How did it get so late so soon?

Good morning everyone. First off good luck to all those starting the fast track. I may jump on the bandwagon when I get back from vacation, but I know that it will be hard to follow that while away. We are leaving on Saturday for our California wine country trip. Staying three nights in Healdsburg, and then four in St. Helena. We are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary, and the 25th anniversary for my brother and sister in law. It is their first trip out to the wine country, and since we have been there many times, I am excited to show them all the great little wineries, restaurants and beautiful scenery that we have discovered in all of our trips. My husband and I always say, that if it wasn't for all of our family being back east, we could easily pick up and relocate to northern California, Healdsburg especially! I could sit and watch the grapes grow all day!

Saturday, we moved our son John into his tiny, New York City efficiency appt. He is so happy and had a good first day at his new job yesterday. He is working for a large commercial real estate company. I have lived in the suburbs of PA all of my life, but I must say there is a certain appeal to walking around a big city. I said to my husband that we would have so much more time in our lives if we didn't have all the "house" stuff to do every weekend. New Yorkers take their newspaper to the local bistro or park bench, have a leisurely brunch while reading and sipping their coffee. The little parks and community gardens tucked away on side streets were filled with people, children and dogs, all out enjoying the beautiful fall morning.. He is in the east village, so it was quiet there.  Quiet little streets and many little shops, restaurants and galleries. We stopped at a cute little place and had a nice lunch. I had tuna carpaccio, salad with pickled avocado, grapefruit and a great dressing. It was so delicious and refreshing. If I had stopped there and not succombed to the white bean dip and fresh baked pita chips I would have been fine. Damn those carbs! I can't stop with them!Driving out at 5PM on a Saturday was quite a different story, then the peaceful drive in, early Saturday morning. I have driven in New York several times, but this was really bad. I don't know how those taxi drivers stand it day in and day out!

John's apt building

Time to unpack and organize

His tiny kitchen

There was a bed under all those bags!

For those of you who still have all the kids at home, I think the real tough time is when you send them off to college. Unpacking that dorm room and saying goodbye were very rough for me, and lots of tears were shed on the drive home. It is easier when they are upperclassman leaving for college. Trust me, you will be glad when break is over and they head back. If all of this sounds too much to bear, I can tell you that this time it seemed easier for some reason, but I did get alittle teary when hugging goodbye. The funny thing is, that when raising our children, we do all we can to make them responsible, independent,  and self sufficient. We teach them right from wrong, how to do their laundry, cook some meals, iron a shirt. Then when it's time to let them exercise all these skills that they have learned, we think... not yet..... they're not ready...it's too soon. It's a push/pull sitution. All I could do as those last minutes ticked by before we left, was hug him, wish him good luck in his new job, and realize that I no longer hold the decision making power for his life. I had to turn over the controls to him. He's my  middle child, and his older brother is doing fine out in the big world, and I know John will too.It didn't seem to hard with Ryan, who is my first one. Maybe because I knew I still had two at home. Now I only have officially, one at home...but two in college. How did that math work out?  He'll need alittle help with his utility bills, and things like that, as New York is so expensive, but for the most part he's calling the shots...when to go to bed, what to eat, how to navigate the subway to work. But I still remember those little boy kisses and hugs of many years ago, the little arms wrapped tightly around my neck, and the time when I was the most important person in his world. Good luck John! Time to fly on your own!

Thought for the day: It's a two quote day!

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?~Dr. Seuss

There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life that he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. ~Mark Twain