Home Sweet Home

I made the 955 mile door-to-door trip from Austin to Waukee last week and made it back to my home in Waukee, Iowa, on Friday the 13th (a good omen, to be sure). I spent the night in Stillwater, OK, along the way and stayed with Mitch Langstaff (his brother, Sam, was a good friend of Brian's and was killed in a car accident last May; I wrote about this in my Memorial Day weekend post). It was very nice to catch up with Mitch. He is working for Oklahoma State and doing very well. He looks a lot like Sam, too.

I rolled into Waukee about 3:30 on Friday. This time, the cats were more receptive to me than they were when I came back in June. They have hardly left my side! Picaboo woke me up at 5:15 this morning just to be petted and cuddled. It's great! Seriously, I like this and I will never part with them like that again.

My friend Pat is living at my house for the time being, having been transferred from the H&H Quad Cities office to the Des Moines office. It is nice having him around to hang out with, talk to, etc. I think the cats liked him -- Ellie would always climb into his bed -- but now they're mostly focused on me again. :)

I took the weekend "off" from working on the house, unpacking, etc. and just tried to squeeze in friend and family time as much as possible. I had Wine Club on Friday night, just a few hours after I got home. It was a small group, but so much fun. We were up late, talking, laughing, telling stories, and sharing memories. I couldn't ask for a better welcoming committee. On Saturday, I saw Brian's brother, nieces, and parents. I also saw his uncle, aunt, and 2 cousins who live in Altoona. Saturday night, I saw Kristine (best friend in Iowa/running partner) & her husband Bobby, as well as Kristine's sister Jenny and her boyfriend, Justin. We went out for Old Chicago and watched TV at Jenny & Justin's place. On Sunday, I saw Hart & Wilson, then Kristine & Bobby again.

I've decided I'm going to pretty much treat my housework/home repair/packing/purging/house-selling as my "job" and work on that during the work week, while giving myself time to see friends, go out, read, watch TV, etc. on the nights and weekends. I started yesterday by unpacking my clothes and toiletries. I think I have a little bit of OCD about my clothing and accessory organization; that took a little longer than it probably should have....but, in my defense, I think that color-coding within each category of clothing is so efficient!

I might head to the Iowa State Fair today, depending on the weather. I am also having lunch with Brian's aunt Pat, who is flying in from Arizona today to visit family in Pocahontas, then stopping my my old office to see people there. I can't wait to catch up with everyone!

For anyone in Iowa: call me, text me, e-mail me, Facebook message me! I can't wait to see everyone!