…… on.

I’m not saying that people move on, or better yet, people who are grieving move on. Because we don’t.
But we do move forward.

Life. It’s life …… that moves on.
At this point in my life, I can say that that’s not necessarily a negative thing.
At first it is. It hurts. A lot. And it’s hard to accept and adjust to.
But after 11 years, it is what it is.

And while I’ll never move on from being Jim’s widow, my life is definitely moving that way.

I’m back in Waco. I’ve been here for a little over a month. It’s time for me to sell my house here and to move to NYC full time.
I. Can. Not. Wait.

Don’t get me wrong. I like being here. I love being around my grandkids and being closer to most of my kids. And my parents.
I also love my house and will really miss it.
But my non-Gigi heart is in NYC. Thankfully, all of my kids know this and are more than okay with it.
Even Daughter #2, who lives here with the two boys. I know that she has mixed feelings about me leaving.
She loves NYC, as do all of my kids.
And she loves me and knows that it’s my happy place.
She also knows that I will probably be in Waco just as often as I am now. I can’t stay away from those boys for too long.

But it’s time for my life to move on from here. I need to be there full time so that I can fully live my life. I want to volunteer in a few areas and it’s difficult to do that when you don’t live there all of the time.
I have many friends there and I miss them when I’m not there.
And …… there’s still SO much for me to do, learn and experience in NYC.
And I can’t wait.

So …… I’ve been getting my house ready to be put on the market.
Which means that I’ve been purging like crazy. There are very few things that will move to NY with me, so I’ve got to get rid of a whole lotta things.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time with D2 and the boys. In fact, I took care of them this week while she went to a conference in Vegas.
At least, that was her story.

It was a wild week.
Grandson #1 is now 4 years old.
And goes to a Montessori school.
Grandson #2 is a year and a half.
And goes to daycare.
Unless Gigi is watching him and wants to keep him home.
Which I did.
(I was also annoyed with the daycare because I took him there on Monday and they decided that he has pink eye. With no pink eye.
Seriously?
I tried to tell them that you can’t have pink eye if it’s not pink.
Or itchy.
He has allergies.
But whatever.)
So he and I had some great time together this week.

Grandson #1 is a hoot.
And a strong willed, vocal, and stubborn young man.
All good (yet sometimes not) qualities.
I had some flashbacks this week when the school called.
He had a couple of rough days.
I hate flashbacks.

But all in all he had a good week.
D2 got home at around 1:00 a.m. this morning.
I immediately got in my car and went home.
I was eager to sleep in today.
And to give Gracie some down time.

She had dental surgery this week. I took her in expecting her to have a tooth extracted.
She had four removed.
W.T.H?!

Evidently her jaw bones are on the crappy side and seem to be disappearing, which loosens her teeth and causes infections.
And the need for extractions.
Fun times.

Poor baby.
I had to board her at the vet the night before because I couldn’t get her there on time the next morning and get Grandson #1 to school on time.
She had never been boarded before.
I’m not sure who suffered more, her or me.
Wait …… that’s not true.
I know who suffered more.
Any person and/or animal that had to listen to her whine, cry and screech all night.
I was surprised they didn’t charge me extra for that.

Anyway …… she was pretty pathetic when I picked her up and she stayed that way all night. I let her stay in her sling that I wore most of the night. Yes, I have a sling for her. It makes life MUCH easier in NY and in airports. And she loves it.
So, yeah. She was miserable but pretty drugged up all night.

The next morning she was back to her normal, hyper, obnoxious, cute self.
Must’ve been great drugs.

Back to D2 getting back this morning.
She took the boys to school/daycare and went to work.
Then she picked them up early this afternoon and headed to Austin to go on a retreat for single foster moms.
Daughter #3 and her hubby will be taking care of the boys.
She asked me if I wanted to go.

…… bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha!
It’s not that I don’t love visiting my Austin kids, because I do.
But yeah …… no.
I need some down time to re-charge.
Yes, I love and adore those boys.
But ……
I’m too old for this stuff.
And I have no idea how I mothered 6 kids.
None.
Other than the fact that I wasn’t 50-something.

So I went to the grocery store today to stock up on essentials …… coffee and creamer. And bagels and cream cheese.
And I got 4 movies from a Redbox.
BTW, it was snowing here in Waco at that time.
I kid you not.

My plan this weekend?
To veg out, drink coffee, eat bagels and watch some movies.
And hang with Gracie without having to chase down the fastest crawler on earth before he eats dog food, gets into dog litter, grabs a glass of “night time coffee”* (Don’t ask. I haven’t told D2 about that yet.), or tries to dive down some stairs.
Did I mention that I’m too old for this?
And exhausted?

It’s going to be a good weekend.

*night time coffee is what D2 told Grandson #1 is the name for wine.
She’s brilliant.