Where is home, anyway?

Yesterday my mom and I went to Illinois to see my family one last time before the trip. It was wonderful to see my aunts, uncles, cousins and suggogate family, but it was a bit depressing to see my grandfather.

My grandma died 4 months ago and my grandpa is, understandably, not doing too well. He's 90 and diabetic and now can only eat pureed food. And his best friend died. It was just too sad to realize that he's not going to be alive when I get back. One of his buddies was there visiting - a man who lost his wife 2 weeks ago. He was asking about grandma and I totally choked up and couldn't even respond to the poor guy.

But Illinois is home. I've never even lived there, but I can remember the countless Thanksgivings, weddings, Christmases, and funerals like they were yesterday. After 25 years I can even find my way down the country roads. Usually. So Illinois is home. And my parents live in Wisconsin, where I spent the first 18 years of my life. And North Carolina is home - I got all cheesy last time I was at UNC and told my friends that, especially after my times in Student Government, I actually feel like the physical campus is my home, not just the people I know there. And New York is home - an expensive home that was wildly fun but dysfunctional.

Now Guinea will be home.

Hmmmm...if I have homes all over the world, do I have 5 homes or none?? I'm going to go "glass half-full" on that one and say 5.

I'm going to watch cable now. And eat things that have been refrigerated - my time with cable and cold is limited and I should take advantage.

Less than 2 weeks left

Who would have ever guessed that it would cost so much to prepare to live cheaply for 2 years? Not me. Now the shopping is pretty much done and I'm starting to pack - I need to get packed by next weekend so I can spend my last 5 days enjoying my friends, family, beer and all the 4th of July activities!

Last weekend Heidi and I went to see Julie and Ky in Minneapolis. This had the added bonus of allowing me a chance to see my friend Zach and his fiancee Kelly, who live in a subdivision that could have been the set of The Truman Show had the movie been sponsored by Pottery Barn.

My brother and his friend met us out as well and it was great to see them - now that he has a job and is all cleaned up, I couldn't believe how grown-up he is! It's really a great realization when your siblings grow up and you see that they are just adults now - the distinction between ages isn't very pronounced.

We spent the weekend going out, hanging out, and eating late-night pizza. It was fantastic. Heidi and I stopped on our way back in Millston, Wisconsin, because it was the mid-way point for us to meet her friends who were driving from Madison to Minneapolis. Little did we know that NO ONE ever stops on that exit. We entered a pub, hoping to grab some food and ice cream, and everyone stopped and stared. This one woman kept on saying, "Look at those girls! Do you see those girls?" It reminded me of Sweet Home Alabama, like we were these ridiculous New Yorkers and Millston was the hickest town on earth. After a lunch of fried cheese curds, chicken fingers and Diet Coke, it was time to keep moving. I'm going to miss fried cheese curds.

So, less than 2 weeks until I'm in Philly for staging. That's where they give us the official PC rules and we fill out the final paperwork before SN Brussels takes us to Conakry! They also stick us with a bunch of vaccinations the morning of our flight - doesn't seem like the best idea to me, but I don't have any other options...