Anticipation

Which is not the same thing as waiting. Waiting is what I did this morning. They called to tell me the technician was at my house at 8:30 and that they would call me as soon as he had found the problem. At noon, I still hadn't heard anything. At 2:00 I called and they informed me that he had just finished. And I will openly admit that I was imagining the worst. Mechanically mysterious, unfixable things. You should know that it's -2°C (27°F) outside and snowing.

I will go home to a warm house this evening after work. The heater has been repaired.

I can imagine, already know, how good it will feel to walk into it.

Some things are like that. You know it will be exactly what you want it to be before you even get there. So that when you do, it feels more like a sigh of relief, a confirmation of what you inexplicably knew in advance. Which does not diminish the joy you feel. On the contrary, you've been feeling it all along, the whole journey home.