I finally had a mini-vacation and went with my mom to Newport, RI for a long weekend, which was great fun! She hadn't been there in over 15 years and things are much more built up than before, but there's still a nice mix of local shops along with the major chain stores, and the mansions were very interesting. We did a mix of everything - lobster rolls, afternoon tea at Marble House, two mansion tours, dinner at the White Horse Tavern, and shopping, so much so that in one day I logged over 15,000 steps. For someone who normally clocks 2,500-3.500 it was quite a change but I certainly slept well!

I also realized that while I've been admitted to the hospital four times this year, the last time I stayed in a hotel was 2022. Let me reiterate that, it's been three years since I stayed in a hotel! That's probably the longest I've ever gone between vacations (even then it was one night in Atlantic City for a concert), and this wasn't even a full week, just four nights away. Now that I've been in my job coming up on three years I need to start planning time off again, and stay sober so that I can use my PTO for fun things, not hospital stays and endless doctor appointments.

 I'm still looking for a condo/townhouse/house that comes in under $500,000 for a 2 bed/2 bath. While I haven't given up, I am realizing just how far I would have to move before that's a real possibility. Anything on a train line to NYC is right out unless I want to get shot waiting for the train, and while near Philly is more affordable it's not really close to family or NYC, so that limits those possibilities. Maybe down near where my parents are, which would be 20-30 minutes to a bus that would take an hour and a half to arrive in Port Authority, but that might be the most likely area.

For now though I'll just focus on keeping my job, saving what I can, and hope the coming recession drops prices enough that I can take advantage of it (not that I want that, but Trump's doing everything in his power to crash the economy so we shall see). I have a lot to be proud of in terms of getting stability and that's good enough for now.