Home is where you update, post and "like."

As of tomorrow, I will have officially completed my first two weeks of working in NYC. Not only am I no longer a waitress (hallelujah!,) but I work a 9-5 and actually have tasks. Though they are few, it's a start. Besides, now that I have a routine and a paycheck to cover bills, I can focus on my next achievement. 

This blog isn't about chasing dreams though. This is something for my family and friends so they can know how I am adjusting to "life in the big city." Also, how I adjust to missing them.

First and foremost, now that I have a daily routine, a furnished apartment and a few new friends to meet for drinks, New York is home. The never-ending, obnoxious honking, constant sounds of stirring humans and creaking floors of my old building and the busy subway stations in rush hour have replaced the serene sounds of crickets and frogs outside my window at night, rain on a tin roof and the familiar sounds and scents of home.

It is all of the little things, as it always is, that I miss the most or never realized was such a luxury before. I love the noises in my apartment because I never feel alone, even when the radiator knocking gives me a good startle. However, I miss my car, but only when I need to go grocery shopping and am carrying home loads of grocieries via the subway and its stairs and turnstiles. And, although, for whatever reason, I love the atmosphere of the laundromat, I desperately miss being able to throw loads of clothes around without worrying about flashing my bra and panties to strangers (but I'm sure that wears off quickly.) 

Home is where you make it, and aside from the familiarity of the tangible things, home is also where my social network is---friends, family, and yes, my pets. Literally, they are my social network. Thanks to the Internet and social media, I never miss a thing on what is going on with my fan base back home. 

Thanks to my best friend's avid love for snapping photos of her son's every move I get to watch my adorably handsome nephew grow, smile and play every day. And because weddings are all the rage and worth bragging about, I get to follow my two best friends as they plan out their future together from engagement pictures to stuffing invitations. 

Let's not forget the mother. Southern mothers are a grapevine of information providers. My mom is no stereotypical gossiping lady, but she always makes sure I know what's going on with the family; right down to the small things like how my two cats were runnung rampid through the house and one skidded to a halt while the other plowed into the door, table, etc. And I love every ounce of it! 

And as I watch my friends live their lives through pictures and 120 characters, they follow me just the same and the connection is just as fulfilling. 

I've had my share of ranting about the people who post their lives on social media sites for the world to see, yet, here I am doing the same. Say what you will, but since moving from home, and before when traveling, and just because, I've posted my life, and we all have. Now I understan why some people live on social media. It's their way of connecting to those they love (or stalk.) I agree that we can all be excessive in posting bullshit and our own obnoxious biases, but whatever: that's what it's there for. All I want to say is if it weren't for social media, I think I would get homesick far more frequently.