Jennifer Plesko

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for so long. Turns out this whole moving/new job thing has really cut down my screwing around time. However, I’m happy to report that I’ve been having a great time. Hubby and I have been meeting up with friends, meeting new people, trying new restaurants, and doing a lot of exploring the town. And even though I’ve only been in Dallas for about a week, I have already learned a lot.

• Thirty minutes isn’t a long drive. In my hometown, if you drive thirty minutes to work, you either work on a ranch or in a crappy little town. In Dallas, if you drive thirty minutes to work, you’ve got nothing to complain about. You’re just down the street.
• You don’t have to leave your neighborhood. Although Dallas is enormous, we really don’t have to venture outside a two mile radius. We’ve got Sam’s, Wal-Mart, Tom Thumb, Kohl’s, Barnes and Noble, Target, a movie theater, and every fast food and chain restaurant known to man. Which brings me to my next point…
• You don’t have to wait at restaurants. In my hometown, everyone eats out for every meal. That makes for a 30-45 minute wait at most restaurants on any given day. That’s why when we walked into Pappasito’s on a Friday night at 7:00 PM and were seated almost immediately, we felt like freaking celebrities.
• Everyone loves happy hour. People in my hometown like to go to happy hour every once in awhile, but in Dallas, you could have a different happy hour planned every night of the week for the rest of your life. I guess it’s due to a combination of living in a place with a lot of great restaurants and people wanting to wait out rush hour. However, beware…
• Drinks are expensive. I never thought I would believe that a $4 margarita is an awesome deal because, in my hometown, that’s regular price. If they’re on special, you can get them for $1.50. Not so in the Big D, and those $9 margaritas do add up. Speaking of which…
• My metabolism isn’t what it used to be. When I went to the gym two days before I moved to Dallas, I weighed myself. I was the same weight I had been for months. When I went to the gym one week later in Dallas, I had gained six pounds. That’s right. Six pounds in one week. Why? Because I had to partake in all those great restaurants and fun happy hours. So after I picked myself up off the floor, I decided that’s as high as that scale is ever gonna go. I’ve been working out like a triathlete the last two days and I’ve lost two pounds. So two more days of this to go, right?

Anyway, I’m still adjusting to being in a new place, but so far, the transition hasn’t been quite as challenging as I thought it would be. I can’t decide if that makes me a pessimist or an optimist.