I'm supposed to be driving South tonight to spend the long weekend with my parents and brothers. I have contracted a nice viral infection which is contagious if I cough or kiss, and the doctor orders are: bed rest, drink hot liquids, and breathe in a lot of steam. I always appreciate doctors that don't immediately write out prescriptions. Some of those people are just drug-pushers, in my opinion.

Anyway, Tom is suggesting I stay home and get rest like I'm supposed to and the thought of it keeps making me cry. I'm 25, and I don't get to see my family too often, though more than most I guess, since they are within a long driving range. Plus it's a long weekend for me, so that's an added bonus of one more day I can spend there. Usually I drive down Friday night, arrive around 1:30 a.m. (having been up since 6:30 a.m.), sleep till everyone else gets up around 8, spend Saturday and the evening with them until mid-Sunday afternoon. Then I drive back North and arrive here usually after 10 p.m. It's a draining weekend, but always worth it for the time I get to spend with my mom, dad and bros. I guess since living away from them I've realized how much I love them and how important they are to me and how much i MISS being part of their lives on a daily basis.

But I have to face it, my body is run down. And driving down there all run down, especially now that it's the rainy season, is what Tom thinks is not a good idea. The idea of spending three days (four, including today) laying low, resting, reading and sipping hot drinks appeals to me big time.

The thought of how disappointed my family would be, and the thought of how much I already miss them, however, brings me to tears.

I got this email from my mom this morning:

Howdy Miss Gopher,
Sorry Tom can't make it.  However, we sure are
looking forward to having you home again -
kind of like your home away from home.
[Brother's favourite author] will be in
[Big City] on Sunday and [Brother] will be
going with the school to meet him, get his
autograph and of course purchase the new book. 
If you are interested perhaps we can tag along...
or if not I'm sure we'll find something to do,
even if it is just "get snuggy in front of the fire
with a good book".
Hope you are feeling better!
:))

Lots of Love,
Big Cheese

I felt like a little peice of me broke when I read that she thought I considered their place "my home away from home". This apartment with Tom has been the first place up here that has felt like home to me since I moved, but I still can't let go of that home.

So when I got back from the doctor, I tried calling my mom. My dad picked up and I asked if mom was home, even though I haven't talked to my dad in probably over a month. I hate admitting it, but I always go to my mom first about this kind of stuff. My dad is pretty quiet and it's always been hard to confide in him without feeling embarrassed... especially about girl stuff.
I told my dad what was going on and he said that they'd love to see me. When I first talked to him I didn't know if I was contagious or not, and I had to call the doctor's office again to find out. So he said he'd call me back when mom got home.

I found out I'm only contagious if I cough or kiss and then my dad called me back. He said he'd talked to my mom who was on her way back from the dentist, and she said to take lots of this immune booster supplement I have, and if I was up to driving down, they'd take care of me.

So... I'm going. I don't think I quite conveyed what I wanted to in this post. I want to stay here with Tom and I know he thinks I should stay here too, but I really need to see my family. I only got to see the brother mentioned in my mom's email for 2 hours last time I was down, and my dad was out of town. This time it's a long weekend for me and everyone will be home. Plus my mom's going to do a turkey dinner and I feel like there will finally be enough time for me to spend with all of them.