Stress

So, surprising no one who has ever done it (and likely surprising few who haven’t), selling and buying a house is fucking stressful.

Our house is now officially on the market, and we’ve held two open houses — coinciding nicely with my nephew’s birthday party and a planned overnight at my parents’ house, so I had ready made excuses to make myself scarce — and have attended a few ourselves at this point.

Actually, we went so far as to make an offer on one, which got rejected — which is interesting, as it’s been on the market for a bit, is on the pricier side in this area, and did not seem to have multiple buyers vying for it — but they are clearly aiming for well over asking price.

We’ll see if it’s still there in a week or two. But, anyway.

I’m in no huge rush to move; I will feel less stressed when this is behind us, obviously, but we’re in a good spot, and so long as I can still access the stuff we’ve packed away (and I can — we opted to stage it in the garage instead of renting storage for it, which I think was a wise choice), I can do this more or less indefinitely (though obviously I’m hoping we find something sooner rather than later. My neurodivergent ass just wants this done and settled).

The impending holidays also don’t make things easier, but at the very least my shopping is done, my presents are wrapped, and the 20th is my last day of work until the New Year. Removing work from the equation doesn’t take the stress of house hunting away, but it takes the stress of house-hunting-while-working-full-time away, and that’s significant. Anything is easier when you don’t have to also work through it.

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The downside to all this is, my energy reserves are tanking. I have not done any art since early November, and while I know enough not to push it while I feel this burnt out, I do have some concerns for how long this level of burnout will last. I have personal project I want to do, as well as art I had intended to gift, and at least two collabs coming up in the new year that I am hoping to have the mental and physical resources for.

One stressor I do not have this year is I am not going to be a panelist at Arisia — not only that, I am not even going to be in attendance, for the first time in over a decade. It was not a decision made lightly, but considering everything else, I think it was the right one. I plan to be back behind the panelist table in 2026.

This is a tough time of year in the best of circumstance. Hope you all are finding time to take care of yourselves and relax.

Take care.