And me.

So we've moved. And I am doing all right.

Those last few weeks in Boston were just how I wanted them to be. There were lots of dinners with friends and people stopping by and taking a few extra minutes to chat. I drank a lot of tea with friends. The packing was not rushed until the very end and I was able to keep a pretty level head about things because I paced myself. And I did myself a favor by doing a bunch of yoga those last few weeks.

I wasn't very sad. That was a weird thing.

I will admit, that at the Corner Co-op when they sang the good-bye songs I got sad and cried at the thought of "moving along", as the song says. I have been to that Co-op three or four times a week for four years. It has been such a supportive a nurturing place for all of us to grow and the things we've all learned there we will carry with us everywhere. (I've considered calling the Co-op several times in the last week as I have been puzzled by Ramona's behavior--usually I'd just ask them what they thought about this or that parenting issue as I dropped her off.)

I also cried when I said good-bye to the house. We can never return to it. It is the only home the kids remember and there are so many good memories in that house. Most of our friends have come there for our social time and it has been alive with people so much of the time. I will really miss it.

But I felt so happy saying good-bye to Boston. Not in a good-riddens kind of way, but it a celebratory way. Boston, the Co-op, JP, the Haley, and even HGSE and HMS have been great for us in this chapter of our lives. I feel that I have grown up a lot. And that makes me so happy. Our friends have been so wonderful. Just wonderful. And I feel so happy to have them. So happy.

So I wasn't sad as we hugged our crying friends good-bye.

Then we drove out of town and headed South. I was still focused on tasks and getting to our destination. At the "log barn" we finally had a chance to relax for a minute and I finally (FINALLY!) was sad. My heart got heavy--it swelled thinking of life going on in JP without us and I cried and then cried some more. I will really, really miss our comfortable community. I will miss knowing what to expect out of the day. Mainly I will miss all you people who I like seeing as I go about my days. No more talking to Amy nearly each day about coordinating kids' transportation. No more Aarti drop-bys or Ara cooking dinner at our house. No more spying on Julie and Aaron and cuddling Moses. No more calling Kira from the car. No more mom's group. No more seeing Sharon at the playground. No more grand entrances into the Co-op with one of the chorus of teachers warmly welcoming us. No more swims at Curtis Hall or overdue books at the library where all the librarians know you and your kids and what you like to read. Oh, it will be hard to let go. I am glad that I had a few days away from the "to do" list to let the reality sink in.

After the stay at the log barn and a visit to Dollywood I started to feel better. The heavy heart lightened. Driving into Alabama, then Mississippi and finally Louisiana felt so right. It wasn't just that a new line of tasks started to form in my head. This is the setting of the next chapter of our lives and I am chopping at the bit to get going on it.

It is going to be different. Really different. It is flat here and hot, damn hot. Oh, and that whole Katrina thing...this city is devastated. But there are signs of life; I can already see a lot of change from April when I was last here. Hope is in the air. At the closing for our house today, two of the people were wearing seersucker suits--for real. Sumner's toenails are painted and a woman asked me today if his father knew that I had done that. And Phil and I noticed when we crossed the Mason-Dixon line that people aren't really into maintenance of some of the public places here as they are in other parts of the country. And Phil’s mom has been saying for year that you can’t find good bread in New Orleans. So maybe in my future there’s a sparkly seersucker suit and a boys’ pedicure business and a public areas maintenance initiative and a whole lot of rice. We will see.

But tonight I am still feeling the excitement of anticipation and peace and confidence that we are where we are supposed to be.