Mom, Dad: We're Home!

We’re back in The Empire State, but not in the heart of the empire. We’re on the peel of the big apple, and it feels good to be home. Driving up the driveway, I do the usual: turn off my headlights and drive under 10mph in order to limit the chances that my parents will realize we’re home. You see, even though Alisa talked to my dad on the phone the day of our arrival, she had given an arrival time that I knew I could beat without going too much over the speed limit. I knew I could arrive early enough with respect to our expected arrival time to warrant a surprise!

But wait! My parents surprised us! At the top of the driveway, which is now all torn up to be paved the next day, stands a map of the world with a kid-in-the-park’s dream size of ballons waving welcome to us!

Alisa and I gasp, and quietly hum our Honda into a parking space behind dad’s soontobegone Toyota truck. Mom’s halfway out the front door, smiling. Dad is waking up to mom yelling, “They’re here! They’re here!” And Alisa and I get in hug-mode and picture-mode! It’s good to be home!

Inside for lasagna – carnivorian or vegetarian? – and orange juice – you mean we don’t have to drink water? – and chocolate bread pudding – are you sure we get dessert, not desert? – and stories and exchanges of lessons learned during the trip and the time apart!

About lessons learned and stories had, I didn’t know how much of a pair of rebel rousers my parents were in their youth! I feel so tame now, and ready to embark on my trip! Thanks mom and dad!

I stay up ‘til 3am. That’s what I’m used to doing while at home. The morning comes early. We lounge. We update our blogs. Dad goes to work but thankgoodness can come home to crunch out some work and share in the good times, which truly are rolling, rolling by! Let the good times roll! Let the bad times roll by even faster, yeah? Finally I get a guitar and a pair of amps the size of the Empire State building. Just kidding. No space for more things. Instead, I replace my computer battery so now I can unplug my laptop and use my laptop more than 2 feet away from an outlet! Thank the receiver of the thanks! Twice! Look at how much happiness I have!

Day two in Rochester sees more productivity, in a hustle before leaving for NYC! I get a haircut. I get a new phone that you can actually use for talking with other people. You see, my old phone you could talk to, but you couldn’t talk to other people. I didn’t need a phone for a pet, I needed a phone for conversing with others. So I bought a new upgrade! Then I pretended to talk on the new phone with a new haircut outside of the place where I got my haircut while my mom took a picture of me.
Then we went to a store where my mom got thank-you-cards for my sister+jon’s engagement party. Here I found a few plates that said Happy Birthday on them. It was recently Wesley John-Alder’s birthday. Wish him: “Explosive Birthday!” or “Fun Birthday!” or even an “Extraordinarily Gut-Splitting-With-Uncontrollable-Laughter Birthday!”… if you want!

I also went to the dentist. The dentist was gone, but Sharon cleaned my teeth. All of them! Thanks, Sharon! Do not fret if you do not know Sharon; Sharon works in the dental arena alongside the dentist. In the entryway of the dental arena, there’s an alligator whose teeth are always whiter than mine!But I bet the alligator doesn’t enjoy nearly the quantity of superb tea as Alisa, mom and I did!



Or whoopie pies! If you’re in Seattle and you work at Stone Gardens and you’re reading this, be informed: you have not been forgotten, regarding a shipment of whoopee pies! Mom and I will make a load larger than pictured below sometime soon, and they will be shipped for your enjoyment. You will love them more than pandas serving balloons with jokes! And more than your most recent or current addiction!


After these errands that were not errors, we returned home. We still had to unpack the Honda and pack the Volvo. The Volvo is in better condition than the Honda. So we’re taking it for this leg of the journey, courtesy of mom and dad! I was going to say, “I owe you one,” but that would be living too much in the moment; I owe you way more than that, unless it’s still one, but the size of the one has grown!

It's been great hanging out with my parents, whom I can't wait to hang out with more in a few days! Furthermore, it’s great to be here in NYC now, now with Pat Kozu, Alisa’s mom. I can’t wait to enjoy what little time I have here!

Cheers to relatives, close and far away!

-Your Landedescaper, N8