You can ALWAYS go home again!

68 days until Greg starts at the Mayo.

Current temperature in Scottsdale: 88 degrees. Feels like 88 degrees

Apartment status: looking at the Dakota

Moving/Packing status: n/a

Job for Misty: n/a

So..it is Wednesday night and Greg and I just spent a long weekend at home. By home I mean Corpus Christi. It will always be home even though Greg likes to argue that.

It is a 7+ hour drive from Dallas to Corpus via Austin/San Antonio. So since we left late on Friday night we decided to stay in Austin overnight at my sister's house and get up at the crack of dawn Saturday AM for the rest of the journey. And we did. We left at about 6 AM with me insisting I drive. I am after all the "morning person" in our family. Ugh...was that rough...I did EVERYTHING to stay awake...loud music, cold air, chewed gum and downed a venti non-fat chai tea latte. None of it worked. We were just outside San Antonio and I missed the CC exit and Greg said to pull over. So I did and he drove the rest of the way while I slept! BTW...one of the BEST investments we have ever made is one of those horse shoe shaped travel pillows. PURE GENIUS!

So we got to CC and where do we go immediately? ELVA'S! What do we have? DESTROYERS! 2 each! It was heaven on earth!

I cannot tell you how much I love going home. I know...it is Corpus of all places. But it is home and it always will be. I know where everything is and how to get there. Goggle Maps not needed. There are just some wonderful memories there.

I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do, so one more trip before we head out west will certainly be made.

But here are some things I did do:

My sister, Jenni, and I went by our old elementary school, Casa Linda. There were rumors of the school closing. Once we drove up we knew there wasn't a chance of that happening. **side note...I PROMISE to get better at taking pictures** The campus looked amazing. It was so well landscaped and and looked just as good as it did that fall day back when my sister first started school and me and my mom dropped her off. There were some teachers there getting a few things done and we chatted with them about who we were, the teachers we had and things that were going on there now. Both Jenni and I had the same kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gonzalez and she is still teaching there. Also still there is our 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Sanchez, who according to the teachers we spoke to, looks exactly the same! Also we were filled with joy to learn that our favorite principal there, Mr. Campbell, still goes up to the school and reads to the kids. Not at all surprised by that. We also found out that one of our teachers, Mrs. Vasquez, had passed on. We wrote our names down for them to tell those that we knew that we came by and then we went walking around the campus. Trees have been planted and additions have been made. The kids no longer have to practice orchestra in the cafeteria...they have there own music room and there is an art room too. The cafeteria looks the same and up in front of the stage sits the same wooded risers that we both stood on for class pictures, seasonal programs and the Valentine king and queen programs. Next to those risers sits the same piano that played the music for the programs. We passed the library where we couldn't help but remember all the time my mother spent volunteering at that school. Between home room mom every year for both me and my sister, my mom spent countless hours in the library and the media center helping out. She loved it. Something else we noticed while we were walking around, was that there are several things throughout the campus (benches, bird baths, etc.) dedicated to various people that have spent time at that school. Teachers, students, classes. It was lovely to see one that both Jenni and I recognized one of the names on the plaques...Mr. William Snow: the first and last 6th grade teacher.

I think that was the best part of my trip. Greg and I did get to go to a Hooks game. You know us...we LOVE our sports! Greg actually went to three games. Although I LOVE sports, I know when enough is enough. And one game in the CC humidity is all I can take. Speaking of humidity...totally miss it! I didn't need to apply moisturizer all weekend. Ugh...dreading the Arizona dry heat.

I also went by my old working stomping grounds at Benjamin's Surf in Crossroads village. I missed Kaiann by just minutes. Maybe next time. We got to spend some great quality time with family, but again...it just wasn't enough. It was an great long weekend, but the long weekend just wasn't long enough. The wonderful thing about it all is that we can always go home. Again.