a few things I learned from being home

So I spent a few days in the 'Ham, and here are a few things I learned:

1. Yard sales are ten times more fun when you follow your 8 a.m. cup of coffee with four beers, all before noon ... But items marked for $5 quickly become, "Oh I don't care, you can have it."

2. Everyone I know from my high school years is engaged or married... (except for one friend who is about to be divorced). Although it makes me feel a little old and scared, it's nice to see said friends and realize nothing has changed.

3. My step-sister and I may never be best friends, but she did look me in the eye this time, which, sadly, is progress.

4. Our siblings will always know just what buttons to push to make us completely lose our ever-loving mind. And they will do so, often unwittingly, for the rest of our lives.

5. It is essential in life to surround yourself with people that make you laugh and that bring out the funniest in you. (You know you're doing good when you find yourself thinking, 'Man, we should have our own show.')

6. Sunday night steak dinners, eaten while sitting on the front porch drinking wine and telling stories, is one of the greatest parts of my trips home.

7. It's true what they say - You can take the girl out of the South, but you can never take the South out of the girl.