The day has arrived!

I can't believe that after all of the frustrations that this day is here AND that I am going home. I fly out tonight. I will rent a car and drive to Grampa's to sleep for a few hours. I will then continue my drive home on Saturday so that I can play with Jon's kids before they have to head back home. I can't wait to meet Ezra.

It will be a busy trip, but it will be worth it. I feel like there are so many people I wont get to see, but that is part of the problem when you do not live near home. I didn't realize how much I would miss the summer reunion until after it was passed. I really enjoy seeing my cousins, my great aunts and uncles, and all of those other wonderful folks that are too numerous to name. While I may not live close by, my family is close to my heart and is a very big part of who I am. Okay, I may not be this sentimantel by the end of next week, but I do love my family.

It is strange though, I have friends who take vacations to crazy places and I find that when I have to choose between going somewhere "cool" or visiting my family, I'll pick family. I'd rather live in those "cool" places and experience them that way than spend a week on a beach in Mexico. For some of these friends, their parents live very close by, so going away isn't as big of a deal. Others are also still in school and have more break options. Thankfully my family lives in a decent place to visit. I tell people where I am going and they always say things like "Oh, I have always wanted to go there" or "I went there once when I was little" or "I have a friend who went/lives/has a summer house there."

It is also strange that I am able to find my way around Chicago without a map, guided by a general sense of where I am and knowledge of the main roads, on the north site mostly, but when stuck in my home state I need directions, a map and even then there is a chance that I might get lost. My built-in navigation system relies on street signs mostly and my home state seems to think a field or a familiar farm house should be sufficient. I will probably have more to say on this after my six hour road trip tonight and tomorrow. In my home state's defense, my sense of direction does not extend out to the suburbs either, so I think there is something about me that is meant to live in a city. (Side note: The two cities that I have lived in extensively have been well planned and orderly. I will find it interesting to see how my city sense does in other, more free flowing, cities.)