north and south

I'm starting my third (THIRD?!) year here in what one of my friends calls "the dirty south". it also was recently my half birthday, so in honor of these momentous occassions (har har), here is a list of 24.5 new, southern-specific experiences/lessons learned since moving below the mason-dixon line...

I have...

1. discovered what a Zaxby's is...(and no, it is NOT a fancy sit-down restaurant, which can be confusing...)
2. eaten at, and fallen in love with, Zaxby's, their seasoned fries, and their delicious Zax sauce
3. pushed a "buggy" around the grocery store
4. learned about Milo's sweet tea and its deliciousness
5. learned that drinking your calories might not be the best idea in the land of everything fried, so swore off Milo's sweet tea (along with McAllister's sweet tea...I'd rather eat my calories in the form of their gigantic spuds)
6. been called a "yankee" on more than one occasion
7. been laughed at for calling beverages of the caffeinated genre "pop", and have since slipped up and said "coke"
8. learned that "boil" and "bowl" can sound an awful lot alike
9. tried, and was not impressed with, fried green tomatoes
10. have successfully avoided grits
11. added to my dress collection, as southern women wear dresses EVERYWHERE. up north, I wore dresses to weddings and on an occasional sunday if I had the ambition to shave. here, dresses are worn february - november for (but not limited to) the following occasions: church, work, trips to the grocery store, baseball games, football games, dinner (whether it's one's own kitchen, mcdonalds or connor's steakhouse), camping, going to the movies, and any other event that causes a lady to leave her house during these summer months (dresses can be worn december & january, but typically are accompanied by leggings).  there is no such thing as being overdressed.
12. said "y'all" and made it a staple of my vocabulary
13. learned how to spell "y'all" (not to be confused with "yawl" or "ya'll")
14. learned how to correctly use the phrase "bless his/her heart"
15. seen schools close at the prediction of "up to an inch" of snow
16. seen groceries stores completely sell out of bread and milk due to "impending snow storms"
17. been let off work early due to tornado warnings and snow predictions
18. learned the tornado sirens go off at least three times a week in April
19. killed bugs the size of my face
20. had a black widow hang out in my apt. (it has since been killed, or I would not be hanging out in my apt.)
21. witnessed a large snake crossing my hiking path (and heard the expletives of a young man who did NOT see the large snake crossing his hiking path)
22. made poppyseed chicken a staple of my diet
23. tried banana pudding and wished it was a staple of my diet
24. worn a tank top and shorts outside in October
24.5  introduced my hair to humidity and gotten used to it