United States of Awesomeness

So we're going to be heading home in 9 days and I simply CANNOT wait. We're going to be making stops in Cleveland, NYC, and Maryland. It will have been eight months since we've been home- yes EIGHT months. I'm craving all things American right now- we've even given the USA the nickname "United States of Awesomeness."

The thing I'm most looking forward to is seeing our family and friends and introducing them to Connor. He's in this fun, personable stage right now where he just loves to meet new people. So its a great time to be coming home with him. These are a few of the things other things I can't wait for:

1. Chipotle
2. Target
3. Driving a car (on the right side of the road)
4. Maryland crabcakes
5. Shopping where I have a chance of fitting into the clothes and shoes
6. Watching TV (real time), listening to the radio and reading the newspaper
7. Mexican food (any and all will do!)
8. Those gloriously wide-aisled grocery stores where I know what everything is
9. Calling someone and having them know what time it is where I am
10. Being able to make adjustments to things I order in restaurants (they don't do that here). Things I can't wait to say: "No mayo," "Dressing on the side," "Skim milk," "Please cook the bacon," "What is that?," "No seriously-- I don't want the soda that comes free with my meal" (my Tokyo friends will understand most what I mean here and why I'm so looking forward to this!)

That said- I know as soon as I get back there will be so many things I'll miss about Toyko and my life here (which I'll save for a later post). We have a pretty good thing going over here at the moment. That's the biggest problem with bouncing back and forth between these two completely different places -- the grass is always greener on the other side of the world!