Home, Home on the Range

Home...I'm not exactly sure where that is these days but I came back to see my family in the Bay Area for the holidays. Considering my travel schedule over the last few months, why should my trip home be any different? My journey back started with a flight from London to San Francisco where I stayed for about a minute before flying to Fort Worth, Texas where my sister and her family are currently living. Why didn't I fly directly to Fort Worth? Because I'd already bought the tickets to San Francisco before my sister asked me to come to Fort Worth. And why does my sister live in Fort Worth, Texas? Because raising a family on two, let alone one, income with any decent standard of living is a very difficult task in the Bay Area. I stayed in Forth Worth for a couple days which was nice since I got some serious alone time with my gorgeous 2 and a half year old niece and my oh-so-cute 5 month old nephew. I knew that once we were back in California I'd have to share the two cuties with the rest of the relatives and my sister's in laws. We opened presents on Christmas Eve, which for some reason has always been the tradition in my family, and all flew to the Bay Area bright and early Christmas morning to celebrate with my extended family at my parents' house that evening.

I'd forgotten how crazy our family gatherings can get with 2 parents, 4 kids, and 3 grandkids alone for my family and then adding in all the grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, visiting strangers, etc. It was great to have a chance to see everyone again all in one place but it didn't take long before I was reminded how stressful families can be. How's your job, how's life in London, is it cold, is it hot, you've lost weight, you've gained weight, your hair is shorter, I haven't seen you wear that sweater before, does the human head really weigh 8 pounds, and on and on and on. Being back home also gave my mother a chance to corner me and give me the grilling/lecture of a lifetime in person. In the famous words of Will Smith, "parents just don't understand". (Word to all of you who rocked in the '90s with your "hammer pants", you know who you are).

This trip home did make me feel different though. For all the whinging and moaning about the UK, the San Francisco Bay Area did feel a bit less like home to me. At my core I am a creature of habit so now that I have "my" coffee/morning pastry shop, pizzeria, Indian restaurant, grocery store, dry cleaners, cheese shop, etc, London is starting to feel a bit more like home than anywhere else right now. It's tough to say though since I still feel like my community is based in the Bay Area so the jury is still out on whether I'd stay abroad for the long haul.