Catching Up

Movement and power

It's been a while since I blogged, I know. I just haven't felt like blogging and haven't had much in mind other than moving. I even run out of things to say in therapy that aren't about moving. But my therapist, brilliant as she is, can tease knowledge and learning out of any aspect of my life.

For example, for several weeks, I went in to therapy feeling overwhelmed and stuck, not getting much done and not feeling as if I could get anything done. My therapist pointed out I was feeling like a victim of my feelings and my circumstance and feeling powerless. That I needed to remember I had other options for how to feel and what to do, that I indeed had power over my situation and myself. Then I started to accomplish a few things, and that started me feeling more powerful and like I could get even more done.

My friend Deb has taken on the task of "nudging" me daily to see what I plan to do and what I've done. I seldom do everything on my list, and I continue to take naps that disrupt my day and my flow of activity, but I am accomplishing things and Deb's nudging helps a great deal.

I had my organizer back to help me organize things for the move: pack a few things, sort a lot of things, and get rid of a lot of things to charity. That helped me so much that I can now see how my friend Sierra and I will be able to pack the whole place when she gets here this week to help me (yay!). And I still have things to take to donate; I don't want to take the time to try to sell them. At this point, I'll just wait until Sierra can help me.

I haven't yet taken an inventory of my boxes, or checked them for bugs; again, I'll wait until I have help. It won't take that long.

Going toward home

Instead, I've cleaned the bathroom, always something useful to do before having houseguests. I'll do laundry. I have final medical appointments with people and am meeting a few people for final lunches before I leave. I was also able to go birding with my best Houston friend yesterday, which makes me very, very happy. Even though there was a super-swarm of mosquitos at the best place for taking pictures.

It look like I'll be taking quite a few boxes to the house of the friends I'll be staying with. There is so much it's very difficult to live without, you know? I've been informed that my friends are taking some time this coming week to make my room welcoming for me. I hope that means closet space: I'd really like to hang many of my clothes, rather than leaving them in boxes or my suitcases. I'm taking some books: my reference books, for when I find work of any kind; some fiction I haven't read and a few fiction that are my comfort reads and my inspirational books.

I'm taking my art supplies and some notebooks and sketchbooks. I'm taking my printer because it's better than their printer and I may need to print resumes or writing samples, even though it's all online. (Well, the resume isn't online, but you always send one ahead.)

I'm losing weight without trying. Sometimes I miss lunch, and sometimes dinner is just yogurt, but mostly I think it's stress-based weight loss. I'm not going to argue with it because it opens up a larger group of clothing to me. Yay!

Home and companionship

And while I'm sad that I'll be missing some very special people here in Texas, I'm reminding myself of how happy I'll be to be with my friends-who-are-really-family up in the Seattle area. I'm working on remembering all the things I loved up there, and on reframing the things I didn't love. I will be able to accept the things that once caused me anxiety or unhappiness so that I can enjoy living there once again. I'm also planning on exploring places I never explored during the many years I lived there, and rediscovering places I knew because a lot has changed in the last dozen years.

And I know I will find a job quickly once I'm in the area. I have a very good feeling about this. I think that high-tech is just my industry and Seattle's a high-tech center. It's my niche and it will be my home again. It's all going to work out fabulously.

So that's how it's been going with me. What do you think? And feel free to let me know how things have been going with you, too.