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This morning I awoke thinking I was still on the train. I used to get confused when I was a little kid, waking at my Grandma's house, wondering where I was for a second. But I'm a grownup now. I'm supposed to know where I am!

No, I am not on the train. I'm in Virginia.

Virginia is gorgeous. "I've been sunny and 80 degrees and breezy the whole time you were away," Virginia says tauntingly. I believe her. The weeds have grown a lot in my absence. The kids have done a decent enough job keeping up with chores, but there are still things I must address. Weird pockets of dirt and decay that a paper towel wielding teenager will not see (and if they see it, they will pretend they don't). A very strangely outfitted pantry (lots of Ramen noodles and cream of mushroom soup?). I can't imagine what they thought they'd make with those. I don't want to imagine it. There's still plenty of toilet paper. Most of the bath towels are missing.

I have so many papers to go through from Odyssey and from Scrabble Nationals. So much to think about, to plan, to decide, to remember. But not yet. I'm busy arguing with Virginia about the weather and looking for towels.

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