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We went to St. Michael's this weekend.

We rented a nice, quaint, house right on the bay, with a pool, a grill, and our own personal dock to go "crabbing" off of. Close by- it was only an hour and 20 minutes or so from our house. It was the perfect long weekend getaway for everyone to pack up the kids (and what a production that is) and drive a short distance to a place that seems worlds away. Just driving through town, and you're like, "woahhhh, I just slammed into a wall!"- but in a nice sort of way. Time just kinda stops when you're with the closest friends that you know. One of them I've known for 20+ years, and some others I've known for at least 15. We were right when we said that our kids would know each other.

It was such a great weekend. Many naps on the hammock, with the Seed pulling out some string and tying it to a tree so that he could rock himself to sleep on it. Many attempts at crabbing with chicken necks- and not drumsticks (as Head on a Stick would suggest)...we caught three, one died- and the other two just got away somehow. Lots of picture taking, lots of food on the grill, lots of laughter, Off bug spray, lots of giggling and whining children, lots of baby monitors, lots of beer and smoke, and lots of happiness. Made me get to thinking of some past blog posts about moving here or there, how Maryland sucks, and how living in Tibet would somehow make your children more worldly.

Many times I've had thoughts of moving away again...perhaps to Arizona, or Colorado. But, I think that if I moved to those places, I wouldn't appreciate those places anymore. For instance; California used to be the shit. I was all things Cali and all things and totally 1000% against living at home. Why is that? I think because I knew what I had to do with my life, and I was running away from it. Hawaii, also- once I lived there, it was amazing- but I didn't appreciate it until I moved home. In my humble opinion, its travel that sets you (and your children) up for appreciation of the different states and different countries, but not necessarily moving and living there. In my humble opinion, if I moved to Amsterdam, I sooo wouldn't appreciate it. But traveling there for one or two weeks, and coming back- just tells me that there is so much more to see- elsewhere and beyond. Just traveling to St. Michael's (all one and a half hours) made me appreciate the bay. Wouldn't necessarily live there, but we've all gone in on going back in the spring- and then again in the fall- just a bi-yearly, easy peasy getaway.

It's the "getaways" that take you one more step to being content. Of course, you don't want it to end, but a greater sense of appreciation for life and the pursuit of happiness comes from it. I guess this is my plea for my friends that are far away...we didn't make a mistake by living in Maryland. We actually chose it. Sure, I've grown up here, and sure, I'm pretty familiar with everything that seems right around the corner, but its what I'm making of it...and I promise you, if you move home, it might be the same for you. I'm simply sayin, "the grass is always greener".

Moving home certainly isn't everything, and it isn't for everybody. I'm just shooting out my mouth and trying to tackle the things that have been said about Maryland. Sure, its boring (because you've lived here all of your lives), sure- there's nothing to do (but you would say the same about Morocco if you grew up in Morocco). Sure, you can't go on a surfing safari in Maryland- but did I really do that when I lived in Hawaii? Noooooooooo. Just sat on my ass and said, "damn, I'm cool. I live in Hawaii."

What am I trying to say here...hmmm lets see if I can summarize. Britney is on the verge of something horrible....and we're getting old. If you're going to move somewhere, DO it already. Time is not even thinking about stopping. All we can do is make the moments happen more often. Move to Japan, move to anywhere else but "here"...but truly, "here" is really not that bad. It's really, really not. I'm just so filled with friendship and love right now that I just wish that everyone could feel what I feel. And I know that that's a VERY LEO thing to say, but whatever. I'm just blogging.

Bottom line is, we missed those that weren't there. Perhaps if they were living at home.....