This weekend was a rare event for me: a show I did not go to.

I had taken time off in case I decided to, or came into some money and became able to more accurately, go to Don Henley’s birthday show and meet and greet in Dallas, TX. I never did wind up being able to make it happen, so I figured great! I’ve been going non-stop since June 13 when I went to see Don Henley’s Toronto show. Since then, I’ve seen 3 Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie shows, put over 3500km on my car, and last weekend, saw Metallica with my partner in crime since high school. It’s been one hell of a month. I can use this 3 day weekend to sleep, relax, and just have the time to recharge that as an introvert, I really need sometimes.

Then we got the first phone call.

My brother in law had some of his things stored here while he worked out of province. Now that he has gotten a job within driving distance, he planned to come down and pick up his stuff. That’s okay, thought I; he can handle himself, I can just relax and maybe even still go away for a few days if I just calm down and DON’T do the meet and greet?

Then more details emerged.

Brother in law was bringing his fiancée, and they would be flying in on Saturday morning, needing someone to pick them up. Well, dang it. I really like her, and we haven’t seen them since they became engaged. I should be good and stay here and pick them up. But maybe I could still just hang out in the backyard, still relax, and they won’t be here all weekend.

Then we got the 3rd phone call.

My dad got a job in my hometown, starting Monday! This is fantastic news, he needed a new job and found what sounds like a good one here. Plus, it will be absolutely wonderful to have my parents close to me, since for almost 8 years I’ve lived 400km away.

But whoops, oh yeah, they haven’t found a place yet.

My dad moved in with myself and Mr Coyote on Thursday.

My coworkers were surprised to hear I was happy about this, and honestly I hadn’t really thought it through, but I truly don’t mind. I absolutely love it here, and don’t regret leaving the big city behind for the northern life at all. I really am happy, and he’s teaching me to cook which is beyond necessary, so I don’t think I’ve made as huge a mistake as some of them seem to believe.

However, it was pretty much the final “you’re not going, KC, let it go” moment.

Mr Coyote was making fun of me because I was sad. And it is a little ridiculous; I’ve seen 5 shows by 3 different bands in just 4 weeks! But you know that saying, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take? For me, that translates to I regret 100% of the shows I haven’t gone to. So I try to keep those to a minimum. I still tortured myself by checking the setlist, and I follow the company that is running the meet and greet on Twitter and Facebook so I can’t bypass the updates even if I wanted to. Which I don’t, because apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.

However, missing this one allowed me to buy a really nice anniversary gift for Mr Coyote (he reads here, so no details!). It also allowed us to go to a lovely family dinner yesterday, and spend the weekend with my dad as he nervously prepares for his new job, and their big move. We’re currently watching Shark Week on Discovery, a ritual for my family that I haven’t been a part of in over 17 years.

All in all, I’ll always be sad I didn’t get to the show. It’s in my nature; I don’t know why but I need to be in an audience, I need to have as many experiences as I can. But I’m also happy I didn’t go. In my  20’s I was largely on my own. I loved my family dearly, but I didn’t see them much. I lived my own life, skipping Thanksgiving dinner every year to use the day to go to shows because it was a free day off, making questionable decisions that pretty much always paid off because only I needed to be happy with them. Now, though, I go to my uncle’s house every Thanksgiving and my grandma’s every Christmas. Easter dinner is hosted at my house. And if a family dinner is happening here, or even out of town if I have the time off, I do my best to be there. I would of course prefer to be able to do both! Go hang with Don Henley for awhile, then head home to my everyday life.

But this time around, I can almost say, I’m glad I stayed behind. My beloved shows are still my happy place, and I’d live in them forever if I could. But eventually, even I need to come home. And maybe even settle down a bit, too.

Cause right now, home is a pretty nice place to be.