Life is both bigger and smaller than I could have
anticipated. I find myself in the
strange position of living back at the home I grew up in at 32. I sold my house and moved out in preparation
for my move to live with N. Since my job
is up here, we don’t have a house down there, and we aren't married yet anyway,
I’m staying with my parents. And
grandparents. And sister. And her two teenage children. And the two dogs. It’s a hot mess!
I have to admit I was a bit concerned about my loss of
privacy to say the least. I was also
concerned about the extra distance getting into work as well as the close
quarters. I was worried about sharing a
bathroom with my teenage nephew. I was
weirded out about not only seeing my dad at work, but also at home when I got
home from work.
Friends, I have to tell you the truth. Having the opportunity to live with my family
in such an old fashioned far too close for comfort way is one of the best
experiences of my life. I wouldn't trade
it for the world.
I jokingly tell my teenage niece and nephew that being
around all their crazy is going to make me super excited to move down to live
with N instead of making me sad to move.
But the reality is that being here makes me appreciate them that much
more. I savor every single one of my
experiences with them as well as the rest of my family. Even more, I appreciate the time with my
grandparents.
During the holidays, we had several nights where my sister, parents
and I stayed up after midnight hanging out and laughing about nothing. It was so much fun. Last night, my big sister and I were in
hysterics as we muscled the tree out of the house spraying pine needles EVERY
where. My dad took pictures of us with a
tree falling around us that we could barely manage to hold up, and he just
laughed and laughed. “Blackmail” he
said.
I’m still smiling about last night. Every night.
