Happy Anniversary - To Me!

Yesterday was my 10 year anniversary of moving to North Carolina.

Hooray for me! The day I left I was told by someone I was close to at the time she wouldn't hug me goodbye because I'd be moving back in two weeks. I can't say I never thought about it, but obviously never serious enough to do it. I'm still here.

I really put almost no thought into moving, very unlike me. It was an impulse and I know now that had I waited until I was a little older I probably would have over-thought the situation so much that I never would have left. I don't remember my parents really giving me too much grief over it. Honestly, I don't think my mom thought I'd stay either. But stay I did, even when I was faced with situations that probably should have made me go back.

Ten years is a long time and it has changed me considerably. It's amazing how much can happen in that amount of time (or even in the last 5 years really). A decision that took me probably 30 seconds to make has made some really interesting people part of my life. I met my husband here, I started my family here, and I've made some really great friends. It would be a much more difficult decision to leave here than it was for me to leave Norwood, NY.

Things I've learned from my move:

• Sweet tea generally so sweet that it needs to be chewed. I have gotten to a point where I can drink sweet tea but it's not my drink of choice.
• I don't know how I went the first 20 years of my life without having experienced pimento cheese. It is amazing. If you have never had homemade pimento cheese you must do so immediately.
• They have sayings here. Sayings that people just seem to know that I've never in my life heard before but was immediately entertained by them. My favorites starting with the best one I've ever heard:

1. I'm just as busy as a cat covering up shit. (I have seriously heard this used in normal conversation)
2. He doesn't know me from Adam's house cat. (His house cat, really?)
3. Who licked the red off your candy?

• Southern dialect creeps up on you. You will eventually say "Y'all". It happens even if you try to rebel against it. And I was recently called out on my use of the word "holler".
• Barbecue is something you eat, not something you do. And it's delicious.

My last thing to share before I end this super long post. This is my favorite news story since I've been an NC resident:

Last year I learned about Knobby. Knobby is a Bigfoot-like creature who resides in Cleveland County, NC...and he has beautiful hair. He apparently likes to torment a man named Tim Peeler. Mr. Peeler made the news last year when he called 911 to report Knobby trespassing on his property. He keeps his dogs in a pen outside his home and they were making some noise. Thinking that some coyotes were messing with the dogs he went out to have a look. But "instead o' them...it was him". Meaning Knobby, of course. Mr. Peeler "rough talk 'im and run 'im off". He instructed Knobby to "Get away from 'ere! Git!" which apparently did the trick because he was no where to be found when the authorities showed up. But they did file a suspicious person report. Check out the video below for Mr. Peeler's "amateur sketch". This story continues to amuse me every time I think about it. When I first saw the video I laughed so hard I cried.

I have made such a big deal about Knobby that I have, at times, irritated the absolute mess out of my family and co-workers. As it turns out, someone I work with went to school with Tim Peeler. I've been told that in that video he was not drunk on moonshine like I had originally thought but that he is an enormous pothead. Well, surprise surprise. At our annual work conference last year that same co-worker who knows Tim Peeler presented me with this shirt and it's quite possibly one of my favorite things. Ever.

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