First Week in Mississippi

Well y'all, I've been here for slightly over one week. It has been both a blessing and a gigantic pain in the ass. But the South so far isn't really all that bad, it's just the things that keep happening to Matt and I that are making this super complicated.

First off, as I think I mentioned in my previous post, the moving company decided to not move our household stuff into our new house until June 16th. So if you're counting, that means we will have been in our house for 17 days with nothing but the stuff we brought with us in the Jeep. So not much at all. All we have are: our important documents, large printed wedding pictures that we didn't want lost, our laptops, blankets and two pillows, Lenny, my knitting bag, a few books, and the clothes and the toiletries we brought with us. Since we have been here, we bought an air mattress so we could sleep on something, and two WalMart camp chairs so we have something to sit on. I have also borrowed a box of cookware from the outdoor rec on base, but there isn't much in there, so I'm limited on what I can cook. This is all we have. Kind of ridiculous, really. Our backs are sore from the air mattress and our butts are sore from the camp chairs. I can't believe a moving company would do this, especially since back in Portland they signed- real paper, real pen!-a contract that said our stuff would be in our house, ready for me to unpack, on the 6th. Stupid liars. At least we got our internet and cable set up yesterday so we can at least get online without having to do it on Matt's phone.

Speaking of internet, this has also been a nightmare. We think the modem they gave us is not the best of quality, since the internet worked just fine on my computer from the start, but not Matt's. His CAT card (his military ID has a chip on it that allows him to access government portals from home) for some reason doesn't work on my computer, but works on his. We discovered this after many, many hours of some intense anger directed at the computer. I wasn't fiddling with the computer, but I was getting really upset because Matt was, and if you have known me since I was young, you'll know that I do not enjoy arguments or anger at all. I don't deal with it well so I was getting really stressed out. So what do we do? Drive to town to go get coffee with Cari. Ultimate stress relief.

There are two (that I know of, anyway) coffee places in Columbus. One is Kudoz, which is a little coffee shop off the side of a gym that serves coffee and smoothies. I can't remember what brand they brew, but they receive it fresh every week from Atlanta, and grind it as the week goes on, so it's fairly fresh. I think it's also organic, but I don't remember. This shop also has smoothies- yummy!- so I can get something uncaffeinated if I want to. Not many tables to sit at, but it's usually uncrowded. The other place, Beans and Cream, serves coffee, but also smoothies and ice cream. They brew Seattle's Best. In my opinion, I like Starbucks coffee better (I kind of like the burnt taste, personally), but I will take Seattle's Best over Folger's or Maxwell (GROSS!). This shop has the look and feel of a Seattle coffee house with a good study vibe to it. I like both of these places and the coffee they brew. The only issue I have is that instead having coffee with a flavoring, they are serving flavorings with not even enough coffee to taste it (at least there is some in there that satisfies my caffeine addiction). To fix that problem, the next time I ordered a breve (espresso with half and half), but it tasted something like mild coffee flavored half and half. I think people in the South just don't like coffee. They would much rather have their sweet tea. Oh well. Soon I will be getting my coffee pot and espresso machine and I can make my own strongly brewed coffee.

I was also just introduced to Zumba. Cari took me to my first class on Monday, and today being Wednesday, my leg muscle are freakin' STIFF! The remedy to that? More Zumba today. At least it's extremely fun, I would recommend it to anyone. Even if you can't dance, like moi. You will look like an idiot the first few times, not having any clue what's going on and always a little bit behind, but I'm sure I will get the technique and my rhythm will improve. And it is an excellent work out.

Lastly, I need to give a shout out to Cari and Bryan. Cari's a friend from Idaho, but she just so happens to be stationed down here with her husband. She lives in town and I live on base, but we have been hanging out since I got here and she has been a life saver. Cari has been someone to talk to other than Matt and has shown around town. Where to eat, where to shop, where to get coffee and ice cream, and where activities are on base. I am so blessed to already know someone down here. She and her husband will be leaving the base before we do, but that's life in the military for you. Bryan is a friend from ROTC. He will be joining us soon, so we will know another person! Even though he's not here yet, just knowing that we will have another friend here is wonderful. Bryan also did some research for me and was the one who discovered we could borrow cookware from the outdoor rec center. This research has helped Matt and I cook- albeit basically- from our home without having to go out to eat or eat frozen dinners warmed in the oven. Thanks Cari and Bryan! You have made our lives just a little bit easier.

So while my life might be a little bit on the boring side right now, at least I can now write these updates from the comfort of my own home, crypt as it might be at the present. We do like the base and the surrounding area, so we're happy to be here and are looking forward to the months to come.