It's Official!

Kevin's in Mississippi!  He and The Professor arrived safely in Meridian (the Magnolia state) on Sunday night .  

He said The Professor was pretty vocal the first hour or so of the drive, then quieted down a little and tried to sleep.  He woke up and meowed at him every time they hit a bump or something though.  Overall he's acclimating to his new surroundings...and Kevin's settling in too.

He (Kevin, not the Professor) will be working for a company named, Booz Allen Hamilton doing curriculum development and training.  He's been doing busy work for a few weeks, so I know he's looking forward to getting up to speed in his new job.  I think it's something that he'll do really well.  He's smart, logical and creative and could make the training informative, fun and interesting too.  Can't wait to see how it goes for him.

He's in a temporary furnished apartment for up to the first 30 days while he's looking for a permanent spot.  He was telling us that some of his co-workers are living in some great downtown storefronts that have been converted to apartments.  I'm not sure if this is them (below), but they look like what he was describing.  He wasn't sure of the cost and didn't think there were any available, but they look pretty cool, especially for a small town.  Go to the site to see how roomy they are inside.  Maybe something will open up if they're affordable.

I did some Googling on Meridian and found out a few things.  Good news is, there ARE things to do there, just not sure there's much for a twenty-something single guy.  I did see that Lyle Lovett is coming there though.  Check out the events calendar here.

Kevin also likes that fact that the Meridian area is woodsy and has several lakes and rivers nearby.  Could be some good places for hiking there.

Wikipedia says that the city is located 93 mi  east of Jackson, MS; 154 mi west of Birmingham, AL; 202 mi  northeast of New Orleans, LA; and 231 mi  southeast of Memphis, TN, so it sounds to me like he has a lot of exploring to do.  He's never been to that part of the country, so it should be fun to see what's around.  I have a friend, Allen who lives in Mobile, AL (about 135 miles away) who's been bragging about their gulf shrimp for years.  Maybe Kevin could go visit him and check it out.

I'm hoping we'll get to visit him sometime next year.  It definitely won't be in the summer though, because it gets horribly humid.  Yuck!  Looks like maybe Fall might be nice.   We'll see...

I'm excited for him in a brand new place with a brand new job!  I know he'll enjoy the change and the chance to see new places and learn new things.  We're proud of him!