My Grown Up Christmas List - Kelly Clarkson

Did I worry you? No? Not even a little? Thought not.
It’s been nice being home again. Feels like I never left. My mother told me to “make myself at home.” Though she was probably kidding, that was the only part of the whole homecoming that made me feel foreign in my own home. Some things have changed, some things have not. The apartment is still standing, pretty much the same way I left it 7 months ago. There were new faces as well as old ones to welcome me home. Most of the customs are the same. A few new ones were put in place to make up for my absence. I no longer have a dish day. I suppose I should be happy about that, but I still manage to sneak in and do the dishes when I can. Washing the dishes is probably the only chore I have grown to love through sheer persistence. My siblings are just as annoying as always and I love them for it. A month is too short a time to be home.
There are certainly a few things I’ll have to adjust to, or at the very least put up with until I head back.

For instance, we now have a dog. I’m not really a dog person. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s that I’ve never really been around them. I’ve had a cat for 12 years, what can I say? I’m still learning how to react to the cute little ball of fur.
Several times Joey, the dog, has hopped into my lap and started licking me. My reaction? “ACK! Save me! Get him off me! Help!”
As long as he quits licking me, I think we’ll be fine. I'm still not used to calling him Joey either. I'll usually call him puppy. There have been a few times where he'll walk into the room and I'll say, " 'ello, poppet." He's cute, just a little more energetic than I'm used to.

Due to all the events going on, we’ve postponed Christmas for a few days. No one here really minds, primarily because we just put the tree up yesterday. The house is still being decorated, but we have the Christmas music playing. Nonetheless, it’s still Christmas to many people. So Merry Christmas! Happy gift-giving, gift-getting, fruitcake-eating, caroling, and all the other traditional things people do on such and such a holiday. My favorite holiday was always Christmas. As I got older, it became more about the family time and snow than it was about actually getting the gifts. I enjoy making other people happy.

Heh, all I wanted for Christmas was to be with my family again. I’ve missed them. I've missed the random debates and crazy adventures. Just last night, I had a 30 minute conversation/friendly argument with my youngest sibling about which brother is better: Luigi or Mario. Today, Christy and I witnessed a creepy red light hovering over the ground in the distance when we took Joey out at night. Then I saved my sisters from a spider. Good times, good times.

As it turns out, I was probably on one of the last planes that made it out of Paris before they had to cancel all their flights. I'm glad I got home when I did. I'm thankful for my family.

~ Never Alone ~