Greetings from "The new South"...

Ok so over a year has passed and once again I haven't written, so I doubt there's anyone who is still around to read this unless they subscribed to this blog. Been living down south now since late December, and it has been a learning experience and an adventure since I last wrote.

First we'll back up the bus a little, last I wrote I said we were coming down here, but plans changed and we decided to buy a house in CT since Co just got a promotion, and I was close to one myself. We looked high and low and settled on one in Torrington. It needed work and lots of it, no kitchen cabinets, really weird floor plan, bad roof that we got the owners to agree to get replaced and a leaning garage that they wouldn't and in the end killed the deal. We were upset at the time, we sunk almost $1000 into inspections and appraisals for the only house in the area that was in our price range and had potential to be fixed up and grow in value, and had the deal go sour. We decided that was our sign that it was time to leave the nutmeg state. We all ended up living at mom's for a bit, while I tried like hell to get a transfer.

Summer turned to fall, no takers down here, fall was turning to winter in late November when I got the call, they had a store for me to interview with. I thought I interviewed horribly as I waited with baited breath the next week and half, and then 3 weeks before Christmas, they wanted me down there asap, I got them to hold off until right after the New Year so I could spend one last Christmas in CT and have the family all together for the holidays. Now co-coordinating moving 900 miles to a place you haven't been before except on train is hard enough, never-mind around the holidays, trying to plan get togethers and good byes all while packing up your life into countless boxes.

We lucked out and got good weather for our trip down, except at the beginning when we ran into some rough weather in NY state. We also lucked out by using a service a friend had told me about called upack, basically they dropped off a tractor trailer, we loaded it up and then they drove it down here, I highly recommend them for any long haul move. We came down through the mountains of W. Virginia and Virginia, good old route 81, and it was Gods country no doubt. Now I know what John Denver was singing about in "Country roads". We made it in 2 days, made good time, even though it got a little hairy coming down the mountains into NC when my brakes were acting up so bad I felt like a helicopter machine gunner, arms shaking violently in a sawing motion as the uneven rotors made it shake. I was saying Our Fathers, and Hail Marys even the whole way down. We made it though, tired as we were, and Co's parents were waiting for us, they let us stay with them for a few days as we were waiting for our stuff to show up, oh did I mention I had not seen or talked to them since before the big change? Yeah, I was scared shitless to say the least, here I was moving 900 miles away and the only family I had I wasn't sure how they were going to react to me. Long story short though it was awesome, other than a few he's that still get dropped in from time to time along with the old name half started, things are ok on that front.

Overall people are nicer down here, you don't get beeped at or flipped off as much and people seem to be in less of a hurry. Of course there are some northern assholes that have transplanted themselves down here too that do kinda make life difficult when they are still trying to live at their old pace and no one down here is in a hurry to get out of their way. There are other issues as well, there are gay people down here, obviously we are everywhere, but it's not all rainbow flags and equality stickers like it was back north. People are quiet here about things, and that is ok, I'm not the type to go around waving flags and being all lesbo up in your face, but there is this feeling of being afraid. We are living in the land of Baptists and waffles, there is a Baptist church and a Waffle house on every corner. What is it about intolerance and waffles that go together? Maybe it's easy to eat something quickly before you put your hood and robe on? There's not too much outward racial prejudice that I expected, but trust me when you get into a private conversation with a good ole boy it's there and it runs deep, not as deep though as the prejudice there is towards women. Ok maybe prejudice is the wrong word, but there is so much of the man is the boss down here bullshit, along with "like a girl" comparisons to choke a gator. I guess the problem with getting the simple life we wanted to get, comes with the stereo-types from those long gone decades. It's hard to say the least to being one of the lead bitches in charge to just being the man's little bitch. It's so hard to just say yesum to somebody you know is wrong and won't listen to you because you don't have a penis.

I know, I know, pick your battles girl, at least they aren't protesting me because I used to be in the tripod tribe, but I do suspect some of the crap I get is there little way of trying to making me try to quit. It might be my imagination but it seems like every really nice thing I do to make my department better gets taken down, or changed into a pos. Either they have bad taste, or like I said they are trying to get me to quit, but I've been through more than anything they can throw at me, so all I can say is bring it. I may be a bit different than most people, but I am also stronger than most people, I have been through more fire and turmoil than one should, I have recovered when I fell, and didn't think I had the strength to get up. I have honed myself into one tough ass bitch who can take a whole lot of shit, can give back more, and has the patience and the wisdom to wait till the time is right to do so, if I chose too. For now all I can do is live my life well, love my family, be a good person so when people figure me out, which they always do eventually they can say "who care's look at the person she is, not what she is", and just try to change the world down here slowly and surely.

On a brighter note, we are buying a house down here with more square feet, more land, and even kitchen cabinets for $40k less than the pos we were trying to buy up north. It's not much, but it will be our little abode, on a nice wooded dead end street, in a town that reminds me allot of Middlefield or Durham. Most of the town is farms and houses, very rural, yet there are several big industrial parks, 3m Michelin, Fabrical are all in town, and there are 3 major roads with fast food and a few grocery stores. I like it down here, kinda wish we came here sooner, hope I can talk my mom into coming down soon.

Anyway if anyone is still reading, thanks, can't say when I'm going to write again, but my emails the same if you need to get a hold of me.

Love to all , and of course take care...