Christmas was wonderful. I flew home a few days beforehand and was able to celebrate a friend's graduation from college with her. Even better the celebration lunch was at a fantastic Mexican restaurant. It was nice to finally get some decent Mexican food. I hadn't had any since my family's Mexican Thanksgiving. Afterwards I got to spend time with a good friend, and later had good sushi with a couple of gal pals. It wasn't until I was there that I realized how much I miss have close girl friends near by. I've met some great people here, I'm just not as close to them as to the wonderful friends I left in CA.
The best part of Christmas though was just spending time with my family. No matter what I seem to do to my apartments just don't feel like home. Or at least not completely like home. Don't get me wrong, I like living on my own. I like being able to decorate the places I live, and I look forward to getting back to my own bed after I've been away.
Still, I get homesick. Its not something I really notice until I'm on the road to my parents, and its worse when I'm leaving them. When I first went away to college I used to call my friends on my cell as I was heading out. I would have them distract me until I was too far away to turn back. Its not really any easier to leave now. The only real difference is planes don't wait for reluctant passengers, and my dad can't just drive me home like he did when I missed my train.
After returning to Seattle for a few days I flew to Kauai a spent a week there with a friend. The weather was a huge welcome change and the air there was so incredibly soft. We went all over the island mostly just enjoying each other's company. New Year's was spent in our room watching a good movie and drinking champagne. Before you think that's pathetic you should know beach was twenty feet from my room. Hanging out there was not boring or a hardship in the least.
I think the best part of the week was when we went snorkeling. We paid for passage on a catamaran and took a tour of the Napali coast, which is only accessible by boat and is breathtakingly beautiful. On our way back up the coast towards where we would actually snorkel we saw humpback whales. They weren't very close but we got to see a couple of them breaching and I loved it.
Returning to work was not fun. Things are going better and I'm learning more every day. I'm now working without help, and to my horror I'm discovering that my help created a number of problems. Granted, he was more help than hindrance, but now I have to figure how he did what he did, and then undo it. On the upside my coworkers are warming up to me and I now have people to talk to. I'm also getting to know my boss and he's pretty entertaining. This week he started singing "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin.
The only really odd thing is that I haven't seen my roommate in about three weeks. Between my trips out of town and hers we keep missing each other. It feels like I live with a ghost. At times its nice. I like having the apartment to myself and not having to worry about waking her as I get ready for work in the morning. To celebrate I've been turning the radio up so that I can hear it as I wander from room to room getting ready. Its nothing big, but its a luxury I miss from when I lived alone.
The only other thing I have to update is that I finally had time while I was in Kauai to do some reading. Its been far too long since I had the chance to get lost in a book and drown out the world. I finished five books while I was there and I'm almost done with a sixth. To some that may sound like a waste of a vacation, but to me it was paradise. Actually, I think I'm going to go finish my book now. I should have just enough time before I have to go to dinner. If not, I hope I'll hear the phone when my tour guide calls to ask where I am.
