Home

So I'm enjoying being home, right? Of course I am and here's why.


I'm having lots of great conversations with my parents (and not all of them are around the kitchen island!). Dad's time tends to be in the morning before I head off to work (or while I drink my first cup(s) of coffee since I'm not currently working). Kathy's time tends to be in the evening since Dad goes to bed earlier. Some of the conversations are about heavy and/or weighty matters and some are more basic how's-it-going-how's-your-day stuff. All had been seriously missed and I'm thoroughly loving it.


Driving. I'm rediscovering my love of driving - even taking six hour weekend road trips (with more planned in the near future) - and it's great. I love my car and the freedom it allows me.


Cooking. The random instances of cooking in a communal kitchen at various hostels just wasn't cutting it. Besides, I get to try out some of those recipes I learned in cooking classes, too, and my friends and family have been willing guinea pigs.


As an addendum to that last one: texting my sister yummy looking pictures of the things I cook. What can I say? We're competitive like that and like trying to out-do one another! :-)


Being home means I'm available to help out when my sister or my friends need me to keep an eye on their kids for them. And it's nice being able to see my niece and nephews in person instead of just on Skype.


I'm calling people just because I can, because I don't need to schedule a time to do it (while keeping in mind, of course, that there's a nine hour time difference. Or, wait. Is it 12 hours? Wait. Where am I again?! Yes, scheduling those calls could get complicated!).


Yes, I've been busy catching up with everything I missed while I was away, but I've been trying to work in some down time, too. I'm enjoying sleeping in or spending the whole weekend in my pajamas just because I can. And it's nice to not feel guilty about not being out doing (or seeing) something.


I guess none of this sounds particularly exciting, but home has been good for the heart, ya know?