Without going into the nitty-gritty details of how and why I got here, I became a Florida resident last week. And the truth is, no matter how much I hem and haw and wish I could find a super-fast wormhole back to New Jersey, I am lucky to have a place here. Now, I've heard horrible things about Central Florida, but coming from New Jersey--recently voted worst state in the country by some poll's account, thank you very much!--such negativity really shouldn't phase me. I have also heard great things, for example, about how friendly people are down here. Even though I can't say much for sure about what I like and what I don't like about my new home, I can certainly say that people are friendly. And I like that. I just hope they stay that way when my New York / New Jersey roots show themselves. So far, I've kept them safely tucked away.

What do I mean by that?

THEY SAY:                                 I SAY:                           BUT I'M REALLY THINKING:

All y'all from NJ?                       Yep.                                I can deal with the y'all just fine. I might even decide                                                                                                 to start using it some day. The all y'all means 'all of                                                                                                 you' twice and it makes me twitch.

Ah, it's going to be very            I'm sure.                       By different, are we talking heat? Are we talking 
different from the                      (Chuckle, chuckle)      politics? Because I really don't want to talk politics. 
Northeast for all y'all               I hope to get used       By different do you mean better? Because the 
down here.                                  to the heat soon!         Northeast is just fine with me. Hey guy ... step off 
(Chuckle, chuckle)                                                             the Northeast!

Bless you...                                  (smile)                           I didn't sneeze. And I didn't say anything to warrant                                                        Uh, you too!                a blessing such as, 'Hey I just solved world hunger,'                                                                                               either. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate any                                                                                               blessings that come my way, but despite being                                                                                               Christian, I really don't know how to respond to such                                                                                               an impromptu blessing outside of church. My bad,                                                                                               I'm sure. But still....

Yeah, I might have a slight paranoia going on, and I'm sure it's just going to take a while to get used to Florida as a resident rather than vacationer. No doubt, it won't be easy to find a place for this fan girl mom to fit in. (So I can't wait for Star Wars Weekends in Disney next year!) The friends I have back home are worth their combined weight in platinum, and if it weren't for unlimited calling plans and social media, I wouldn't be sane enough to function at the moment. In the meantime, I suppose new experiences that seem bad at first can have benefits. Yesterday, there was a thunderstorm. Looking up, I was shocked at how the storm stretched across such a wide expanse of sky. The dark clouds were actually rolling in. And it scared me ... but it was thrilling. Bolts of lightning stabbed down at the earth like a movie scene, and I thought, I might become one of those people who love to watch storms. I suppose I'll revisit that idea after my first Florida hurricane.

Any advice for a newbie in Florida?