Trey's Question (You're getting too much attention on my blog, Trey. Don't let it give you a big head.)

What have you been doing down there?

This is the end. Tomorrow I return to Houston. I was actually in Houston Saturday/Sunday for a wedding. As I drove into Montrose, I felt refreshed by the beautiful familiarity of it all. I felt totally excited about my near return. But now, as I am about to pack my car to be ready to jet tomorrow, I feel heartbroken to find the end of this time.

In this last week, I have spent some sweet time with some of the most important people in my life. I got to see my cousin Katwoman and family. I got to watch "Abigirl", my little niece, take swim lessons (she rocked!) and Abigirl got to see me see her. After the swim lessons, she hugged me and said "You proud me." I got to spend the day relaxing, talking, and laughing with my best friend from middle school and high school and her family. We hung out at her mom's house which is a place that holds many growing-up memories for us. It felt good to be back there. I also got to go that wedding in Houston. I didn't expect it to be as interesting and entertaining as it was. It was a catholic wedding in Vietnamese. Usually, people have a hard time making it through a lengthy wedding in English. Imagine it being in VIETNAMESE. I had almost no clue as to what was happening the whole time. The only word I recognized was hallelujah. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said, there were some simple delights by sight. The young bride, who married my third cousin, used to be a nun. Many of her sisters from her convent were there to see her get married. They filled the entire two pews in front of me. The reception kept my attention as well. We sat at a table with a Hawaiian entertainer who at one point sang for all of us. He also gave me his lei. It was my first real lei from a real Hawaiian! Delight!

Aside from the above moments, I have had special nature and wildlife moments. I saw one of the most beautiful TEXAS SUNSETS over some AMAZING hills just northwest of Austin. A few days ago, I was driving at night and I saw a BEAUTIFUL RED FOX for the first time in real life (that is, not on Disney). It was short and it had a long, red furry body with a bushy tail that had - get this - A WHITE TIP. It was a fox! For some reason, I assumed that the fox from The Fox and the Hound wasn't that close to what a real fox looks like... just like the Little Mermaid chic probably doesn't look like real mermaids. Other than the fox, I have seen roadrunners and I have "dealt with" a raccoon (cute and scary at the same time). I have also heard plenty of unidentifiable noises at night.

So there's that.

Tomorrow: Houston.

I love Houston and it will be so good to be back and to be in my new home... but I'm sad about the end of this. It's good to be sad about the end of things. It means that the things meant something to me.