home again.

I am home.

It's a little surreal to drive through the same neighborhoods, stop at the same traffic lights, and pull up to our sweet little house all connected in a tidy row with the other houses in the neighborhood; only ours stands out entirely because it is well, ours.  

It's very nice to know that no matter how far away I get from here, it remains.  My home--along with all my family and friends and the house-at-the-end-of-the-dirt-road that I grew up in--seems to stay remarkably still against the irrevocable onslaught of time, remaining cloistered away from the rush of all of the downtowns of which I have lately been an inhabitant, remaining cloistered away in my heart.   

For me, home has a beautiful comforting sameness to it that I love, that I rely on.

This is especially true when the mess that I left in my quick dash of a 48 hour visit of two months ago is still here. Still on my unspoken side of the room, next to my spoken-for side of the bed. The side that, apparently, our two cats claim for themselves when I am not here, as evidenced when I tried to stretch my legs out this morning and immediately found myself stopped short by lots of fur and a couple of sharp little claws in the mix.  And oh yeah, a meow or two in protest.  

 I will say Drew did a darn good job of cleaning the kitchen. I will also say that the newest addition to our kitchen--a gift from Drew's recently returned from Australia brother, Kris, which happens to be an appliance in the form of a can opener with a handle fashioned out of kangaroo testicles (I am not kidding, but I really wish I was, believe me)--well let's just say that it will not be remaining in the very visible place that Drew has chosen for it for too much longer.  Not on my watch.  

  Anyway. I am home for a good, no a wonderful six weeks while I commute to work in Baltimore for these next two weeks, Philly for the three weeks after that, and then a glorious week of vacation, though I am not quite sure where I will be for that week. I can tell you I will not be working and I will be with Drew...;-)

So yes, life is very very good. I cannot wait to spend time with all the people I love here.