Southeast Texas Accents

I am originally from the Midwest. It is over thirty-seven years since I moved to Texas, but I must confess I still feel like an outsider. There is something about the accent and the way the people construct their sentences that makes it very difficult for me to communicate. When I first moved here, I told my mother that the women sounded like they were talking through their noses. She immediately started scolding me and told me that was not a nice thing to say. Then she heard some of them, and she said to me, “Don’t you start sounding like that.” I am afraid that over the years some of the accent has crept into my speech, but I still do not talk like a native. What irritates me more than the accent is the circular logic the people use. I can ask a direct question, and the person can talk for five minutes and never get around to answering my question that could have been taken care of with a simple yes or no. I just don’t get it and am afraid I never will.