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Another 'ah ha' moment.
It's a conscious effort to not look to the past or look to the future.  It's a lot harder than you'd think.  While some things are necessary [what days do I have to work, what am I cooking for meals this week, planning shopping trips - garden seed, birthday presents] looking beyond this moment really isn't necessary.  Taking time to notice the breeze, appreciate the color of the sky and focus on what is in my mouth [as opposed to rushing thru to dessert :-) ] makes the moment so much more pleasant. It makes the future so much less scarey. Hard to explain.
Comparing everything to the past doesn't work so well.  We all know how difficult it makes a job to go in and say 'When I was at  XYZ we did it like this'  I've been doing that to Arizona.  I compare everything to Illinois.  Remember the meltdown when I couldn't find cottage cheese that I liked?  Perhaps that was because I was looking for cottage cheese that tasted just like the brand I used back home.  I have this ongoing search to find pizza just like Lou Malnati's back home because I loooooove Lou Malnati's. 

Here's the 'ah ha' . . .
What if Lou Malnati's is a 7 out of 10 and I miss out on having a 10 out of 10 because I reject everything that is not Lou Malnati-ish?  What if, because I search out Chicago-style EVERYTHING, I am missing out on the greatest food I've ever eaten? 
No doubt I am trying to re-capture favorite moments with family and friends.  No doubt.  It's haaaaaard to be away from them.  This stretch is my longest time away from them and I hope to never be away this long again.  There's a certain amount of guilt when I have fun with them or when I I enjoy something that is not related to back home. 
Weird huh?