Who Says You Can't Go Home?

I love being back in PA . . . the snow, the mountains, the roads that look like whoever paved them was "either drunk or following a snake."

But yesterday I brought K down to Virginia for a much anticipated visit with her dad and I'm reminded of all the great things I've missed about my "other home" . . . the beauty of the sunset when you're crossing one of the giant rivers that pour into the Chesapeake Bay . . . the way it took me 2 hours to get out of the neighborhood when I was just "stopping by" for 5 minutes because everyone was working outside and "saying hello" has a 20 minute minimum time frame . . . Mexican restaurants . . . driving past 7 different fast food options on your way to, well, anywhere (our PA home has a McDonalds and a Burger King . . . both are more than 10 miles from the house).

Overall, Day One of the Closeout Tour was very productive. I paid my $60+ balance at the VB dentist and scored the bonus of our charts and x-rays, closed K's bank account so we can open one in PA, paid the library the $8.20 late fee left over from December, actually spoke with a real live person at the post office to explain that my mail is still not being forwarded and could they please, please, please make sure the third time was the charm? Then it was a stop at the Treasurer's Office to see if I had an outstanding utility bill (note previous reference to mail not being forwarded) and pay the $60+ balance due. I'm sure there was more stuff, but the highlight was a visit with my old neighbors the Haws . . . and thanks to Sianna, I can finally charge my camera. Yes, I can't quite remember where I packed the power cord for the Kodak EasyShare . . . so I had to borrow one from a sixth grader. Of course since I bought the camera years ago because of how easy hers was to use, I knew right where to go. Now I can post pics on the blog again (as soon as the camera juices up).

Day Two of the Closeout Tour should be productive, too. I'm helping Kristin package her awesome handcrafted chocolate for an event on Saturday, then it's off to the Realtor to sign some papers and get wiring instructions. Since it looks like a field of wild flowers in the back yard, I'll probably spend the afternoon cutting grass (damn, I thought I was done with that) and if I'm really, really lucky I'll be ending Day Two with a pint at Murphy's or a Miller Lite at Knuckleheads.