Grrrrr....

It is snowing. Again.

I am so sick of winter. And even worse, it's snowing all the way down to NC and Kentucky, the same way I am driving in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS. Arrgghhh..

My flowers are already coming up and are now under a cover of snow, which is good since it protects them from the cold and they thrive every year. But I am sick of winter.

I wonder if I should pick out an alternate route just in case I hit NC and it's still crap on the roads? It normally wouldn't bother me, but I am having all new tires put on her car and they are not all season or snow tires. She's in CA, so I put summer tires on that have great water treads. What a pain in my arse.

I really need to get going on packing the stuff in her room. Books, books and more books and see if I can find a guitar case for one of hers. I am taking them with me- easier than sending them. And anything else I can stuff in the car that I think she can use (or I don't want to look at anymore).

I have a box of food to send out to her today. Seems her "friends" in the dorm don't want to drive her to the store, even after they have offered. I get tired of people who have the maturity level of a tween. Unlike her, who is working hard to get good grades, most of them are too busy partying and disturbing others. I think waiting to go away to college was a good idea. More kids should try it instead of running off to be on their own and not knowing how to act like an adult.

I will be glad once she has her car there and can make friends with people her age and maturity level. I know these 3 months have been hard on her, but it is almost over. Daily count downs have begun but the frustration level of being stuck in the dorm is mounting. I can tell by the phone calls and IM's and texts and facebook but that is ok, I am a mom, I can handle anything, especially for my kid

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Two weeks alone, two weeks alone.... my mantra.

41 Days and counting!

The planning has started for my trip. So far everyone has been very supportive- none of the "you can't do that alone, you're a woman" crap.

I have a couple of friends I am going to visit on the way- internet ones that I have known quite awhile but never had the opportunity to meet face to face. So I will be plotting my route with a little bouncing around- not exactly a direct one.

From here in NY, I am heading to WV (another story in itself), then to NC to visit with Jude and Roger then hanging a right and heading to OK to visit with Silver.

I have decided that if I get pulled over at any point the first thing I am going to do is call hubby and keep my speaker phone open- not paranoid much, am I? Wish I could take one of my doxies with me, but I can't fly back with them, so no go on that. So firece looking, aren't they? They would chew your ankle off in a minute. Unless you gave them a treat. Typical. (Isis is the fuzzy one, and Max is the bobble head. All of our animals are rescues, and we had just picked Max up from a rescue organization in this picture. Everyone came with us that day to welcome him to his new home.)

If this trip goes well, I am thinking I just might make it an annual trek. Not coast to coast but picking an area of the country and finding what it has to offer. Take a plane and head somewhere and rent a car and just explore. Or just head out from home and drive. Between AAA, my GPS and the internet, there is no reason I can't find somewhere to explore no matter what my time limit might be.

Then maybe I will be ready to expand my explorations to the world. Scotland and Australia are at the top of my list.

When I usually pack for a trip, I tend to do it in a color scheme. After all these years and trips together, my husband has never noticed this before. So I hit the winter sales (lots of them!) and am packing in black, gray, pink and purple. Even order a couple of pair of new shoes to coordinate.

Yes, I am slightly obsessive/compulsive. My daughter is more than willing to tell that to anyone who asks. Or doesn't.

I will probably start packing soon- putting things aside as I find them so I don't forget them.

I wonder if it is too early to start packing her car with all the stuff I need to bring with me???

The Empty Nest or What do We do NOW?

Well, there seems to be a first time for everything and I guess it's my time to do a blog. If no one reads it, that's ok. This is more for me- to be able to put down into words the changes I (and sometimes Hubby) are going through now that all of our assorted kids are gone.



For me, I am sure it is not as big an adjustment as it might be for him. You see, he just turned 75 and it is the first time ever, that he has been without a kid in the house. When we were married almost 12 years ago, his youngest was still at home, having stayed on when his mom passed away suddenly. Then when we married, my then 12 year old daughter moved in. Suffice to say, there is a big age difference between us, but that is ok. It works for us. Others may not understand it, but that's ok too.



So now my daughter is almost 24, 3000 miles away in Hollywood going to film school, and we are trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. Ok, me more than him. He still works full time and is now sitting and reading his Sony eReader. He likes to do that. So do I but need to find other things to fill my time up with.



I was actually thinking about doing a blog when I first found out that she had been accepted into college, so far away, but there was so much to be done in such a short time, I didn't have the chance. I wrote them in my head almost daily, while I was waiting to fall asleep at night. It actually helped me to come to terms with so many changes, so quickly and accept that my baby and sidekick of almost 24 years wouldn't be here any more. I would have to go to concerts (and we do alot of those) alone, shop alone, take care of our 3 dogs and 3 cats and 1 part-time granddog alone. (Mind you 2 of those cats are hers!)



Orginally, Hubby and I were going to drive her car out to here in April after Spring Break. However, we soon realized that the cost of boarding the dogs alone was going to be more than shipping her car out. And if you ship it you can't put stuff in it, it has to go empty. That seems like a waste to me.



So I am planning a big adventure for myself. I am going to get the maps and plan a route out and take a trip BY MYSELF! I am going to plot my course using Military Bases with housing available if possible, find the Elks Lodges along the way, attractions that I have always wanted to see but haven't ever been able to and head out to the other side of this wonderful country of ours.



By the time I arrive, she will be ready for her spring break and we will fly back home together. So basically, this blog will be my journal, to myself, of my adventures of the new stage in my life. I am hoping I will be able to get Hubby to travel with me at some point, maybe even taking our silly dogs with us and just heading out. But I really need to do this for myself. It's exciting. It's scary. I can't wait!



Along the way, I hope to figure out how to pretty up this blog, add photos, and whatever other stuff I can figure out. It's all trial and error, but that's cool. So's life!