The Mississippi Way

We are settling in here.  Slowly.  Literally.  

While we could spend our entire existence here discussing how different things are compared to what we are use to, Paul and I have instead, appropriately termed our new way of life as…

 "The Mississippi Way"

I'm not joking about this.  To validate this assumption I'll list some scenarios:

Take for instance the plumber.  I called to schedule a plumber to come out and take a look at our obnoxiously loud toilet.  I made 8 calls to local places that had good ratings with the Better Business Bureau.  The quickest I could get someone to come was 4 days after my call.  Then the guy who could come, four days after I called, said he would come at noon.  Noon came, and went.  So I finally, at 2:30pm on that day, called him to see where in the heck he was.  He was surprised that I was calling just "a couple-a-hours from the predicted time" he said he would be there.  He came, smelling of cigarettes and body odor, and had the stereotypical plumbers crack (that Jovie, of course, pointed out to Kip and they both giggled.)  One hour and $136 later he did properly fix our toilet.  "The Mississippi Way"  

The pace at which conversations occur here, well lets just say this month our Verizon bill was $482.  Yeah, I had to pick my eyeballs up from the countertop when I opened that bill, of which I'm still currently debating with Verizon about.  We had to make calls to get our jobs situated, get all utilities in our name and set up, and well one phone conversation to get our water hooked up took 48 minutes.  I'm not kidding.  I called the number the realtor gave us for the water company.  It turns out the water company for my neighborhood, isnt a company at all.  Rather it is just a short and stout little old lady.   I know this to be true, because I saw her crouching in my yard reading the meter the day she connected the water.  I confirmed that she was the person to address about getting water set up, as the whole scenario seemed a bit sketchy.  She said "let me grab a "pincil"dollin' and I'll get all y'alls information to get er' hooked up with water."  I proceeded to spell my last name to her.  She didn't get it the first, second, or third time despite my best efforts  Finally I say "L-O-P (as in Paul), R (as in rope), I-N (as in Nancy), Z (as in zebra), I."  I repeated it just like that eleven times, she sighed, and said "y'all are good to go."  I got my first bill yesterday in the mail addressed to Kristina Loprinski.  Sigh.  "The Mississippi Way."  

Then our washer and dryer.  We bought a house that didn't include the washer/dryer.  Sour subject of which I won't go into.  So I went to the only store within an hour of our house that sells them - Home Depot.  They didn't have a single matching washer/dryer set in stock.  So I had to ordered one.  What should have been a couple clicks of a mouse online to order these two things, took the sales guy over an hour to get it ordered online.  Partially the faulty internet connection, partially his inability to navigate the internet.  14 days after my order was placed, my washer and dryer was finally delivered.  "The Mississippi Way." 

But perhaps the most ridiculous was the internet.  As I sort of eluded to in the previous paragraph, the internet leaves much to be desired here.  It took 2 weeks to get the internet hooked up in our home.  By hooked up, I mean AT&T mailed me the stuff, I set it up by myself and then I think I paid a $40 "installation fee" for them to just flip a switch or something to get it working and that took 2 WEEKS!  And this internet I speak of, it is archaic.  Like dial up archaic.  The only places that has a fast speed internet is right on campus.  There are worse things in life, but a slow internet speed is a bummer, especially when Skype is your lifeline to "seeing" family back "home."  Sigh.  "The Mississippi Way"

I accepted a job, and after 3 weeks I finally have a start date, but still no set signed contract.  I'm not sure if it is "the Mississippi way" to begin employment without having a document that sates salary and expectations for the job…but it isn't the Kristina way.  There is absolutely no way I'm showing up for my first day until I have a contract.  

I know in the grand scheme of things these are SO, very minimal.  While I'm here typing about how annoyed I am about it taking 2 weeks to get a washer and dryer, there are some people who just want clothes to wear.  I get it really, I do.  And I am thankful for everything we have.  It is just an adjustment.  

Another change is the grocery prices.  Perhaps the college town life drives up prices.  But $4/gallon for milk and $5 for a box of cereal.  Bread too, a good deal is 2 for $4.  Yeah, we could go broke just trying to eat.  I now understand why the south is know for people who participate in extreme couponing, because it is the only way to be able to afford to eat, I joke, mostly.  Now that I am over the initial grocery bill of $200-300/week shock factor, I just accept that I want to feed my kids fresh fruits and veggies, and am thankful I have a job that can provide so that we can afford to feed them this way. 

Our kids are slowly adjusting.  We are on the hunt for a perfect nanny.  Replacing the sweet one we had in KY is proving to be impossible.  She was a gem.  I knew it then, but goodness, now that she isn't here I realize just how special she was for our family.  

Ryker's school here is SO very different than his small town feel public elementary school he went to in KY.  Apparently this city has just had astronomic growth the past two years and the public school systems are having a hard time keeping up.  His school is just K-2nd.  The lower elementary, upper elementary, middle and high school are all on the same campus.  To make matters worse, all of these schools have the same start/end time, so you can imagine the nightmare that occurs during school drop off/pick up time.   There are police officers that have to direct traffic daily because apparently a stagger start just isn't something that is done here.  He always rode the bus in KY, and adored his bus driver who knew him on a first name basis (she knew ME on a first name basis).  But here, the bus is so crowded as it has both lower and upper elementary, middle AND high school students on the bus at the same time.  Ryk rode the bus one day, and after being stuck on it for over an hour, declared his hatred of Mississippi, and said he was "NEVER RIDING THE BUS AGAIN!"

So Paul does drop off, pick up.  

He also tends to take Ryk on fun outings after school just daddy and Ryk, which I am sure is helping get this kiddo adjusted.  So far on their special one-on-one after school outings they have done "Fryday on Friday," 

found a skate park that Ryk has dubbed the American Ninja Warrior course where he mastered the "warped wall"

Went exploring near a "creak"

Overall, Ryk is adjusting just fine into school despite being "the new kid in class."  He is doing just fine.  In fact, his new teacher sent a really sweet email, saying how great of a kid Ryk is, and is amazed with his reading ability.  

Can I just say how amazing of a husband, daddy, and provider my Mr. is!

Anyway.  This was long, and obnoxious, but it is the truth of where we are at in the transition right now.  I'll end with the current state of my bedroom at this moment...

The reality of this all - no matter where I'm at, it is home when I'm with them.

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