I think it's time . . .

I'm ready. I've had my fun, I've met a lot of fun people, but I'm ready to come home. I'm ready to have McDonald's breakfast again. I'm ready to sleep in my own room (though I got a new bed while I was gone). I'm ready to hug my father goodnight every night. I'm ready to have movie dates with Andi. I'm ready to celebrate Kathryn and Jeff's engagement. I'm ready to celebrate Matt and Sara's marriage, though I missed the wedding. I'm ready to give my nieces and nephews huge hugs and shower them with the presents I bought while I was away.

I feel like I've missed so much since I left. It's weird because subconsciously you almost expect a pause button to be pushed when you leave for a long period of time. You expect that everything will be the same as you left it when you return.

You don't expect to look at pictures of your cousin's children on Facebook to discover that the baby you left at home is no longer a baby. You don't expect your best friend to get engaged while you are gone. You don't expect your family to still get together for holidays without you.

It is going to be an adjustment coming home. I realize that while it still seems strange to me now to have them there, it is going to be strange to not have grocery stores in malls. It is going to be strange to drive on the right hand side of the road. It is going to be strange to be able to go shopping after 5 and on Sundays. It is going to be strange to have everyone I've come to love on the other side of the world instead of just a stone's throw away.

People have begun to leave, and it is a strange feeling because I know that I will not see most of these people again for as long as I live. I hope to return to Australia, and if I do, I'm sure I will see some of them. But what of those who live in Sweden, or Norway? Will I actually make it to France, as Tyler and I have planned, or will I never see my French friends again? I suppose only time will tell.

One thing is for sure. There IS one friend I am going to see again. And I will see him soon. Tyler is coming down from Karratha on Thursday and staying with me until I leave.

And it doesn't end there. Since he had to drop out of uni, he has managed to work several jobs that have allowed him to save enough money to come and visit America in December. He'll see large amounts of snow for the first time, and I'll be reminded of the awesome semester I had.

The semester I wouldn't trade for the world, even if I am ready to return to the good old U S of A.