Bev, you and I are moving to opposites in a sense. Me to old, you to less old. I was doing what you are a mere couple of months ago. It is disconcerting, taking things apart and exposing space.

One and a half weeks and I'm moving! Eep.

Why does this and the years biggest fundraiser have to be on the same day?

Worked twelve hours today getting ready for said fundraiser and I feel GOOD, which is nice after feeling so drained and yucky for almost a solid week.

And then I threw up again. Hopefully it's just a bit of delayed heat exhaustion (that's my silver lining).

Beverly, when I had fled Long Island to my parents two years ago, I had to prune five years of carefully accumulated things and furniture and carefully crafted "me"ness and it hurt so so much. I keep trying to have a minimalist style of living, but damnit, I like living in a homey home, not college dorms or military barracks!

After that first prune and having to reacquire furniture, the expense of storage is looking pretty tasty.

But you also get to create a new space, Bev. And yet I know what you mean. It's hard to pack up a space without a sense of longing or loss, at least for me anyway.

Why does this and the years biggest fundraiser have to be on the same day?

I bought a house when my professional and extracurricular life were hitting peak stress. I lost 10 lbs in the week before closing, and now that work is going insane, it seems to be starting to drop again. I get it.

Interesting to learn that stress=weightloss for me.

Interesting to learn that stress=weightloss for me.

I envy you. I think I'm the only person who gains weight with a virus. And food is my comfort zone. Depression and stress equals copious amounts of bread and pasta.

I suspect depression lead to the gain. Minute I was challenged again and felt like I was doing something, started shrinking. Eating changed a little, but it can't account for 40 lbs now. And certainly not those 10 lbs in a week.

Of course, I'm the freak who smokes less under stress. So.

I'm the only person who gains weight with a virus.

Possibly not. Stress gastric uck, and I'm holding steady. My weight is a medical conundrum, it's self-supporting. If I went on a year-long water fast tomorrow, I'd weigh the same in a year, I'm convinced. Of course, I dropped 20+ pounds during both pregnancies, so that's an indicator of weird, right there. Ah well. Lettuce and green beans and chicken, ahoy.

I feel like I should be sad at all the life-dismantling, but I'm really not. What's more troubling is porting it all into the new space. Which...I might just like to leave pretty empty.

Not that that will ever happen, because like Pigpen's dirt cloud, I attract things. They follow me home, they take up residence--without permission!

stress = weight loss for me as well. Of course, that's been counteracted by age = weight gain. Oh well.

like Pigpen's dirt cloud, I attract things.

me too, Bev. I was noting earlier today that I love a messier, busier aesthetic. All around me I see these clean, modern homes with NOTHING in the rooms. Maybe a couch, an end table, and two magazines. That's it. And I boggle at how they do it.

Ha. Dh loves the very clean aesthetic. I just laugh and say , where would we put our stuff?