dreaming...

I wrote this on the plane 2 days (has it been that long??) ago:

I am sitting in the air, hurtling at 500 miles-per-hour somewhere over Egypt. I have slept very little since Friday morning. I took a power nap in the 1-1/2 hour hop to Kenya from Burundi, and while in the Kenya airport for three hours, I took another nap on the floor in the waiting area on the tiled floor.
I did not know that I could possibly sleep in such a public place, but sleep I did.

 There were many others napping, too. When you've been up since 8 am, and it's 4 am in the morning…it's pretty easy to fall asleep anywhere.

I am finding it hard to sleep on this plane for long spurts, even though I have been so blessed to have an aisle seat and no immediate seat-mate. I have room to sprawl out. Daddy sits a few rows ahead with space besides him, too. I catch 5 minutes of dozing here and there.
The plane is going 500 MPH and so are my thoughts!
As I sit, my mind races with thoughts, trying to reconcile the past four months with what is waiting for me when my air safari is finished.

Already, the past 4 months are starting to feel like a dream, however, I have over 4,000 pictures that prove me otherwise.

I am thankful for this time to allow my thoughts to (somewhat) gather. ...well, as much as can be mentally thought-out when you're overtired and sitting in an airplane.

I have 4 more hours in this plane, a short layover in Amsterdam, and then another 8 hours to get to Dulles. When Dad and I get to Dulles, it'll be a 6-hour-drive home. And then…
HOME.

I have been homesick off-and-on the past few months, but I have become skilled at distracting myself from homesickness. I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing…which is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing in that I can get focused on what I'm doing in the moment, but a curse in that it takes a lot more effort for me to stay in touch with my family and friends back home.

As a camper at girl's camp, I was usually the homesick one. I strongly dislike changes and I always have to have a day or two to grieve my "losses" and acclimate to my "gains"

So if you see me right after I get back, I can't promise what you'll see.
You could see a Makenzie bubbling over with stories and giddy.
You may meet a pensive, pondering, quiet Makenzie.
I'm not sure what my reaction will be!

I have never gone through anything this drastic as far as leaving for four months from everything I am used to and then returning.

So I don't know how I will react.
I'll let you know (or you'll see for yourself)

In my mind, I'm afraid that I have imagined everything being exactly the same as when I left. I know this isn't so…and it hasn't even been that long.
Only a 1/3 of a year. (though that makes it sound like a really long time!)
...

And now, it is Sunday afternoon and I am HOME!
I arrived to my house at 1 am this morning, reunited with my wonderful mom and sisters and then rolled into bed.

Everything still feels like a dream.

I went to church this morning in a fog, and it was all I could do to stay awake. I was pretty much on auto-pilot.
Now, I am trying to stay up until closer to bedtime, so I can quickly adjust to the time difference.