landscape of over-thinking

Not to be too Paris Hilton right off the bat, but my bff has left the building, the state, the country! Unlike the last friend to leave, this one has all intentions and plans of returning. Ironically, I was visiting with the former whom now resides in Brisbane, Australia (though sadly we were only in Cleveland) when I got a text message that my bff had safely arrived in Delhi, India. Via texts and a surprise phone call last evening, I learned that Delhi airport does not allow you to spend your 5 hour layover in front of a Cinnabon or Sbarro. Instead you must leave and sit in an outdoor lounge area until closer to your flight. I didn't really expect the Cinnabon or Sbarro but the time constraints on staying there was interesting to learn. I'm excited to hear and read more though I know the communication will be limited.
I said my final in-person good-bye the afternoon before she left. It wasn't until I got 3/4 of the way home that I became sad. I'm excited for her and her adventure but I'll miss her. The rest of that evening and the next day her absence became part of the larger landscape of my current mental obsessing . . . the what, where, when, how, and why of my life. Having J didn't automatically answer all these! Go figure.

One big conundrum we're in right now is (one we're actually revisiting) where to live. Luckily the housing market sucks (no, not really luckily) so we don't actually need to be considering options or fretting. That doesn't stop me though. I need to be prepared. When the day comes that the market has bounced back and people are knocking on (and/or down) my door to by my house I must know where I'll relocate. Will it be down the road, down past the Mason-Dixon line, or across the country?
I have two requests in my new home and unfortunately they do not translate into a singular location. The first is family and friends. Staying at home with J, I talk to far fewer people. It would be nice to live near friends and family so I was less lonely and J was able to grow up with a built-in network of kids to play with. The largest group of family lives in Dallas, and there's the bonus of friends there too. And while I of course have friends here, with the exception of the temporarily departed bff, we are not as close as the TX friend and I . . . hence the lonely comment. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not crying or chained to daytime television because I'm friendless or anything. And I am planning to join a mom group so I can have more of a social outlet for myself. I have to say my largest hold out with that is that I don't want to walk into a group of women who are totally unlike me. I want to find people I have common interests with so maybe friendships would more easily evolve. I sorta want to start my own mom's group . . . Progressive Moms of Northern Central Ohio (or something like that). With all the time on my hands, I should have this done by now!
Yeah, yeah back to moving. So why not go to Dallas and have holidays with the family and all the cousins can play together? It doesn't mesh with the second thing I want most - 4 seasons. I really don't want to lose the four seasons. I would move to Dallas short-term but I don't trust myself. I was supposed to be in Ohio under 5 years and 10 later I'm considering sinking the roots further.
It may not sound like a big issue and maybe it shouldn't be, but I think about it a lot. It doesn't help when I must give the financial planner time frames for things like buying our next house. I'm a 'sit still until you KNOW the right decision' type of gal. I don't really take many risks, especially expensive ones. So I will wonder, ponder, fret and obsess though not one of those has ever helped me come to a decision in the past. What is that saying about doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome?