Did I Just Become A Mississippian? + Thanksgiving

*Disclaimer: Even though the title says "Mississippian", I will always be a Tennessean at heart. It is important that everyone know and accept that.

So lately I have had a rough time. This is partly because of life changes I am less than fond of, but also because I am nearly 25 years old and this age sucks, especially for girls. I am 3 weeks away from 25 and I don't have a boyfriend/fiance/husband, nor do I have a child. By Southern standards, I am a senior citizen in the dating world and I should've started popping out babies weeks ago. It doesn't help that every time I get on Facebook or Instagram there is a new engagement/wedding/baby/young family photo shoot consuming my newsfeed while I am over here playing Susie Save The World and focusing on work and living wherever I'm needed most. It is really annoying and stressful and frequently lonely. In case you've been wondering, Mississippi isn't just a party waiting to happen.

Anyway, I tell you all of that to tell you this...

A few weeks ago I was driving to Kroger and, out of nowhere, I started crying. I know, stupid, but it happened. And no, I don't want to talk about it. I'm not entirely sure why I began crying because I happen to enjoy grocery shopping, but I think it was combination of being tired, lonely, stressed, sad, and sick of feeling a lack of stability (I have lived in 2 states in 6 years, lived in 6 apartments, and have never had a job that didn't have a set ending point. It gets old). Whatever the reason, I started crying and I was annoyed. I pulled myself together in roughly 30 seconds, put on my happy face, and marched my butt into Kroger.

I hadn't gotten 5 feet in the door when I felt these little arms wrap around my legs. I looked down and it was a girl that I see every week at More Than A Meal. I looked up and saw her mom waving so I waved back, hugged the little girl, and made my way over to the apples. I went about my shopping and, no more than 10 minutes later, I was on another aisle when I ran into someone else I knew. Someone I knew well enough to speak to and carry on a brief conversation with. This humored me a little because I saw two people I knew in one place, but it also made me think back on earlier in the day. I had been in Walgreens roughly two hours earlier and saw a couple there that I knew. Earlier in the day, I ran down to a meeting at the library and I knew at least half the people there and, when introduced to a local man, he knew who I was when I didn't even know him.

And that is when it hit me...I know people here. I know people and people know me. Fairly exciting. Moderately frightening. Then I went home for Thanksgiving.

I was home for a week and I actually missed Mississippi. I still can't believe it. That is the first time in a while (or ever). I missed my daily routine, going to work, making my own schedule, doing things at my own pace, and most of all, alone time. Turns out MS isn't terrible. Who knew. There are a lot of things and people I love at home, but for the first time in 2 years I feel like I have actually settled into a routine and a way of life. Minus the crying part. That will not become routine.

Ramsey isn't the best cuddler, but she at least shares the couch. Close enough.

Cousins + a girlfriend

Friends and fire. Thanksgiving shenanigans. 

Downtown Jonesborough

Jonesborough Round 2

 

Politics Make People Dumb

I am not a political person. This could largely be because I don't trust anyone and I assume all politicians are flat-out liars, but regardless, it just isn't something I care to discuss. Ever. I don't care if we are two years or two days away from an election, I don't talk about it. It goes without saying that I am incredibly happy that yesterday is over, but I can't help but notice how ignorant so many people get during an election. Below is a list of the idiotic things our self-proclaimed educated citizens like to spit out around election time...

1. "My President is Black" - Fantastic. We are all thrilled to know that you aren't visually impaired, but now we also think that a candidate's race was what you based your decision on when voting. Your opinions are now irrelevant to me.

2. "If _____ wins, I'm moving to Canada" - Let's be a little dramatic, shall we? Absolutely no one believes that you are leaving this country if someone you don't like is the President. Morons are elected or re-elected every 4 years and there is never a mass exodus of disgruntled Americans, all headed straight for Canada. Additionally, do you even know anything about Canada's politics? If you did, you would know they had 18 registered political parties including the Pirate Party, the Rhinoceros Party, and the Marijuana Party. Since you are so dissatisfied with the American political system, would you be joining one of those? Lastly - if you're leaving the country, why not go somewhere warm? "If Obama wins, I'm moving to Brazil!" That is a dramatic statement I can support.

3. "We can't handle 4 more years of what we just had" - I like the vagueness here. It says, "I'm not entirely sure what we just had, but I've heard a lot of people complaining so I'm going to pretend like I'm disappointed as well".

4. "I can't wait to go to work tomorrow so  people can benefit from my hard work and government handouts" - This not only makes you sound like an asshole, but you also sound close-minded. Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of people that abuse government assistance. I was behind a woman in the gas station yesterday and she was buying pork rinds and a 40oz Bud Light. It was 12 in the afternoon. Chances are, she is unemployed. However, making generalizations about people receiving government assistance makes you look uneducated. Just because someone has a job, it doesn't mean they are making enough to get by. Furthermore, laziness isn't always the reason people aren't achieving at the level you deem acceptable. Think about why you are successful. Think about why you have a job. Think about how you obtained your education. Did the "lazy" people have all of that? Government assistance isn't ideal in the way that it is structured, but instead of making uninformed statements about people that have less than you, maybe try to find ways to combat a lack of education and the cycle of poverty. Just a thought.

*Side note - speaking of drains on our economy, shall we look at our Presidential candidates? Both men raised and spent nearly $100 MILLION for ads for each of their campaigns and that was just through September. That isn't even all the funds. Around $6 BILLION was the final figure for these campaigns. They allowed that kind of money to be raised and put towards ads bashing each other. Pretty sure that is money terribly spent, but you don't see many people complaining about that. Is it because they are "hard workers"?

5. "Now I can afford college!" - Millions of people have been doing this already...? College is more attainable now than it has ever been. Yes, loans suck, but it is part of it. The graduate school comments are my favorite though. I went to grad school for free, as did almost every other person I know that has a Master's degree. Assistantships are a beautiful thing. I know they aren't easily attainable, or even available, for every school or area of study, but there are a lot of programs in place, or even businesses, that pay/assist with paying for graduate degrees. Let's not be too quick to start handing out pats on the back.

Those are the top 5 most annoying statements to which I have repeatedly been subjected. I am incredibly glad this election is over and I genuinely don't care who you voted for and why. I am really excited that we can all go back to living the exact same way we have been for the past 4 years, but without the constant Facebook or Twitter updates suggesting how the country should be run.