New experiences

We take so many things for granted when we live in one place for a long time. Since I had lived in Georgia all of my 46 years, I have taken MANY things for granted! I assume everyone does things pretty much like we do. I assume that communities, churches, libraries, businesses, food, and entertainment is the same everywhere. I assume that "our way" of doing things is the best. Now why I would think that when I've only ever lived in small rural towns south of Atlanta, I don't know. But even though I've only been in Florence, KY (just south of Cincinnati) for one week today, I'm learning that things are the same....and things are different.

I haven't got to truly meet anyone yet. Just very short conversations with the pharmacists, Movie Gallery guy, two vets, cashiers, etc. People are mostly friendly. We are living in a very crowded area! So many people are stuffed into this Cincinnati suburb; there are apartments and houses a few inches apart. We were not used to hearing other people bumping around right next to and above us. Every once in a while, someone above us makes a sudden loud bumping noise and Michelle says "Mom, we better go pick our neighbor up from the bottom of the steps!" In this area, yards are small and each backyard backs up to dozens of other backyards...no privacy! Cars are parked up and down the roads of almost every subdivision...everyone parks on the street! But we are less than 10 minutes from everything...and I mean everything! Kohl's, Petsmart, Best Buy, HHGregg, a huge mall, every restaurant imaginable, 2 minutes from the closest Kroger (there is a Kroger every 10 minutes or less here!). And last night we went to the grand opening of a Kroger Marketplace in the community of Walton about 15 minutes away. It was freakin' HUGE. It was the size of a small mall. It included sushi bars complete with little Japanese guys fixing it in front of you, several aisles of fully prepared food including many hot ready-to-eat items, several salad bars, a super large deli that fries up it's own potato chips daily, more pet food items than the local Petsmart, two aisles of toys, a dozen aisles of household goods such as kitchen towels, washcloths, silverware, tablecloths, beautiful plates and serving items and FURNITURE. Now I'm not talking about dinky, cheap furniture. I REALLY want to furnish my house with the beautiful suede sectional sofa and the 5 piece dark wood dining set. Really nice stuff...amazing store. I wish for my Georgia friends....a Kroger Marketplace nearby!

We attended Florence Baptist Church last Sunday; it seemed OK. They are almost ready to move into a new huge facility one exit south of their present building. They have two packed services and no parking space....they definitely need the new building and the new parking areas! I'm not sure if we will go there this Sunday or visit another. There is not a Baptist church around every corner like in Georgia but there seems to be at least one in every community. There are just as many other denominations as Baptist...many Lutheran, Catholic, Church of God, Christian churches...much more diversity.

We acquired our first Kentucky library card yesterday....in Boone County...at their headquarters in Burlington. This new library put any Georgia library I've been in to shame. It was gorgeous, huge, state-of-the-art technology, awesome! I want to build a house next to this library. I know. I'm such a homeschool mom geek. But this library! It has 48 public computers, a large "teen scene" room, several community rooms, a large screen TV which hosts "movie nights" for teens and families, a huge children's library on the second floor, massive overstuffed chairs everywhere, self checkout machines, and, according to their posted schedules, really interesting programs every week. Programs like: blue grass/folk bands, jazz groups, a Native American who sets up a teepee in the library and teaches families about Native American culture, chess clubs, family movie nights, and much more. It even offers, with a library card, free access to many books on tape and digital books that you can download into your ipod and/or pocket pc! Ok...some things ARE better here.

As for food - We ate at a new place called "Cheddars" that is GREAT! A higher-end Appleby- type of restaurant. Very classy...excellent food. It will become my new favorite date place I'm sure! I have not been able to try the most "Cincinnati-type" food yet....Skyline Chili. Chili served Cincy-style is supposedly slightly sweet and spicy and very thin and served over something....like spaghetti or macaroni noodles....with lots of cheese. Other transplants here say that you either love it or hate it. I'm interested in trying it soon. Rodney - not so much. But I think I will be able to talk him into it soon. If not, the girls and I are game.

The girls want me to purchase the truly Cincy game called "Corn Hole". Transplants tell us that EVERYONE here plays Corn Hole. A few Fridays ago, Rodney's office had an employee's fun day. They had to choose games to play against each other at the park (I'm sure it is some kind of Kroger "bonding" idea). Other games offered were volleyball and putt-putt, but Rodney said that the game almost everyone signed up for was the famous corn hole game. It is some kind of wood board with a hole and you lob a corn-filled bag at the hole. It is similar to horseshoes in the rules. And people here take it very seriously. They wanted to know who the officiator of the games were and if official rules were to be followed! I guess we need to learn such an important game!

I'm sure more new experiences are on the way! We are wanting to get a library card at the Cincinnati library...the second largest library in the United States! The art deco railroad station turned art museum keeps beckoning us from it's perch off I-75. There are many parks here....we haven't explored any of them. The girls want to do it all now! I keep telling them that we are not here for just a couple of weeks. We will have plenty of time to explore. We must pace ourselves!