San Francisco, Day 2

Yesterday was a great day, I signed some papers, hung out with my step-father, and went a home improvement store to look at ideas for remodeling the condo we are buying. The condo has amazing views looking at the Pacific ocean. It is a few blocks from the Muni and the zoo and needs a lot of work. We need to gut the kitchen and the bathroom and start over. I do not consider myself a decorating maven but I do know not to paint ceilings black with little yellow specks. I also realized that in San Francisco you are free to be a gay redneck hick. You are really free to be whatever you want in this city. I can't imagine being a fundamentalist zealot in this city but they have them here, I saw one today - I thought about taking a picture but I figured people would think I got someone to dress up. The people we are buying the condo from are gay redneck hicks. We don't even have those in Asheville...plenty of rednecks, no overt gay rednecks. They are moving to Marin county so now there will be gay redneck hicks in Marin county, I see the members of the junior league of Marin fainting in their prim shoes.
I have also seen a lot of this bumper sticker:
I love it.
I ran in the Golden Gate Park this morning. I thought I ran about 6 miles but when I tracked it on this website I actually ran/walked 7.25 miles. I now understand why my legs and knees hurt so much. Here is the route. I was able to run about 4 miles before I knew I had to walk. While running I saw a pheasant, some egrets, some people doing Tai Chi and lots of beautiful flora and fauna. I even ate some wild blackberries. Please explain to me how there can be so many homeless people in that park and none have noticed the blackberries. They were delicious.
I also had the best cup of coffee I have ever had in my life. The shop is on 9th Ave between Judah and Irving and they roast their own beans. There should be coffee pilgramages to this coffee house. I think it is called the Beanery but I am not sure. They make a fantastic cappuccino and a wonderful brewed decaf.
I miss Asheville something fierce right now eventhough I really like this city. I want to cuddle with my child and my cats and the dog. And the husband, of course. The premise of returning to the grind next week is daunting. I am sure I will do fine but I want to stay home. Travelling for work is hard, being away from my family and friends is hard. I can't be a part of Asheville (volunteering, etc...) because I am never home. It took 2 months of being home before I really started getting comfortable and now I am leaving. The sacrifices we make for things is a remarkable thing but there is some selfishness too. There aren't really jobs there that will challenge me intellectually the way I need to be to stay happy at work but I don't want to move because Hubby's business is there, our daughter loves it there and it is a really good place to raise a child. Sure we have crime and all that but there are a lot of poeple committed to making Asheville a wonderful place and they are effective. When Hubby's job is stable I could potentially create a job that I would like but that isn't for a few years. It is a pedicament.