But pretty soon you'll wake up in New Orleans and you'll say, "I live here!" and that's pretty fucking sweet.

YES I REMEMBER THIS TOO.

I mean, smonster, just keep thinking NOLA ROAD TRIP! instead of HUGE MOVE.

And you don't have to leave. You are going to get a job working with stuff you love, and you are going to have so much fun living there.

But pretty soon you'll wake up in New Orleans and you'll say, "I live here!" and that's pretty fucking sweet.

This is true. And as hard as this has all been, I can't even imagine how much harder it would have been without the wonderful help of all my friends and family.

{{Nora}}

MFN - peace to you and yours

There are no "shoulds" or "shouldn'ts" when it comes to grief.

This needed repeating, because it is so, SO true.

Barb, phooey and yuck. I hope the machines do the trick. Better to get on it right away than let it mold.

No lie. That's where we lucked out, actually. This leak happened over the weekend when we used that faucet for a few hours. It just took until today for it to really soak into the carpets and walls, so mold hasn't had a chance to set in.

Nora, be good to yourself-- grief has no logic or rhyme or reason. It just is and you don't have to try to justify or explain it away. It's your experience and nothing and no one else has the right to dictate how it should be.

And looking on the brighter side, you will soon have a smonster as a neighbor!

Am back from Portland trip! Great fun, tempted to move there. I have read every single post and am too brain-dead to meara, but I heart you all.

My condolences for your loss, Maria.

smonster, I'm sorry I couldn't join you in your EPIC roadtrip/move to NOLA.

Thanks y'all- sort of saw how hard I was being on myself when I wrote it out. Getting it out of my head is important, diffuses the inner brain bully.

Yeah, lots of this.

Which is weird, because now I live in the place where I would run to and hide in.

I know this one! I used to plaintively recite to myself, "I just want to go home," when faced with too muchness. And then one day in my awesome house that loves carrots, I realized I was home. And I totally just let that soothe me. Just took the time to breathe and appreciate the things I appreciated, and to be happy I was sad at home. If you know what I mean. That I had a safe space and supportive family to be sad in/around. To let myself enjoy the house even though I was sad. To give myself time and space to be sad.

The couch has left the building. I repeat, the couch has left the building. All hail.

Zen, glad you had fun! I'm sorry you can't come, too. Honestly? Not sure how I would have fit you in the car. Gonna be a tight, tight fit as it is.

Yay, couchlessness!