Oh the Places...

Otherwise known as... Feeling Good

Last Friday I had a first date, which was actually a reunion of sorts, which was actually a double date.

I know, it's confusing.

We're not ready to go public with our story... (yet, dear readers-- stay tuned!)... but I can say that life has suddenly become about so much more than balancing work and graduate school, which was quite enough. 

In addition to this most welcome development, about a month ago I decided that at the end of the lease of my condo, that I would move back in with my mom.  I hate moving.  This time, though, I have a purpose, confident in the knowledge that my life is headed in the right direction.  I came to this decision for a variety of reasons.

1.  I'm lonely, she's lonely, why spend money on rent when we can just live together and enjoy having some social time together during the week?  Groceries for two aren't really any more than groceries for one, and a lot less organic skim milk is going to go to waste.  Win.  Win.  Additionally, although she is doing fine financially, some extra income in the form of rent money certainly wouldn't hurt.

2.  My mom is cool.  When we live together we don't have the typical mother-daughter relationship.  She respects my space, and my freedom, and I am courteous to let her know when not to expect me home.

3.  Aiko-chan, my adorable feline companion is alone-- a lot.  I know that she would enjoy spending time at Mom's and getting to go out among the plants on the back porch.  She would also get to enjoy so much more loving than she can get from me while I'm in school.  Aiko-- the needy, loving, purring kitty who never learned that cats aren't supposed to care about humans-- has resorted to camping out between me and my laptop when I'm working on an assignment, until I relocate her purring self.  I hate that.  My mom can give her a lot more attention than I can with my full schedule.  This is a reality that can't be ignored.

4.  Even though I drive the coolest hybrid ever, I'll be saving money-- and time-- with a much shorter commute to My Small Town High School.  I love that.

5.  I want to start traveling again, and increase the amount of money that I'm saving towards a home of my own again.  I live to travel, and living on my own just doesn't allow for the kind of disposable income it takes to go the places I'd like to go.  The factors of living single and being a public school employee do not create the necessary conditions it takes to see the world.  That's what I want to do.  I spent a great deal of my twenties outside the United States, getting stamps in my passport, living globally.  I had incredible experiences.

I am ready to stop celebrating my well-traveled past, and embrace what is to be.  I want to go places, do things... and then come home, content that I am living.

After I ran the Princess 1/2 Marathon, I completed a survey that asked me if I would be interested in participating in the inaugural half marathon at Disneyland Paris in the fall of 2014-- just before my 40th birthday.  I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the milestone.  That gave me the push to reflect and make the necessary life changes that would allow such a journey.

So now, I am balancing my full work schedule (five more weeks until graduation!), my full assignment schedule for school, the looming move, and spending time on the weekends with a truly special individual-- and his two dogs-- in Sanford.  (Happy, contented sigh!)

When it rains, it pours.  

Good thing I've got an umbrella.