Missing

Living in Italy is great - I'm not going to lie - 

but there are some days I just miss being in the US.  

Knowing that if we needed milk/diapers/medicine at 11pm we had a number of places to go grab it...here there are no 24 hour Walgreens or Targets. 

And the comfort of knowing if Miles ever needed to go to the ER (or any of us for that matter) that we could go and not have to worry about a language barrier (most people in southern Italy, outside of tourist destinations, do NOT speak English...and the base's ER is 45 mins away).  

And being able to pick up the phone at any time of day and be able to call someone...my mom, dad, brothers, friends...and not have to calculate the time difference in my head. 
And having parks to go to where Miles can play and run and climb and go down slides and swing...we have one.  Seriously...ONE within a two hour driving distance...and it has no swings.  (but I'm grateful to even have one)
 And the variety of foods available back in the states...Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Steakhouses, Italian, Burgers, Chinese, Korean, Mongolian, Fried Chicken, Sushi.  Here it is pizza, pasta, and gelato, which are all AMAZING...but sometimes I just want something different.
And Michael's, Joann's, and Hobby Lobby...oh do I miss those.  I'm not sure how I'll make it through the holidays without them.  
And Dollar Stores.
Not paying the equivalent of $5/gallon for gas...and that's AFTER our 50% discount that the government negotiated for us.  (Gas is almost $10/gal here in Italy) 

And especially now, around the holidays, being able to see/eat/do familiar things...

Today is one of those days I'm just missing home. 
 The feeling will pass.
Eventually.
Sigh.