Missing "Home"

I miss home and not Pittsburgh, but "home" as in Erie. I know it can be ghetto, wierd, and even has the highest unemployed in the state, but to me it's home. I guess it should feel that way since I spend nine months out of the year there and I hope to plan to spend at least a good solid year after I graduate with my nursing degrees. Laugh if you must, but I do enjoy it, maybe its becasue it's not Pittsburgh (even though I love my hometown) and probably because I am out on my own, and hopefully by May be starting my career there as well. I miss my friends. One thing I do not miss though is the awful cold and snowy weather...it certainly has been cold enough in Pittsburgh, and I am not looking forward to returning to at least a good two feet of snow. My friend told me today that the lake is starting to freeze over, so hopefully the lake effect snow will stay away for awhile. It should, one of the dreadful things living up there is cleaning off the car...especially on a clinical day...not cool at all.
As much as I love spending time with my family and hanging out at the homestead, it can be kind of boring. I don't live directly in the city of Pittsburgh (45 minutes if the traffic is good, which it usually isn't). I live next to a dairy farm and a nursing home, completley in the middle of nowhere. The snow plows don't reach our hill to about 8:30am and suddenly stop comming around 6:30 at night. It totally has put me in kind of a foul mood...I usually go to morning Mass when I'm home, followed by a trip to starbucks or panera and if I'm feeling brave to tackle morning rush hour traffic, I might just head into Oakland, which is one of my fave parts of Pittsburgh. Daily morning Mass starts at 8 and since the snow plow doesn't reach our hill till 8:30 I silently curse the township road workers for ruining my Jesus time, as well as missing the fresh hazel nut coffee being put out at panera, and any chance of getting downtown. One thing about Pittsburgh is that rush hour starts early and it is a HUGE pain the butt to sit in, especially if the weather is kind of iffy. So my days have been spent waking up to go to Mass, but not actually going (which to me feels like an epic fail Catholic style), no coffee (which my kidney is probablly partially thankful for), and I haven't been downtown since my last day of my internship last August ( frowny face times dos). I've think I've become addicted to awful reality tv on VH1, rewatched the first season of House for the 3rd time, started watching reruns of reruns of ER, and trying to finish the new Nicholos Sparks novel, which I just can't bring myself to finish...no matter how many times I pick up the book.
Ever since New Years the days have been going by slowly, which is not something I'm used to or ever will be used to. A typical day (at "Home") is: Get up, get ready for classes, go to classes, end classes, grab some food in there, head to the lib, study like a champ, have a snack, go to sleep and repeat. I keep myself so busy at school I'm usually not preoccupied. I like the rest I have been getting though, especially the sleep. If I had more time at school I would use it to nap.I'm sure there are alot of other people that feel the same way.
On a positive not I was able to hang out with my priest friend for a bit today, which is always a good time. I know it may sound wierd to some to have a friend that is a Roman Catholic priest, but he is probably one of my best friends, and is one of the most devout people I have ever met, not to mention one of the nicest people ever. What is so cool about my priest friend is that he is not afraid to show his holy side or his human side, it's a pretty amazing thing, and I think that is why I consider him to be one of my best friends.
When all is said and said...I'm ready to head back to my home, the campus that much my shagrin is covered in snow, and to the hospital by the bay that for some strange reason holds a special place in my heart, even though at times nursing wears me out.
Hearts, hugs, n'prayers forever and ever....