So, my long weekend home…a great weekend indeed. I hopped on the 12:10am Greyhound on Thursday night, after seeing The Roots for free at CMU. I figured I could sleep my way to Ohio, but oh how soon we forget the discomfort of the G-hound seats. I tossed, turned, bent into a pretzel and still could not get to sleep. My dad picked up a groggy mess at 6:00am, and I fell asleep sitting upright in his truck. Before finally crashing 20 minutes later, I chewed through 3 McDonald’s hash browns with my eyes closed. Hungry, but too tired to do more than masticate and swallow.

Friday
Dead to the world until noon. Dad kept coming in and saying “get up! Get up!” I held onto the slumber as long as I could. We ran some errands/did some shopping with Summer and Maddie, followed by an old school sibling moment in the Hobby Lobby, while perusing items for Maddie’s birthday party. We couldn’t find cheesy birthday hats so we settled for equally awkward and awful foam hot pink visors. Couple this with puffy paint and you have magic. We were quite entertained by this. My dad, on the other hand, was ready to go home after milling around the Hobby Lobby aisles, waiting for us to stop giggling and get on with it. I adore my sister so much. We have the silliest time together with the most random things and inside jokes. Later that night, we made white chocolate/dark chocolate covered strawberries, and Summer properly schooled me on “the perfect strawberry.” The kitchen is a mighty good place for conversation—I miss talking to her so much.

Saturday
The main event! A birthday party for a little sweetie turning one. Close family and friends only. My niece tinkered with the slice of cake before realizing how much she loved the sound of it squishing between her fingers. Sooner than later we had a baby with cake in her hair, on her chest, and properly between each digit. I loved our small gathering of family, just watching in awe as this little lady figured out the world in front of her. It’s really interesting to watch small children start to process things.

So so much food…we were all a bit “whaled out” on the couches after that. Rob and Andrea show up—Andrea is pregnant with a little girl. Kyle brought the gift of Rock Band, which I’ve never played before. He had way too many Boston songs on there, but I found it endearing. I think I prefer drums to all the other instruments, although wielding the mic has its perks. None of them are really real(I’m sure I burst a bubble or two there..) At one point, my sister went outside on the porch to see just how loud we were rocking out—by the expansion of her eyes within seconds I would say we were loud enough for the neighbors to enjoy. Maddie loved it and could not stop dancing.

Later on, I met up with Lloyd and Tosha and we went to Wu-Steve’s house. I love my minutes of reuniting with Steve. I can’t believe that we have known each other for 10 years now. Still has the best sense of humor, the best laugh, and the cutest little place. We did the bullshit thing for a while and played some obnoxiously violent video game. Another Steve came over and we talked a bit about performing, promoting, and the frustrations and glories of both. Alex appeared with his amazing shirt. I had to cut out around midnight while the rest of the crew moved on to the bar. Hugs galore, and back to my dad’s house.

Sunday
Shindig numero dos. This time at my aunt’s house. Cousins out the wazoo. Everyone with kids, except me. I realize that I am the odd man out, and start to feel the first shakes of bass from the biological clock tick. I guess I’m at the age to get hounded about it. Also, in a smaller town, the norm is to meet someone, settle down, have children. Currently I am at a different place—here in the 412 it is more the norm to be in your mid-20’s and not be married, not have kids. I understand and respect both, and I’m not sure what it was about the event that upset me so much, but I had a hard time. I kept eating shrimp(that wasn’t a difficult part, haha). I must have put away 70-something shrimp. I felt very out of place. I’m sure some of this was worked up in my own head, but I didn’t feel like I was a part of things going on, and I left feeling a bit deflated. Plus one contact ripped so I had one good eye. I tried to nap it off and ended up crying/venting on the phone a bit—which really helped me put things into perspective. Sometimes all you can do is find a way to get it out. I also needed distance/perspective on the event to really see it for what it was. Some members of my extended family may not understand me, or even know me, but they are still my family; I suppose that is what makes it difficult in my mind. I feel like I am in a state of constant reminding: it’s okay if someone doesn’t get it; it’s okay to NOT point it out; it’s okay to get upset; it’s okay to be the odd sheep at the age of twenty-six. It can be quite overwhelming when an extended family member, who you never really see or talk to on a regular basis, asks you what you have been up to, or what’s going on in your life. Where do I begin? What do you want to hear? What will you understand? All questions that go through my mind.

Monday
Not a daggone thing. My dad and I went to lunch with my sister, which meant we had to meet her at work aka the elementary school. This is the elementary school that we both attended in our youth, mind you. The place still smells as I remember it, which is so funny and endearing to me. Then, off to the Greyhound station in Dayton, where my dad and I waited for the bus that was 2 hours behind schedule. Oh Greyhound, you never disappoint with your disappointing ways. In Columbus, our bus driver didn’t seem to know how to put the bus in reverse, which worried the man in front of me. I met a trucker from Jersey who had dropped off his rig in Utah, and a man riding the bus to NYC because he couldn’t afford the train ticket after going for bust in Las Vegas a few days prior. Always some interesting, animated ones.

That’s the long/short of it. Lots of internalizing, lots of belly laughs, lots of old and new sites to see and remember. I could say much more on the trip as a whole, but I think I’ll leave it at that.