Here we are, in upstate New York.  We close on a house in six days.  I don’t hate it here but don’t love it, either.  I love the house we are buying and the town it’s in is my favorite one within John’s commute.  That’s something.  I feel displaced, homeless, and confined in this musty old hotel room.  Traveling here wasn’t exactly fun, but I did enjoy a great breakfast in first class and got some good pictures from the air.  This week, I have the flu.  I know better days are ahead, and soon.  It just sucks to wait.  I have daydreams of decorating and shopping for a new desk and swimming in our in-ground pool.  It’s like Christmas is just around the corner!  But then I look around and see a drab hotel room, with stained wallpaper, dirty carpet and god-knows-what lurking in the bathroom sink.  (The nice hotels don’t take pets and kitties are traveling with us.)  I’m trying to see nice things in the surrounding area, and most of the people I’ve encountered here are very nice.  But all I see is the looming gray sky, too much traffic, too many power lines and run-down real estate.  I can’t wait to close on the house so I can once again sleep in my own bed!  Maybe then I’ll see something a little prettier in this place that’s too far from home.

Alaska, I miss you!