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Ups and downs
Today was trash and recycling day and I was prepared. As you may recall, my preparations can be rather hit or miss, quite often miss. I was looking forward to it, though, because the bird cage boxes were stacked in my kitchen taking up a lot of space.
Last night I noticed that not one of the neighbors had taken their trash or recycling out yet. That’s very unusual. It made me think maybe I had the wrong day. But no, the calendar clearly said Wednesday PM and trash collection is early Thursday AM.
I pulled the new trash collection rules and regulations out of the desk to check. Indeed, they said that the only holidays affecting trash collection are New Years, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Christmas. All other holidays are not affected. According to the old rules, just about every holiday pushed our trash collection back a day to Friday, Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday included. I think perhaps none of my neighbors read the inserts in our tax bills last month.
Being the lone exception on the street, though, it still made me wonder if I’d missed something along the way. This morning, I was so gratified to see the trash truck pull up. And equally amused to see a few people making the mad dash to the curb in slippers and bathrobes. For once that wasn’t me. For once I was ahead of the curve and I quite enjoyed it. Sometimes the littlest things really make my day.
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Then again, little things can kind of take the blush off the rose, too. This afternoon I learned that the lad will be departing tomorrow instead of Saturday. It’s only one day’s difference, but it was unexpected. A class mate of his called to offer him a ride back and he’s leaving very early on Saturday morning. Jeff lives in the same town as the lad’s Dad, so I’m taking him down tomorrow evening and dropping him off. Vacation is over and it hit me rather hard.
I told the lad that I was sorry to be such a Soggy Sally, but he just hugged me and said it was extremely flattering. Maybe so, but it’s still feels ridiculous to get so emotional about it. I expect I’ll still be this way when he’s 30. I suppose it’s a parent thing, but, then again, my friend with a college age son called this afternoon celebrating the fact that her son is leaving this weekend. She’s excited to have her house and an orderly lifestyle back. She wondered if I wanted to go out and celebrate with her. Well, I think I’ll go, though celebrating isn’t quite the word for it.
It’s the preparing and packing that get to me. I’ll be fine by Sunday, but the next 24 hours are going to be tough. Wish it wasn’t that way. I know he’s ready and looking forward to getting back, and that is as it should be. I should be glad of that. Which I am...but I’m still a bit of a mess tonight. Guess there’s nothing to do but accept that this is just the way I am and get on with it.
LOL, you are fine dear. At least you are NOT feeling the way you did when he first left!
And, dang it, he is gone again and I didn’t get to see him. Give him a hug for me. When does he come home in the spring?
No, thank heavens, I’m quite improved over his initial leave taking. I’m better today. I’ll be fine.
The spring break is in the middle of March. I have no idea yet what he will have planned. He says he expects to come home, but we know how plans change overnight around here.
Today we are going over the finer points of laundry and spot removal. He’s loaded up with oxyclean and Gonzo stain remover to take back. Tide and Shout are simply not up to the task. Whisk seems to work at least twice as well as Tide and smells a heck of a lot better, too.
Whisk is my fav. And snuggle, original scent, but I can’t find it anymore! Whisk keeps changing theirs too. Tide always fades our cloths faster I find.
Well hopefully I will see the lad in the spring. If not, I want to go get him for summer break! And we can stop on the way back at the ex’s and drop that big a** tv off lol.
It took me long enough to switch detergents. But with my arms in the wood stove several times a day, my cuffs get pretty filthy. Tide just didn’t take it out. The first time I used Whisk, my cuffs came out spotless and I swear the fabric colors brightened as well. Amazed I was.
We’ll see what we can do about gathering him up for summer vacation. I know he’d like that! I think he wants to do some kind of summer internship, though, so will have to play it all by ear.
My closest son is only about 15 miles away, but I still miss him terribly. The fact that he has to study a lot in medical school and that there is this young woman he seems to be more interested in than his old man may explain why I don’t see him much anymore. As for the others, why aren’t they online a little more often?
you will be that way when he is 30 and even 38!! Although the difference is by the time he is 38 you pretend like you don’t mind them leaving cause they would DIE if they knew you were sad!! Mine (the one who is 38--gasp!) was here for 8 days over Christmas, longest in years, and yet, when he left I was ever so sad.......of course, it helps that he was the easy one, still IS the easy one, you tend to miss those more. LOL
my mother has cried every time i leave her since i was 18 years old and was heading off to college. i am now old enough to be retired! some things never change! he is lucky to be loved so deeply....and if your tears don’t bother him, don’t worry about it. i am sure he knows you are supportive of his life and joyous about his happiness, as well. and reminding him of that when you are crying will probably bring you both to laughter at how silly but adorable you are looking with those big, fat tears! 
)
I categorize this whole flying the nest thing as another one of those life-changing occasions they didn’t tell me about when they handed him to me and shoved us out the hospital door many years ago. ;)
This time it was much harder for some reason. Not sure why. Sending him back at the end of summer was actually pretty easy. I sort of thought I was cured. Heh. Not so much.
But I’m okay and not moping around or anything. Just feel that little sharp stab in my heart every now and again. I had a long talk with myself (out loud, of course) when I came back from delivering him to his dad’s house on Friday night. Nothing to feel sorry over. It was as near perfect a vacation as I could imagine. We had so much fun. Having him here was a sheer pleasure from beginning to end. And he did such sweet things for me, too. Like...brought in two weeks worth of wood early Friday morning before I was even up. When I came downstairs it looked like the wood fairy had visited in the night. That just thrilled me to bits, I gotta tell you.
Sky, I think if I didn’t cry when he left, he’d think something was very wrong. I am anything but adorable when I cry, though. I pointed out that I look horrible when I cry with red blotches on my face and swollen eyes. Just.Not.Cute. It was so horrible that I sent him into the store on Thursday night because I was too embarrassed to be seen in public. “Why,” I asked, “are some women able to cry and look lovely doing it?” He remarked that it’s his experience that the one’s who look pretty when they cry are the ones who can turn the waterworks on and off at will. Huh. Well, I guess if you’re going to put your heart and soul into your tears, you might as well have something to show for it.
In any case, he arrived safely back at school and called to let me know he had. He and his roommates had music blasting in the background and they were in the process of rearranging their rooms (they have a huge suite). He sounded very happy and that made me feel good.