Today was a like a walk down memory lane. While my mom was at work, my dad was visiting our other house to see how the rooms looked without all the furniture inside. We've got to make the walls white & beige to provide a neutral color for potential buyers. Or renters. Whichever seems more appealing to my parents. Since the house's last boarders moved out at the end of July, the house has been empty for only a couple of days. But after spending some time there this afternoon, a heavy realization set in. I spent approximately 15 years in that house. With it stripped of its furniture, I got a whole new glimpse of home sweet home.

I looked at the floors in all the rooms; they were tiled by my dad, around Christmas I think. The guestroom is the only room with two colored tiles because it used to be my old bedroom until I moved to the room next to it. Across, the master bedroom that seemed gargantuan in my childhood, looked infinitely smaller than I remembered. The windows offer a clear view to the veranda and the white trellis beside it still stood with ivy completely interwoven through the gaps. Beyond that, a sky-blue tool shed. That's only the left side of my backyard. I can't see much of the middle because of the sunroom that was built there.

It's connected by french doors from the living room. I call it the sunroom because technically, it is a sun room. The end that juts into the backyard looks like the top half of an pentagon; each wall holds a window - 5 windows. But I also call it the piano room because that's where my piano was located. Its back was to the veranda so I would play while looking at the trellis through the windows. I really loved that room.

The kitchen, also redone by my dad (he's a veritable handyman, a jack of all trades, good ol' pops), looks like the newest thing in the house. And the room adjacent—laundry room—has never looked cleaner. I don't spend much time in the other rooms because by this time I remember the reason I came here. To have lunch with my dad! A fifteen minute drive to Droubi's, a Middle Eastern Restaurant/Grocery store, and we walk out with four dollar chicken shawarmas.

Chicken shawarmas = food of the gods.

As usual, I sneaked a fresh batch of pita bread and my dad sheepishly showed the olives that he added on a whim. Hallmark moment right there!

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the piano. I was flipping through my old piano books and felt even more nostalgic at one particular volume. Copious amounts of pencil, pen, and green highlighter span the pages. Frustration at fingering was shown by furiously drawn sad faces. Happy accomplishments were punctuated by highlighter green happy faces. But there are more arcane symbols that, for the life of me, I do not recognize. I don't remember why Khachaturian was penciled with 1/24 V.G. :) but I assume it was a good thing. The pages marked Bach and Bartok are the most creased, but my childhood hero Beethoven was shown appropriate care: rips and tears from my eagerness to play his music. Albeniz and Handel didn't fare any better but I don't think it's because I enjoyed playing the pieces I had.

And I entertained a brief thought about what would have happened if I went to HSPVA instead of SAA. It would be just like Durfee all over again except more music classes. And probably more stuck-up music snobs. Gross.

Anyway, I enjoyed yummy shrimp for dinner with Jurassic Park playing in the background. We always watch TV while we eat but I can never hear what's being said because we always talk during dinner too. It's also why my mom told me I was four when I watched this movie...WHAT. Excuse me? Four. Four. I cannot wrap my mind around this. It's crazy talk!

And right now, I've got another bottle of water at my desk and—new addition—a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I went through more than a dozen eggs on my baking frenzy these past couple of weeks. Despite the flour, sugar, butter, etc. that went into the process...I neglected the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I was either suppose to melt them and dip half my batch of madeleines in them or I was supposed to add them to the banana nut muffins for an added sweetness. Since neither situation panned out, I am now popping these chocolate chips like happy pills. Yay for chocolate-filled nights!