Destination: Alabama

A Brief Synopsis:
While we made the trip in the amount of time we allotted ourselves and I really don't know a better way we could have done it, I do not suggest to anyone a cross country move that could include a U-Haul and another vehicle. Moving is the biggest motivation for the Spartan lifestyle I have come across.

I will say the Wyoming sunrise was beautiful, only to be eclipsed by the Loaf N'Jug advertised on the Services sign immediately following. Nebraska seemed to go on forever with its rolling hills, or rather rolling flats of farmland. We got some free squash, courtesy of Steve and Charlene Dunbar. 18 long hours of driving and we made it to Kansas City only to be derailed by the incompetent clerk behind the plate glass cube at the illustrious EconoLodge Airport. This young lady wouldn't cut it at the UGH.

The next day we started off again after a lovely meal at Denny's where some poor soul seemed to be coughing up a lung and two people who shall remain nameless ordered their breakfast off the seniors only menu even though both are several years south of 65. *Ahem* For such a small state, Missouri took forever. Of course, we drove across it, then down along the state line so we pretty much drove it twice. I'm sure its a lovely town, but Memphis, from the freeway, sucks. How can you take a four lane highway, cut it down to one lane, with little to no warning and allow traffic to sit for about an hour, almost not moving? I know that sounds startlingly similar to I-80 in SLC but believe me, it's worse.This was about the time we all started hitting the wall. A few more hours, missed rest stop or two (it wouldn't be a road trip with Dad without one), a gas station with no food, a country road, and after two days of seemingly endless driving, Dan, my parents and I arrived in Tuscaloosa to a loud, rousing hello from Dan's friends and our new neighbors.

Our Home:

I promised I would provide pictures....

Here is our house!


Ha! If only...



Here is our actual house. Pretty ghetto and yet perfectly perfect. Of course its not really perfect but its about as close as we can get around here. Two bedrooms, three AC units, washer/dryer hookups... C'mon, you know that's pretty good.

The Living Room...







(Where our books live)

The Study/Office/Second Bedroom/Moderate Mess...



Dan's work station is there on the left and mine is on the right.

The Kitchen...





The Teeny Bathroom...



So that is our little home. It isn't the fanciest place, but then again, we aren't very fancy people. Just enough love to make it a home :)

Life thus far...

School hasn't started yet so I've actually had quite a bit of time on my hands and have used that time for mostly domestic endeavors. My grandmothers would be so proud. I've been arranging the house, cleaning that which must be cleaned, doing laundry, and managed to create the most amazing Spinach Quiche, courtesy some help from good ole Julia Child (Go see Julie&Julia, right now!! If you love food, love cooking food, or just love Stanley Tucci, get off your ass and go see it!)

I've started looking for a job. The University is a bit confusing regarding their application processes. I went to three different departments I was told on-line to refer to for student employment and was told at all three locations, to check the website. Anyway, I applied for a circulation job in the library so hopefully that pans out.

The humidity is kicking my ass. I was all cocky before, "Oh, don't you worry about ME. I'LL be fine. I KNOW what its like." Energy is a very difficult substance to come by in the oppressive weight of your own sweat that just never dries. Ok, enough melodrama. Its not that bad. It does take some getting used to and many, many, refrigerated Nalgenes at the ready to cool you down and keep you hydrated. You wouldn't think in such a wet place you could get dehydrated. You'd be wrong. The only real trouble I've had is at night. I had sleeping problems before I left SLC. I thought it was stress related and it easily still could be. I'm hoping once school starts I'll finally be able to relax enough. But as for now, it gets really hot at night in the house and I can't stay asleep. Dan got me some Melatonin supplements to try and help my body sleep, but to no avail so far.

The best part about living with Dan, is living with Dan. There is nothing better than waking up next to your best friend, going for a quick (albeit sweaty) run, and coming home to make yummy waffles and watch Buffy with best friend. I'm a happy girl.

The Parable of the Puppy and Crazy Towny Bud...

Emily is one of our neighbors and a fellow MFA in Dan's program. The Friday we arrived in Bama, she had gone for a bike ride in the country. She saw what she thought to be a squirrel, struggling by the side of the road. She stopped to see it and saw it was this...


A gentleman who was passing by said that the house just down the road breeds pitbulls and that's probably where she came from. Emily, knowing that a puppy that little wouldn't wander off that far without being noticed, brought her home to 15th court. Steamboat Pearl, as she has come to be called, is one sick puppy. After taking her to the vet we all found out she had worms and was really malnourished. Ashely and Nilo, our next door neighbors, decided to take over her care and got all the medications she needed. She puppy puked up a number of worms and dropped more weight and is now, at the ripe old age of seven weeks, a mere two and a half pounds. But she has started eating again and has more energy. She's gonna make it! I had the pleasure of some puppy sitting earlier today and yesterday and she is just the sweetest thing.

This weekend we 15th Courters took off for a lake close by to escape the heat and go for a swim. The lake was very beautiful and pretty close although down a rocky dirt road. Poor Midnight incurred a couple more bruises :C The water was, no kidding, the temperature of bath water. I'm used to Mountain lakes that on the hottest of hot summer day are still freezing.

It was a lovely, relaxing day. As we were preparing to leave a big ass truck followed by a white Mustang, blasting bad rap as loud as possible, pulled up by the spot where we were. This guy gets out of the Mustang with an open Budweiser Tall Boy in one hand, the uber classy Budweiser B complete with crown tattooed on his arm, and two boxer terriers. One boxer was over 100 lbs and solid as a rock. The other was ten weeks old and completely dwarfed poor little Steamboat Pearl. They smelled Pearl instantly and came over to where we were to investigate. So the Crazy Towny, lets call him Crazy Towny Bud, was clearly already pretty smashed and way too friendly. He came over, saying all kind of stuff about pitbulls, took Pearl's jaws in his meat hooks and proceeded to look at her teeth to see if she would be a good fightin dog, pointed out the second row of teeth in the back, for when they lock their jaws in a fight and told a lovely anecdote about how the big boxer was fighting a pitbull and won the fight but the pitbull locked its jaws on the boxers throat. As we all started to load up Midnight, he proceeded to tell us what we needed to do to get Pearl up to regular weight. As he drags the big boxer out of my car after it jumped in when I opened the door, he tells us we need to get her a "Beached Whale" shot at the vet and that will help her a lot. We leave the lake, grateful Crazy Towny Bud and his posse didn't bust out the banjos and invite us to reenact a scene from Deliverance. As we drove home, we were discussing just what the hell a "beached whale" shot is and why you would give it to a puppy. BJ, another neighbor, very astutely figured out that Crazy Towny Bud was saying "B12" but in his Crazy Towny Bud accent it sounded like "beached whale." Sound it out, folks. Its a fun game.

Well, that's my life in Alabama so far. I'll leave you with the stellar conversation I walked in on inadvertently at the grocery store...

Hiram, the Mormon bag boy: It's like football and wrestling... In the dark...