A Very Odd Monday, Indeed!

Have you ever been awakened on the day you move your last child to college…and stepped out of bed crying? I have…yesterday! Have you ever been awakened and had to face the first day with NO ONE coming home except for your sweet husband? I have. Today. It was scary, it was weird, it was VERY quiet and I didn't even get dressed until 1:30! Now granted, I did my treadmill…I had to! I had to let some stress out! And then I cleaned up the playroom. I had to do something NORMAL! Then that made me cry because I realized I should never have complained about it being messy all of these years in the first place because now it's never going to be messy again! And then I did the unthinkable! I went into 'his' room! He had left the door shut to keep the puppy out…but I opened it…only to find that it looked just like it always did!!! Bed unmade, shutters still closed, "just like he likes it!" What did I do, you ask? I cried! I made up his bed…because I could! I opened those shutters like I always have…and then I checked  his drawers only to find them almost empty…I opened his closet only to find it pretty bare and so I cried…some more! Then I ran to Holly's room and saw just how crowded it is with all of her belongings that have been here for over two years…and I knew it would be ok! They DO come back! They always do and it's always a huge growing process! It's normal and it's healthy!

You see, it's not that I'm worried that Jim and I won't love having more time together…it's the fact that it's not normal to me yet! I'm a huge creature of habit and so are both of my boys for that matter….I would give anything to see what he's doing right now!

But I'm also seriously enjoying the fact that we can eat when we want, sleep when we want, travel when we want, etc…and I know that he is still coming home…that is what keeps me going! That and a huge love for Jim, my own personal time and for the first time in our lives….ALONE time as a couple! Our 29th Anniversary is this Sunday….we've NEVER been alone!!!

So tonight I thought this would be a fun way to start off the next chapter in our lives...

 I wouldn't trade these past 29 years for anything in the world! In fact, if truth be told….I would rewind those years just so I could savor every moment and remember what it felt like to have young children again. However, it's time to move forward…and do those things we've always dreamed of doing!

One of my dreams has been to travel….maybe now we can!

One of my other dreams is to be able to go to bed at 9:00 if I want to! And to know that I don't have to wait up on anybody! I will say that it took EVERYTHING in my being last night to not call Miller at 12:00 and see if he was in safely. He's always been in by that time and I've never gone to sleep without knowing where he was…even if we gave him permission to come in later my angel of a husband would wait up for him….

A new dream has started….it's a dream of Miller being happy at Auburn and enjoying it to it's fullest…These years will go by just as fast as his high school years and for that matter…his life! All of my children's lives flash before my very eyes… I am making a promise to myself to stop and smell the roses…much more than I did before! 

I have been blessed beyond measure and am so very thankful for ALL that God has blessed me with! These next years will be wonderful…I just don't know what to expect yet! Thankfully, I don't have to! God has it under control…just as He always has!

Much, much love and many happy tomorrows! These next years will be the best ones yet! For all of us that are either first time empty nesters or just sent one of your children off to college! God is good…All the time!!!