The usual week: worked, moved house, performed

Despite the turmoil in my life (that would be a divorce) Maya was such an easygoing and happy baby — ignorance really is bliss.

It was her sweet and gentle nature that helped me get through that particularly difficult part of my life and since then she always just goes with the flow.

Which has been a blessing. Because life over the past decade has been anything but smooth sailing.

Take the past week for example.

I managed to move house while working and performing four musical theatre shows in three days.

Complete madness I know, but obviously out of my control.

Yes, it was chaos, but I count myself lucky because the thing is I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of the most caring and generous humans I know.

From my sisters, who helped me overcome my slight hoarding problem and get rid of half a house worth of stuff (and begrudgingly allowed me to keep my life-size Marilyn cut-out) while cooking and cleaning as I was busy working and performing and my colleagues who did repair work, lent me equipment and kept me sane when I was on the verge of a breakdown, to the outlaws who kindly let me borrow their ute and, of course, so many awesome friends (some of whom I haven’t even known that long) who helped me pack, lift stuff I couldn’t and move me over the border to Echuca.

Also a big shout out to those businesses (Campaspe Glass and Jo-Style Cleaning) who gave me a great deal and allowed a broke single mother to pay them off in instalments so I didn’t have to live off cereal for the next few weeks.

I honestly wouldn’t have been able to do this without all these people.

That’s why I love living in a community like Echuca-Moama.

Because everyone just pitches in.

Not because they’re going to get something out of it, but because they truly care.

I can’t thank them enough. In fact, I can never fully repay those special people who have helped me along the way because (and I know I have set the benchmark here pretty high) this was the most stressful day of my life.

By the time we were almost out of time we were literally throwing clothes out the door and piling them into cars.

As I was finishing this column I could still see the messy mountain of stuff on the decking at our new home and now it’s down to me to bring it all in.

And while I am planning on hosting a cracking housewarming party once I’m settled (so maybe next year), I must make sure my guests don’t have too much ‘‘fun’’.

I still have to get along well with my new neighbours and I’d rather not have our first introduction being a noise complaint.

I was lucky enough to have had some fantastic neighbours where I lived in Moama.

And that has been one of the hardest parts about leaving where I have been for the past eight years.

They welcomed me when I arrived with a one-year-old and four-year-old in tow and, like me, watched them grow into the girls they are today. My daughters spent their formative years in that house and it is filled with so many happy (and occasionally unhappy) memories.

So when I closed the door for the last time on Friday, I may have shed a tear or two (... okay a bucketload) because I was closing an important chapter of my life.

But tonight, as I sit at the dining table inside my new home and watch Maya blow out her nine candles, I will reminisce on the good times we’ve had in the past and look forward to many more in the future.