Alabama....

Okay, I have come to the realization that I am a snob. I do not smoke or drink to excess. I like having a clean orderly house and am polite because I like people. We are here in Alabama, the trip across country was fun, except for getting food poisoning in Oklahoma(hint do not eat hamburgers in Oklahoma!). We are here in Huntsville, and the people are super nice, but there's no sense of urgency for anything. We were told when we moved in that the washer and dryer would be installed on that day (Friday) and after asking about them three times, they were installed yesterday (Tuesday). They are OLD and DIRTY!!!! Scary dirty too, not just dusty, but caked on crap from the millions of load of laundry they did before being taken to our apartment. Old I could live with as long as they worked did it really matter how new they were? But dirty I have a major problem with. I was in tears as I scrapped the caked on crap off of the inside and outside of both the washer and dryer.....deep breathing excersises helped a little.


We have been spending a lot of time down at the apartment pool. The kids are in 7th heaven, they get to swim for about two hours a day. I don't mind because I can get in get wet, get out and sit in the shade and read my books while the kids play. I also get a front row seat to the on going drama of the other residence at the complex. The drinking, I can sort of see, it's stinkin' hot and humid and drinking a cold beer would hit the spot, but the consistent drinking to the point where you can't walk in a straight line to the bathroom is a little excessive. Now add to that two little kids that can't swim and that would be one mom that was down at the pool yesterday. The kids were yelling "mommy!!!" and the mom was just laughing and giggling with the ubiquitious men who were providing the beer. Then there is the smoking. EVERYONE here smokes. There's ash all around the pool, and our apartment stinks. It's either because of the previous residence or it could be the person living below us smokes, but the place stinks. I got a candle and all it did was make the apartment stink like smoke and candle. While watching the drunk mom yesterday I noticed a pregnant mom with a two year old little boy, and I watched in horror as she lit up and proceeded to smoke her way through a whole pack of cigarrettes while we were down at the pool.

I am trying my best to not be judgmental, and snobby. I honestly like the people I have met so far. Absolutely everyone is super nice, and friendly. The drunk people are nice to the kids and they are friendly as the light-up. I am just having a bit of culture shock.

Connor's 1st Grade Performance of Desperado

 

Into Perspective

So, while I know that my situation isn't unique, I still don't have to like it......my hubby left for a year last week. Lucky for me he's not going into harms way per say, he only gets to go learn how to defuse bombs, yeah that's not dangerous at all. I think watching him say good-bye to our babies was absolutely heartbreaking, more than saying good-bye to me. My little ones were so brave and walked off to school without losing it, unlike me waiting in the car I was blubbering like a baby.

What this has done is put my life into perspective. I don't care where we live as long as we are together. If I have an opportunity to move and live in Alabama and I get to be close to him then I am off to the southland. I was born and raised in California but I would leave in a heartbeat to have my family together.

It has also shown me that my hubby is my best friend. I have best girl friends and I love them and would go absolutely bat-ass crazy if I didn't have them, but my hubby is the one I talk to everyday about everything that has happened during the day. We laugh at the same crazy things, and he helps put my crazy fears about little things into perspective. I miss him! We have been talking via Skype several times since he left and I don't know if it's better or worse to see him and talk to him like that knowing he's 2,000 miles away.

He started his school today, and depending on how the next two weeks go, I might get to drive across country and live in Alabama and then Florida for the next year. Adventure here we come.