Lemme 'splain. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up.

Somehow between my last post on the brink of leaving Thailand for a short stop at home on the way to Scotland I got a little sidetracked.

I live in Atlanta, Georgia now.

I got home to Michigan in May, had a really great time visiting with my family and friends, and as of last Monday I'm officially an Atlanta resident.

When I got home I began seeing more and more of Donnie, and the prospect of him moving to Atlanta and me to Edinburgh was frustrating to both of us. When my UK visa was denied I was sad, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We decided to get a place together in Atlanta and see how things go. And here we are.

So it's possible I'll be writing more these days. We've moved into a beautiful apartment a little bit northeast of downtown in Dekalb county (that's deeecaaaab, to you) and have been sorting it out for the past few days. It's coming together but we have yet to find a couch we like in our price range. We've had fun diagramming rooms and setting them up.

Our apartment is also less than half a mile from Donnie's new job at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta where he is the music director. His first day went well and he's looking forward to working there long term.

I am, for the moment, thoroughly unemployed. I'm looking at jobs in the area that I'm qualified for and that won't make me want to tear my hair out. I've found a few candidates and will continue to apply ad nauseam until someone calls me back.

The cultural transition is proving to be a little more curious than we'd thought. The day we got here we walked into the Penske place to return the car carrier and had to get back before the movers got to our place in the next half hour. Donnie walked in and started telling them, in his typical quick-paced oratorical style, that we needed to put a trailer somewhere in their parking lot, where should we put it? We're gonna bring the truck back tomorrow, but we have to take the trailer off now, etc. The two Penske dudes sat there and looked at him, looked at each other unfazed, and one of them slowly stood up and took us outside to show us where to put the trailer. They obviously didn't see what the big hurry was. And for Donnie it wasn't really a hurry, it was mostly just the way he speaks. Either way it was pretty funny.

The weather is also an adjustment for both of us. It's quite like Chiang Mai, which is really great and I think the autumn will be lovely. It's a bit of a shock coming from Michigan, but I think it'll be wonderful. The hardest part actually is having aircon everywhere because it means that we're constantly going from hot to cold. It is nice to have at night though. We've had a few great thunderstorms since we've been here as well, one of which shut down the power at the movie theatre during one of the most suspenseful parts of The Dark Knight.

All in all it's been a good first week. Our apartment is coming together slowly and is constantly stressing me out by how many things are all over the floor and the surface spaces but I know it'll dissipate once we find our spots for things. We also managed to sand and paint a really great dresser that Donnie's family donated and it was a fun project. So I'll keep y'all updated on our transition to living south of the Mason-Dixon line. It's sure to be a long and interesting one.

Here are some pictures from our trip down:
Jamie tells me this is the largest Jesus in the US. Whatever superlatives you want to attach to it, "weird" and "creepy" should certainly feature in the chosen adjectives.


Hey guess what! You can take this exit if you want some Buttermilk Pks. The sign does not specify, but I am certain you'd find some really good pancakes. Donnie and I were pressed for time and therefore did not stop. I think it's probably akin to gold at the end of a rainbow.

There's this vortex somewhere in Kentucky that if you can successfully locate it and say the magic password you will be transported to Transylvania University for classes in neck biting, reflection avoiding, and incisor sharpening. Another one of those things you should do some research on and get back to me.

And after a short jaunt we arrived in Atlanta! We stopped on the outskirts for Hardees and it was pretty damn good.

This is the front of our building! We kind of love these trees, except when they poop on Myrtle (Donnie's car) at night.

This is our kitchen! It's nice and bright, and it has a dishwasher!!! Best invention ever.

Empty apartments are pretty cool. I was trying to demonstrate how high the ceilings are.
So, funny story. We live in the South, right? We got a little creative as we were labeling boxes in the North, where people don't love Jesus. Then when the movers came and asked where to put the box of bibles we said the kitchen. Donnie clarified when the young man looked puzzled by explaining they were full of booze. We got a deadpan reaction. Turns out this isn't the place to have a box full of booze and label it bibles. Who knew?

And finally we have a cute shot of Donnie on our first night in the apartment with our freshly purchased peaches. 48 cents a pound at the local IGA. Deeeeelicious.

Well that's all. Check out D's weblog for some of the same pictures but a more detailed description of our trip down.