Things I Really Love About Georgia

Too often, since our move back from the west coast four years ago, I find myself comparing Seattle to Atlanta, which is not really fair since we were childless two-income folks living in a hip location in Seattle, and here we are parents and chose to live outside of the city so that we could benefit from the good schools in our area.  Suffice it to say that the comparison is often unfavorable.  It starts with the fact of the dual ocean mountain view that was available there and the "nothing" view that is available here and usually goes downhill. . . .

In my mind, I have created a "fantasy Seattle" and conveniently forget how lonely I was to be so far from my family; how ludicrously priced single family homes were; and how 9 months out of the year, I cursed the freezing weather and had the blues (and then some) because of the constant drizzle.  I remember only our friends, the mountains, the great nights out we had, the delicious donuts, the delicious salmon, the great coffee and lightening-fast baristas, the progressive politics, the public transit, Pike Place Market. . .and, then I feel sad.

But, Atlanta is actually a pretty great town and the south also has many good points.  Now that the weather has broken (blessedly early) and it is starting to feel like fall, and our daughter is sleeping again, it is easier for me to focus on these good points.  I'm going to memorialize my top ten Atlanta favorites here for when I start dreaming about "fantasy Seattle" again:

1) My mom & dad live 45 minutes away; my brother and Woody live 10 minutes away.  We don't have to get into a plane to see my family--ever.
2)  The sun shines often here.  Whoa--the weather has been gorgeous lately--mid to upper 70's, low humidity, crisp, but not chilly at night.  I did not have the air conditioning on at all today.  Simply lovely.  Add to that the fact that even when it's cold in the winter, it's often sunny, and it's pretty splendid!
3)  The food.  There were a lot of great restaurants in Seattle, but the food here is more soulful, for sure. And, there are also a lot of great restaurants. And, we have a WONDERFUL international market in our town that has beautiful produce at wonderful prices. .. .in short, we often eat like kings.
4)  Our house is lovely--especially the kitchen and especially the porches.  I think this one has been easy for me to lose sight of lately since the tree fell on our house, but the truth is that we are very fortunate to live in what is quite possibly my dream house and something we never could have lived in in Seattle.  It's old, but re-done, so has character and convenience.  And, it has SUCH a wonderful kitchen for all that great food we're always buying.  Peter & I had a tiny galley kitchen in our apartment in Seattle, and while we made some good meals, we often bickered as we bumped past each other there--not a problem here!
5)  The graffiti in Atlanta is marvelous.  It is edgy and gritty, but also very artistic and the city has designated plenty of spaces for whole-wall murals.  I love these bright pockets of surprise and artistry sprinkled into my day.
6)  I live close enough to work to ride my bike and actually dare to do so from time to time because there are no neck-breaking hills.  Biking is definitely my favorite form of exercise. :)
7)  People are often popping in unexpectedly because they have a layover or other travel that takes them through Atlanta and we get to see them!
8)  Not everyone is white here. In fact, many people are not. It is so awesome to walk around and see a mix of hues, rather than just one.
9)  So many festivals!  Atlanta is definitely a festive town and the various festivals definitely mark the seasons here in a very pleasing way.
10)  The pace is more chilled out.  It is true that the South moves a bit slower and I really, really love that.

The End of Vacation and Back to Work!

Since I last posted, we have been really busy, even if we haven't been working! Shortly after landing in GA, we made our residence official by swearing into the GA bar, applying for jobs and getting drivers' licenses. The local bar in Fayette County GA was so wowed by a husband and wife lawyer team, that they even ran an article in the local paper about us! We both applied for several jobs, but ended up hitting the GA market at a weird time for both of us. For me, the criminal defense options were few, as the GA public defender system is currently imploding. For Peter, immigration gigs were scarce because Congress has not authorized any new visas for immigrants recently. Fortunately, though, we both found good options and will start work tomorrow! I will be working at the GA Resource Center, where I will be working on habeas corpus petitions for people on death row here in GA--possibly my dream job. . .we'll see! I am very excited to be able to focus more on individual clients and researching their cases inside and out, rather than appearing in court every single day. I will still be in court sometimes, but only for select arguments--this frees me from wearing a suit on a daily basis--yay!

As for Peter, he will be working at MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund--kinda like the Latino NAACP), where he will be doing civil rights class litigation on behalf of Latinos in GA and lobbying the GA state legislature for better laws for Latinos. I don't think GA state law makers have yet realized what they are in for. . .:) Serendipitously, Peter is also starting work tomorrow and we will be able to commute together in the mornings on the train, which should be amusing.

In other news, we have filled our time while we were waiting for job interviews and acceptances with lots of fun stuff! We took a road trip in our Neon in July to Chicago for Randal and Megan's wedding, which was great, and then we continued north to Madison, Wisconsin, where we visited Peter's Grandma Betty. In the middle of July, we got a call saying that the Obama campaign was actually working in Peachtee City(!) and would we like to help? We were very excited and are now in our fourth week of registering voters here in my hometown and the surrounding counties, which I never would have thought would have a chance of going Blue. I have been really pleasantly surprised with how many closet Dems. there are around here! The beginning of August had us watching a lot of Olympics and starting the house hunt in earnest. We focused on Decatur, GA, which is 6 miles from downtown Atlanta and on the train line. Decatur is also the home to both Agnes Scott College and Emory University, which both contribute to an artsy, progressive vibe in the town. About a week ago, we found our house (see pictures above)! It is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths on top, which front and back porches and a gorgeous kitchen. It also has a 2 bedroom, one bath rental unit on the bottom with kitchenette and living room. We just think it's adorable and will give us a lot of flexibility to add to our income, if need be, while we are paying off our student loans. When we no longer need that income, it will potentially give us room to grow. It has big old oak trees in the back yard and is 2 blocks from the local park and about 4 blocks from a shopping area. We are very excited!

Finally, at the end of August, my brother Matt and his boyfriend Woody visited, bringing our cat Isabelle with them from Seattle. It was a momentous time because it was the first time Matt has brought a significant other home and all went well. Also, my dad turned 60 and they were both able to be here for the party--yay! We just took them back to the airport yesterday and the house seems empty without them, even though there are still four people a dog and a cat here.

So, thanks for reading! That's about it for now. ..my plan is to post about every month to keep people updated on what we're up to. We'd love to hear from you, too! Drop us a line at robynp88@yahoo.com or pisbister27@yahoo.com. Our phone numbers are still the same, too!

Have a happy September!

R & P