There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I have really been struggling with the idea of home versus home recently.  I have lived in Texas six and a half years. I have a house and a family here. Yet, I still can't accept this place as my home.  To quote a little  country music here, "My home's in Alabama."  I guess it's the Southerner in me.  I will always be an Alabamian at heart no matter how long I live away from the state and I will always be a native Mobilian.  That is where my roots are and I want to make sure my son knows where he came from.

We aren't going to Alabama for any part of the holidays this year. It's killing me.  Last year we went the weekend before Christmas for a long weekend so we could still be in our house Christmas morning.  But the whole crew from Alabama is coming here this year to celebrate with us since Jenny is 8 months pregnant.  I'm excited about not having to travel with a 5 month old but still sad about not going home.  I haven't been for a visit since April and I won't be back until this April.  I miss my home.  I miss my family.

The first time I heard "I'll Be Home for Christmas" on the radio this year I cried a little.  It just makes me sad.  Sadder even that I have such a little amount of family near by so it isn't like the old days when we used to make the rounds of visiting everyone on Christmas. That tradition died out over the years as we all got older but I still miss it.  This year I will be home by myself with the boys most of the day since Chris has to work.  So, all in all, it's going to be a quiet Christmas. Not really what I had hoped for but it will do.

Comments

Jessica said…
My parents moved down near where we live right before I graduated college. I LOVE having them nearby and being able to see them all the time, but it means I haven't been to my hometown in years. I miss it. It's only a 4 hour drive, but if we went we'd have to get a hotel room or something.
December 23, 2011 at 8:50 AM
Michele Bryson Knear said…
Julie, I understand how you feel. Except for a brief stint in Nashville for school, I lived in AL. We've lived in FL for 7 years now, and it still doesn't feel like home. I love going HOME twice a year, even if it's a brief visit.
January 2, 2012 at 6:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

13 Things to Know Before You Meet Me

So, The Blathering is this weekend and 50 fabulous ladies are going to be converging on my city to take it by storm for 3 days.  I am terrified and excited all at the same time.  I do not know any of these women in real life and most of them I have only meet over the internet in the last couple of months as the attendee information has been posted.  Several have shared 13 things to know about me so I figured I would jump on the bandwagon as well.  Here it goes: I live in Round Rock and work in Austin.  However, I have only lived here for 4 years so I still have no idea where anything is.  I rely on my GPS for that reason.  Please don't laugh at me for this. But I am willing and able to drive around those who need transportation this weekend.  For the same reason listed above, I also have no idea what is really fun to do in Austin.  There are still a lot of tourist-y things I want to do like tour the Capitol and see the bats fly from the ...
Read more

Random Thoughts and Observations

I am extremely easily annoyed these days.  It doesn't take much to get under my skin which makes me an unpleasant person to be around.  Knowing this, I've been keeping to myself a lot so I don't just completely go off on someone. I am also more emotional.  I almost cried in a meeting this week when one of the PMs welcomed me back to the office and commented that I looked thrilled to be there.  The comment didn't bother me because it was true.  It just re-emphasized how much I want to be home with Jackson.  And then I did it again the next day driving to work just because I really didn't want to go. The daycare situation is really stressing me out.  We have just over 2 weeks to find someone to watch Jackson while Chris and I are at work since our perfect in-home daycare fell through last week.  I am really not happy about this.  I never wanted to put my kids in daycare but I have no other options.  Nor do I have any idea how we are go...
Read more

Why I Hate Dating

I was not a fan of dating before I got married so you can imagine that I am even less of a fan of dating now that I have divorced to add to my status. I never had much luck in the relationship world and being that I am still new to the Austin area, I have found it hard to meet people. So I have been trying the world of online dating via such websites as Match.com, Yahoo Personals, and eHarmony . Granted while I have had some luck in the form of J and James, the majority of my matches have been misses and it has been months since I have had a real connection with any of the guys I have been matched with. I received an email last week that is a prime example of why I hate dating again. Here is that email, word for word, with only personal information removed: your cute and you sound like a very sweet girl, but please dont take me to a musical, lol . im rob, i work graveyard so i dont wake up till like 3 or 4 in the evenings. and i try to be in bed before the sun rises. hit me up...
Read more