The Time Has Come.

It's time to come clean. It's time to be transparent.

I, Lauren, have a bully. I've barely been here for a month and already I'm being targeted relentlessly.  I rarely leave the house due to the nature of my job, but it doesn't matter. My bully attacks me in my own home. 

But it's time to come clean. It's time to expose this bully for the menace it is.

My bully.... is North Carolina.

See, at first I thought we could be friends. It is really very pretty. I complimented it. I appreciated it's rustic, natural beauty. However it was to no avail. North Carolina had it out for me from the moment I got here.  My very first day here it decided to put on a show of sheer force in an attempt at intimidation. This took the form of a severe thunderstorm that was essentially right above the house and it knocked out power for a while (including the TV! Horror!) It didn't work, though. I saw right through the ploy. I stood my ground.

North Carolina has tried similar tricks since.  One in particular was quite impressive. In the middle of a storm, the sky grew bright orange. I'd never seen such a sky. It threw an orange cast on absolutely everything. the air looked thick with it.  Apparently, for those in the know, a bright orange sky means threat of hail. That was my first death threat from North Carolina. It was ready and willing to pummel me to the ground with hail.

It's latest tactics have been more insidious. More ingenious. More fatal.... I don't know what I've done to make North Carolina rage against me so, but it's decided that I must be expelled, excised, gotten rid of once and for all.

Lately it's been attacking inside the house. Via my allergies.

I've been faithfully taking my Zyrtec, don't get me wrong. I know I have allergies and do everything I can to make life easier for myself. But by golly North Carolina is a relentless foe. There is just wave after wave of attacks upon my sinuses.  I can't even count how many tissues I've gone through. How many sneezes I've sneezed. And the tissues! Oh the tissues! I know I mentioned them twice, but they haunt me. Always needed, and rarely within reach. North Carolina has found my weakness. But, like you are supposed to do with bullies, I will stand firm against the onslaught.  I will not allow myself to be forcibly removed from this state and my job.

So, BRING IT, North Carolina! You don't scare me.