I'm Back

I'm back from Alaska, getting rested up from van camping and poor sleep for a month. Staying at my brother's house until I head up home. I haven't been ready to post about being back. It's rather weird. I saw my friend, Lori, in church on Sunday and she said "Welcome home!" We hugged and exchanged a look that said she completely understood me as I said, "Thanks! Where's home?"

It's good to be with my brother and family. I'm still working on getting together with my other brother and his family, and also my dad. I'm looking forward to seeing them all. But...things are definitely different with Mom not here, with her house vacant. Even though I have family who loves me and welcome me to stay with any one of them, I feel sort of homeless. I think that's just the nature of a daughter and mom's relationship. Though we have our own family and our own homes, there's a part of "Mom's house" that will always be home. The void left by a mom's passing and the absence of the steadfast anchor of her home seems to leave us feeling sort of lost.

After being away from my own home for 3 years, it will also be a little weird moving back in. And what awaits me at this moment is a big fat mess. We finished moving everything back home on the first Sunday of May. By Thursday, we were headed to Alaska. So...nothing has been done towards settling me in back there. The living room is filed with boxes containing my accumulated life of the last three years as well as the two new businesses formed in that time. Boxes of books (I'm always acquiring books!), knick knacks, wardrobe boxes, earring stuff, photo stuff...it's all there waiting for me to find room for it in our house. First things first...I will have to make room by going through stuff at home that should have been gone through long ago. I need to get super organized. Everything needs it's own organized place: photo stuff, jewelry stuff, fishing guide stuff. Our house has little storage space. We have a 16x16 basement, but it's not the safest place to store things as it tends to draw in water every spring as the ground thaws...to the point that for spells of time we have to shop-vac it up 2-3 times a day. If we don't want it to smell mildewy, we can't store it there! Other than that storage space, there is, well...none. So, I am rather overwhelmed.

Enough said.