Things I'm not going to miss...

Why is it that you have to pay a million dollars to join a gym for one month?
This is why Americans are fat, 24 Hr. Fitness.

Please note: I paid $30/mo in Kansas City
Here were my two quotes in Daaallas
(please read w/ pretentious overtone):
Baaaally's $94.89
24 Hr $199.00

That's just as bad as the concrete bunny that I spotted while running around my parents neighborhood.
Now I get to see that bunny on a daily basis...

KC to D-town

See '96 Maxima on the left. Frozen windshield spouters = nightmare. Had to pull over five times to wash the dirt off of my barely visible view...would have been six. Cup of cold coffee in the cup holder = instant brown wave of vision. Beautiful. I love coffee. And if the worker man at the gas station could've given me more than an "awe girl, that sucks", I would've loved him too. But instead I left angry…like a bear. Grrr.

Moving onto Oklahoma...seriously, what's in Oklahoma?...crazy beautiful sunsets ladies and gentleman. Wow. I'm telling you, miracles happen in Oklahoma...

One: My brother Mark calls me (my brother Mark never calls me)

Two: Frozen spouters...done. Unfrozen.

Three: '96 Maxima, still going strong

...and I'm back in Dallas. Without a job (for the time being), living with my parents, waking up at noon...what a winner.

In the meantime...

While I'm in Dallas preparing for the big move mid-February, you can spend some time staring at these lovely creatures. mmm, yes please.

Feelings...at Hallmark, we talk about our feelings.

So, I have to be honest...I did have a slight breakdown in the hotel room after my first day in Bradford. All of the questions that my mom was bombarding me with about this move (that I answered with a confident, "Mom, I love you and I'll be just fine...") were coming back to the forefront of my mind...along with that uneasy, I kinda want to throw up all over myself feeling. Do you ever get that?

By day four all of those feelings went away...mmm...well, most of them. The people are absolutely amazing. There's not one without a sense of humor...just have to work on understanding the British accent. Pardon? One more time. Wait, what?
BTY: brolly = umbrella. Differences...Similarities. The more I focus on the differences, the harder the adjustment is going to be for me. The good thing is that that is entirely up to me. So I'm going to choose to take this experience one day at a time and learn as I go...it's always worked in the past.

Welcome to England via Roy

Shortly following my arrival, I hop in the car with, Roy, an ex police chief, who chauffeurs me to Bradford (about an hour and a half away). Oh the stories Roy told to welcome me to my future place of residence.

(please read the following with a British accent):

* the pedophiles who buried several kiddies in Saddleworth Moors.

* people jumping off Scammonden Bridge and committing suicide. one time he missed a jumper by the skin of his teeth.

* homosexuals 'dogging' in a car park flashing their bits and pieces to each other.

I had to stop him to say, "Roy, these are the worst stories ever..."
All of those stories couldn't take away from the beauty of the drive into Bradford. Everything feels so foreign to me but I know that I'm going to be just fine...pedophiles, suicides, dogging and all.

Four Day Visit with the Brits

Day One: Observations
* trying to make sense of the driving from above while flying into Manchester. How do you alter your brain to think that way?...I can do this. I can do this.
* girl with a scrunchie on the plane(who wears scrunchies?)
* $90~36.54 pounds :(
*come on, that joke was funny...really.
*the lady with the mustache
*gorgeous rainbow in the countryside on the drive in