Homeland.
Saturday, I’m taking my partner and heading to St. Louis. It will be the first time I’ve been back since I moved to ECC. I am really looking forward to visiting. First, I get to introduce my girlfriend to my best friends. People I spent 20 years building friendships with, and then suddenly abandoned when my career changed, and I had to move cities. It’ll be so good to see them again. I get to go to my old AA meetings, Sunday and Wednesday, my mixed meeting and my men’s meeting. People I love and miss.
I get to check in on my house, which I am renting out to a former colleague. She painted and did some minor remodeling. I told her to go ahead and make it her home. I want it well taken care of, so I’m not charging her a great deal for rent. I could probably get 20% more than I’m getting. But it pays the expenses and my tenant is fabulous, so I have no complaints. I cannot over-emphasize the value of an empty-nest, government-employed, former Navy Commander who wants the place long-term as a house tenant.
I’m going to run in Forest Park. Something I never did while I lived there. I’m going to take BB to my favorite places in the city. She has to go home Monday evening, but I’m staying for a few more days. I have an appointment to get my tattoo updated with Japan (日本国), Bermuda (Bermuda), and South Korea (대한민국). I was going to get a larger more colorful tattoo too, but I’m still not sold on my design. I need to design something that’s more meaningful before I ink it. And I should find an artist in ECC I trust instead of having to fly to St. Louis to get ink done.
I’m fuzzy and confused at the moment. My brain is soft and unfocused. I haven’t taken any time off since my trip to Asia, and that was five months ago now. It’s easy for me to get wrapped up. I don’t work so hard that I have no time for me. I take plenty of me time. And I don’t have kids, so I don’t need to worry about that either. I have plenty of time to cook and to work out and to sit in my jacuzzi. I really can’t complain from a lifestyle perspective. But I do need some time off so that I can walk away from work and let it all go for a few days in a row, to refresh my perspective.
It’ll be good to go find my connections in my homeland.
Your family would like to meet your girlfriend at some point, too. I get it – you have several reasons to visit St. Louis and you’ve been home recently (thanks for coming). Just sayin.’
And it’s way harder and more expensive to get to Seattle than St. Louis.
Well, I’m still hoping to make an east coast trip sometime in the next year or so….
I was thinking about all the stuff going on in Ferguson and wondering how close to your home that was. Hope that your visit went well.