Loose of Limits

I changed my mind - this will be a 3-part post. This is the 2nd part. It should surprise no one that I can take a short story and turn it into a massive novel. Don't you even KNOW me? Where were we? Right, I just finished outlining the first half of our cross country trip, consisting of Nat'l Park Hopping and ending with a trip to Boulder, where I plan to gorge myself on pasta , burgers and margaritas . (Side note: the margaritas at The Rio are so strong that they will not  serve you more than 3 of them. And 3 is about 2 too many.) Let me refresh your memory on the basic route for our long road trip that we'll embark on before The Trip .

I have a never-ending list of wants. I know my life is pretty good and I'm not complaining, but I'm definitely that person who never feels like there's enough time/money to do what I want to do, and I'm pretty much always sure that people are having more fun than I am. One time, I took an impromptu long-weekend trip to Hawaii with a coworker. Tom decided to visit his mom in North Carolina while I was gone. And I was SO upset. Why couldn't he wait for me to be available to go to North Carolina? Even as I was on the beach eating a sno-cone, I kept thinking about Tom hanging out in NC and was jealous. Ridiculous, right? I suppose I can be a grass-is-greener person. I'm really working on getting better at that - enjoying what I have and what I'm doing - which I expect needs to be a lifelong focus for me. Anyway - we've mentioned that we're driving cross-country before we go abroad for The Trip and I feel like I'll have the opportunity to check ...

So, we have to move. Our landlord just had a baby and he and his wife want to move into our/their place. It sucks. We needed a 6 month lease because we plan to leave San Francisco in September or October, but 6 month leases are hard to find in SF. We finally found one. We move into it in 2 weeks, and it's...fine. We don't love the apartment and we really  don't want to move. If there's anything good that's come of this, though, it's that having to move has reaffirmed our commitment to take The Trip. Moving out of an apartment we love and into an apartment that's just okay means we're taking steps to make it happen. At one point, Steph said to me, "We are DEFINITELY taking this trip now. Because I am not going to make the sacrifice to live in an apartment I don't like for no reason." She said it in a tone that I know means business - a tone I don't question - so this new apartment means we're committed. It's happening. Awesome! ...