Goodbye, Sweet Home Alabama

We leave for Indiana tomorrow morning after Gary gets back from Texas sometime today and gets some sleep.  Gary left home on July 25th, and we left home on August 4th....the longest we've ever been gone from our home sweet home.  I think it must miss us!!  No squeals and screams echoing from the walls, no spills on the linoleum, no back door slamming dozens of times every day, no fingerprints on the windows, the swings stand motionless....I'll bet it's been lonely.

Things we've experienced in Alabama...

While at Subway, I asked for a dozen cookies.  The girl at the register says, "6?"  I thought maybe she didn't quite catch what I said and was wondering if I said a dozen or a half dozen, so I repeated myself, "A dozen."  And again she said, "6?"  I said, "No, a dozen is 12!!"  And she just said, "Oh!  Ok!"

Everyone makes U-turns...all the time!!  In Indiana, U-turns are illegal, so this shocks us every time we see one.  We're always looking over our shoulder for the red and blue flashing lights of the policeman.  We still haven't figured out why they need to make so many U-turns.  Why can't they just turn into the place they were headed?  Did they change their mind?  Do they not know where they are going?  We were turning right at a light, and our light was green.  Someone coming from the other direction....whose light had to be red!!....turned left and made a U-turn into the way we were turning and almost got creamed.  If Meagan hadn't been as quick on the brake, that lady's car would have been pretty badly damaged.  And the worst of it was that she was talking on the phone and didn't even glance our way or know how close she'd just come to an accident.

There is no straight road down here and many county roads are dirt, red dirt, no gravel, just dirt.  There is no system to road numbers either like our sensible 9-1-1 numbering system in Indiana.

There are still quite a few businesses that close on Sundays because it's the Lord's day.  The station we gassed up at yesterday afternoon was closed.  We just paid at the pump...$3.39 a gallon.

People are friendly, and you're everybody's "hon" or "sweetie."

There's a Baptist church on every corner, and they're all full.  The preachers still preach against sin, not caring whether they are "politically correct" or step on someone's toes.  The people aren't afraid to use the altar or show when the Holy Spirit is working in their heart.  They know how to "have church" down here.

We've enjoyed our 2 1/2 weeks in Alabama and we'll be back, but home sure does sound sweet to us!! See you tomorrow!!