We're Not In Kansas Anymore

Before moving to south Florida, I was told many times, "it is just a different world." I knew that, but I did not know that.

I know weird things will one day become my new normal, but for now, I am a Kansas transplant that still takes notice of things that are out of the ordinary. (My previous residence in Florida included Tallahassee, which is way different from where we live now).

Some of the weird happenings from my first two weeks as a Floridian:

- I saw a guy get arrested while sitting at a stoplight.

- At a big box store, a woman was trying to argue the price of an item. She felt it was priced too high, but the cashier was not budging. The woman created quite a scene.

- While waiting in line viewing this scene, the woman behind me kept telling me she thought she should be in front of me because she "was really in line before me, but she was looking at stuff near the check out". (She was not, in fact, there before me. No matter how you look at it).

- I had a weird encounter with a woman at a park. Too long of a story, but it was weird.

- At Costco, I was at the counter to buy my kids a hot dog. A woman nudged me out of the way so she could get in front of me (I did not let her, though).

- A man in the grocery store had a half shirt on, revealing his mid-drift. Odd.

I am surprised how rude people are. Like its almost people try hard to be rude. I just smile a lot and drive as good as I can.

Despite the weird encounters, I am really thankful for what God is doing in our lives.

Just tonight on the way home, Caleb said, "I really like Florida. I am so glad we live here now." It was such a tender moment.

I still have waves of sadness, thinking about our old life in Kansas. Chloe asked me one night if she could "walk down the sidewalk to Michael's house tomorrow". Michael is our old neighbor, and we spent a lot of time at their house. Things like that make me sad, but overall, I am adjusting.

Even my house is finally starting to come together. I have a lot of work left to do, but I am on my way. The hardest part of settling is the unsettled feeling of a rental. There is not much improvements we can do because it would be so wasteful, but at the same time, this is our home for a year...so I want to enjoy it. I am surprised how goofy our decor looks in our new place. It looked fine in our old home, but in our new home, it just does not go.

One thing that helped feeling more settled is that we finally got a new kitchen table. We had been eating at the bar and on the couch. We just bought a cheap-ish table from IKEA, but I love it. I have always wanted a bench for seating, and this table has a bench. Plus, its small, so it fits in the smallish space we have but still holds our whole family (even though Luke does not sit with us yet).

Well, its after midnight. Time to go to bed!!