The most wonderful time of the year...

Even though I've decided not to decorate for the holidays this year and I miss my pink aluminum sparkly tree festooned with disco balls, it's for a good reason. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go home for the holidays this year. I've been looking for a new day job, have been crazy busy with freelance work, and didn't book a flight to Charleston a month ago when airfares were just expensive, as opposed to ridiculously expensive (a flight right now would cost as much as my monthly rent).

But I've recently decided to make the trip home - yes, the 20-hour drive each way from Austin to Charleston - so I can spend Christmas with the family. I have an adorable new niece (and namesake...Jolie Love) that I haven't even met yet, I've been in Austin almost a year and haven't seen my family in that long (with the exception of a brief visit from my niece Amanda this summer), and since I'm going to drive and not fly, I can take the dog with me. Because I've been in practical mode for the past couple of months, I thought it might be easier if I stayed in Austin for the holidays, continue my job search for a new dream job in publishing, and wait until Southwest comes to CHS International at the end of March when airfares will drop by half to visit. But I've had some good interviews - one in particular for a job that I think would be perfect - and with technology being what it is, there's no reason for me to anchor myself here so I don't miss a day's freelance work.

I've done my best to get into the holiday spirit here, including spending Thanksgiving with a wonderful group of friends, taking a drive down to Zilker Park for the tree lighting, another drive down 37th Street to see the lovely lights, and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas with a fire in the fireplace and a cup of hot cocoa. But nothing compares to family time for the holidays and being with my mom, sisters, nieces, and friends back home is the best gift I can think of.

I can't wait. I'm already picking out the audio books to download to make that 20-hour drive bearable!

When I dream, I dream in Charleston...

Even after being in Austin for over seven months, I am often homesick. Homesickness, thankfully, isn't debilitating. But it shows up in the strangest ways.

I still love to look at photos of my house in Charleston in Wagener Terrace. Not only did I love that house and lived there for eight years, I adored the neighborhood. I have some good memories of that house. I wrote my first book in my home office in that house. I got my puppy in that house and met so many wonderful neighbors walking that little furball around the neighborhood. I trained her in the side yard. She played with her dog friends in the back yard. Someone else lives there now.



I miss azaleas. I miss Hampton Park. I miss Lulu's dog friends. I miss my family. I miss my sunroom. I miss my sweet neighbor Therese, who used to bring me the loveliest leftover dinner plates with ethnic and organic food. She once cooked me Ethiopian food simply because I mentioned I'd never tried it. I miss Carl and Donna across the street. There was something comforting on weekend mornings about watching them work in their yard or on their house. I miss my monkey, who lived a block up the street after he moved out and used to bring me fresh tomatoes from his garden. I miss Tom and Ellie and Lulu misses Nando, their Havanese - the first dog love she had at only 8 weeks old. I miss my freelancer friends I used to have lunch with at Earthfare's cafe. I miss my BFF, who used to come over and eat Chinese food from Hot Mustard with me at least once a week. I miss Doretha, Angie, Linda, Janet, Jason, Aluette, Jay (and Tater!), Sabrina, Margaret, Ida, Amy, Leigh, Lee, Misty, Archie, Colleen, and so many more.

I never really needed my GPS in Charleston, since I grew up there, but in Austin, Samantha (GPS voice) and I communicate frequently. I couldn't find my way around Austin without Samantha. But I am going to confess for the first time here: My "home" setting in my GPS is still Grove Street in Charleston. I haven't changed it.

I haven't gotten a Texas driver's license or Texas tags for my car yet. My tags don't expire until next month, and my license is good until 2011, so I figured it was OK to wait. If I get pulled over, I figured I'd just tell them I recently relocated. Something about switching tags and getting a Texas license makes it feel so permanent, and makes me feel a little like I can't go home if I wanted to RIGHT NOW. I don't, but I like having the option.

Sometimes when I dream, even now, I dream in Charleston. And sometimes I wake up and I'm surprised to be in a room I don't recognize. Where are my blush pink walls, my 1940s glass windows, my high ceilings, my hardwood floors? And then I remember: I am in Texas.

So maybe I've been dragging my feet a little bit, literally and figuratively. But next month, I'm going to have to go wherever one goes to switch tags. I will also have to have my vehicle inspected, as they do that in Texas. And get a new license at the DMV.

I'm making new friends here, new memories, and there is a strong chance that someday years from now I will look back and feel so much nostalgia for Austin that I can hardly stand it. But it's new to me still and that's not a bad thing. I know it will eventually feel like home. And I needed this change of scenery. I need to be here.

I'm back, Jack....

(for those of you wondering, "Jack" is my imaginary friend who misses me when I'm gone)

Back from five days of travel and happy to be home (though it was a lot of fun). My return on Saturday was a little hairy because of weather. Tornadoes in the south and I had my head on my knees on a flight from Knoxville to Charlotte silently chanting "there's no place like home, there's no place like home." When I arrived in Charlotte, all the flights were grounded. No hotel rooms available. The airport looked like a third world country. I could have gone standby on a flight in the morning, but the US Air rep told me it was a 40-seater and they already had several standing by. Soooo....I rented a car and drove back to Charleston in the middle of the night on Saturday. With a nun from Pittsburgh. I'm not kidding. It's a long story and I think I'm actually going to save it for my next essay, but it was nice to be able to give a Sister a ride.

I'll be posting pics from the events last week and updates on new events here.