My romance is winding down.  

My romance with the east coast that is. I LOVE D.C., but that love mainly consists of loving the monuments, museums-all the touristy stuff. The weather during the summer is hellish and it can be expensive using the subway for transportation. Having a car out here can truly suck because parking and traffic are nasty. The economy, meh. There are so many educated and experienced people here that companies and organizations can afford to pay low wages. In many respects, the economy in Seattle and surrounding areas is superior.

I truly miss New England and everything about it. If I had the money to rent a place in Maine on the beach, I would do so in a second. I miss the smell of the ocean, lighthouses, the beaches, the history, the town halls in NEW HAMPSHIRE, the people-the amazing people and their accents. I miss the snow, I miss seeing presidential candidates daily. I miss being in love and by that I mean being in love with where I was at. So close to so much. One hour to Boston, one hour to Vermont, one hour to Maine, 45 minutes to the coast, 40 minutes to the Mass. border. A few hours from New York City. Ahhhhh!!! That, my friends, is one of the biggest differences between the east and west. Everything is so close out here and I LOVE THAT. But I can't love it enough because I don't have the funds to see everything that is close. And this plays into my decision to move. Being so close to things doesn't mean much when you can't trave to those things.

I've been on the outside of politics for the last few weeks and I've found it surprisingly delightful. I still read Politico daily and want to keep up with the general political happenings. It's been nice to refocus on what's important. Last night I was laying in bed and it hit me. My job dominated my life far too much and I lost track and focus of things that deserved my attention. Hopefully my next job won't present the same time and mental challenges to having a well-balanced life.