Hello there, SC - just a note to say that I am still alive ... feeling stressed and homesick, but otherwise settling in to my new digs.
Life as a "hillbilly," to quote a few of my oh so encouraging New York pals, is going to take some getting used to, but bottom line - it is absolutely beautiful here. I can actually see deer outside my backdoor. There's a big change for a girl who's college apartment overlooked an air shaft!
I am all registered for classes and getting ready for orientation week. It is soooo strange to be a student and not a professor anymore, but there's so much to learn and I am really hoping my mind will be far too occupied to spend time dwelling on what I've lost in moving on - after all, what I am gaining is still in the works.
I am in love with my surroundings - no beach, but there is the river walk - I bet it's even prettier in the Fall when the leaves start to turn. The only problem thus far is that the roads are very twisty and narrow. It rained briefly today, but came down pretty hard and several of the side roads were closed afterwards because of flooding and mudslides. That created a little havoc for me since I only know one way in and out of here - or at least I did until the need to learn others became urgent!!! Thank God for the GPS - although her voice is getting a bit annoying "recalculating ... recalculating." I am almost expecting "her" to lose her temper with me one of these days and say something like "I SAID TURN LEFT, YOU STUPID BITCH!! What the hell is wrong with you?" but I guess they save that for the NYC version of the Garmin Nuvi!
Anyway - city mouse is trying her best to become a country mouse. When I am not crying about missing friends and family, I suppose I am doing pretty damned well considering ...
Someone might want to warn the neighbors, though - I met one today. He asked where I was from and when I told him, he said "Good grief!" Guess New Yorkers don't have the best reputations. At least he didn't say, "Yankee, go home." ;)
