WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TEXAS????

I was so happy to be back home.  I perfectly articulated how I feel about leaving LA "I know it's the right decision, but I'm not happy about leaving LA.  I don't think I'm done yet."

I took the weekend to unpack and settle in, join the local gym, get my change of address, have some zoom calls, and watch the Super Bowl before I started making plans for my next step.  It involves me spending time in Austin, housesitting for some very dear dear friends.  I love Austin, and was seriously considering moving there a few years ago but chose LA instead.  So, it's a nice interlude where I get to pretend I live in Austin for a few months.  But, I haven't quite sorted out in my brain when to go.

Come Monday, I picked up my older sister and right away she was asking "When are you going to Texas? Have you looked for a job?  How long will you be in Ohio?  Are you going back to LA?"  I know she means well but I tend to answer her vaguely because she's a fixer.  She wants to fix my problems.  I'm constantly giving both of us the benefit of the doubt (Because I'm such an evolved human being!) and either teasing her or telling her to back off.  And then usually, it's revealed to me later that she was stressed about something else and that's why she was coming after me.

After I dropped her off, my dad called.  He had called earlier in the weekend, and was in an asshole mood, meaning within 5 minutes, he had teased me about making my other sister cook for me (I hadn't...we were trying one of my mom's "recipes", I had also made soup and such), and hit two other sensitive areas all after I had told him it would have been nice to hear from him while I was in LA for two weeks, upending my life.  So, it was a short conversation.

The next conversation with old Bruce came right after I dropped off my sister, my mom's car had gotten stuck in the drive in the snow, and I had just freed it up. It was 10 degrees, I was annoyed, I was cold and I was tired of feeling like I was being grilled about my life.  So, then old Brucey calls and asks "Did you get my reservation?" (He's flying home next week to get the second dose of the Covid vaccination.  For my future biographer, we are in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, and oldies like Bruce get the first round of vaccinations because they are the most vulnerable.  We all pretend like that makes sense because we live in the US, and other countries are getting very limited quantities of the vaccination while we seem to get a lot but anyway, it's good news for my dad and our family, not sure what it means for the rest of the world but it's probably NOT GOOD).

And then he launches into "When are you going to Texas?"  I laughed and said "You're the second one asking me that today" and he knew right away I meant my older sister.

In my mind, I change the question to "How are you doing?  Was the move hard?  Are you feeling good about your decision?" vs "TELL ME WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE YOU MUST HAVE PLANS OR YOU ARE A LOSER!!!"

Anyway, I'm very vulnerable and you know, could use some tea and sympathy.  

Also, have we all watched the new PBS "All Creatures Great and Small"???? I love it and so do all the white people who star in it...but it's awesome.