All Quiet on the Western Front

Okay, so maybe my life isn't particularly quiet, what with all the yammering I've been doing about my impending return to D.C., but it's okay. A surprise, certainly, but a pleasant one.

Yesterday saw the return of a dozen or so of my friends to America after their three week long pilgrimage to Europe and World Youth Day. I've not heard from them yet, but it looks and sounds like they had a fantastic time from the facebook updates they posted. I got two postcards from our chaplain, one from the Vatican, and one from Lourdes, and they were lovely. They came rather coincidentally after a serious fight with my mother, and I was so happy- and surprised- to see the second one, I cried when I picked it up for the first time. It's taken time, but I'm slowly able to come to grips with not going, but I'm sure I have a ways to go yet. I do hope everyone was able to enjoy the trip and grow in faith.

Today is my last day at work back home, and it's a relief, but also somewhat sad. I've made quite a few friends here, and though I know that I'll bond with the staff down in Washington, I probably won't be able to say the same about the customers. It's one of the many charms of coming from a small town that when you work in retail or food service, you get to know the regulars, and there's always an opportunity to be genial and friendly in a way you just can't do somewhere big and busy. Even as a New England native who is unaccustomed to chatting with people I don't know, it will be hard to go and work somewhere that everyone is rushing all the time, and I won't be able to chat with them about the apples, the weather, or the strange gluten intolerance of someone they know.

I went for an ultrasound today, and I am fully determined to go for as few as humanly possible outside of being pregnant. I offered up the discomfort of having to drink 32 oz. of water this morning and then having my pelvis pressed down on, but seriously, not cool. Turns out I have an ovarian cyst, which is weird, but I'm totally not bothered by it. As soon as the ultrasound tech left me alone to go to the bathroom so she could talk to a doctor about the images, I said a quick little prayer to Mary to help me bear it in place of some other woman. I know about 50% of women have one at some point, but considering how much my mom is freaking out, maybe it's better that I have one than her or some other worry-prone woman.

I suppose I really have nothing else to say right now, except that time needs to hurry up, because I want to be in Washington already!