Old Home

Me: I miss living with Claire
Geo: She's a good friend.
Me: No, I REALLY miss living with Claire
Geo:...[plays on iPhone]

You guys? I miss living with Claire! For the first time since I moved away, I went back to Claire's house tonight while Geo golfed. I walked back into her house and smelled all the familiar smells and knew right where to find the paper towels. It felt more like home than where I live now. Is that bad?

We chatted about nothing. Seriously. We talked for like an hour about how nothing has changed. But, as the night went on, I realized how truly homesick I was. I wandered through my old room. Tracing my fingers across banisters and counters. Staring into familiar mirrors and reflexively ducking my head around the sloped ceilings.

About an hour in to my visit, we starting cooking with fire. We got into some deep conversations about our hopes and dreams for our relationships and life and weekends. It was the most refreshing conversation I've had lately. Not only did she NOT make fun of me for my irrational fear of not having enough appetizers for the upcoming cabin weekend, but she actually offered several solutions. YAY GIRL FRIENDS!

Anyway, I made a list of reasons why I miss living at Claire's house. Here we go:

 * Not one, but TWO bathrooms, guaranteeing privacy. As it is now, Geo hears every eyebrow-pluck. Every everything. I hate bathrooms.
* Claire HAS CABLE. I forced her to watch Comedy Central and FX because I don't have the luxury of hilarity.
* Not only could we scroll through a GUIDE telling us what was ON TV, but we never saw one commercial. NOT ONE. God bless DirecTV.
* When I made a casual comment about communism, Claire calmly and clearly explained to me what communism actually IS. She never once exclaimed "HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT COMMUNISM IS?!" She knew I knew, but wanted to enlighten me on how to best use it as an insult.
* We sat outside while she grilled dinner. There are two awesome things here. One? We SAT OUTSIDE. Birds chirped. Squirrels played in the trees. And the smoky scent of BBQ intoxicated everyone in a 50 yard radius.
* When I complained about what kickboxing was doing to my legs (making them stronger - and BIGGER) she gave me the kind of affirmation I had craved. She noticed my haircut. She asked me if I had lost weight. It was all the girlie affirmation I needed to come home and NOT eat cupcakes for dinner.
* Claire still listens to music from the 1940s. On records. I used to make fun of her, but then I texted Geo about a song he played me. I was all "RUDE! It's not on iTunes! How do I get it?!" And he was all "Ugh, it's a very complicated online download digital process."
* Not once was I judged when I wanted to watch terrible - and HILARIOUS - shows on Comedy Central. Read: Futurama
* At the end of the night, Claire offered me eyeshadows, lipshades and a turkey corndog for the road

So, I'm pretty sure I need to move back in with Claire.