Homecoming

One of the wonderful perks of my job is the occasional travel. The trips are spaced out well and the majority only last a week which means little interference with weekends. Since I started in mid 2007, I've been to Hawaii, California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington D.C., Wyoming, and Texas - all on the government's dime. Those aren't all glorious vacation destinations, but each place was nice in-and-of itself. As much as I enjoy my time abroad, I can always feel Colorado pulling me home and more importantly, my family waiting anxiously for my return.

Coming home after a week away is always wonderful. Seeing Alyssa and Jonah through FaceTime on the IPad is a nice option to get me through the week, but nothing compares to seeing them in person. I swear Jonah put on a whole pound while I was in Boston last week! I've been lucky enough to take Alyssa with me to Norfolk and D.C. in the last 2 years - an opportunity for HER to do some sight-seeing while I'm in meetings or at a conference. She traversed D.C. by herself last December while 2 months pregnant and had a blast (it was 0-10 degrees each day....). We both agreed that after a week, it was time to go home.

Now that we finally own our home, this feeling is amplified even more. Feeling truly attached to a piece of property and knowing I've provided that for my family makes me that much more anxious to get back to working on it and improving it in any way possible. I've always considered myself a home-body - willingly passing on social outings for the comfort of a project, a movie, or some "time at home." Fortunate for me, Alyssa is of the same mind. We have to force ourselves out the door sometimes in order to avoid being labeled as hermits. This feeling plays right into my compulsion to get home when I'm away.

I can trace this feeling to my youth (no age comments from ANYONE!) and never really feeling that any place was "home." Not to say I didn't have a home, just no significant attachment to a place for long enough to build those feelings. Grand Junction was close, but because I have no family there and don't visit often (twice in 11 years) it feels like my connections to it are lost. The longest held feelings were to my grandparents home in Cameron Park, CA. They bought that house in 1982 just before I was born and I helped my Gramme (no comments again...) move and sell it in 2007. I had more memories in that house than any other to date. That's why I'm so happy that Jonah will hopefully grow up in our house and feel ties to it for many years. For that matter, I already feel tied to it and that's why I love coming home.