Home!

Just the word alone evokes a VERY strong emotion in me.  It's a "trigger" of mine.

We are counting down the days to our return to Tennessee.  We wrote the names of things we are looking forward to on little strips of construction paper and every day we've torn one off.  We have 15 links hanging on that chain.  15 names of things that are precious to us and awaiting our return.  So, in the interest of looking forward, I was thinking of all the things I love about HOME!


1)  Home is where I have great friends who love me all around.  These are the amazing ladies that I call on when I need to laugh, run out without the kids for a minute, complain about something, cry about something, or just need some company for a glass of wine or an episode of Modern Family. And it's not just once in a while, we live life together.

2) Home is driving without GPS and making appointments without having to call someone for a recommendation.

3) Home is never knowing what weather will await me for the day!

4) Home is where my dog is!  (Apparently, my dog has gained nearly 25 pounds while vacationing at the farm.  He was already 10 pounds overweight.  I wonder what Dr. Jim will have to say about that one!  Can you say, "never free feed a retriever?")

5) Home means the 12 hour commute with the hula kitty will be a thing of the past (and I can stop worrying about it.)

6) Home is where my kids can run out the front door and have a choice of about 10 kids to play with any time of day.  

7) Home is where I can smother my nieces with kisses and hear them cackle with laughter.  And I can see my nephew and hear him talking (which he wasn't doing before I left.)

8) Home is where I know and am known.  

9) Home is where there are friends whose homes I walk into and instantly relax, because I know there is a place where I don't stand alone.

10) Home is where I don't have to calculate time difference before I pick up the phone.

11) Home is where I love and am loved.  

12) Home is where my family is!

13) Home is where my children are loved and nurtured by an entire community of people who share similar values and have a vested interest in making sure everyone is okay.

14) Home is where people know about the orphan crisis and they "get" my passion about it.

15) Home is where I can be late for something and someone calls me because they know me well enough to know that I've most likely forgotten about it altogether.  (Kaye, you're back on duty!)

16) Home is where I want to spend a long time going around town to visit every single person I think of when I think of home.

17) Home is where I can show up unannounced on the doorsteps of a friend, pretty much any time of day, no need to wait for an invitation, and be welcomed in without alot of fanfare.

18) Home is where kids ride a bus to school.

19) Home is where everything around me is mine and not someone else's.  And the things that surround me are largely things that have been in my family for years and years.  Furniture and photos and everything else has meaning, a story, a sentiment, not just a function.

20) Home is where I can ship the kids off to the grands so my husband and I can get a weekend together.

21) Home is where I feel safe and embraced.

22) Home is where my heart is!

Having said all this, there are always going to be things I miss about our time in Hawaii.  I had alot of trepidation about our return, knowing that I have changed and hoping that I will feel at home there in my different skin.  I will miss a million things about Hawaii and maybe I'll list those too so I won't forget when life returns to normal.  I've made some dear friends here too, who I know will be missed and not soon seen again.  But the closer I get to that return, the more anxious I become.  With each passing day, I'm more aware of the things my heart yearns for that I have lived without for long enough.  As we close in on our return, I am becoming anxious and excited about getting home.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by.  And that has made all the difference."  Robert Frost