I-D-A-H-O, Idaho, Idaho, go, go, go!

Sigh... I actually finished my first year of law school. (I expect you all to be clapping right now). This is no small feat for me, especially considering the semi-catatonic state I was in when I left Moscow, ID for Idaho Falls, ID four years ago. Finally, I feel like I'm figuring some stuff out... it feels a little like Fight Club when Edward Norton realizes that he is actually Tyler Durden, luckily though I didn't have to shoot myself in the jaw. Maybe that's a bad comparison...

Anyway, I was excited to finish my last final so I could go home to Idaho. I hadn't been home for a few months and was really feeling the need the for some family and puppy time. I'm always surprised how nothing changes though I probably shouldn't be.

No one has finished the Marriott next to the river since the builder went bankrupt and we are left to wonder if it will continue to be a reminder of the recession for the next twenty years. The local newspaper still only prints a quarter of a page on international news while devoting almost the entire front page to the first local doctor to do a cochlear implant. The old farmers still meet in the early morning hours at O'Brady's Restaurant, drink coffee and talk about the weather until noon everyday.

The same people work in the Java Hut. My old boss still says inappropriate at lunch with the other guys while my very patient and awesome replacement ignores them all completely. My parent's house is still a constant sixty degrees. My dad still lets my dog outside without putting her on the leash even though he has learned time and time again that she does not listen. My mom still leaves half-eaten pieces of toast all over the house. My brother still insists on getting up at 2a.m. to do his milk route. My nephew Weston still looks like a little football player and my sister-in-law still manages to have infinite grace in dealing with both Wes and my brother.

My old friend from junior high once again met me for breakfast, still drunk from the night before, wearing pajama pants and the same shirt that he had apparently been wearing for three days. It is still a rarity to go to the mall and not run into someone you know. The same people are at the local gym as were there the last time I came home. And without fail, after washing my car I find myself behind a truck carrying hay.

So yeah, Idaho has it quirks and some of them are more irritating than others. In the end though, I miss it a lot.