Becca's New Environment

Regina's Tattoo

2009-06-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

Just had to post a pic of my tattoo. Becca helped me with the healing process while we were in Michigan, but here it is all healed up! Well, at least the arm part. Didn't want to post the entire thing, need help with that picture!

What have we done

2009-05-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

Ok so there's a hundred things that have happened in those 3 weeks and 2 days since my last post. I've flown to Chicago and hung out with my sister on the way to see our mother in Michigan. Eaten vegan food at a vegan restaurant and liked it. Tried out Mongolian Grill for the first time and loved the concept. Visited with my mother and my uncle in Michigan. Heart to heart with Regina on the way back to O-Hare where I discovered I wanted her to come with me or me to go with her. I miss her. The day after I got back from Michigan to home sweet home I found a painful absess in my lower jawline. Found a dentist who saw me the same day and got that taken care of. Monday I am going in to have my two remaining wisdom teeth removed. I've quit smoking now. 11 Days Strong. Oh and we shaved the cat.

Sadness

2009-04-23T22:12:00.001-07:00

I know that nobody reads my blog, but I still feel the need to right in it; more as a journal than anything else. Today I feel very sad, lonely, fat, unhealthy, and feel as though my control of the world in my corner is slipping away. I'm not suicidal or anything like that, just had a rough few days.

On Monday morning I received a phone call and all I heard on the other end of the line were tears, sniffles, and true sorrow coming from my mother as she told me that her mother, my grandmother (Mor-Mor in dansk) had passed away. Since that day I haven't really cried, but I feel as though I'm sitting still watching the world go on by as usual without even so much as a skip of a beat. My mother was in no shape to call my sister with the news, so that heartwrenching conversation was up to me to make. We will miss her greatly.

Laundry Obstacles

2009-04-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday last week we had laundry piled high in three baskets; I am quite sure everyone has had this or worse at least once in their lives. We both didn't really feel like lifting, stowing, driving, lifting, washing, drying, lifting, stowing, driving, and then carrying over 150 lbs to a coin laundromat or to his parent's house to take care of the monstrous ever growing plethora of dirty coverings. So instead, I asked Phil to look on Craig's list for our own set of laundry machines. After picking which set we wanted from the five or six on the list, we finally decided to try and buy the refurbished set that had been listed earlier that afternoon. Anxiously awaiting a reply e-mail from the prospective sellers, Wednesday early evening we finally had our answer. We could pick them up on Friday evening. As we are reading this, I think about the mound haunting us upstairs, along with the fact that I had been wearing pajamas for the last two days. Contemplating the choice between the above inconveniences or just waiting until Friday and taking care of it all over the weekend, I decide the procrastinators way. I will wait. Once the decision was made, I felt great to come from a long line of procrastinators.

Friday, Phil, his brother Matt, his father Marc, and I journeyed to Columbia, all of us aware of our jobs on this voyage. Marc had pulled something in his back earlier in the week so he was just driving and supervising, I was the one paying for them, and Matt and Phil were the laborers. The e-mail said between 5 and 7 that evening and our excitement had us there at 4:55. Since we were so early, and there was nobody at the residence, we decided to meet up with Doreen, Phil's mom, and grab some supper at a local chain restaurant. Reminder: Don't drink beer and then try to move a washing machine. I'm not going to state who learned from this, but I think it should have been all of us.

Upon re-arrival, we observe a U-Haul truck in the driveway and have a wave of thank goodness wash over us. They are home and we can get this done and over with. I never knew how awkward these machines are to drain, disconnect, move, reconnect and start. Once we got home with them and got them inside and positioned we realized that the dryer cable was a four pronged plug and didn't fit our three pronged outlet. We had a choice to make. Change the outlet or change the plug. Since it was a rental we changed the plug. We mistakenly believed our job was done and realized we couldn't open the dryer door in the location it was in. If you look at the picture below we had to cock the dryer at an angle and prop the laundry room door partway open to access the dryer door. Much less of an inconvenience than loading the car up with clothes and going to the laundromat. We both feel liberated having the washer and dryer in our home. Thank you to all involved in bringing us freedom from the coin operated appliances.

Learning a New Game

2009-03-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

So Phil really, really, and I mean really likes this game called Eve. He's been bugging me for months to start playing it or to at least try it out. It's an online game and I entered for the free trial. So let's see how this goes. I don't even know what it's about, other than it's totally make-believe, outer space stuff where you have to buy, sell, destroy, or otherwise maim other people. Sounds like fun.

Goodies, Defined

2009-03-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

These are what my sis sent me. Can you guess what they are??

I tried one of the cupcakes so far and oh so yummy, Thank you Regina :)

Invisible Microwave

2009-03-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have been prompted to update the invisible microwave with a real live image of the rarely seen, endangered NTM "new-to-me" microwave.

Box of Goodies

2009-03-23T04:55:00.000-07:00

Mystery package from Regina is now on it's way to Becca...What ever could be inside it??

Moron's

2009-03-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

Since Sunday when we returned home, I haven't had a day off of work and we have been sooo busy there. My next day off is Tuesday, so that's 8 days in a row. Yes I'm complaining, mostly because I'm a wimp, and tired, and cranky, and overall, just sick and tired of customers thinking that they are God's gift to my restaurant. (THIS IS ONLY A POSSIBLE SITUATION THAT MUST HAVE HAPPENED TO SOMEBODY IN THE LAST 24 HOURS) I appreciate your business, but not your impatient disposition flicked with an upturned nose. Don't tell me that my job is easy, unless you do it yourself. Please don't critique my service at another table and tell me that's not in my job to talk to another table I'm waiting on. I'm not saying that you deserve bad service by saying this, just saying that a little patience and understanding go a long way. I am not slime on the bottom of your $10 pair of shoes. I am not a bird-dropping on your $15 cap or hat. Stop treating me like I'm some sort of invalid. Sometimes it's a never-ending battle just to make sure you have your drinks full, food on table, and a smile on your face. Inevitably, you can't win everything, you can only try. It's not like it's a 5-star restaurant where you have a server and a server assistant for your table. It's just me with my two feet, two eyes, two hands, and one brain. If you want your food in under 3 minutes go to McDonald's when it's slow. Thanks for listening.

Yippie

2009-03-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize it's been since the 9th since I last posted. Well we went to Springfield for Grandpa's birthday and like magic, my sister and her husband became Auntie and Uncle. Bill's sister had her and Mark's baby over the weekend. Congrats to you two, and of course to the proud parent's.

Yayy, Cable is Back

2009-03-09T09:49:00.001-07:00

So you should know that we got our apartment I've been yapping about. We decided to buy a new dining room table.

And look how organized you can make pots and pans:

The invisible microwave:

The new bedspread on the new bed:

A pic of the bath:

And finally, the new entertainment stand because the old one failed.

Michigan - Regina's Visit

2009-03-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

My visit was good and my sister was right...it would be weird at first. But I'm really gald I went and got to spend some time with the family. Below are some pictures of my visit.

Here's MorMor, Me, Lesley, Christopher, and our Mom

MorFa is not one for pictures, I snuck this one in and it's not that good...
Mom playing her guitar, she's really good, and I enjoyed having her play some for me...I wish i had that kind of musical talent.MorMor eating a lunch I made...pita with tofu, cabbage, spinach, and cucumbers. A yummy Vegan Hearty Spiced Cocoa Muffin for lunch dessert.

MorMor's favorite dessert is bread pudding, so I made this vegan version for her (thanks to Becca for the cookbook the recipe came from...The Joy of Vegan Baking). MorMor said the bread pudding was wonderful. I'd have to agree.

Becca is without a computer until next week too...so you're stuck with my posting....

Xtra Good News

2009-02-26T06:35:00.000-08:00

If you don't remember the apartment I was blogging about in the 3rd week of January, scroll down to see specks. We secured said apartment yesterday and are able to move into it now. But now we have rain :( . Why is it when you want to move valuable to you items it always rains or snows and get slick and might break crap because of conditions. It's good that we don't have to move today unless we want to. I will have some pictures of it when I unpack my battery cord for the camera my sister gave me. There's plenty of room for fam to stay over. Smoke-free, cat-friendly home seeks relative visit very soon. :)

I'm Back

2009-02-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

I returned really late last night from my voyage to ye old Michigan. On my way up the 13 hour trek there, I ran into what they call a mild snowfall (I call it a tornado of snow) where I saw that a car had slid off the road and ended up upside down in the lower bows of trees. That scared me half to death and I slowed down dramatically. I hope everyone was allright. My grandmother, whom we call Mor-Mor for mother's mother in Dansk, is not in good shape by any means. She was able to walk around on her own and was quite remarkable in her speech and recollection of everything. She's all there in her mind and heart, but she needs help with preparing meals and setting up her bed and anything that requires lifting because of her breathing. One of my grandmother's wishes was that she could get a four-generation picture with herself, her daughter, grand-daughter, and great grand-daughter. If you would like to have a picture then you will have to privately e-mail me for it. For privacy reasons I am not posting the picture on here.

My sister is supposed to go up there Friday. I hope she has a good time and everything. It's been so long since she's been up there, it's going to be weird for her. I know it was really awkward when I went up there almost two years ago. After a day it felt much less weird. (If anyone has a synonym for weird and awkward, please let me know) Now I feel very comfortable there.

Michigan Part 2

2009-02-20T10:57:00.000-08:00

Right now Becca is in Michigan visiting everyone without me. I'm super bummed I couldn't go with her, but work issues are making me wait until next weekend. I'm looking forward to my visit, but also waiting to hear how things are from Becca's POV. I'm really glad she was able to still go up this weekend and get some quality time in with the family there and not be forced to wait the extra week for me. She'll be back early next week, I just thought I'd share that she made it there and is currently visiting everyone =)

Michigan

2009-02-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make sure everyone in the family that could have seen this blog already knew what was going on before I wrote it. My grandmother is very ill with lung cancer and it moved from her left lung to her right lung and now is attached to her heart. She doesn't have much time left and I'm hoping both my sister and I get to visit with her and say our goodbye's before she passes on. I'm going up on the 19th of this month and Regina is going up on the weekend after that one. I'm really going to miss her; she and I have always been close. We've talked at least once a week since I was 15 years old and I used to spend a few week every summer with my sister and mother before then. My grandmother knows everything about me and everything I've ever done, good and bad. The last time I was up there was right after my sister's wedding reception in 2007.
The other part about this that is concerning is that my mother is disabled and living with both of her parents. My grandfather is losing track of time, forgetting whether he took his insulin and sometimes double dosing on it, and is becoming very depressed with my grandmother's condition. He just wants to lay in bed all day. I'm fearful that both of my grandparents on my mother's side will pass on this year. My mother is schizophrenic and is wonderful when she's on her meds but if she's off of them is horrible. In addition, she is diabetic with a thyroid condition combined with back and hip problems she's had most of her life. She has no drivers license. I don't know what she's going to do when they both pass on. She definitely can't drive herself around to appointment, grocery shop alone, or push a vacuum. I can't live with her and help her because we are great separated but together in the same house, there are no boundaries. It may be selfish, but I just can't stand to live with my mother. Half the time she treats me as an adult, but it's the other half that bothers me.

Layoffs

2009-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

Well, what do I say?? My father is being laid off at the end of March. Phil's father was laid off yesterday. When's is going to be us?? Should we go ahead and get our own apartment or just offer to pay rent until it's a little better?? It won't be in the next two months that things get better and I don't want to be stuck here forever in his parent's house.
I haven't really been paying much attention to politics lately, or rather, ever. When it's on CNN or FOXNEWS I tend to zone out because of bordom. The screen gets all fuzzy and I just sit there in my own world. When did we tank?? I only know it started way before the new administration was elected.

Apartment

2009-02-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

We didn't get the apartment. Instead we fixed the Buick and got it tagged so we can drive it legally. That was truly important because the tag was expiring at the end of March which would have snuck up on us quickly. The prospective landlord told me to call about the third week of February if we were prepared to rent March; at which time she would tell me if she still has it available.

Next Week

2009-01-27T21:04:00.000-08:00

So we found a townhouse that we both really liked. It has two bedrooms 1 1/2 bath, washer/dryer hookup, pet-friendly, and it's in a good neighborhood for a great price. The problem:

We have to fix the Buick before we can move so that we are guaranteed to get it fixed to pass inspection. If we get the apartment first, we might not be able to afford to get it fixed. So we had to say goodbye to the perfect apartment for now. Since it's not moving season in the Midwest, it may still be available for March, which is when we can afford to attain it. Next week on the 2nd is when we are taking the Buick to get fixed. Maybe we can squirrel away double time to get the place too. Keep your fingers crossed.

Awww

2009-01-25T18:20:00.000-08:00

NO, this is not a picture of one of my babies, I just thought this was absolutely adorable:

http://icanhascheezburger.com">
see more crazy cat pics

Thank you...It's not overrated.

2009-01-15T20:26:00.001-08:00

January in the restaurant business is soooo slow. I'm glad I'm not in a pricey restaurant during this economic yatzee or I'd be out of business. Nobody able to afford to do anything, yet still trying to go out and do all that they can. It's flustering. We're very lucky that Phil and I have a warm bed to sleep in, hot water for showers, clothes on our backs, a way to work, and jobs. I don't know what we would do if it wasn't for Phil's parents being so generous. We'd be living in the car, that's what we'd be doing. I need some idea's for what to get them as a thank you gift for allowing us to stay with them without paying rent or utilities or buying groceries. Any thoughts?

Happy New Year, Toyota troubles

2009-01-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yes I gave my sister permission to hijack my blog. My camera is in storage under a bunch of crapola, so taking picture was my sister's domain over Christmas. How else is she supposed to load them without hijacking, lol.
What a good start to the new year. We have two cars, a 91 Toyota Camry and a 99 Buick Park Ave. Missouri has a state law that states that all vehicles must pass an inspection before they can be licensed. We took the better of the two cars, the Buick, in October to be inspected and expected it to pass. Low and behold, it failed with a need for $550 in repairs to have it pass. The inspection checks things like tires, brakes, CV joints, wheel bearings, and other elements to allow the car to not fall apart on the road and cause an accident. It doesn't check the engine, transmission, or anything that's under the hood. Since the Buick failed we knew that the Toyota would fail, with it being in worse shape in my mind than the Buick. The Toyota's tag expired at the end of October so we have been going without it since then. My father, being the wise man that he is, suggested that what harm would it do to inspect the Toyota to see how much it would cost to fix it, and decide whether to scrap it or not. So we took it Friday to get it inspected. When we walked up to the counter we told the woman that we have a car we know will fail but we wanted it inspected anyways. She called us back about 2 hours later and told us that the car we believed would fail actually passed. Ironic as it is with the Buick failing when we thought it would pass and the Toyota passing when we thought it would fail, we asked her if she got the right one in the shop. All said and done, we now have two cars that work and are licensed. Buick will be repaired next month since the tag is still good to March.
Now that's a great start to the new year.

Hijacked Blog

2008-12-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

It's official, I have hijacked my sisters blog. Becca said I could! So now when she logs on next she'll see I've added myself as an author! I just wanted to post some pictures from Christmas, so here they are.

Hi Becca...love you! I won't hijack the blog much, I promise.

This is Becca and Phil, but you should already know that.

The Sisters...aka Becca & Regina

Proof that Becca was in fact helping to prepare dinner. Look at her go in the kitchen!

Some of our Family. Annie, The Dad, Becca, The Grandpa, and Regina

Merry Christmas

2008-12-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas this holiday. Phil and I were here in MO on Christmas Eve and played games with the family and some friends of his parents. Early on Christmas Day (7am, those of you who know me know that that hour is illegal in my book), we came upstairs and opened presents before everyone left on their journeys. His parents, two brothers, and a couple of family friends went to Kansas City, while Phil and I went to Springfield, IL. We passed our scenic route exit and ended up just sticking to the highway instead and arrived about 2 in the afternoon. We didn't leave home til 9:45 or so. We met everyone at Aunt Ann's house and upon arrival I just in to help with the prep work in the kitchen, and Phil asked everyone how they got me to work in the kitchen. We opened presents about 3 hours before dinner. We had a salad bar followed by the main course of prime rib followed by desert of homemade cheesecake and bread pudding. Mmmm. It took a while for the prime rib so dinner was a little late about 7. After cleanup we went to Grandpa's house and slept the night. Breakfast at 8am at Annie's house, then off for home. I had a really good time. Got to spend time with everyone, especially my dad and sister. How was your Christmas?

Traveling

2008-12-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

So I'm starting to feel better but thanks to the drugs I'm on I am quite foggy-headed. Hopefully I will be better in time to go to Springfield, IL on Thursday to visit with my sister, father, aunt, and grandpa. If I'm still sick I probably won't go just so I don't infect the rest of my family. It wouldn't be fair to get them all sick, especially my grandfather with his age.

:) :( you tell me...

2008-12-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

So Friday I followed my doctor's advice and got a flu shot for this year along with a tetanus shot and a few other tests. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the shot, but now I've got some chest congestion that I believe will turn into bronchitis if I don't get treated soon. Ugh, why sickness has come to my aura, but I hope to be better before the trip to Springfield, IL to visit with the fam. I don't want to get them all sick or have them see me hacking all over the place. Ewww.

Phil Got A JOB :-)

2008-12-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

So after we've been here in Missouri for about 2 months now and Phil finally got a job. Amidst the layoffs and hiring freezes in effect here, I was totally surprised that he was able to find one. He is going to be working at Valley Hope which is a drug and alcohol abuse rehabilitation center doing janitorial duties. I know it doesn't sound like a lot of fun but it's better than no job at all. Besides he is still going to be out looking for something more permanent. Thank you Sherry and Lucas for the good references.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T08:36:00.001-08:00

When you think of a Thanksgiving meal, where do you think of eating? Grandma and Grandpa's house, or Mom and Dad's house, or even at your own house, right? I know of about 1000 people who conjured up the thought of going out to eat yesterday at my store. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind working yesterday because of the good money I made, but seriously folks, when did this become the tradition. I do have to admit that the one's I didn't mind waiting on were the ones traveling on the road; what are you supposed to do, starve? I also didn't mind waiting on Phil's parents and Phil because I requested that they come visit me at work or I wouldn't have been able to see them at all.

Here at the Goldsmith residence, we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday. This is due in part to them volunteering at a local place to serve a Thanksgiving meal to about 350 people, and my work schedule. So all those leftovers you have brought home with you from all the family members won't compare on Saturday for the freshly cooked meal we will be enjoying.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Owie

2008-11-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

I had a four day weekend this time, and if you've worked in the service industry, you'll know how hard it is to get a weekend off, let alone a couple days tacked on. This weekend has proven to show just how clumsy I am. On Friday, I slipped down a couple steps and jarred my back and pulled several muscles. On Saturday, I forgot that when something is hot you have to either blow on it to cool it or let it sit to cool before diving into it. Saturday's homemade chili got the roof of my mouth burnt so bad i don't want to eat anything for a week; not that that would hurt me (lol). I'm just glad that the mouth is one of the quickest healers on the human body. Today, Sunday, we're supposed to move a bed into the other room downstairs for Phil's brother to sleep in while he's here over the holiday's. I'm sure I'll find a way to hurt myself with that. Each day, I see why Phil just wants to bubble wrap me.

For Pete's Sake

2008-11-13T22:23:00.000-08:00

I believe that everyone has had at least one to-do list, or more commonly called the honey-do list in their day. We finally have one in play. Have you ever felt that no matter how far you think you've gone, you are always taking a step back here or there. I didn't realize how lucky I am to have a job right now with the economy the way it is. Phil has been looking for a job for only about 3 weeks, but still there are no calls checking references or call backs for an interview. That is the only thing on his to-do list, but he has yet to be offered a job. His education is a HSD with some time in the air force.

Your to-do list is:

Tell me ideas you can think of to help him find a job, like where to go, what to put on the application, and when to call back to inquire about said position. Is it even worthwhile to put in an application if a place isn't hiring? What time of day for which positions? I know it isn't rocket science, but for crying out loud.

Vacation With My Sister

2008-11-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

I know this is like two weeks late.

My last day at my old store was on October 15th. On the 17th I flew from Nashville to Chicago, took a bus from Chicago to Milwaukee. I had this guy who can't take a hint sitting in the seat across the aisle from me who was a republican, non-smoker, and sports fanatic, who tried to relentlessly to bother and include me to his point of view the whole way. Those of you who know me, know that I am a liberal smoker who doesn't even know what a basketball or football is. Me trying to do my Soduko apparently wasn't enough of a hint for him to take. I was so glad to see him get off on the first stop. Then karma got me when I got off two stops after I was supposed to. This was due to poor bus route information on the internet. Then I played Marco-polo with my sister, Regina, with her in a car trying to find me with only the landmarks I was near. If you have ever had someone who almost always drives a stick drive an automatic and forget? I have, I'm not mad, I thought it was hilarious, though she might not think that. Love you :) We then went shopping and grabbed a bite to eat at Noodles. Over that weekend we went shopping a bunch and found myself a coat that I really like and found her a new coat (mentioned later) that I think would look awesome on her (I didn't get to see her in full gear). We also went to get her some things for her office like trim, baseboards, a rug, small table, foot-stool, ceiling light, and table light. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things on the shopping list, but these were the highlights. We had a massage and pedicure each on Saturday; had a bike race on Sunday. I was sooo cold I wrapped up in a sleeping bag. We had some really good coffee at Alltera (may have spelled wrong, will check later). I wanted to go Vegan for the whole weekend but only made it until Sunday morning, when I then transgressed to Vegetarian. I found out that I like tofu and black beans. AWESOME!!!

Then on Monday, Regina drove me to the airport in Chicago and on the way we stopped at an outlet and and found her coat. Phil called and had complications with the witch of a woman from the truck rental place (we were trying to move) so I had to straighten that out. Phil was one hour late picking me up from the airport, but I wasn't mad when I saw he had our two kids in the car with him (Amaya, the grey kitty, and Karma, the black kitty). Laugh all you want; those are my kids. He had arranged it to where I didn't have to go back to Alabama to finish moving. In one day I was in Wisconsin, Illinois, flew to Tennessee, drove through Kentucky, Illinois, and finally to Missouri. Off to the adventure and dog tired. Later I found out that the apartment was not correctly cleaned or emptied. I can only imagine what the bill will be. Honestly they shouldn't charge us anyway with how crappy the apartment is. But it is life to be charged especially when you don't want to be.

Finding Friends

2008-10-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

All of my friends can attest to this. Nobody likes me until they get to know me better and understand the way that I am. I haven't made any friends yet, but I haven't had any of those looks of "I don't know what you mean" yet. So far I like most of my co-workers, but I haven't found anyone I'd like to hang out with except for one or two. I'm 31 and most of my co-workers are 18-21 years of age, in college (duh, I'm in a college town), and extremely self-centered. I'm trying to find people who at least act more mature than that, but then again, I'm just a big kid in my own way.

Sometimes you don't know what you are getting into

2008-10-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

I've now have lived in Booneville for about a week and I haven't made any friends yet. That's cool because it's hard to open up to a bunch of strangers. They may forget that they only have to learn one name and i have to learn 100. I've worked two shifts now and found out that the server minimum wage in MO is $3.25 an hour compared to Alabama where it's the federal minimum of 2.13. I worked an 8 hour shift on Sunday and saw not a single church pamphlet on any table compared to one pamphlet on every three tables in Alabama. I've made 25% of my sales compared to 17% in Alabama. I've been tipped on half of the to-go orders compared to 5% of to-go orders in Alabama. Alas I miss my friends in Alabama.

I thought this article I found was particularly interesting if anyone wants to take a look:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_42_41/ai_n27423976

Why We Left Alabama-First Reason

2008-10-26T00:13:00.000-07:00

Phil and I both miss our friends in Decatur, AL, but we do not miss the rest of what they call "Sweet Home Alabama".

We just moved to Booneville, MO from Decatur, AL. The most asked question I got from both places is "Why". Very complicated question because we are venturing into unknown territory at the new location. It's not so much why we picked where we picked but more like why we left where we left.

We were both very bored with the lack of activities that were available within the area of Decatur, AL to couples without children. Nearly every activity involved children under 10 years of age or a cult. After searching for some time, the only activities found for adults were an array of nightclubs exclusively "country" or "hip-hop" or a combination of the two. What if we didn't want to frequent a nightclub? What if we wanted to do something else? What if we wanted to visit a museum, or a fair that was more about the fun than the beer? Don't get me wrong, I like alcohol, but I don't want that to be the only attraction or reason I go to a certain event.

At that point we started looking at other problems we encountered in our area. Starting with our home, we lived in an apartment complex that featured:

two cement filled swimming pools
two laundry units open 24 hours because of missing knobs on the doors (half of the units didn't work)
one playground featuring rusty swingsets without the swings and that's about it.
drafty plastic windows without screens
rickety rusty ironwork on both porches and all stairways
drafty unsealed exterior doors and windows
exposed plumbing
bleach-stained carpet prior to moving in
three gangs in the neighborhood featuring weekly gun-shot wound and stabbing victims, smashed windows, and broken beer bottles strewn over most of the entryways
language barrier (95% of the tenants were primarily Spanish-speaking)
men in the complex asking me "how much" because they thought I was a prostitute because I was white (we even moved to a different apartment within the complex to see if this would help the situation. I couldn't even go outside at my old apartment because of this)
nightly police patrols and foot chases within complex
Sunday morning 6am weekly knock on the door, I'm thinking someones having an emergency, and because I'm in the bible belt people think it's ok to solicit religion at 6am. I open the door and the man says "Sorry no English" and walks away. I then buy a No Solicitors sign, and the next Sunday at 6am I get a knock on the door from the same solicitor. Just because your not selling a product does not mean it's not soliciting, selling Jesus, Heaven or God is soliciting. GO AWAY!!
Now, would you live here?

Second Reason-Where does your time go?

2008-10-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

How long does it take to walk empty-handed from your car, walk 14 feet to a one-story flight of stairs, climb said stairs, and walk 10 feet to your door and open door and walk in? Most of you would have said one or two minutes. Try 15 in the city of Decatur. The city where everyone knows everything about everyone's business. I'm not trying to speak like I'm a snob or anything, but seriously, when did this really start in the south? Why aren't they annoyed by it yet?

I went to a restaurant recently about two weeks before we moved and the hostess took us to our table and stayed 10 minutes trying to figure out where she knew me from 9 years ago. I didn't recognize her and why she spent 10 minutes of our time on this ordeal was beyond me. We came in to a restaurant because we were hungry not because I was looking for some long lost pal of mine from way back when (and if she were a pal of mine I would have recognized her and maybe stayed in touch this whole time). Our server couldn't even get to the table because she stood there and yapped at us for that long. When she finally left the table, I was so frustrated that she wouldn't leave that I felt like leaving. As a server myself, I knew we had taken up the table for 10 minutes already and our server could have had another guest in the meantime. I wasn't going to make our server pay for the hostess' ignorance. I left him a 30% tip because of the normal 22-25% that I leave for good service plus a couple more for his wait to be able to wait on us. All in all I think he got $18.

Third Reason-Bible Belt

2008-10-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

Bible belts are great if you are an extremely religious baptist. Any other religion or lack of religion-oriented person is screwed. Every table on Sunday and Wednesday is plastered with the fliers of "Come to my church because being gay is bad" or "Come to my church where we don't care if it will kill the mother to be pregnant, abortion is against God"or "Come to my church because having a free thought is against God" or "Come to my church because I want to warp your brain". If these are the messages you are sending I don't want to hear it. Free Speech and Freedom of Religion allow for this constant battle. I shudder every time I hear the phrases of "Where do you go church at?" or "Have you heard the good news?". My friends, and you know who you are, in Decatur can relate to both of those questions. Can't I have a say in how I feel about this? If and when I'm interested, I know you are out there, I can find you. You are in the big building with the huge cross on it, right? I will seek you out. Just because you want to spend every waking moment harassing people, yes harassing, doesn't make it right and with your God. To each his or her own.