Um...hi?

Yeah. So, um, last Tuesday, I think it was, my mom called to tell me that after almost 30 years, she and my stepdad are putting their house on the market. So of course I had a whole post planned about my reaction to that--happiness for them because this is the right thing for this stage of their lives, weirdness for me at the thought of them moving from the neighborhood that I've had roots in for almost 40 years. And I was going to talk about my oh-so-sensitive Em's response, which was to cry and cry, and my oh-so-has-to-be-in-on-the-drama son's response, which was to pretend to cry and, when asked why, reply, "I sad that grandma's moving. Is Pop-pop going with her?" (Hee!)

But then I had to get packed, see, because I was leaving on Thursday morning with Em to fly to New York and go to that self-same house, where she is to stay with my mom and stepdad for the next month or so. But, I figured, I'd do my blogging there.

Of course, once I was there, there was the whole going-out-to-see-the-new-apartment-they'll-live-in thing, and the whole family-coming-over-for-barbeque thing. And then there was the (SURPRISE) blackout thing, followed by the my-mom's-modem-no-longer-working thing. And here we are. A week since my last post, and no time to really do any of the above planned discussing and analyzing.

So, to sum up:

1. Parents moving = mixed feelings, but definitely more positive than negative if you ignore last night when I had to go through boxes of my old stuff stored in their basement and found one FILLED with love letters from an old boyfriend and had to sit there with my daughter next to me and throw them all away because reading them was just too...weird. And sad, for reasons that have nothing to do with how said relationship ended--unlike the dentist-guy I dated for seven years who subsequently dumped me, I had ended this one, and for very good reasons--and more for that odd feeling of time and energy wasted and friendships gone by the by and how freaking long ago so many things in my life were and how little I remember of them, especially on the visceral level.

2. Em staying with my parents = sad to leave her, but happy to see how strong her relationships with her grandma and pop-pop and aunts and uncles and cousins are, as well as happy to give N a chance to be an only child for a few weeks and get lots and lots of mommy-and-daddy time.

3. New York = same as it ever was. Except I didn't get into the city, so what do I know? So really, I should have said Queens = same as it ever was.

4. Seeing Paula and her family at my mom's house = awesome. As always.