Light's on, everyone's home, originally uploaded by gms.

So doesn’t it suck when your life moves too far away from your home?

Huh?

Let me explain. Back in the good old days, I lived five blocks from work, in Hollywood. I could go the whole workweek without ever driving my car; it was great! Then all the feline drama happened at my old apartment and I decided to skip living next to the asshole who threatened to kill my cat and on the property of the landlord that 1) went in my apartment when I wasn’t there; 2) told me he was going to catch the outdoor strays and take them to the shelter, and when they were put down it would be my fault; and 3) took my Kitten and wouldn’t give her back until a letter from my nice lawyer friend, Chuck. So yeah, I moved to Plantation. Then my office moved to Hallandale anyway, so the dream commute would’ve ended either way.

Now I work in E. Ft. Lauderdale.

That also happens to be where my Chris lives.

Needless to say, I end up spending a lot of time over here.

But since my stuff (well, the stuff that isn’t in my car or at Chris’s anyway) and my cats are in Plantation, I still go there all the time. Yet I only stay there, oh, 2-3 nights a week.

So now, obviously, I am kinda wishing that home base were a bit closer to the other things in my life. A trip home to check on the cats and grab a different pair of shoes or something takes at hour, at minimum. It's usually more like two on the weekends, if I stay for a little while. I stupidly did the calculations today and, if I lived in this area of town as opposed to the other, I’d save, oh, seven hours a week of driving time. Not to mention feel a little less like I am neglecting my kitties by hardly ever being around.

Small problem: South Florida is expensive. I can’t just go out and rent an apartment by myself. There’s always the roommate route, but.. well, you get to a point in your life where you want your home to be your home. And I've reached it. Besides my short stint living alone in Hollywood, I have spent most of my time in Florida in O.P.P. (other people’s pads) and, well, having to try to feel at home in a place that really isn’t has gotten a bit old. I’d like to feel that I don’t need to cram everything I own in this world into one tiny bedroom. I’d like to feel that it’s my place, too. I’d like to be able to use whatever goddamn sponge I want to wash off the countertop.

Of course, just because you want something doesn’t mean you’ll get it.

There are some little houses in this area with yards on Craigslist that are in the $1,500/month range. Yeah, way out of my price range. Even out of my comfortable price range if I split it with a roommate, for now. But it’s a little daydream, in any case. Maybe if I found a place a bit cheaper, and found a good roommate to go in on it with.. Maybe if works starts to pay me a little more for my troubles.. There are also move-in-with roommate situations, and I suppose that living in someone else’s house close-by would be better than living in someone else’s house not-close-by, but you have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice when you find one of those, not to mention have F, L & D sitting in your bank account.

In the meantime, really, it’s not that bad; I’ve been in worse situations, commuting and otherwise. It is just a bit frustrating. And there is nothing worse than knowing a solution to your problems, just not being able to do a thing about it. Goddamn reality.

I wish I maybe would’ve gone a different route when I was younger; a more decent salary now would make many of my current headaches go away. I'm really beyond tired of worrying about all that shit.

When it comes down to it, I am choosing to do what I do. I choose to make this drive every day. I choose to get back in my car once I’ve struggled through rush-hour traffic to drop by my place so I can get back over to Chris’s, so how can I complain? I could always stay home, but.. well, simply put: I don't wanna. So I guess an extra hour in the car is worth love, of the Chris and puppy varieties. I guess I will figure out a happy solution someday and try to not dwell on it in the meantime, because doing so now is making me feel stuck and it's making me grumpy.

By the way, in case you were wondering, yes I am having hormonal fluctuations at present. I hope to resume to a non-grumpy Stacey shortly. :)