it's somewhere I'm glad to get back to, no matter how much I was enjoying where I was visiting.

OK, I love this definition, too.

Nora reminded me: a good friend of min described her husband just like that, as "her home". She knew that this was the man she wanted to marry because upon meeting him, getting to know him and spending time with him, she felt as if she's come home. There wasn't any 'big' love story involved, in more than one way they seemed to not fit each other, and yet. I just love this description.

from all the places that you've lived in, when you say the word "Home", what's the one that's in your mind's eyes?

Even though I call Michigan "back home," LA is home for me. And now, home is wherever S is.

I don't want your Tom. Just a Tom. And not necessarily a "Tom". Just a Tom-like, man-thing that I could call home.

Yes, that. I also would enjoy being a homeowner in the real estate sense.

I used to say I came from NM by way of NC. My identity as a New Mexican is really strong, which is funny since I haven't lived there in 13 years, and probably won't again.

Oddly, the idea of identifying as a Marylander or even a Baltimoron just seems ...well, like a lie.

(And the real estate thing is why I'm more jealous of Nora currently than, say, Lori -- you guys rent, right?)

From the day I moved here, Chicago has felt more like "home" than any other city I've lived in post-college. I don't think it's *there* yet, that deep-down, don't want to be anywhere else thing, but I think it will be eventually. But a not-Tom wouldn't go amiss.

I also would enjoy being a homeowner in the real estate sense.

I wonder if that would make where I live more homey. My parents have owned just the one place, but it's been such a fragmented inhabitation...

Plus, I live in LA, so it may just never happen.

Found out how much of my objective-based bonus I get. Not bad, but I really do need to do taxes before I start spending it in my head.

Assuming no bad tax news, save half of the net, spend half is sensible and adult right?

real estate inspires and inflames passions and jealousy, it's true.

'Home' was still my Mom's house for a long time, but since I got a grown-up career and started accumulating major appliances and major furniture items, it's been my apartment. And now I actually own a house that I like a great deal, despite quirks.

I have a thing that's almost like a sofa. It must mean I kinda like this town.

Though it is easy to move, since you can wrap it in plastic and roll it.

I am nothing if not commitment-shy.