April 17, 2008
Youngest Son reports that he was visiting at his friend Ethan's house with Jimmy and another boy.
Being 14-15 years old, when not talking about sports or girls, cars are definitely at the top of the list.
Jimmy was describing the car he wanted with all the details that have to do with V8s (I thought that was a vegetable juice), RPMs, wheels, etc. Then the other boy told about the car he was going to buy (in his dreams). I believe Younger Son wants a Mustang (not while I'm breathing. He can have a nice, slow, SAFE car). So as the four are sitting around talking about cars, Ethan, who isn't interested decided to put his two cents worth into the conversation.
"My dad shot two turkeys."
Perhaps you'd have to know Ethan, a child who cracks me up constantly, and who has been a good friend to Younger Son. But he didn't have anything to say about cars, so he put in a comment that he found equally fascinating.
Gotta love him.
Younger Son has snagged another job house/dog sitting for a family while they are on vacation, so he's happy. He's busily gathering yards and odd jobs.
He maintains that he wants to work for cash so he gets the full $20 for mowing a lawn instead of a mere $13 after taxes as he'll have to once he gets a real job.
Someone has been listening to Older Son complain about taxes...note the date. :)
April 12, 2008
Ah, you must be wondering where I've been.
I've been holding on to my sanity by a teensy, tiny thread while Oldest Son prepared to leave the nest.
Most young men leave the nest at about 18, either for college or to be on their own and work.
Naturally, my Oldest Son is not typical. At 18 he has a university degree in computer science with a certificate in Japanese. On top of that, he has already worked for a year as a programmer.
Now, he is going to Japan for a year to study abroad through and exchange program at his university. He will study Japanese intensively.
Learning to let go is hard.
When Daughter left, she moved down the road to the adjacent town where the university is (and from where she'll receive her master's degree in a month).
Oldest Son decided to seek further education in Japan, just about the farthest point on the planet from his mother. (rolled eyes)
Having the nest begin to empty allows me to see the future as my grandmother-in-law described it to me. When the kids were small and loud and rowdy, she'd tell me to enjoy it because it didn't last long, and then they were gone, and you were alone.
I see Alone. I don't like it.
Perhaps if my vocation had not been stripped from me by disease, I would feel differently. Or if husband would allow me to continue my work with dogs (not going to happen, he says too stressful for me).
I see myself spending days alone with my dog, waiting for husband to come home so that we can spend 2 waking hours together before he has to sleep since he gets up so very early.
Not my nature, not at all.
It's time to find a new purpose. A possible raison d'etre for when Youngest Son leaves the nest, which won't be that much longer.
And then my Cousin Joey died. I admired this man. He fought his cancer bravely. He was an example for fathers and grandfathers, taking his family to Disneyworld every year before Christmas so they all *made memories*. It wasn't about seeing the mouse. It was about *family*. That's what is important. Family. A raison d'etre no matter how scattered we may be.
Once Oldest Son arrived safely in Japan and got settled and appears content for the moment in his new surroundings, that teensy tiny thread by which I was hanging seemed to suddenly thicken and I was able to pull myself up to sit on the edge of the nest and watch my baby learn to fly.