5 Things: Miami

5 Things I Love About Miami

1. Food from Ms. Cheezious!
2. Dining, in general.
3. Comfortable weather from November to March.
4. I live in an international melting pot (I have co-workers from around the world and the Cuban/Islander culture down here is like nothing I've ever seen before).
5. I got Ruby! And soon I'll have Lily!

5 Things I Hate About Miami

1. Anything medical. Ever.  (Getting prescriptions, going to the doctor, having tests done... it is all a pain.  I don't speak the language of the medical field down here.  I have been raging mad about treatment we have received.  The only medical personnel I like down here are the people at the vet's office.)
2. Driving and traffic.  (And paying tolls.)
3. Horrible weather from April to October.  
4. Lack of a Midwestern work ethic.  ("Miami time" is a real thing.  It's delayed from usual time by two weeks.  Nothing gets done fast here.  Nothing is done with a smile either.  You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but it still bugs me.)
5. Laundry.  (I have never hated doing laundry this much in my life!  I've been doing it since I was in grade school.  I just hate our laundry set up so much.  I have a huge pile of dirty clothes staring me down as I type this.)

5 Things I Learned in Miami

1. Dance music is a movement and it's not half bad.  (Even if I don't go clubbing.  Oh, and Pitbull is the King of Miami, Flo Rider is the Prince, and Gloria Estefan is the Queen.)
2. I now get all of the jokes in the Sh*t Miami Girls Say YouTube video.  I think it is funny and scary (I've started doing some of those things).
3. Speaking of which, I can talk really, really fast with wild hand movements now to demonstrate my excitement or anger over a situation.
4. People don't know where Milwaukee is.  (I've been told I was from Ohio, Chicago, and the state of Washington.  It would be funny if this wasn't one of the least educated large cities in the U.S.)
5. I learned how to bead-weave, string pearls, knit, crochet, make mosaics, and develop an Etsy website.  (Not half bad.)

5 Things I Hope for in a New City

1. A sense of pride in the community, a recycling initiative, a decent farmers market, and city parks.
2. A beautiful, comfortable, reasonably priced place to call home.
3. Being admitted to a graduate program for Creative Writing.
4. The ability to drive forty minutes away from the city to find gorgeous, peaceful scenery and places to explore.
5. Friends who uplift me and appreciate the same things I do.