Going Home

One day, I am going to be independently wealthy, so that I can throw my daughter a swank wedding like the one we attended on Saturday evening. It was an absolute blast! I personally think it would have been great fun if it had been at a McDonald’s, just because of the company, but the perks (like the fantabulous dessert buffet) were not to be surpassed. Not to mention that Damon Wayans, Rocco DiSpirno, and freaking Nelly (and his black Lamborghini) were staying in the same hotel as we. We ate too much, drank just a little too much, and laughed until we cried. It was everything a wedding should be and more, and I wish the bride and groom a wonderful and relaxing honeymoon.

We have arrived at yet another stop on the September 2006 wedding tour, my parents’ Florida home. Once upon a time, it was my home as well. This house is the closest thing to a childhood home that I have. Growing up, my father was in the Navy. We moved approximately every 2 years, which wasn’t exactly easy on me. I had to make so many new starts, new schools, new friends, and I eventually learned to reinvent myself with each move. By nature, I’m told, as a child I was brazen and very outgoing. I had no qualms “performing” Christmas carols a capella in front of restaurants full of people. As I got older, while I was forced to be outgoing and receptive to new people and experiences, I became more and more of an introvert. I’m not really sure how this happened, but, over time my innate open nature became something only those that were very close to me could see. Outwardly, I was more reserved and quiet. I moved to this house when I was 13, and being here now, with my small child feels so strange to me.

Last night I sat with my daughter, reading to her and tucking her in to sleep, in my former bedroom (usurped by my younger brother once I moved away from home). My brother has since moved away from home (finally, but that’s another rant for another day) so it is littered with the remnants of his childhood/adolescence, deemed unsuitable for his new bachelor pad. While it is no longer decorated in the same way, it was still the same place that I dreamed my teenage dreams, got ready for proms, and snuck in and out of the back window. This house reminds of being tempestuous and rebellious and so much more of a “bad” good girl than my parents ever knew. I guess more than anything, this house reminds me of who I thought I was going to be, more than it reflects who I have become, much like my little girl reminds my parents of a little girl that they once raised. In my parents’ eyes, I will always be the little girl in pigtails, and I know that I will feel the same way about my daughter. In this house, I will always remember the promise of what there was to come, and the realization that what has transpired in my life is so much greater than I could have even imagined.

Geez, enough of the heavy introspection! On a lighter note, the other thing I had forgotten is the freaking HEAT! (The heat, my God, the HEAT!) I miss my seasonal September weather already. (Mrs. Mom, I had forgotten just how bad it is here!) I also had forgotten love bug season. We were driving along on a perfectly sunny day, with the patters of, not rain drops, but squished love bugs all across the windshield. Ick! I am just so happy to visit Florida instead of live here anymore. The local newspapers are plastered with the story of my football team’s recent embarrassment (Effing Jeff Bowden!!! Luckily, I didn’t have to sit and watch it, as I was consuming far too many apple martinis at the aforementioned swank wedding). They are also full of news of the people with whom I once attended high school. This town is a vortex, it sucks you in, and very few escape. I am so happy that I have moved on from this town. In a convoluted way, leaving this town was the only way that I could ever appreciate it. Today we went to breakfast at a small, favorite local restaurant, and then we played at the beach and finished the day at the pool. When I lived here, I never went to the beach, and never took advantage of the pool. So for the next few days, I may not be blogging or bitching. (It’s strange, I know!) Not to worry, I’ll be back in the saddle at work soon enough, the next vacation is months away (January) and I’ll have lots of doctorly angst and snark to share. Like it, or not. Have a great week!