So I got home from California on Monday night but I was just too tired to write about it. Last night, well, no excuses, just didn’t feel ready to process it in words yet. But tonight here I am. I can’t really see putting the whole trip into one post, so I’ll do different days in different ones.
The trip was amazing! I didn’t oversleep: in fact, I got up in time to have a shower, dry my hair, make a cd to listen to on the drive down, double check everything I packed, and swig down a protein shake. The drive to the airport was easy, with hardly any traffic. I found a parking spot at the terminal and got checked in without any trouble. I went through security, got a latte, and found my gate with plenty of time to spare. The flight was on time, and I didn’t have any anxiety at all during the trip.
When I got to Ontario I was beyond eager to get off the plane. I couldn’t wait to see Mom! I finally was able to grab my carry-on suitcase and bust out of there. I know Ontario airport pretty well and knew exactly where to go. I got on the escalator to go down to the exit and I could see her waiting. That was, hands down, the LONGEST FREAKING ESCALATOR RIDE ever. Finally I hit the floor and walked over to her. We hugged, and we both teared up but didn’t full on cry. She took my suitcase and we walked to her car.
We got up to the desert and she took me to lunch at Farmer Boys. It’s this awesome homestyle restaurant that I loved when I lived there. Normally I would get breakfast foods no matter what time of day, but I was super hungry so I got a chili cheeseburger with fries. I kept just staring at Mom, memorizing her face, her smile, her laugh, to keep with me. I was so happy to be there and have lunch with her.
After we finished eating we went over to Verizon so I could see my former coworkers. I didn’t get to see everybody, of course, but I did see a lot of very dear friends and my mom was a trooper for going along for the visit. I miss those people but I love my new coworkers too. How could I get along without Angela and Bob and Maggie? And I have made so many other CSSC friends too. So I left feeling good that I’d seen familiar faces, people I dearly love, but I was still feeling comfortable with my decision to move and make a change. And they’re happy for me, my Cali friends. That’s another reason I love them.
Mom and I went to the house and Maui, her dog, was beyond thrilled to see me. I love Maui so much, she’s the sweetest boxer dog with a huge personality. She became my instant best friend and stayed that way all weekend. I hung out with Mom, drinking coffee and talking, and Melissa came home and joined us. After awhile, the early morning caught up with me and I took Maui with me to take a nap. I was staying in Steve’s old room, which had been my old room. The twin bed in there was beyond cozy and warm and I had a good nap, Maui at my side. She loves to cuddle. She wanted my arm around her at all times, and if I moved she would stick her head under my armpit and move my arm until I was hugging her again. It was a very sweet gesture and I loved snugging her.
Not long after I woke up from my nap, Steve came over and Dad got home from work. He had flowers for me, which were so beautiful. I took pictures of them and posted them on my Facebook. He also had my mom’s Aloha necklace. It’s her favorite, and she’d worn it so often that the jewelry had worn too thin and broken. She was heartbroken when that happened, so Dad snuck it out of the house and got it fixed for her for her birthday. I really thought she was going to cry again, and that was definitely a cry moment, but she didn’t.
We all sat down for a nice warm dinner of stew. Mom had made it because the weather forecast was predicting cold rain and we were all hungry for comfort food. We all talked and laughed and enjoyed catching up.
It was the pefect first day back.