Greetings from Houston, TX. Wish you were here.

I've been a very bad blogger indeed.

The past week has been busy, which hasn't left me much time to think or write or put away the massive piles of dirty/clean laundry that cover my floor at home.

Right now I'm sitting at the kitchen table belonging to two of my good friends, waiting for the three other people in this apartment to wake up so that we can get breakfast. I'm one of those strange people who wakes up early; this does not make me the cool kid at slumber parties. I always end up sitting around twiddling my thumbs and getting impatient and sometimes picking up a book, but always wondering why nobody is up to play with me. I am awake, people. It is time to resume the party that ended when I fell asleep on the couch way earlier than anyone else last night!

There's a cat sitting on the chair across from me. His name is Oscar, and he's sitting up all proper and looking quite curious. I feel a little like we're having a tea party. Minus the tea.

I came to Houston last night by way of Galveston. No, Galveston isn't on the way. I went there on Friday night, leaving Austin around 7pm, and arriving on the island four hours later. The trip was intended to be practical (I picked up my Christmas tree and a new-to-me digital camera), but it turned out far better than I ever expected.

I was welcomed into my former home with cheering and a standing ovation.

Well hello. I'm pretty excited to see y'all too.

I dropped a curtsy and my bags, and then the party really began.

Yesterday morning I woke up before the sun, realized as the sun came up that I didn't have a prayer of going back to sleep, and ran jogged (a former state-level track star has taken issue with my liberal use of the term "run") four miles up to and around the seawall to get to the center where my old office is. About halfway through the run, my body realized that it hadn't had enough sleep, resulting in a short period of intermittent walking/runningjogging. Oh well.

Because normal people don't go to their old office on a Saturday when they happen to be in town, I should explain. I spent a year working for an organization in Galveston that rebuilds homes damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008. I did all the emergency preparedness programming and planning for the group, and it was part of my service as an AmeriCorps*VISTA.

The organization is one of the few still working on the island, and will be the last group standing after the new year. Because I spent so much of my year there in the office, I didn't have a whole lot of opportunity to go out on site and volunteer. Being in town on Saturday, I had my chance.

The house of the woman we worked at had paid a contractor to fix her damage from the storm, but, like so often happens in vulnerable disaster areas, the guy took her for a ride. He did shoddy work that wouldn't pass inspection, and then he disappeared. Now they're cleaning up the mess he made, truly putting the house back together, and doing it in a way that will both pass inspection and last.

I got to set nails and caulk trim. It was pretty great.

When we broke for lunch, we swung by one of the churches on the island for a barbecue fundraiser.

Now, let's chat. I'm (sort of) a vegetarian. Barbecue is not good for my brand of diet. But I love the church people who were putting it on, and so I figured, why not? I did eat just a little chicken, and then I handed off my hunk o' fowl to the vultures with whom I shared a table and munched on the coleslaw, bread, and beans they cast off. Win-win situation, really.

I came up here to Houston after work and a shower to scrub all the caulk off my hands and out of my hair, and party 2.0 began. Different friends, equal level of awesome.

It's funny...three months ago when I finished my work in Galveston and prepared for Step Next, I would have given anything to leave this area of the state. I don't regret that for a second. Austin has done wonders for my spirit. I'm truly happy there.

But I do miss the friends I have here. For all the bad and the ugly, Galveston particularly was very good to me. As I drove in on Friday, I had the feeling of coming home. It will always be my "Texas Hometown" in a way, being the first place I felt real attachment to and the first place that allowed me to begin sinking my roots here.

 This afternoon I'll pack my car back up, give my dog dramamine, and head northwest to my new home of Austin. There's laundry to put away, dishes to wash, and other things to do. But maybe I'll also have time to tell you about some other things from this week.

Until then, live long and prosper.