Home, Sweet, Home. . .

Hola Amigos,

As I sit here at my dinner table delighting in some delicious hummus and a diet coke, I can't get over how great it is to be home. There really isn't much I enjoy more than my family, and since my brother and sister-in-law are home, it's truly blissful. We are by no means the picture perfect family, but the trials we've conquered, relationships  we've built, and meals we've eaten have only brought us closer. This is where I feel comfortable. No one here cares that I tell ridiculously terrible jokes, they laugh when I laugh (more so because I'm laughing. Some would say my chuckle is contagious). I also receive the most criticism here. I happen to be probably the least smart in my family, and I am blonde. They don't let me forget this, but I take it in humor. So may I please allow you to experience them as I do, in a sense.

Today, after my last class, I jumped in my car, picked up some tahini paste for my vegan family members (NOT me, for I LOVE meat), and flew across town to pick up my brother and SIL from the airport. Then, we were on our way home. After 2.5 hours of good brother, SIL, Lora bonding time, we were located in good old P-town. My amazing grandma (by amazing, I mean offered to do a bungee jumping thing with me while she was at the age of 70) who is in town from Memphis, TN came driving up, honked thirty times, and was located in the driveway. I hugged Barbar (my grandma), unloaded my dirty laundry from my car, and sprinted inside to see the bright shining face that I find myself missing ever so frequently. Addie. She obviously runs down the stairs, and give me a tight squeeze. This little girl happens to be one of the coolest little 10-year-olds I know, and I'm not exaggerating. She helped me haul my bags upstairs, and showed me her new fish. They are beautiful, her fish.

Minutes later, up my front porch walks my best friend and number one fan, momma dearest. =) Giant hug number two. Let me tell you one very important thing. I really like to hug people. It actually runs in our family. In-laws have, in fact, referred to my entire mom's side of the family as "the hugging family". Haha, and it's a well deserved title. We all made our way up to Addie's room to check out her new fish and catch up. Obviously, I sat on my momma's lap. I've realized, it really doesn't matter how old I am, I'm never going to outgrow my mom's lap. I don't feel more loved anywhere else, really.

We decided to make a family jaunt to the wonderful three aisle grocery store two blocks down the road. Addie, fortunately, downloaded a truth or dare app on her iPod, and this was our entertainment for the next hour. By the end of the trip, I was looking to the left of everyone's head and saying "would you like fries with that?" anytime someone asked me to do something. For example, Mom said, "Lora, will you go get 8 cans of garbanzo beans." I simply replied, "Sure madre, would you like fries with that?" Her blunt response, "Lora, I don't know what you're doing, but go get the beans." She actually does enjoy my humor, but the beans were urgent. However, this doesn't compare to Addie's dare. Her iPod dared her to "go tell an adult you have to go number 2." HAHAHAHA. She did it. See? Coolest 10-year-old EVER.

On the way home, Addie and I enjoyed the nice jar of pickles we had just purchased a mere two minutes earlier and good race (yes, pickles were in hand). Because of our love of dill, this jar didn't make it very far. Yum.

Since then, I've enjoyed a nice game of Disney Sing It, hung out on my kitchen floor (my favorite spot in the house), been blockaded by the kitchen table chairs (thank you, brother), and ate some delicious grub. Well, minus the vegan food. My family is the bomb dot com. Sometimes, I selfishly catch myselft praying I marry an orphan man, so I don't have to give up holidays. hahahaha..joking. But that's how I feel about my family. I can't imagine a better one.

Well, low blood sugar is calling for my complete and undivided attention.

Over and out,
The Lone Woolf