Hello, Blogosphere

Last year, some friends of ours moved to Vermont, far from their family and friends in the Upper Midwest. They started a blog to help keep in touch with everyone. Although I was skeptical at first (sorry guys!), it actually has been a really nice way to know what's going on in their lives, even when we don't have time to catch up over the phone or email. Anyway, I thought I'd give it a try... especially now that I'm currently unemployed and am finding a limit to how many hours a day I can spend unpacking.

Ian and I have now been in Charlotte for just over a week and things are starting to settle in. Our trip out here was remarkably uneventful. This certainly was the easiest move we've done. We had a 2-day caravan with Ian driving the plants and me driving the cats. We had about a day and a half here before the movers arrived with all of our stuff, so that helped make a long day (especially for the movers) go a little better.

We're renting a townhouse for this year and we're very excited about it. Strawberry Hill is an enormous complex... we're across from the tennis courts and just a couple blocks away from the pool, but our building feels very tucked away. We feel quite grown-up now that we have an upstairs area in our home. We're also glad for the stairs because they're a central part of Connor Cat's new weight loss program. Hopefully with the stairs, eating less and playing more, our kitty will get back down to his former svelte, 17-pound self. :)

We're very pleased to have returned to the land of sweet tea and we've been taking full advantage of that fact. Over the weekend, Ian had his first Waffle House experience. Greasy fabulousness, as always. Last Friday, we went out with part of the bariatric team at CMC. Along with meeting some of Ian's very lively new co-workers, we were introduced to another Southern delicacy... fried pickles. With all the Southern roots in my family, I've considered myself relatively familiar with Southern food, but I've never heard of fried pickles before. Apparently there's a restaurant in Charlotte that specializes in them. They're surprisingly good, but how can you go wrong with deep-fried food? Especially when served with ranch dressing.

The outing was really a farewell dinner for the outgoing fellow, but it was also a nice opportunity for me to meet the doctors Ian will be working with and for him to meet some of the ancillary staff. I also had a nice chance to get a lot of information (and maps) from the wife of the outgoing fellow. She confirmed some of my fears (no Ikea or Trader Joe's here) and reassured me that I should see my husband every now and then. Ian's skeptical about that, but we'll see. He'll definitely be working hard this year. We always tell ourselves that we end up in places for a reason... it's particularly easy to believe that given the magic of the match system. Hopefully we'll find that to be true again.