Surprise! It's time to feel what's real.

Happy. . .July 5th. I'm writing now from the Capital, and I'm thrilled. I was driving through downtown Capital yesterday, with jerk drivers weaving in and out of traffic, and I said, you know, I really miss it here. Nate was with me, and he said that most likely, I just missed aspects of living here, but you know? Much as I love where I'm living now, I really, really miss home. I don't know if it's the city itself or the fact that it's a big city or what, but I was so excited to come back, and I'm thrilled to be here.

It's also entirely possible that it's that I'm thrilled to have time off of work. I needed a break, since I rarely take them. This 4-day weekend I'm in the midst of is almost unheard of.

I've noticed that everything interesting happens when I'm either not at work on any given day, at lunch, or I haven't come in yet. Apparently, from what I understand, McHotpants (who, you'll recall, has worked at The Peak for all of two weeks) mouthed off to Vi while CousinCasey and I were at lunch Thursday.

He's from a place about 6 hours away, and he wanted to get home before dark. He'd said he wanted to leave early, and Vi said he could, with the stipulation all his work was completed before he left. Obviously.

Something happened with one of his stories (I'm still not entirely clear as to what happened exactly) and he got a quote that negated something he had already written or something to that effect, so he, in turn, had to re-write the story.

My sources tell me that sometime between the hours of 12:15 and 1:15 (my lunch hour that day) he straight up told her he was leaving, and that was it. She, surprised (wouldn't you be?) said, well, whatever you need to do. And he huffed out. Leaving her to finish the story. His story.

I've been there 8 months, and I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't have the sheer nerve. He's been there two weeks.

I mean, I would have liked to have been home before dark, too. As it stood, I arrived at Nate's (where I stayed Thursday night) at 10 p.m., and he lives 45 minutes from my hometown. So obviously, I didn't get home before dark.

But I bet McHotpants did.

And I'd be willing to bet that if Vi didn't hate the interviewing process so much, he'd be gone.

So the trip home.

I hate making that drive. I'm always glad to get here when I do (I've been here 3 times since I moved) but the drive. 4.5-5 hours, in the car by myself. Luckily, I had music and whatnot, but really. It's a pain.

It struck me as I approached the Capital that it's so very. . .flat. I've gotten used to living in the mountains, so I don't really think about my living area as being particularly hilly, but it is.

Also, I'm glad to be back in the land of 6-lane highways, jerk drivers, and minorities. I really, really miss home.

I went to fireworks last night with Nate, a friend of mine, her girlfriend, and their friend Jesse. We were at the fairgrounds for about an hour and a half, 2 hours when the clouds started forming and we could see lightening in the distance. Then the wind picked up. We decided to hightail it out of there, and sometime during the hour or so we were in traffic, it started pouring. I mean, I'm glad that the Capital is getting the rain it needs, but it really had very inopportune timing.

We all went to Krispy Kreme instead. It's not fireworks, but I've missed that, too.

Truth be told, I was really disappointed about the fireworks. I love them. Haven't seen any since. . .maybe last 4th? I don't know.

This morning, I woke up at 7, as per usual, and went to Target (TARGET!!! Another thing I've badly missed) and then to a class at the Y with my mom. I wasn't sure I'd survive it, but I did, and now I feel pretty awesome. Nothing like a good workout, I guess.

I'm also amazed at two things I've noticed since I've been here. One, it is humid. I will never again complain about how hot it is in the mountains (well, no. . .I probably will.) but it's ridiculous here. I'd forgotten how tragically awful the humidity is here during the summer. It's gross and it makes me want to constantly shower.

Speaking of.

It's also amazing how much less time it takes to wash your hair when the water pressure in the shower you're using gives more force than someone spitting at you. Seriously. I was out in, like, 5 minutes, as opposed to the 15 or so it usually takes me to try to get all the shampoo out of my hair with my sad little shower head.

I'm hanging out with my sister today, which is cool. I miss her, too.