Spent/survived/enjoyed/am already starting to miss another Christmas at home–home being Houston this year–with my family, all six of us, including Merlin. A lot of eating, a lot of sleeping, a lot of movies. A lot of togetherness. Too much, maybe, but it never feels like enough.

After a full day of travel, I arrived back in D.C. last night. More specifically, I arrived at Dulles International Airport. This was a surprise to me: I thought I was flying into Reagan.

And on the $60 cab ride into the city (highway robbery!), as I sat mentally smacking my palm into my face for being so stupid, that kind of anticlimactic, post-holiday weight set in. I’ve been trying to stave it off since I finally settled into my room last night, doing everything I can to stay upbeat–I’m eating a salad from Chop’t! I have a cookie for dessert! I’m gonna finally start Breaking Bad on Netflix!–but it’s a losing game in the end. I can only distract myself with so many funny blogs before I have to just let myself feel lonely for a minute. It’s quiet here. I miss my people. Same as I do after every Christmas.