Friday, June 23, 2006

Atlanta - hh-h-hhOT!!!!

I am in Atlanta visiting my awesome friend Ginny. We left Cleveland - great joy to all!! - and moved all our stuff to Indy. The drive to Indy was interesting. D was driving the U-haul with a trailer on behind so the speed didn't really manage to get above 65mph and the average must've been 60. I managed, even with the car totally loaded with two basses and stuff, to get 36 miles to the gallon!! It did go through my mind that if I drove that slow everywhere I could save a lot of gas - but who am I kidding it took us an extra hour to get to Indy at that speed!!!
D's folks, Steve and Jean were brilliant when we got to Carmel. They helped us put our stuff into the storage shed and probably saved D and I from tearing each other's heads off. When all our stuff is beautiful and in our apartment and all the books look great etc. D calls it "our" stuff but funnily enough when we have to box it all and move it it suddenly becomes all my stuff!!
After all the moving and sorting Dazza had to go back to Salt Lake City for training. We didn't get to hang out much and being apart sux. However at least we only have ten day periods before we see each other - much better than our year apart due to the wonderful US immigration system. Anyway Dazza is having a whale of a time in Salt Lake going on lots of hikes and surrounded by mountains - the only danger is getting accosted by the mormons (which happened to him on his first plane journey out there!!).
Meanwhile I am having a proper summer. I had three wonderful days in NYC with my friend Heather. We stayed in the Millenium Hotel just beside the UN building on 44th street. The view from our hotel was astounding!! Waking up to see the empire state and crysler building was a very rare treat. Luckily for us the beeb were footing the bill. We had a great time catching up on our lives, events and world politics. However I have to admit I liked the fact that Heather got a kick out of seeing a yellow american school bus!
It was perfect timing for me: NYC woke my brain up and shocked it out of its midwest slumber. I felt better than I had for what felt like years. I do not think the midwest agrees with me. I get a severe allergic attack of apathy and blah-ness when I am there.
But we are gone now so my brain no longer has any excuse for apathy or slumbering through life. Miami will definately be a culture shock after the midwest but a welcome one. I can't see us being there for very long but I am looking forward to the adventure of it all. The response so far has predominantly been "its SOOOO hot" and "hurricanes ..dan dan daaaaaaaaaa!!!". But I welcome the challenges and am fed up 'living in fear' which I found infected me in Cleveland. Afterall I am the girl who got on a plane to a place I had never been to be picked up from an airport by a guy I hardly knew (and then married....).
So now I am in Atlanta. I drove down from Indy on Monday. It took longer than it should of thanks to a wreck outside Nashville and roadworks on the other side. There were some very pretty spots in the mountains/hills of Tennesse and at one point an absolutely gorgeous lake.
I like Atlanta: it is fresh and new and it doesn't hurt that the sun shines most of the time! However it is very hot right now - my car thermometer registered 105 but it is normally off by 5 or so degrees - but still that is HOT!!! All very good practice for Miami.