Sunday, December 4, 2011

My Kingdom for a Weekend

In terms of Big Life Stuff, this has been one of the biggest years of my life. I moved--one of the most drastic relocations I've ever done, and by far the most complicated. I attended multiple weddings, of friends and family and myself. Like literally millions of others in my region of the world, I was affected at least to a small degree by an earthquake, a hurricane, tornado warnings, flooding, a snowstorm on Halloween, and the subsequent power outages, property damage, road closures, cancellations, and evacuations....most of which all happened within the span of a few weeks, just after I moved.

These are just a few of the factors that account for my state of mind and lack of free time this year. Things absolutely could be worse, and I am thankful they are not. What's taken its toll on me the most is the amount of driving I've done to address it all.

This move involved staking out neighborhoods I've never heard of in a part of a state I've only driven through at high speed. My new digs are an extra hour away from the friends I had been spending most of my time with, and though I'm now closer to many of my other friends and family, it's still 2-3 hours by car to where they live, and there's no convenient bus or train route for anyone. My wedding was held in a different state altogether, so any onsite planning required a road trip.

I enjoy the occasional road trip, and typically spend 1-2 weekends a month going somewhere, visiting someone. It's been this way since I was a kid.

There hasn't been a weekend where I haven't left the STATE since April.

It's now December.

Have you paid for a full tank of gas recently? I'm not paying as much as other people, for sure, but I didn't budget for this kind of nonstop travel when I signed the lease on the apartment. I've also found myself limping slightly from having my left leg propped up in an almost-natural position while driving; I was fine for the first 5-1/2 months, though. And let's not even begin to discuss how far behind I am with my Mega Man videos, GameCola articles, apartment unpacking, and thank-you notes for the wedding. I've needed a weekend to kick back, give my creativity all the time and space it needs, and get stuff done...and I finally have one.

This weekend, I don't even need to leave the HOUSE if I don't want to. There's a sense of freedom so overwhelming that I can barely prioritize what I want to do.

Wait, I know--I can go have lunch.

This weekend rocks.

1 comment:

JoeReviewer said...

You'd think things wouldn't be so hectic on the moon.

;)

Anyways, I can appreciate the quality of a free weekend, I'd go insane if I couldn't sleep past 8 at least one day a week. :) Hope you be as productive and/or relaxed as you need to be!