Toto, I'm not in Cali anymore!!

Boy, have I landed in a different world! It's not bad, not in the least. I find it interesting and exciting. (If you can call quiet, peaceful & small exciting!! LOL)

I had crawfish for the first time!! I'll admit, when I saw them scooping the crawfish out of the boiling water into our bag, I thought to myself, can I really eat that? Can I?? But once we got all 5 pounds home, (for just the two of us!!!), I forgot my original thought and dug in. That is, once Paul showed me how to pinch the tail off and get the meat out and then suck the head. Once I got the hang of it, I was chowing down! Mmmm Mmmm Good. With sweet corn on the cob and red potatoes soaking up the juices and spices, it was a feast fit for a Queen! ;-)

I'm experiencing so many different things. Like having to walk into the post office to mail anything! Unless you can catch the mailman in the morning as he goes by. There are no drive up post office boxes or boxes at the corner to drop your mail. It's a bit of hassle, until you realize you really have no other pressing engagement, so why the impatience?!

Another thing is the leisurely way of doing things. Everyone is very meticulous and slow. However, things actually get done. How does that happen?? I don't get it. But I like it! LOL The only thing that tries my patience every day is the stop signs. You have to make a complete stop. And if other cars stop at the other corners, everyone sits there and figures out who goes next and they are super courteous and try to let you go first. O.M.W. I don't have the leisure of zipping through stop signs and beating everyone to the punch anymore. It definitely "worketh patience"!!

Also, the women around here are mostly very feminine. I see skirts and dresses and jewelry and "done" hair and "pumps" everywhere. These women take their femininity very seriously! Now mind you, it's not the high fashion capital of the south by any stretch of the imagination, but still, I think in California the ratio of women in pants or suits or men's jeans versus skirts is about 95 to 5. Here dresses are about 90 to 10. It's just strange for me to see that. It is definitely noticeable.

Also, bugs love me in the south. I had a couple of VERY miserable and itchy days, when I had sat outside too long and got 7 bites! I'm guessing mesquitos, but whatever they were, they swelled and itched like nobody's business!! I hope they don't leave marks!!! I also found a lizard skeleton in my closet! (And Paul had cleaned out the closet fairly recently!) It had a skull and a spine and legs and toes. The skull was the weirdest thing to see. I scooped it up on a piece of paper and tried to take pictures of it without getting too close. It was grossing me out big time!

Also, did I mention the real estate? You can find a major fixer upper for $17,500.00!! That's less than what I paid for my car! And I got a simple Toyota Corrolla. For a move in ready house, you can easily find something around $70,000.00. Again, less than some cars I am acquainted with. The rent here for a 2-3 bedroom with 2 baths is in the $550.00 range. It just amazings me the difference of cost here. Although, a gallon of milk is about $3.50 here and in my hometown in California the current price is $1.99. I'm not sure why that is. Hmmmm. Something to ponder.

And the thing that gets me the most. When people go shopping, they don't grab a shopping cart, they get a "buggy". A what?? Yep, a BUGGY. I know. I refuse to say it. I will always say shopping cart no matter who points and laughs at me!! ;-)

There's so much to tell, I could ramble on forever. I can't even keep track of all the new things I am seeing and experiencing. I'm sure as new things come to me, you will hear alllllllllll about it! It's too fun NOT to share!

TGIF!!

Queen Cat