lower alabama

we've been hanging out at nathan's grandparents' place here in mobile for a few days now. i've gotten to see almost all of our cousins so far. we've been doing a lot of cooking and swimming. we're trying to eat healthy and get some exercise. being face to face with nathan's family again just makes me more motivated to help him out of the trap they're all in with the obesity. i really want us to not become heart-attack prone. his grandma made us sunday breakfast in the southern tradition and a few minutes after we were done eating, i thought i was having a heart attack. i've never before had such a strong pain in my chest before. i felt like my ribs were squeezing my heart.
so i've decided to quit eating pork. that's not all i'm going to do, but it's one of the steps. we swam this morning, and tonight we're going rock climbing again. i don't think we're going to be able to take hannah, because nathan pointed out that parents have to sign paperwork for minors, and her mom works all the time. it's a shame, but what are you going to do.
i gave one of nathan's cousins a big lecture last night about sex. she's almost seventeen, and thus at the traditional age of impregnation. she took it very good-naturedly, and i'm not so worried for her anymore. i hope she can break out of some of the dangerous patterns her family has. there's not much i can do for those kids since i don't live here, but i still care about them a lot. i can't help so of course i feel helpless to them, but i still do what i can. i hope if i ever have kids, i can prevent some of these problems from ever happening. i guess i'll find out if it's genetic or not. i don't think it is, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.
geez, it's depressing being here. all i do is feel bored and worry about those kids, our health. i love nathan's family, but i can't wait to get to oregon. i'm really excited about our move. i can't wait to get back to the healthy side of the country. i'm going to start swimming and nathan's going to take up bike racing. and we're both going to rock climb. in addition to all the physical improvements, i've got to find a new career, get into carving rocks, and once i earn the money, i think i'm going to buy myself an electric drum kit, so i can learn without bugging the neighbors. of course if i succeed, (even a little bit) i'll want to start a band, which will require a real drum kit, but that's a long way off.