A perfect square

We had a phenomenal weekend in NOLA.  I paid dearly for the physical exertion, but that was completely to be expected.  Once I accepted the fact that I would pretty much always be in some level of pain (unless I was drugged to the gills, of course!), things got a lot easier to handle.

My stress level with work has been sky high with new deadlines and the transitional shift in job responsibilities.  Unfortunately, there has been some peripheral stress going on too, compounding everything else.  My heart and soul took a few serious hits, but I was determined not to let them break me, and they haven’t.  I’m still standing up and recovering, and will be for a while.  That’s just the way grieving and healing works: it’s a process, not a light switch, as I have told the kids on occasion.  That said, I wish I had some way to speed it up.  I don’t particularly want to face the emotions, the hurt, and the work it takes to rebuild right now.

For those reasons, this weekend was important to me.  I wanted to spend some time with my friends, to cut loose one night on Bourbon Street, to celebrate the boost in confidence my self-image has found lately, and to spend some one on one time with Alejandro as well.  In short, the whole thing was a raging success on all counts.  If you’re bored and would like to see some of the evidence, it can be found on Flickr, as usual.  The four of us had so much fun, laughing and talking together, exploring the city, seeing some new stuff and some stuff we remembered from prior trips.

I was profoundly grateful to the Silent One, as she has been with me step for step in the latest emotional train wreck.  Without her, this whole process would’ve taken much longer.  She has walked the exact same path that I’m on right now, so she was able to offer by turn, empathy, snark, hugs, tissues, and whatever else I needed at the time.  She is one of those people in my life who remains, without fail, one of my closest friends.  If I had a wish for all the good people in this world, it would be to have a friend like her.  In the twelve or so years that we’ve been friends, we’ve never snarked at or fought with each other.  She could call me right now and say, “I need you here” and I would be packing a bag before I hung up the phone.  The cool thing is that I know without a doubt that if I called her with the same plea, she would do the same.

We did our first shot together on Saturday night to the list of things we decided to toast.  The most important part of it?  “To second chances, icy roads, butter, and Ted Williams.”  That, above all, says everything there is to say about my life right now.

Already planning for next year’s return trip…anyone who wants to join us is welcome!