about them. Miami has been great and I have made lifelong connections but the day to day can be isolating. You are a number in a large sprawling beautiful city where you spend more time in your car than playing in your yard. Family & friend time requires a lot of effort here, I know that this will change. I already know groups of parents with small children in Alabama where in Miami I have struggled to meet other working parents.

Right now I am concentrating on all the positives and I know it is not always going to be pro Alabama but right now I am still in the dating stage and I'm hoping to fall in love.

Back from Bama

This weekend was the official husband send off. We drove up to Alabama, unloaded several items including my computer (I take no responsibility for being a slacker blogger), spent a couple days with him and left to come back to Miami. Don't worry, we are going back in a couple weeks too but I have to tie up some loose ends, like:

-sublet our apartment
-sell my car
-buy a car
-find a daycare/ sitter
-lose my mind
-find my mind
-eat as much Latin/multi-cultural food as possible
-soak in the heat
-find a new internet/phone/cell provider (since none of them work where we are going to be living)
-buy closed toe shoes that I like (I have not worn closed toe shoes for more than two hours in over two years [this is not an exaggeration])
-pack our apartment
-confirm a mover
-buy plane tickets back to Miami for husbands Masters graduation (you rock baby!)

Now that I have purged my mental to do list I can tell you that this past weekend....