JALE

Jim And Lisa's Ecosystem:

1) No cell phone service (AT&T users beware)
2) When you need groceries it requires one to use the phrase "going into town"
3) Snakes, Bears, Six and Eight legged critters abundant (although most, I repeat MOST dwell outside)
4) Gorgeous woods, chirping birds
5) Hill Billys, although outside of JALE this is not PC, the correct term is "Mountain"
6) Splendid Sunsets
7) Fresh Air, like real actual I can breath with out sand particles choking my airways air
8) All the quiet in the world to process, "What the heck did I do?!"

I mean truly dreadful right?!

Just kidding.  JALE is a lovely place.  They live in a neighborhood that is uses the word habitat in it's title, and somehow that got replaced with Eco-system, do not ask me how.  Eric once joked that if we have kids one day when we take them to my parents house they will tell their teachers at school "We are headed off to jail for our summer vacation, " and then CPS would immediately be knocking on our door.

So far so good.  We got my the rest of my boxes up in the attic today and headed off to Greenville, South Carolina to see my precious, second cousin.  I think that must be my relation to him.  I have never been good at labeling extended family beyond the first round.  It seems all very hill billy to me, no pun intended, to label your third, fourth, eighteenth round of cousins.  At some point family is just "family," and the nitty gritty is way too time consuming.

JALE initiation
Triple Falls Hike, July 2010

My mom had a discovery that there are two different reactions to the statement, "My daughter is moving to Dubai:"

- "Oh my gosh that is so cool.  What a great adventure, you are going to have an awesome time, " spoken pretty much by anyone below the age of 40 in a truly enthusiastic excited tone.

-"....Oh....wow...That's different..." this is said by individuals who look like they just got a round of botox, their facial features are so frozen in shock that my mother would let me go to the Middle East (their version, Saudi, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc)

It's pretty interesting.  We tested the theory out at church today.  It held pretty true, although there was one exception to the rule.  I met one elderly lady who had a friends daughter go over there and she was pretty with it and knew that I was not going to be swiped up and sold into slavery (I have been told this stone faced before by others).  She was very excited for me but she also said that if I run into the Butler's I am to tell them that Mrs. Perry says hello.  I thought that was very sweet.

Still working on the job hunt.  I have a few things in the hopper, my pipe dream is still to work for TOMs shoes somehow.  That my big dream at the moment.  On the off chance that my cover letter and CV inspire them so that they will beg and plead for me to be a sales rep for them in Dubai.  What a truly awesome company.  You never know what could happen, and after all dreams are very important when you are serving hard time in JALE :)

The Night Sky of North Carolina
What I can see out the window of my cell