I LOATHE the weather in Alabama.

This isn't public because I'm not interested in dealing with the fallout that comes with announcing a possible big change.  But I LOATHE the weather in Alabama.  Like, for real.

We lived in a mobile home when I was a kid.  I can't even count the number of times my brother and I were woken up in the middle of the night by my mom to be rushed out of the house so we could go down the street to a relatives basement.  My dad would never come, nor could we bring our pets, so not only was I terrified of the weather and worried that our house would be blown away; I was also afraid of losing loved ones.

I remember all of the tornado drills / warnings in school.  Get in the hall, put your head against the wall with a book or your hands over it.  Stay in that uncomfortable, awful position and wait.  Wait and worry and fear.  It was so much worse after I had Shadow; I hated being separated from him.  I remember knowing that bad weather was coming so I went to pick him up from school and his principal wouldn't let me take him home.  I lost my shit over that one.  No one comes between me and my kid.

We can just be out here minding our business and next thing we know our whole lives are about to be blown away.  My immediate family and I have been very lucky that it hasn't been us yet, but that could change at any time.  None of this even touches on the fact that it's humid year-round so both the heat and the cold feel miserable.  I am over this.  I don't want it anymore.  I'm finally in the position to have some control over my life so it might be time to consider a big change.  It is not logical to be here and there are plenty of other reasons I'm not into it, either.  Desert, I'm looking at you.