Stars fell on Alabama

Lest you think that misery and woe are all that I have gained here in Alabama, I have decided to write a post about the things I have gained from Alabama so far. And yipkiyiyee, we still have a week and a half of fun left. (Alright that sarcasm was a little overboard. It's not bad here. Really.)

Wait though, I have one more story of misery:
This morning as I stumbled the three steps from the bed to the kitchen for a glass of water at 5 a.m., the partition that I love so much jumped out and hit me. Perhaps it did not jump, per se, since I have never been very good at being spatially aware, but I swear it moved.
My cheek bone is now swollen and red. Apparently I rub my eyes a lot and touch my cheekbone, because I have been vaguely aware that it hurts every time I touch it, which you wouldn't think would be a lot but it is. I'm sure it will turn into a nice bruise and I have no point in sharing that story. Just another tale of woe. Now that that's out of the way, we're on to being cheerful and counting our blessings.

One thing that I have discovered is how much I love the way people talk around here. I like it so much that sometimes my brain tries to make my tongue imitate the accent. Which is not at all annoying or poser-like. Favorite phrases:
"Now, debt is a woolly booger." I can think of all sorts of woolly boogers that will now be called what they truly are. Actually, maybe that will become my secret superhero identity. Watch out for "THE WOOLLY BOOGER!"
"We have some kinfolk from thaar." Ahh, this was spoken with a true Southern accent. Sometimes people's speech is so thick with the South that I just look at them while my brain tries to process, process, and then I say, "oh yes," and nod even though I won't figure out what they said until I am driving away.
"Are those your babies?" Sometimes I look around me in surprise, trying to see if a stroller full of babies is sneaking up on me--only to find Kenzie and Hannah running around being obnoxious. I mean sitting quietly behind me with their arms folded. I love that they are "Babies" even though they have long since moved away from that phase.

No one has said this one out loud, but the Alabama license plate reads: Stars fell on Alabama. How poetic is that? It kind of beats, "Utah, a pretty great state."
And speaking of things not spoken out loud, Alabama has some great signs--this weekend my favorite was in big red letters on a white background it said, "Go to church! Or the devil will get you!" Also, they have a thing for strange speed limits-- 27 mph was one and the other was 24 mph. (One of those was in Tennesee I think, so maybe it's a southern thing)

Another thing I love here is the massive amounts of oxygen. There is nothing quite like air that you can taste. Sometimes I feel like I might drown in oxygen. It makes recovering after running easy-peasy and quick. And I keep telling myself that it is helping me to develop a secret reserve of oxygen that I will use to run quickly in my upcoming Wasatch Back relay race. (I have to trick myself into believing that going from sea level to mountain is good, not detrimental.)

When it rains, I don't so much as get wet as just increase my dampness. It's the kind of rain that is fun to play in--or at least to sit on a covered bench and watch your kids play in.

All in all, this is not a miserable experience. I even have some more good things to post about. All that action!, driving! and stuff!