We’re coming home.  Soon.

We’ll be home for just a week, but still, it’s a week.  At home.  In the United States.  Where my family lives.  My wonderful, loving, super-duper, amazing and so very missed family.  Most of whom I haven’t seen in over a year.  Most of whom haven’t seen Liam since before he could talk, walk, crawl or even roll over.  ALL of whom I haven’t seen in FAR too long.

Home.  Where people speak English and where we know and understand the customs (or, at least, we used to).  Where there’s a Starbucks and a McDonald’s on every other corner.  Where you can pick up the phone and call and someone will deliver pizza, or Chinese food, or Thai food . . . even on a SUNDAY.  Where people make eye contact and smile at each other and make superficial conversation in grocery store checkout lines.  I’m so happy and excited that I just might cry.

Dan has a business trip, which we’ve known about for a month or so, but the details of which didn’t come together until we were in France.  We just decided that we actually can make it work for the boys and I to accompany him, and we’re going to.  I can’t believe it, but it’s actually going to happen.

It’s going to be a little crazy, I realize.  It’s a long trip, and the kids will be worn out and jetlagged when we arrive . . . and Dan & I will probably be worse.  And then, Dan will spend 5 of the days working and commuting.  We’ll only be home for 7 days, and I know it will go so quickly.  Mostly, I can’t wait to see my family.  I want to catch up, and visit, and watch them get to know my kids again.  I also can’t wait to see my friends.  I want to visit my horses.  I need to get my (expired) driver’s license renewed.  I want to go shopping.  At a CVS.  And in a mall.  That’s open after 6.  I want to stand in a grocery store and marvel at an entire aisle filled with tortilla chips.  Or fabric softener.  I want to drink a Cherry Coke.  And I have about 2 dozen more things on my “I want” list, and I know I’ve already more than run out of days.

I have to remind myself that, as excited as I am by this trip, we will be back again — soon.  (We come back in July for a longer visit.)  Dan will barely have a moment to socialize at all, I suspect.  For this visit, the priority will be on catching up with my amazing family that I miss so much.  I haven’t really let myself feel how much I miss home until now.  It’s so overwhelming that I don’t think the next few days can pass quickly enough.

Except that I have so much laundry and packing to do.  (But, you know what?  They sell stuff in the US.  And they have *24 hour stores* that sell things.  And I know how to find all of it.  At least I used to.)