Flying Birds

Well…one of the times a mother hates to see has come my way. SwimBoy has now moved out on his own. He rented a small 2 bedroom apartment in a 1939 home that has been converted into a tri-plex. He applied last week and needed me to co-sign for him. He was a nervous wreck the whole weekend but I kept reassuring him that there would not be a problem. He started packing his things over the weekend and moving them into the garage. It was so sad to see the little gifts he would leave in front of my bedroom door as he was cleaning things out. Just a few of the treasures he left me were certificates he received in swimming in middle school, a painting he did in 5th grade, and his cub scout shirts. I told him I would hang on to those things for him and that when he wanted them back just to let me know. All that is left in his room now is a tub of legos which I’m actually surprised he didn’t take with him. Everyone needs a tub of legos…right?

The call came on Monday that he got the apartment and that he could get his keys on Tuesday afternoon. See…I told him so but don’t worry I didn’t say it. By the time I made it over to his apartment on Tuesday evening around 6 he had all his things moved in and was putting them away. I remember when I first moved away from home. Everything I owned fit in my little 1972 Toyota Corolla with some room to spare even! Sometimes it seems like that was just yesterday and other times (like today) it feels like it was hundreds of years ago. I can still remember the excitement I felt at flexing my wings and going off on my great adventure.

But back to SwimBoy….it’s a cute little apartment with arched doorways and curved ceilings. The appliances are a little dated but given his propensity to cook that won’t be much of a problem. Although…he showed me his wish list last night and it included a cook book on it! All you other moms out there know which cook book he needs and I’m going to go pick up that little red and white checked gem at Barnes & Noble for him. He has blinds on all his windows but he’s asked me to help him put some curtains up. I’m so glad that he’s asking me for my help. I think it will be fun to watch his style emerge. I’ve already noticed that he seems to like black furniture. He painted his dresser and bookcase black before he moved and purchased a black futon for his living room from his new neighbor.

So far the hardest part has been seeing his room empty. This is the first time in over 19 years there hasn’t been a bed for him in my home. He was always pretty quiet in the house so sometimes it was hard to tell if he was there so it’s not noise I am missing. I have to admit I am looking forward to the decrease in dirty dishes and not finding his stinky socks all over the place. I figure my grocery bill will go down a bit too and that will definitely be a welcome side effect! But overall I will miss him more than I will welcome these little perks.

You spend so much of your life nurturing your small child and trying to give him what he needs in order to be a fully functioning member of society. It’s sort of hard to turn that off when your job is done. However, I refuse to become that mother who continues to meddle in their child’s life after they set out on their own. I will not be just stopping by (he only lives about 2 miles away now) and I will not be calling him everyday to see what he’s doing. It will be a struggle to cut those strings but cut I must. Does anyone have some handy-dandy, non-painful, ever-sharp, user-friendly apron string scissors just lying around that I could borrow? I’d be ever so appreciative and would remain your best friend forever!

Long time no blog

Hi all! I'm so sorry I've been MIA. Things have been crazy and like I said before I've been writing but just not anything that is fit for human consumption. Hopefully I will soon emerge from this place and begin doing stupid things that I come and tell you all about or find fun little videos for you to watch or tell you about a product that you just can't live without or maybe just come over to tell you how much I love you all -- which I do by the way!! In the meantime, thanks for all your well wishes and prayers. I really do cherish them. Please be praying for me today as I file the legal papers with the court to begin my new life. I know without a doubt that I am doing the right thing but that doesn't make it any easier.

Big hugs to you all!!

Times they are a-changing

I’m sure you all thought I fell off the face of the earth. Well…not exactly but my world has changed a bit. I’m not sure how to put this so I’m just going to say it simply – CarGuy and I are separated. It’s been a long time coming and I think it will be best for both of us. I’ll admit the timing was pretty horrible but when things like this happen you cannot control much about it. We are still in the same house but as soon as he doesn’t require my help with his health care then we will work on other arrangements. Until then, it is what it is – that’s my new mantra. We are living pretty separately right now but I’m there to help him with the few things he still needs help with and I take him down to Denver for his appointments twice a week. He’s doing really well – at his last bone marrow biopsy he was showing 100% donor cells and no cancer is present. They are starting to wean him off some of his medications and he’s doing well at every phase of that. He hits that magic day 100 on July 12th so hopefully by the end of the summer he will be able to be totally on his own.

I have been writing quite a bit of stuff during this time but none of it has been fit for public consumption. Maybe someday I can walk back down that road but for now I’d rather live in today and just post about things that I find make me happy. Like…my garden! I know, you all live for my annual garden posts. This year it will be a little less crazy since I only put in cherry tomatoes, cukes, cantaloupes, watermelon, and pumpkins. That means that there won’t be much activity in the garden until a little later this summer. I do need to get out there and take some pictures for you though and I’ll do that this weekend. I will also get my hiney out on the net and dig up some fun videos for you for Tiny Theater Thursday. I’ve really been a slacker! Forgive me?