I have become accustomed to travel. I’ve been on more long flights in the last few months than many people take in their entire lives. I’m lucky that I have parents who can afford to help me out and bring me home for a visit, and tomorrow at 4:30 pm Pacific time, I will once again get on a plane to return to Scotland. I’m ready….kinda. I’m ready to get back to the grind of school, ready for my 20 minute walk to campus in the morning with my Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan podcasts  to keep me company. I’m excited to start some classes in subjects that are in line with the other degrees that I have, and excited to have some time to do some travel (funds permitting). Most importantly, I am ready to see all the lovely ladies and gents again. I learn more from them than I do from textbooks, and I look forward to seeing what I can learn from them this semester.

There are a lot of things I am going to miss though. I am going to miss the food. It is strange to think about some of the funky food things I miss while I am there, like American mustard or salsa, or string cheese. I miss hot Cheetos, but it is probably a good thing that they don’t have those in Scotland because they are sooooooooooo bad for me. I will also miss being able to cook (okay, having someone cook) a meal of my choosing. Options are limited in the dinning hall, and I find myself eating a lot of salad and potatoes….pretty soon I am just going to be one giant carb. I’m going to miss meat I can identify and things being served hot. I am hoping that a new year means some new options.

I think the thing I am going to miss the most is my family. I like sitting on the couch next to them and watching bad TV, or playing Scrabble. I will miss hiding in my room for some quiet time and hearing the TV blaring downstairs because my parent’s can’t hear. I am going to miss being in texting range with them. I love sending and receiving cat pictures or text messages and get them in realtime. I can still get text from them, but I have to be at my computer, and between that and the time change, I don’t talk to them nearly as much I can while I am here.

I am going to miss my bed. The dorm bed is like a bad camp bed complete with lumpy mattress and thing pillow. My bed here has a lot of pillows, my favorite zebra print sheets, and all of the blankets that I have managed to collect over the years. I know the creaks and the squeaks that it makes, and it is low to the ground, just the way I like it. The most important thing that I will miss about my bed here is the David in my bed. There will be no David in my bed in Scotland. I like snuggling up against him and rolling him over in the middle of the night when he starts to snore.

When I was a kid I slept with a stuffed rabbit. He was always hugged up close to me in case I had bad dreams. The rabbit went with me when I went to college, when I moved to San Diego, and when I moved back home. He currently sits in a place of honor at the foot of my bed, and every so often when I am sleeping alone and have a bad dream, I still reach for him. David has become my stuffed rabbit. I fall asleep clutching and curled around his arm, and I sleep a lot better when he is around. I will miss the comfort of him.

He is not the least bit happy about me returning to Scotland. I am hoping the old saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is true because when I leave tomorrow we won’t get to see each other for six months. By the time we get to see each other he will think I am a goddess…..I’m totally okay with that.