Fighting the urge to do nothing...

Update: I finally found the sun, which is nice... and my mood is grateful.

For the last few days, various friends and I have been chatting about the art of having fun and having a life. The main two issues that have come up most often are living alone versus with someone, being single versus married and relaxation versus going out on the town.

So the first issue...

In moving to CT for the new job, I notice that it's been different than all of my other moves because this is my first move not being single. Theoretically, that shouldn't make a difference, but there's something about being able to go out whenever you feel like it, invite folks over at any time for drinks or dinner, or flirt with random people that somehow facilitates getting to know people. Well, I can't do that now for two reasons.
But, as much as I used to enjoy my freedom to meet new people without fear of ill-intentions or ulterior motives, it's still nice to have a family to come home to after a hellish day at work. Sometimes, I think that if they weren't here on most days I would have crumbled by now... just floating without a center or a bigger reason to reconnect with the normal world outside of the hospital.

So the question is, which is better, or is each "better" in their own ways? Is there a way to have both (family and freedom), even after kids? What do you think?
The second issue...

After a tiring day/week/month at work, school, or plain 'ole life... isn't it super hard to fight the desire to just do nothing? Don't get me wrong. Doing nothing is totally acceptable under the GAL creed. But, sometimes I think it makes us hermit-like to the point that when we want to go out, no one is around because we've alienated ourselves.

To piggyback on the first issue, when the family went out of town one weekend, I noticed that I didn't really have anyone to go party with here. That's what made me realize that I had become a hermit, but I'm still not sure if it's due to my work schedule or my new family-oriented lifestyle. I'd like to think that even with the schedule, if I was here by myself I would have wandered to a pub or two with my co-workers or taken up the many offers to go see a movie or a play. But, who knows? My last move to a new location was 6 years ago, so maybe I'm just getting OLD! (gasp)
My pact to myself...

So my personal pact to myself is not to let myself be totally hermit-like... To not only make it a point to couple-fun stuff, but also invite folks over to the house on the nights that I can't go out on the town... Or, spend that time catching up on work so the days when we DO have a babysitter or the fam is gone out of town, I am free to party like a rockstar (like last weekend in Jersey... man, that was a fun night!).

But, getting rest is still key. I already know I can't party three nights a week til 4am and be functional at work at 8am like I used to. Some things have changed. Sorry.