"Sonny, Move Out To The Country"

A year ago today, I left Oklahoma--a state where I was born and spent most of my life--and arrived in the state of Virginia. In that year, I've found a teaching job, found a girlfriend, and generally had a great time living in the Northern Virginia/DC area. I've finally transitioned into that whole adulthood thing, which is probably a load off of most of my relatives' minds, and I've matured as a person in many ways (though in a lot of ways I remain exactly who I was).

Not all the changes have been good, of course. My parents' divorce was something of a shock, and the way I viewed the world was altered quite radically by that single event (or series of events, as it really was). I'm disconnected from most of my family (except for phone calls and occasional emails), and I don't have as much free time or creative energy as I did when I was working at the OU Athletic Department Writing Center. Money has become a major concern, since I really don't want to have to run to my folks each time I spend a little more than I should have.

Overall, though, I think the past year has shown that my move to Virginia was a move for the better. I'm happier and more confident than I was a year ago, more at ease with myself and those around me. I'm still a kid in a lot of ways--and probably always will be, to an extent--but I'm growing up. About damn time, probably.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Tom Petty, "Down South"