Go west, young man

I miss California. If I start out one more sentence with "In California...", though, my husband will beat me. I miss being anonymous. I miss the ocean-more the idea of the ocean, and the atmosphere it creates, rather than the actual ocean. I miss bars and shopping and everything being nearby, like Vegas...but today i'm not going to get started on Vegas.

Missouri has some good things about it. When I go to the grocery store in my sweats, no one even notices. When I get up on Sunday to get the newspaper, I can send my kid into the gas station to get one, and he will not be molested/abducted/robbed of his $1.50 on the way in...And, I can park really, really close. When I'm late for work, and I see both of the town's cops in the parking lot at the station, I know I can do 50 in the 35. I can leave my keys in the car overnight, let the cat stay out on the porch, and leave the kids' toys in the front yard. No one will touch them. I have almost a whole acre of a yard, my house has over 5 square feet of space, and I didn't have to pay $350k for it.

California's still better.