From Bethany

Hey!!! Finally a post!!! So, Tennessee has been a major culture shock. Is this still America? Yes. Is this a COMPLETELY different culture? Definitely, yes. When we drove south to a city called Lewisburg to get Zoe, (and that's right, there's no longer a "Y") a guy got out of his el camino at the gas station where we stopped. The incredible spray painted car creaked loudly as the door opened and a duct-taped covered (We literally could not see any actual shoe, we're assuming that somewhere beneath there was a pair) set of feet stepped to the sidewalk. The curly mullet-esque hair yes, cascading down beneath his dirty frayed ball cap was a bleachy blond color. The stereotypes continued with the cutoff sleeveless shirt and carhart pants covered in dirt...all in all, it made me just really miss Arlington. :) Maybe it's not such a different culture after all...
I've heard more "y'all's" that ever before in my life. A personal favorite is, "I'm fixin to". I love that at restaurants when they ask me if I want Coke, and I say, no I want Dr. Pepper, they look at me like I'm ridiculous. Because obviously, I should have known, Coke means pop. I've also discovered the strange phenomenon of Lip Sweat. I DID NOT KNOW MY LIPS HAD PORES??? Is this even possible? Unfortunately yes. Now that it's October it really has cooled down a little bit, but a month ago? Unbelievable.
Zoe is sooo exciting! She just got back from surgery today. Yeah I know, we've had her for a week and she's already diseased and dying. No, she actually had some kind of boll wevil larvae embedded in her throat. We got her from a rural situation where I guess these things lay in wait in the grass for some potential victim. I wish I were joking, but no. She had to go under anesthesia and get it cut out of her neck. Sad day. But now, for the first time in a couple days she's been a little peppier! Yay! She makes me so happy. :) She also got some medicine for her worms, and she's been pooping out these GIANT hookworms all evening!!! They're incredible! They're definitely the length, maybe not quite the width, of earthworms! And they're white! I'm pretty sure the valets across the street at the restaurants stare at me oddly when they see me pick up her poop in the yard and examine it thoroughly... Whatever. Don't judge me.