If you’ve been reading for a little while, you know that the past few months have been full of big changes.  If you haven’t, Cliff notes version involves moving to Philadelphia (after 7 years in North Carolina), starting graduate school at Penn, a dissolution of a 4.5 year relationship, a new job, applications to numerous OTHER new jobs, and basically my life was one of those salad dressings that was all shaken up and is finally starting to settle into the layers and make a little more sense.

As things are approaching a sense of normalcy (though how long does that ever really last?), I’m finding my stride in academia. I’m feeling pretty good at my job (and also picked up another part time job that I’m sure will make some appearances on the blog in the future….)

I’m getting into the swing of things at the gym (despite some ABYSMAL Zumba instructors which are really harshing my mellow.)  Translation? I’m staying busy. It’s impossible not to. That being said, I find myself missing one thing (err… one “concept”, multiple “things” I guess) more than anything else.

Seeing a trend?

I miss the friends that became family. I miss the folks I can call, not to go out to some sort of discotheque or impress with my knowledge of the finest happy hours in the city (confession: I don’t even know them, so don’t ask), but to just sit and watch like… tens of episodes of Law and Order: SVU and relax. The ones whose company fills me with total comfort and joy, even when we’re not saying a word. The ones who know you better than you know you.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m starting to make friends here in Philly, and Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that jazz. But MAN, I can’t tell you what I’d give for a weekend in Chapel Hill/Durham/Raleigh, surrounded by my Delta Psi brothers and sisters, playing Kinect with my volleyball buddies, and geeking out over hops with my NC Beer buddies.  It’s true: you never TRULY realize what you’ve got until it’s gone.

Luckily, it’s not gone.  It’s just a few hundred miles South of here.  And, even luckier, this time next week I’ll be headed back home for the one thing that’s even better than friends that became family….

Yup. Family that became friends.

No real point to this post other than to share with everyone how much I miss and love them, and how lucky I am to have two places in this world to call home.