There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home….

It dribbled snow the entire time I was in Rochester, but the streets were clear and the driving just fine. But if you had asked any of the residents about the weather, they wouldn’t have even realized that there had been a bit of snow falling from the sky, a water-laden cloud must be parked over their head dumping its contents for a Rochestarian to be struck by the weather. Seriously though, when asked, residents said that they’re expecting snow on Tuesday (The cute flakes drizzling out of the sky, and icing the ground every couple of hours, didn’t count.)
The weather-necessitated, salt-laden roads, combined with the excessive canyons in every street and highway, make Rochester the perfect place to be a car dealer/mechanic. You’ll be guaranteed loads of return business. Luckily as your wheels are dipping into another portion of the earth’s crust while you’re simply trying to meet up with your friend at a local pub, you can totally rock out to an amazing radio station. 90.5, WBER, “the only station that matters”. And really they’re not just arrogant pricks, they’re damn right. (And this is coming from a former DJ.)

My family, my fam. First of all my Mom is so NOT helping with my dating prospects. She went to the bank and happened upon a grammar school classmate of mine, that was one of the rare few that actually pursued a higher education. He started quizzing her about me and then finally came out with, “So is she married?” And my lovely, darling Mom responded, “Well, she’s separated.” Um, huh? The one person that you would expect to disseminate true information, just implied that not only had I been married, but in fact, am still married and likely embroiled in some sticky, suboptimal situation. Bugger that!! I’ve never agreed to walk down the isle with ANY man. (Although my 3-yr-old keeps telling me that we’re married, and the speech bubble above my head sarcastically agrees with the truth in that statement.) But anyways, if you can’t expect that your Mom is going to exaggerate a little to make you seem like the most loveable, adorable creature floating across this earth, then who can you expect that from? At this point, I’ll just settle for the raw truth, because that would sound better than what slips out of her mouth, it seems….grumble, grumble… Maybe she was just pondering as I did, that the school mate in question had cruised though grammar school, with his forefinger deeply buried in his nose (except for when it came out to deposit his brownish-green find in his mouth.) Yow, I’m grossed out just pondering it…I must have seen that boy pick his nose hundreds of times a year, for 7 years straight.
Secondly, my family has horrible taste in restaurants. In their perfect world, they would be buffet-eatin’ daily. Having spent 2 full days in my home town, I’ve consumed food at one Chinese buffet and one buffet breakfast place. Oh, god, the grease-sins that I have committed against my insides. I’m surprised a revolt hasn’t been staged by my tummy.
And just to give you another little taste of home, the Christmas tree is still being displayed in the front enclosed porch. (Although, my Mom cutely explained that they had turned on the Christmas lights *just for me.* Whew, that had been my *major* concern; the fact that it was almost March and a Christmas tree present *at all* in the house might have escaped my notice.) Oh, and there’s only one wrecked car in the driveway, however, and to be fair, the accident that totaled it was a mere 2 weeks back.
And that there is a little sampling of my trip home. It had been avoided for the previous 4 years completely. My memory was jogged as to why, but still, quality time with my fam was worth it; I miss them already.