To New Orleans.  We are moving.  To New Orleans.  We are.  Moving to.  New Orleans.  We. Are. Moving. To. New. Orleans.

We’re moving to New Orleans.

No matter how many times I say that, it still scarcely seems real.  But it does, at the same time.  We are ridiculously excited!

Last Friday, I was standing there with a decision in each hand.  Through the course of the day, the decision became more and more clear.  My last straw, weirdly enough, was an image that was going around on Facebook of a sign that said, “You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.”  And that was kind of that.  “ALRIGHT!” I said, to the powers-that-be.  “I GET IT!”  It’s just time to take a chance and start this next big adventure together.

The opinions and advice offered from all quarters was hugely appreciated, by both of us.  Now, the support is hugely appreciated.  In our hearts and in our guts, we know this is the right thing to do.  We also know that, while we’ll be uprooted and things will be a little tight and crazy for a bit, that we will succeed.  THE biggest thing is that we’ll be catching up to our souls, which have already been there for quite some time.

The news has come as quite a shock to most that have already been told.  The main phrase that I have heard so far has been something to the effect of “Man, it’s been on the radar for SO LONG, and has always seemed so far away, even now, so now I can’t believe it’s actually happening!”  We could easily express the same thing.  I think that, no matter how long it would have taken, whether this month or in May or in another year, it would have felt like that.

SO EXCITED.  We’ll be on home turf in less than a month.  We’re already cruising on preparation.  Packing has begun.  U-Haul has been reserved.  First month of lodgings (out in Metairie due to cost) has been booked.  We’ll be packing and packing like the wind in our waking moments at home.  Boss has finally been notified.  I’ll have to start training my protegé’ asap!  It has helped, having a supportive boss.  He kind of rocks, that way.  Meanwhile, J and I’ve got a handful of social outings in the works, to spend some time with those we love most.

I can say, though, that it will feel mighty strange, walking out the work door on the 16th.  It will be the first time in 11 years that I have been unemployed.  Wild!  But it feels like the future will finally be wide open

We’ll be hitting the road on March 20th, arriving down yonder March 22nd.  Then we will take the remainder of that week and weekend to steal a couple-day vacation of sorts, roam around town, try to convince ourselves we’re actually there.  Then we will begin to tackle the employment angle, and the establishing-of-selves.

It was neat – I’ve been in the occasional habit of scrolling through New Orleans photos on one of the larger Flickr groups, just to enjoy the imagery and put myself there from time to time.  It’s always made me sad, in a way, and I’d start pining for the place, wishing I could reach through the screen and just touch it.  Yesterday, my mind was scattered to the point of no focus, so I took a break and scrolled through…and didn’t feel sad, for the first time.  Instead, it was, “SOON!  I’LL BE THERE SOON!!!!”

So, now?  Is it now yet?  By golly, Now is, truly, at hand.