Goodbye, again

Rachael and I looked forward to Easter weekend as a beacon to get us through the first few months of me being away. So when the weekend finally came we were ecstatic; at the same time, a sort of melancholy hung over us because we knew that this would be the fastest 3 days of our lives.

I arrived into Philly at Friday morning and was greeted at the airport by my Mom, Rachael, and Chester. Of course, I was in the US air terminal that is actually on the departure side of the airport, so it took us a few minutes to link up. Chester was funny but he is scared in the car; once we got home it was like he really recognized me and he got pretty excited. It was great to be home! That night we just went to dinner (Legal Seafood in K of P - great!!), and then just went across the street to hang out with Laura and JC. It was great to feel like everything was normal again.

The next day was busy; we had Laura and J's open house and then Cailey and Patrick's 21st B-day party in West Chester. We took it easy during the day (although the Sangria was phenomenal), but once we got to West Chester the pace picked up a little. So many of my family members were there, I think we took up half of Ryan's Pub! Aside from the fact that a few people from our group almost got into a fight with a semi-famous local guy (I still don’t know what about), everyone had a great time, Rachael and I included.

Easter Sunday was very relaxed. We went to mass at 11:30 and then to my parents for a great dinner of veal and polenta. We didn’t stay too long after dinner though, as I was dreading saying goodbye to everyone and just wanted to get it over with. The next day, my dad took me to the airport after a brutally hard goodbye with Rachael. I was fine until I got into the car with my Dad and saw Rachael standing at the door crying. As expected, the 3 days together went ridiculously quick.

Now I am back in beautiful Kansas, which is still stubbornly holding onto winter. I should be leaving for the "sandbox" in the next few weeks though, so time should start to go a little quicker. Then I can finally start my countdown to being home for good!