One of the most difficult propositions when you have gone somewhere to establish good habits -- particularly new habits -- is maintaining them once you return home.

I spent 11 weeks in Texas doing everything I could do change my life, from exercising every day to eating properly to maintaining a positive attitude. I was so eager to test my newfound resolve that I drove home -- nearly 1,550 miles -- in two days. I went from Bandera to Gallup, N.M., the first day and came the rest of the way on Saturday.

[caption id="attachment_539" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The stables"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/DSC_0274.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-539" title="DSC_0274" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/DSC_0274-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

Despite the fact that I hadn't been able to exercise at all my last couple of days in Texas thanks to a sore back, I got up at 6 a.m. Sunday and walked for an hour and a half. I haven't missed a day since, and although my route through Montrose is very different from my route in Hill Country State Natural Area, it has become a pleasant part of my morning each day this week.

Diet hasn't been a big problem either. I have stayed under my 1,500 calorie limit every day and haven't felt the urge to go out for pizza more than once or twice.

<em>The urge, that is. I haven't actually done it.</em>

So with those things in mind, the biggest adjustment is living with someone else again after several months of living alone. As I've written before -- and certainly with whatever wisdom the failure of my first marriage gave me -- voluntary separations are rarely if ever positive things.

When Nicole and I were apart, she became accustomed to doing a lot of things for herself, things that I was doing for her before I left. In the long run