Los Angeles

I love being home. Well...not home, because Reed is home, but my old home. Not even my old home, since I came home to a different house, but my new old pseudo-home. I'm not sure if that makes sense. I'm too preoccupied thinking of how to express the feeling of being here for the first time in three months. The flight over was exciting enough in itself. The first seconds that the plane lifts off the ground and begins to fly are like a drug, I feel my body taken up with the mass of metal and suspended in air. Once we got to the level where ipods are allowed, I of course whipped out my beloved music machine and went straight for my HAPPY mix made by guess who.

I love all his music. well, most. I listen to his music because it reminds me of him- not that I need any reminders. It's also pretty damn good music. And I smile at his eagerness to share every song that he loves with me. I hope he's not lying when he says he likes the music I give him, too. I'd like to think that I have pretty good taste in music.

Anyway, back to the flight to LA. The two hours it took to get here seemed like minutes. My leg shook quickly up and down, a nervous twitch, anxious about coming back to the place I used to call home. The place that I always loved and still brag about to anyone who cares to ask. I laughed to myself at the christmas music and plastic cups with christmas trees on them, sitting on the plane the day before Thanksgiving and wishing I had someone to share my sardonic wit with. Oh, what amazing things I could have said about seasonal commercialism. The time flies by and I have to put away the music machine that I used to its last ounce of battery. Once again I got to feel those two anticipating seconds, but this time going down instead of up. I was two hours closer to seeing family and being in my wonderful city. I waited for those two seconds before the wheels touched the earth of my city, the seconds where the plane hovers only a few feet above the ground and makes the deciding last move to land and bring us fully to the place we wait so long for. I waited and they came, and I rushed out to the pick-up area of LAX where I knew my parents would be stalling for time with the bitchass security guys. Just as they're about to get kicked out, I run those last few steps and show the rent-a-cop that they won't be waiting long, and that I just need to put my baggage in the trunk and leave. He sort of snickered in defeat, realizing that it wouldn't be worth it to insist on their immediate departure, and I got in the car.

Needless to say, we headed straight for In-n-out. Not that I was hungry, but let's be real...there is not a single In-n-out in Oregon. I know...how do I deal with it?

So I saw the family- mom, dad, sister Ava, G-ma and new grandpa. Wait, no, he was asleep so I saw him this morning. We got home, I got a tour of my own house, and talked awhile with the parents as I waited for Ulrika to come over. We were forced to have a mom/dad/me and Ulrika conversation, and of course mom couldn't resist telling stories about the most embarassing movies I used to make in elementary school. Hey, I think I was creative. Excessively weird, but let's just pretend that's the genius in me. hah. The parents finally went to bed and I talked awhile with Ulrika. You know, about the meaning of life, quantum physics, the science of engineering a nuclear bomb, that kind of stuff. I called Alex a million times but he fell asleep on me. Thanks a bunch babe.

I eventually fell asleep too, with the light on (because, through a series of extremely complicated connections, it was the only way to charge my phone- and what's more important, a phone or a good night's rest? Obviously the phone) and woke up to the bustling sounds of Thanksgiving. For some reason, the family decided that this year we would have thanksgiving dinner at 1:30. I was okay with that because I was starving by 1:30. And my family can cook like hell. It would be reason enough to travel all the way home just for the food. It was fucking delicious. I think I'll go get some more pumpkin pie right now, maybe some apple pie. I may come back and write more, or I may just keep eating...forever...