i am alive, and accidentally in wisconsin

I owe about 37 posts from my Europe trip. I need to develop an nom de plume so I can write all the tales. Or have my mom sign a waiver that she won't read them.

No, it wasn't all salacious. From visiting family friends in Belgium, to attending one of my best friend's fairytale wedding, to biking through the countryside, to taking two amazing hikes, to tasting all sorts of incredible food and beverages-- I really feel I LIVED for 12 days.

I am jonesing more than ever to ACTUALLY move to Europe. I thought after almost two full weeks of living out of a suitcase I'd be ready to come home, but I've never moreso been tempted to stay. From almost taking two random Brits up on a roadtripping offer to playing "eeny-meeny-miny-mo" with the ticket machine at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Paris, Berlin, Airport...), I was ready to just send the "I'm not coming back email." Unfortunately my oldest child responsibility gene kicked in and I relunctantly boarded a plane back.

So now I'm back in Wisconsin having a midlife crisis. But I did make some key resolves while I reflected overseas:

• Get out of volunteer commitments where my heart isn't in it and my time is overly consumed
• Train for a half marathon and take advantage of outdoor fitness activities more.
• Do more things for free and less things for money. While I love going to shows, I can't pour every last dime of my income into concerts. As painful as it is, I need to redirect some of that free time. Luckily today I got the UWM Union Theatre schedule in the mail and that should provide plenty of entertainment this fall!
• Keep up with the CSA and scale back on eating out.
• Spend more time with friends.
• Spend more time with myself.
• Have a "life changer" game plan in place by my 31st birthday--January 11, 2011.