Well, I'm not sure if you realized this, but in order to get home the first step is to get to the airport. So after my usual breakfast with my girls at 6:15am and seeing them off to school, I boarded a bus and then a taxi and then another bus in order to make it to the airport in plenty of time for my flight. The first flight went very smoothly. The second one...not so much. It was delayed over an hour and a half. Normally this would not have bothered me too, too much, but it was a late flight to start and I didn't actually end up getting into Raleigh until 12:30 in the morning. The delay provided some good stories. Bottom line: I got really loony and started talking to all kinds of random strangers. Definitely not my usual MO.
Mom, Dad, and Janet were all at the airport to meet me. I spent most of the night talking to Janet and the next morning being shown around the house by my parents to see Grandma's things that were new additions for me. It was really hard. The last time I'd been home, Gramma had just died and Dad was still in Pennsylvania working on the details. It was good to be back and get some closure on that.
Late that afternoon I left to spend the weekend with Lauren, my college roommate, in Norfolk. I got in before her and checked into our motel room. The next day was our beach day: soaking up some rays and catching up. Notice my Wisconsin hat. I happened to have toured the school while looking at undergrad and brought it with me to support Lauren's new medical school acceptance and plans. That's right! I officially have friends in med school.
We had a fun day in the sun and a great Thai dinner that night. Funnily enough, Thai food was on my "Must Eat While Home" list and Lauren had just happened to look up a good place to eat before coming. It's all in the details! After dinner we walked around a bit. There was a failed attempt at seeing a movie and then a successful drink on the strip.
A fun display for anyone to contribute to while we walked downtown Norfolk.
After breakfast at Waffle House we parted ways and headed to our respective homes. The rest of my time home was pretty chill: a lot of eating from my "To Eat" list, a lot of hot showers, a lot of just sitting around enjoying the air conditioning and the big screen. I did get a much needed haircut and spent a fair bit of time travelling to Chapel Hill to catch up with friends there. I was also very excited to see Erin, my other awesome college roommate, who told me first hand her engagement story and showed off her ring. (Congratulations again, you two!!!) What's this? Life keeps moving and big changes keep happening even with me isolated down in Mexico? I don't remember that being part of the deal...
Mom trying on her hiking stuff while I was home. They were busy preparing for their upcoming Scotland trip.
It was a great trip and I loved seeing everyone, but I also missed my girls terribly and the other volunteers. The time flew and I was ready to head back when the 16th rolled around. No problems this time flight wise. I arrived back at the house relatively early that Saturday with luggage full of toiletries, American food and fresh clothes. In my absence (aka that morning) Martina had decided to leave the house permanently, so I was again in the room by myself for a couple of nights. I also stole her mattress. Sunday I returned to Cuernavaca and met Wesleigh to see the new and final Harry Potter movie and enjoyed my last few hours of freedom before officially joining the summer vacation work crew the next morning.
