Transitioning home

It's kind of hard to come home. But good.

(photo by Rich Legg)

As my plane descended into Salt Lake City, I saw the haze from the notorious winter temperature inversion. We cut through a thick layer of brownish fog below the mountains. And from the ground, I couldn't even see the mountains except for their snowy peaks. It's a bit gross. But kind of amazing, how the weather works, and what a unique place Salt Lake is with the lake effect snow, desert storms, and monsty mountains.

It was wonderful to see Landon (he drove home and I stayed two extra days to help move my sister into her first apartment! woohoo Janelle!!!). We had dinner and beers together at a local brewery in Salt Lake City, Squatters. I like squatters. They partner with other local companies to provide responsibly grown vegetables and ethically raised meats and eggs. I had an awesome beer that was a marriage of between Squatters stout and our local coffee company's espresso. Yum yum (but i was up until 1am - should have anticipated that one better).

Our house is a mess. We left in a hurry. Our home is in much disarray with an empty refrigerator, dirty laundry, Christmas decorations everywhere, and a carload of stuff to unpack. I guess Santa never slid down our chimney while we were in Georgia, or i'm sure his elves would have taken care of this place.

Welcome Home.

And now I'm back to work with my own computer and office and it's easier to work from my home instead of my parents' home. Yet, i'm struggling a bit because while we were in Colorado I was informed that ACSI will be phasing out the sponsorship program. I'm not sure exactly how to move forward within this job when moving forward seems like moving backward. But I have A LOT to do, so this shouldn't get boring any time soon. I'll write more on this later.

Landon is back in classes again today. He brought home straight A's last semester and I am so proud of him. This PhD program has been a real challenge for him on many levels and he seriously puts in at least 12 hours of study a day. I'm not sure how he does it, but he constantly amazes and inspires me and I am so grateful that he has this opportunity to study Philosophy here at the U at such a high level.

It's sort of nice to be in our own place again, just the two of us. It's a little strange, after being with family every day throughout these last couple of weeks. It is quiet. Duvick has been howling outside ALL DAY today, as his time at M&D's allowed him the luxury of letting himself in and out using the doggy-door. Welcome back to your life as an outside dog, Duves. Get used to it. Poor pup, he definitely misses his grandmother.

I think we all are a little happy to be home and a little sad to have to say goodbye to people and places that we so dearly love.