I’m going home tomorrow - or today, if you count 4 in the morning as the following day. I’m a little excited about it, as I get to see Joe, my best friend of ten years (ten years! Holy shit) and dysfunctional younger brother (not my biological brother). I’ll also get to spend some time with my parents, which is a whole different matter.
I haven’t seen Joe in around two and a half months, which is probably the longest we’ve ever been without seeing each other. Throughout university, I’ve timed visits home so we’re both around, and prior to that we were in the same classes throughout college and high school. Joe’s one of the few people with whom I’ve developed a sort of language - he doesn’t have to say much, but I’ll get what’s going on in his head, and the same works vice-versa.
As for my parents… I’m less than excited, because however well-meaning they might be they have a tendency to focus on worst-case-scenarios, which is something I don’t need when I’m applying for jobs so I can live with my fiancé. It’s usually well-meaning, but it can also be stressful. I’m going to try and keep things positive, and see where that takes me.
Really, the next five days - I’m back in York on Tuesday evening - are going to be a little weird. The other thing I’ve got set aside is work on that blasted anthology, which I’m looking to have completed and ready to proofread (something that’s out of my hands) by the time I come back. So it’s five days of people and activities that aren’t part of my normal exposure. It’s like a little slice out of what I might as well call “normal life”, complete with its ups and downs. I’m looking forward to it.