It’s been about a month since we returned to Texas. I can’t say, and have never said, that I love everything about this state. The heat and politics in particular drive me crazy! But despite all that, this is home, and today I’m listing out all my favorite things about being home again. In no particular order:

1. My house – I thought I didn’t want to own a house again, but OH MAN I missed having my own house so much. I absolutely adore my new home and never plan to leave again if possible! And in fact, I love my house so much that the things I love about it could make up a whole post of their own…

2. Friends and family – The first couple weeks I was here, I met up with someone every single day, sometimes planned, sometimes by accident. I was met with so much love, from friends and family who stopped by to say hello, to the librarians at my local library who all had to stop and tell me how happy they are to see me again. We’ve had birthday parties and welcome-home gatherings and all sorts of fun.

3. Familiar places – I know how to get anywhere and everywhere. I recognize all the towns and areas on the news. The roads and highways don’t intimidate me. All of my secondary homes are so close again – favorite restaurants, my library, the parks I walked at, the cafes I frequented…

4. My chiropractor – I missed him more than I can express. I missed him so much that I actually set up an appointment when I visited San Antonio last December! After seeing him monthly for about eight years, he knew my particular issues so well, and I never found a chiropractor I particularly liked up in MA. It’s good to be back with mine.

5. Write-ins – Oh my fellow writers, how I missed you. And I cannot wait to have NaNoWriMo with my fellow InSANowrimos again this year!

6. Bookstores – Half Price Books, Barnes & Nobles, Nine Lives, the list can go on and on and on…

7. HEB – Seriously, for those of you who have never lived in Texas, you should one day strive to experience the wonder that is the HEB grocery chain. There is nothing like them. They have everything. I know it sounds stupid to be excited about a grocery store, but let me just say that even my boys were excited about HEB. Seriously.

8. The food – I don’t just mean my favorite restaurants. There were several products and foods that were unavailable in MA: Mayonesa, lard, masa, Oberto jerky, fresh tortillas, Dos Equis, many spices, etc. Not that everything is wonderful in this category – we are now missing foods the other direction, too, most notably (for me) being Fage Total (whole fat, rather than reduced).

9. The library – The library system in Boston was pretty good, yes, in terms of selection. However, there are some things about the San Antonio Public Library system that are so much better, like the fact that I can tell what number I am in the hold line, and the far more expansive sci-fi/fantasy selection, and the use of Wowbrary so I can see when books are ordered and can put myself on the hold list immediately!

10. Thrift Town – I adore thrift stores, and never found one I liked in Boston. Maybe I just didn’t get to the right ones, but seriously, I went to many stores and only found three (pointless) kinds of thrifting: consignment shops that sold clothes for more than I was willing to pay new, stores that didn’t sort anything and had no dressing rooms, and stores that had dressing rooms but only sorted by color. Really? By color? How useless is that? Thrift Town, on the other hand, sorts first by gender and adult/children, then by type of clothes, then by size, then by color. Furthermore, they separate out the “better” clothes in each category, clearly labeled. It’s as easy to find something there as in a department store. Oh, Thrift Town, I’ve missed you…

And I cannot write this post without giving honorable mention to the symphony of sounds that exist here in San Antonio. Things that give me nostalgia to hear – cicadas in the evenings, mourning doves in the mornings, mockingbirds and grackles – the sorts of sounds that become a background hum that fills your days without you really even noticing it. It is so good to be home. 🙂