the best homecoming ever.

Wow.
It seems too surreal to put into words or utterances or feelings, really. It's just, amazing.
It's so good to be back home.
After being at the airport for an ungodly number of hours, completing 1.5 hard-level sudokus, reading 100 pages of a book, I'm finally back in great ol' suburbia, (DB!) in my house (which feels foreign, strange, familiar and more like home than ever before), in my room (that my mom has cleaned while I was gone), on my bed (no more twin size for 4 days!), in my old gym shorts, surrounding by nostalgia, comfort and a smell that I still remember.
Nothing has changed, really. My parents are doing well, my little sister is still the best little sister in the world, my room arrangement is fairly untouched. But there are subtitles: my sister seems more mature, if that even possible. Even in the way she carries herself and respond. I was really freaking out that my sister was just watching T.V. all day, surfing YouTube and allowing her brain to rot in this MTV-reality-show-no-substance crap that has defined our generation. But no. She seems...more knowledgeable. More understanding. As hard as it was to move 3000 miles away from home, in the back of my mind, I knew it would do my sister, and probably the family, some good if I left. Now, Joyce has to be self-sufficient and learn things the hard way--the better way. I don't have to peek over her shoulder to watch her every move because she can think for herself now. I'll always be her and she knows that. But I think we are both benefiting. I can now rest assured that my sister is doing well and is happy :)
As for my parents, couldn't have been happier to see my mom walk through the gate today (she just came back from a business trip). I thought it would be slightly awkward or really emotional, but it wasn't, really. Things seemed to pick off where I left them, that day in August when I left. Time has gone by, but I am no stranger to my home, and I don't want to be. Ever. But that day will come. Family is that much more of a bonding glue now. It's why I'm so lucky and so blessed. They give me my freedom, but at the same time always encourage me to be active. I miss this, but not I appreciate it more.
As for now, I'm so stoked to see my friends and let everything just settle into my gut.
Here's to good food, good times, a good Thanksgiving and good moments.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!