Mac wanting to do it on his own is a good thing -- that's him taking responsibility, and overall is a step forward. This will allow you the chance to be gracious when he inevitably flounders a little and asks for help.

Exactly this.

I am not upset about him wanting to do it on his own (although that generally means there will be no plan or coordination), but that he is being rude about it.

I guess I just do not accommodate when he contacts me last minute needing help or access. I've got too many plates spinning of my own.

If he got one friend to help we literally could have had his entire apartment moved tonight.

I think it will be nice for you to be in Baltimore with sara and Lisa around and such a cute house.

It will be nice for us, too! You've a lot going on, msbelle, and even the good stuff can be stressful.

tonight's packing is one tv (done), all my crystal (done), and enough of the lesser used glass items in my cabinets to fill a box (next up).

Everyday a little packing, everyday identifying something else I do not need to take - 2 vases and some dishes onto the get rid of pile today.

roll of tape ran out just as I finished up the box. it's a sign to stop for the night. 2 full boxes into the garage. a small bag to go to the office tomorrow and a small stack of new stuff to get rid of. Now a load of laundry in.

My hot packing tip for the night is that bubble padded envelopes make great wrappers for crystal stemware - one padded envelope per stem then wrap with a sheet of newspaper and it will all stay in place.

The kitchen stuff is not nearly as fast as books or art, but having an empty drawer and shelf area is visible progress.

msbelle, you have a lot going. I'm sending you all the jobma.

Can count on not waking to a curly black sheeppoodle staring at me in the dark,

For now. We could send her to you.

I'm pretty gutted about Kamala (I genuinely feel she was one of the most qualified, and the best positioned for a general election battle, and the most aligned with my post-2016 vow to listen to Black women and vote like and with Black women), and today has felt like a minor but awful echo of the day after election day 2016. I'm consoling myself with guinea pigs and gin. I suppose tomorrow I'll pull myself together and get back to fighting to reclaim the Senate, but right this minute everything feels awful and hopeless.

Honestly, one of the things making me feel a little buoyant is coming back to b.org and finding out that Mac got the apartment and contemplating msbelle in Baltimore. Those are deeply good things to meditate upon.

All the hugs, JZ.

I was reading a post about things that make you tear up, and then I came here and read JZs post and teared up

I remember when Mac was just an idea. And it is amazing that we all found each other and have known each other so long. And we have marriages and babies and deaths and bad times and good times, and have a place to come back to where we feel safe and understood. And all because of a tv show and Salon, but also because we persisted in staying together. It is very special.

I saw this from Steph:

As best as I can remember, after my great-uncle came home after WWII, this friend was all "So, you were a medic? Is it true about soldiers fucking corpses?" And yet it still had nothing to do with how he met my great-aunt. Good Lord.

And it occurred to me - at the time, virtually all the corpses would be men ... is it necrophilic homosexual duck time (again)?