going home, and coming home..

i'm going home to see my family in a couple of weeks, just in time for my mother's 60th birthday (i'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog, but if she does... hi mom, sorry for ruining the surprise!)

it's always a funny thing to talk about "going home" when the place that you're going to isn't home.

my home town, where i grew up, is a little village in northern British Columbia...
i'm going "home" to see my family who now live in Nova Scotia, where i also lived for a time...
at one time, i went "home" to my apartment in Paris, after visiting my family back "home" in Canada...
currently my home is here, this house that my husband and i recently bought in Virginia...
but in my heart, "home" is Jasper Alberta, where i spent many of my so called formative years.... figuring out who i was going to be as an adult.

what is home, anyway? is it a location? a feeling?

anyway, i'm going home to see my family in a week and a half. only my dad and my sister know i'm coming. i'm excited to be going to see them... i'm going to run another half marathon while i'm there, because my mom and my brother are going to be volunteering at the event anyway... so why not. running marathons is something i've never done at "home"...  (that will make for a ten miler, four half marathons and a marathon this year so far... six races in twelve weeks. maybe that's too much....)

can't wait to see my nephews...

recent "chat" with six year old nephew who can now read and write well enough to enjoy chatting online...

Me: (in response to something Ian says)... that would be super!
Ian: auntie megs, you're super.... because you're smell like a skunk!
Me: super stinky?
Ian's mom: (insert hysterical giggles here... the boys are practically rolling on the floor)
Ian: auntie stinky!

yeah, that FEELS like going home.

can't wait.