I love my family!

Nothing posted in a while because I've had family in town since August 9th. I know people say fish and visitors begin to stink after 3 days, but I truly love having my mom, sisters and nephew here; more than anyone else, they are my posse, and it's fun to both doing things and hang out doing nothing while with them. I also like showing them my town, and it tickles me that they all get so excited by how different it is here from the NoVA 'burbs. Maybe they'll finally move back!

Some cute notes:

• My sister was so "city mouse, country mouse" while she was here, but it's the most adorable thing! She makes me take touristy pictures and appreciate all of the things I take for granted living here.
• My nephew is the best, sweetest, handsomest boy ever. If he stayed here a week, he'd probably be bored to death (except when he's playing with my landlords' son), but I would be so happy it'd be impossible to express. Even when he's pouting or in a temper, I still love him to pieces.
• Cooking for 4 people makes a lot of dishes and trash!! But it also makes cooking much more interesting than just doing it by myself. And apparently, having proved that I can make meals for other people without killing them, it seems that if I ever have a future family of my own, they may actually not starve to death.

On the subject of meals, I have no idea how people are supposed to do this going to work and then coming home and preparing a full family meal every day. The ridiculous amount of prep and cleanup time, to say nothing of actual eating, could take up a whole evening every day. The only reason I've been able to do this - and enjoy it - is because half the time, I was on vacation.

Final interesting note - my sister is coming to live with me, and I think I'm just beginning to grasp how big of a transition this will be for everyone. Understandably, she's nervous about being able to hold down a job and support herself on her own for the first time; my mom is going to have a really hard time leaving her here on Monday; and both my sister and I are going to have to adjust to living in a house with each other not as big sister/little sister, but as adult equals. That's a lot of changes ...

... plus, I have to clean up my (now our) disaster of a room to make room for her. Aya!