We’re home! And I have work I can do today but no meetings.

We’re home!

Excellent!

My plan is to have clothing north and south and only travel with pet stuff and a small travel bag.

That is such a smart idea!

I get on a plane tomorrow, but I'm hoping I got all of my transportation woes out of the way yesterday, when an 18-year-old ran a red light and hit me as I was pulling out of the parking lot of my office. We all got lucky. No airbags deployed, no injuries except for a bit of soreness today. If I hadn't seen her coming and braked, she might have t-boned me.

I have never been especially good at finding people to hang out with on a one-on-one basis, as I find socializing in groups less awkward than socializing one-on-one, but trying it at almost fifty is even more difficult than it was when I was younger, and people just don't throw parties the way they used to before the pandemic.

I feel this so much. I never managed to build a local friend network up here after we moved out of Brooklyn, and then the pandemic hit, and now I've lived in Ossining for 9 years and the best I can do is "people I like whose kids are the same age as my kids and can chat with if we happen to run into each other." Some of whom would probably make excellent Actual Friends if I weren't so utterly shit at reaching out to people and making that happen! What I need is someone with social skills who can invite me to things (I had one, but she moved to a different state! Rude!)

Lisah, I'm glad you finally made it home!

My local network of friends (we all went to school here, and they're still most of my closest friends) is the reason I was so anxious to move back to the DC area. Honestly, if I hadn't had to, I never would have left in the first place. Cost of living sucks, but the proximity of the majority of my close friends is more than worth it... it makes my life. I just wish so many DC-istas hadn't moved away!

Lisah, that was a lot for one weekend. Glad you're home!

What I need is someone with social skills who can invite me to things (I had one, but she moved to a different state! Rude!)

Seriously. Who approved that?

David, a day steeped in memories the day after Jacqueline's memorial makes perfect sense.

We have a beautiful day here - warm and sunny after a few gloomy days, so that's nice. Even doggo doesn't begrudge the walking (only dog I've ever met who's "meh" on walking. The outdoors is for doing her business (er, most of the time?), adventure, schmadventure, says she.)

Yikes, Dana! Glad you are okay and I certainly hope that is it for transportation related mishaps for you for quite a while!

Dana, ugh. Glad it wasn't worse, but that still sucks.

Ack, Dana! So glad it was not worse.

Local network? What's that?(Gee, turns out hanging out because you're physically broken in some of the same ways is meh for relationship longevity.)

One package of bubble wrap for Dana, coming up.

I am also still vibrating from Saturday, more in a good way than bad. But I do want to put one thing out there to everyone who hugged me on Saturday, whether it was the first time or after long years apart: Thank you, more than I'll ever be able to express. Yes, it was a lot to take in. But it felt so *safe.* What the Empress said upthread about every hug letting her relax and unclench just a little bit more -- yeah, that was so true for me. (Aims, you're incredible and I love you so much.)

Which meant that I got home and bawled my eyes out for a couple of hours, of course. But that catharsis had been stuck in my chest for months. The 2020s have been a lot for me, y'all. But at least I still have my fierce, sweet Buffistas.