Well, after 16 hours in the car yesterday (8am to 12 midnight) we are home from Michigan. Oh, how I've missed you, my beloved high speed internet connection!

We had a great time. The drive to Ann Arbor was blissfully uneventful adn we were greeted warmly with a sack full of Zingerman's reubens and black cherry Dr. Brown's soda. After eating dinner, the meeting folks went to a meeting and Libby and I walked around downtown with Henry to look at everything that might have changed since our departure. It kinda seemed like everything had changed, but stayed the same. It was more apparent how much I had changed. I kept feeling like I had to grab Henry's hand on the sidewalk to pull him out of the way of bustling foot traffic. That rarely happens in Asheville. I kept trying to make eye contact and give that "Sorry he's in the way, but what can you do-he's 3. And did you notice how cute he was?" look to people, but no one looked me in the eye or said anything. It was clear that the part of me that was annoyed upon arriving in Asheville to find that it took 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee because people actually insisted on talking to each other was now long gone. I missed making connectins with strangers, even just a quick hello. It didn't feel like a warm community to me and I immediately missed that. I'm glad that we've chosen this community to raise the little man. As long as he doesn't start saying "y'uns", we're good.

I got to reconnect with my old best friend and go to girl, Carrie, and it was amazing to sit and chat with her in a comfortable way. I am hoping that lasts. Bam threw a bbq and we got to see a lot of the people we had been missing the past year. We got ahold of our old friends Charlie and Laurie, who had a son Louie right after Henry was born, and they stopped by. The boys took to each other immediately and were sad to say goodbye when the time came. I think they must remember somewhere deep down that when they were just tiny little things they shared space. It was nice. Saturday night I planned a night out to get a few drinks and see if Ann Arbor at night was the same as always. Nope. My favorite bar had moved and it just wasn't the same. We had a good time, though, especially when, after 5 beers, we decided it would be a good idea to visit Aaron at work. Aaron works at detox. I'm lucky that he knows me or he might have tried to have me admitted to the detox program, my tolerance not being what it once was. Sunday we had lunch with Aaron and Tanya and then they were off to the brand spankin' new IKEA in Canton. He then left for a wedding in Portland, whene he thought he might see Brad. I guess Brad has decided to go by Bradley and Aaron referred to him as "the king of the Portland hipsters". Figures.

That brings us to our departure to Northern Michigan, which I'll save for another day. Henry and Kyle went to the car wash and they'll be home soon. I need to get something to eat before the beastie known as "the 3 year old who spent 16 hours in the car yesterday and now must run around like a crazy person" returns.