Les Silhouettes de Sophie : I'll Be Home for Christmas

Here's a song to start this post: I'll Be Home for Christmas

Luckily, the end doesn't apply to me: "If only in my dreams...." It wasn't only in my dreams that I got to go home, it was in reality!

Vacation #2 in France, the land of infinite vacations, began December 20th and went until January 3rd. I had already booked my ticket to fly home back in October, even though the price tag was more than a little hefty. Honestly, I was hesitant to go home for Christmas because of the price and because I wondered if I should try and experience Christmas in France. But, once I was home, I knew that I had made the right decision. I arrived home December 21st (almost the 22nd) in S.F. My flight's had been delayed so I ended up flying in around 1 am. Then Mom and Dad drove me home; we arrived around 4 am. Yahoo! Instead of sleeping in the car after nearly 20 hours of travel and only 4 hours of dozing off and waking up on the plane, I was so excited to see my parents that I talked their ears off 3/4 of the ride home before conking out on the pillow in the back that they had so graciously thought to bring me.

The next two weeks were full of friends, family, American food and American TV. It was lovely. I hadn't realized how much I missed random stuff like toast with butter (I ate upwards of 2 pieces everyday), filter coffee, coffeeshops, the endless variety of snacks, driving, baking stuff and having it actually taste right, taking baths, our Christmas decorations, and my family's Grizwoldian ways (epitomized the evening that we installed a new flat-screen TV for 4+ hours and we talked with the AT&T company for 2 hours on the phone only to find out that somehow in trying to connect our new TV the internet had just completely broken down). It felt so happy to sit with my friends from high school and just have a sleepover and talk about all I had missed. To be with my family watching a Christmas movie or laughing in the kitchen. The two weeks flew by as I saw all my friends and family and spent quality time with them. It felt like I blinked and it was Sydney's 18th birthday (what?!) and I had to go to my second home, Toulon, the next evening.

It can be hard to miss stuff when you are far from home. That sounds weird. There are certainly days where I really miss home; it's always worse right after I have FaceTimed with someone I love. But, other times time just flies by and I don't realize how much I have missed. It can be hard to find times to talk when you are 9 hours different and when people have work and school. It's only when I come back that I realize how much has happened since I have been gone. Bridgét is well over halfway done with college, James and Dad are working hard on concerts and experiencing success, Mom is substitute teaching and preparing Sydney for college, and Sydney is graduating from high school soon and just turned 18. Friends are doing great things: Amanda is finishing up her very first year as a first-grade teacher, Mallory is student-teaching and will soon be joining Amanda as a teacher, Sarah is going on interviews for grad school and has already got accepted to one (yay!), Addie has a new job working in a law office and is killing it there plus she's going to kill it in her new play....just to name a few of the bundle of people I love. I am just so proud of everyone and all they are doing. And I miss you guys.

That emotional aside aside, here are some pictures of the people I got to see and the things I got to do. To everyone at home, thanks for a lovely Christmas! To everyone I saw, you made my two-week vacation an absolute ball.

Lots of love,
Danielle