Musings on Kids leaving home...

What a fun gizmo! Thanks, Vee for sending me to The Little Red House! I was wondering what I was going to post about today, and here it is! This looked fun altho I really didn't know what lines of type to put on it. May not be intriguing enough to make you want to turn the pages, but I thought it was fun to see what my pic would look like! Kinda neat!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been working alot, and sometimes I guess things get so routine I don't think I have much to say that would be interesting to anybody else. I am feeling somewhat better so that's good. My son from Nashville is coming home this week for about 10 days and I'm trying to get the house cleaned up. It's funny that when your grown kids come home you want everything to be just perfect - maybe to make them miss being there? Don't know. What do I want then - for him to move back home? No, it's as it should be for them to move on with their lives.

Here's my little tangent I'll go off on today. I guess I'm feeling a little empty nest syndrome. Never thought I would. My husband and I thought we were ready for all the little chicks to leave the nest - we couldn't wait to have no responsibilities at home and take off at will and do what we wanted- but now my baby girl is fixing to leave in a couple of weeks. We've been getting her apartment junk ready and gathering all her things together to make the big move to college. We went to Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and IKEA Saturday in the Dallas area and bought all the necessary bedspread, pillows, cutsie girl things that she feels she needs to make her room look cool. Her dad sat outside the stores and waited while we shopped and became the necessary beast of burden to carry all our purchases - which turned out to be quite alot. We also bought a cool black iron bed for her apartment which I wouldn't mind having for myself actually, and I'll post a picture of her apartment sometime for your approval. The re-furbishing bug has bitten her, too, after re-doing the farmhouse. We bought an antique chest of drawers and desk & chair that she's going to re-do herself! You go, Princess!

(An aside here -These are the moments that we've raised them for, isn't it? It's scary - to me, scarier for my daughter than my two sons. I hope we've done right by them, that we've helped them to become independent and responsible. I hope that we've instilled a love for others as well as God and a desire to serve him. I know they are still young and have to find their own way. I know I did. It took me awhile to become mature enough as a Christian to learn to put God and all things spiritual first in my life. I assume it will take a little time for them to do that too. I hope that their Dad and I have been good role models. I hope I live long enough to see them all married to Christian mates and striving to instill the Christian ideals and heritage into their own kids that have run in our families for generations. That is my ultimate prayer - after that prayer that the Lord will come back quickly.)

Princess will be 20 on the 20th of this month. I got to have her at home a couple of extra years while she was trying to decide what she wanted to do and went to the local jr. college. She NEEDS to get out on her own and learn to appreciate Mom and Dad. She'll look over at me now and smile, and say "mom, you're gonna miss me", and I'll say, "baby, you're gonna miss me, too, more than you know". I know it's true, but she doesn't realize it yet. I've been trying to back off from doing so much for her as she's grown older, but I know I still do too much. She and I have been buddies, cohorts in shopping and crime, sparring partners, cat fighters, but best friends in the end. She doesn't have a sister, unfortunately. I hope that I haven't been so close that she doesn't have good friends her own age. She's had best friends in her life to come and go, but I want her to make some best buddies that she can depend on and have fun with FOR LIFE. I have some - but I have a dear sister who is my BEST FRIEND in the whole world. I want my daughter to have someone she can call her best friend, that'll be there through thick and thin. I won't always be around ya know. I think she and her cousin Erin are actually becoming closer. Erin is my sister's daughter who lives in the metroplex. The girls are still a couple of years apart, but Erin doesn't have a sister either and we are hoping that they will become closer. Now that they can drive and travel alone they have been spending more time together.

We will still have our middle son at home for awhile (he's been in and out a couple of times) and he's the one that's the most difficult to live with. You see - he's the slob in the family. He leaves a trail wherever he goes. Doesn't seem to bother him in the least. He's impeccable in his style and dress and grooming habits, but the things around him he could care less about - his room, the bathroom, the kitchen (he likes to cook), wherever he goes. I've taken to just closing his door as I've been fighting with him about it for 22 years and nothing has changed. I feel sorry for his future wife... He's still in college, too, and I'm about ready for him to get done and find his own place to live. Sounds terrible, but I've about had it with his slobbiness. :^)

Well, I did find something to post about. We had a good day yesterday at church and celebrated my best girlfriend's 50th birthday last night at a surprise party for her. (my best non-sister friend) It was good to be with friends and laugh and joke (at her expense of course) with the "over the hill" cake and all that goes along with that. It's a blessing that we're all still here and still celebrating birthdays! Thank you Lord! Ya'll have a great week!