homeward bound

it has finally happened. i am actually home! my sister brought her son and her boyfriend down to pick me up. niko, my arbitrary nick-name for my nephew dominic, and i had a blast: we went for a walk (run, really) down the block, played with thomas trains, our feet, and every time i left the car he yelled loudly for me to come back and sit down next to him. life is great. the final days in VA ended with:

*spending lots of time with more awesome old friends*singing loudly to spamalot*riding bareback up a mountain with a beer can (a strange occurance; normally i find beer about as appealing as, oh, used motor oil. this story will be expanded later.)*one last High Mass in d.c. with fr. pope, one of the most amazing priests ever, who also blessed a rosary that an awesome friend made for me*watching mighty wind and eating lots of ice cream*having glorious discussions on artistic ethics and the inevitable grotesque end of aestheticism*dinner with an old professor who 1) is a gourmet cook 2) is delighted i am going to grad school and so 3) is going to make me send in my papers to him before i turn them in for class so i have to actually be disciplined and apply myself!!!*

right now i am relaxing at my brother and sister-in-law's with their dog, otto. last summer, otto and i had a disagreement which ended with him trying to remove my thumb from its rightful place. i have a nice looking scar, but we are good friends now.