13 Things I Miss About Minneapolis

Thirteen Things I Miss About Minneapolis:

1. Geekwif. Yes, I know she is not a thing, she is my best friend. Doesn't matter. I miss her and it's my list so there.

2. My Mom. Yes, she probably should have been first on the list, but I am working on a campaign to move her here to IL, so I know I'll have her back. Geekwif won't move to IL since she's busy building a new home in Wisconsin, so that's why she was first.

3. My job at The Big Company. I accepted a second part time job today. One will pay 13.00 an hour and the other 7.50 an hour. I'll work about 46-50 hours per week now and still come nowhere near to what I was earning at my old job. Yes, the employment thing is probably my only real concern in this move. Oh, and I miss my work friends like crazy, especially Smoothie and Naked Girl!

4. Benefits! Medical and Life Insurance! Auugh. Champs got a job with a sparse benefit package and it doesn't go into effect until 90 days. He has an eye disease and I have diabetes. As you can imagine, this leaves me a little, um, concerned. Again, miss the Big Company.

5. Tall buildings! The tallest building here is a 22 story hotel and it sticks up from the 3 and 4 story surrounding buildings like an obelisk. I grew up with a fantastic skyline, so this is still a bit of a shock.

6. The MTC public bus. Yes, I complained about it plenty when I was there, but it was relatively cheap and reliable transportation and gas costs money. We have the MTD here, but it is not as widely applicable as in Minneapolis. Oh, and I used to have the cost taken out of my paycheck at a great discount, and that's gone too. Bye-bye, MetroPass.

7. Money. OK, this one is temporary, since Champs is working now and I start my new part-time job on Tuesday. But we're paying rent on a deficit and it was really hard to watch a payday come and go without that happy deposit. Man, I love direct deposit! Especially since we are now three states away but still using our Minnesota credit union. I know, I know... I should change. But I've been a member there for 24 years and in this age of electronic everything, it should work once all the direct deposit is set up.

8. The worship at our church. Great musicians, great songs, great time to lose myself in gratitude to my God and to watch my daughter dance with joy. We haven't found that here yet, but we've only visited two churches, so I am sure it will take time.

9. Free local calls to my friends. Well, I have a cell phone with free long distance, so that's not too big of a deal - but I prefer the home phone over the cell phone, you know?

10. Cub Foods! The best supermarket ever, and about 21 or so in the metro area; 3 in close proximity to our home. County Market, which is owned by the same parent company, is a close second, but it's not quite as good.

11. Water! 15,000 lakes makes for a beautiful getaway at any time. I had two full-on lakes just a half mile from home in Minneapolis. Not here; they have a pond that they call a lake. It still makes me laugh everytime I see it.

12. Amy Monaghan (yes, you can follow the link to hear her music). She's an upcoming Christian artist who is wonderful. Her husband is in a great Christian rock band called the Wannabe Hasbeens (yes, songs there, too). I miss being able to go hear them perform. Amy's CD is wonderful, but I want to see her perform live again.

13. Multiple store branches. If you go to Famous Footwear in Minneapolis and they don't have the size you need, they call another store the next city over, have them hold it for you and you go get it. Not here. One branch. If they don't have it, you go to another store. It's that way with all the stores except Wal-Mart. We have two of them, one at each end of the city.

Well, that's my list. I'll post again soon with a more entertaining offering. I have some stories to relate, I'll tell you!

Here's some comments from this post:
Shannin said...
Hey, BG!! I miss our walks, too. And the weather is getting so nice! I remember when I first moved to MN how flat it seemed! I'm sure as you get to know more people it will become easier. Thinking good thoughts for you and the family...

Geekwif said...
Awww. You miss me? I miss you too. I want my friend back. And my goddaughter. I drive by your old house now and then and miss you. It's much sadder now than before. Then, I knew that even though you weren't in that house, you were just a few miles away. Now, you're WAY far away. :-(
As for #5, I'm not a huge fan of tall buildings myself. I prefer tall trees, but I must admit we do have a particularly lovely skyline here.
All in all, I believe this is a very nice first T13, even if it is a little sad. I'm looking forward to having you back in blog world (and many more Thursday Thirteens!) now that you're beginning to get settled in your new home.

Suzy said...
Awww.....I'll be praying for you, girl! I know, a move isn't easy, but God has big plans for you in this, right?
Your first TT looked great...loved the post and it make me feel so thankful for the blessings I have. Sorry that things are sad for you right now. It will come around. I know it will! =)

Tracie said...
Very nice first TT! Sad, but nice. I hope that you are able to get adjusted and that everything will fall into place for you all (especially with that whole direct deposit thing....no money stinks!)

Carmi said...
We added an unlimited long distance plan to our home phone. And when I'm feeling particularly geeky, I use Google Talk's voice chat feature. I'll be using it when I travel again next week. Freaky stuff!
This entry reminds me so much of when we moved to London. It was a strange city, far from home, and we knew no one here. It took a while, but eventually we grew roots and came to like this place.
Technology helps.

bluesphee said...
You should listen to Sufjan Steven's album Illinois. Then you'll think Illinois is cool: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufjan_Stevens