Sunday, September 25, 2011

Good weekend

We have had a fast but very enjoyable weekend.  Wife, DIL, Daughter and I left yesterday (Saturday) morning and drove to Atlanta for the wedding of one of Older Son's college fraternity brothers. Older Son was to be in the wedding and he had gone down Friday afternoon so he could make the rehearsal dinner Friday night.

How I love traveling with these girls!  It was truly a laugh a minute, starting before we even left, as Wife and I had to have a discussion about whether we would take our own pillows.  Daughter and DIL found this hilarious. Wife and I reminded them that they would be old someday and they would understand. Wife and I took the pillows. 

It was a beautiful day for the short drive to Atlanta and we got there in time for some sitting by the pool for the girls and watching the first half of the Arkansas-Alabama game for me. 

The wedding was lovely and the reception was much fun.  Older Son was in his element, as he always is, with his old chums.  Wife and I have come to love these guys, so many of whom visited our home and became like family during Older Son's college years.  It's always great to see them again. Fine young men, all of them. 

Wife and I danced with the best of them.  We're not that much better than we were before we took lessons, but we have a bit more confidence, so the money for those lessons was well spent. 

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This morning Wife and I got up and drove over to Auburn to see Younger Son and take him to lunch while Older Son, DIL and Daughter headed home. 

Younger Son was well rested and in a good humor, so we had a great visit. He is busy with his classes and pledging the fraternity and gave us good reports on both. He had a flag football game later in the afternoon. While he did that, we did his laundry for him. 

It was so good to see him and made me feel much better. I had fretted a bit since our last visit, just not satisfied with the amount of time we had together and concerned about the tiredness I sensed.

Today made up for that. I think he is learning to manage his time well, a valuable life lesson. I still miss him terribly, but this visit filled my tank, hopefully enough to get me to the next time we see him.

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Got home earlier tonight and Daughter is getting crafts ready for her children for school tomorrow.  It's extremely gratifying for Wife and me to see her doing something for which she is so enthusiastic and so gifted.  I'm so thankful for the time in her life when she's here with us.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Changes are constant

Fall has always been my favorite season. I love that first hint of cool weather and the crispness in the air that soon follows.

Here in the south, we are teased a lot with a few cool days, then hot days that follow right behind.  It can also change during the day. We might go to work in the morning with a sweater or coat and drive home with the AC blowing full blast.

We have had about a week of nice, cool-ish weather here in Middle Tennessee and it's extremely pleasant. I have enjoyed a number of outdoor runs and have enjoyed the less humid air and lower temperatures.  I know it's not here to stay but I'll enjoy it while I can.

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It just boggles my mind that we're already in mid-September.  What a year this has already been. We've married off Older Son and soon he and DIL will be making their move; Daughter graduated from college and moved back home; and of course Younger Son has gone to college.

Speaking of Younger Son, we miss him fiercely. As boys tend to do, he communicates with us on what I call a "need to know" basis.  When he thinks we need to know something, he tells us. And that's not very often.  We're working on that.

Overall, with what we have been able to piece together, we think he is doing well.  He tells us his classes are going fine and he is faithfully attending and doing what he needs to do.  He has pledged a fraternity and is busy with that.  As I said, we miss him but we're happy for him to have this change to spread his wings.

And speaking of Daughter, I am thrilled to announce that she has found full-time employment!  She is teaching in a preschool.  Probably not her "dream job" but a great place to start and she is very, very pleased.  And she already is very happy with it, enjoying the three and four-year olds that have been entrusted to her.

And I will tell you that Wife and I just love having her here with us.  We try very hard to be good "roommates," giving her space when she needs it but thoroughly enjoying her company.

She's threatening to write a book about life after college, moving back in with parents. It will feature, of course, all the witty things I say . . .

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Early Autumn?

Wow, it's been hot this summer here in Middle Tennessee. And lately it's been very, very dry. 

We don't water here in the 'burb where I live. It's too expensive. We all kind of have this unwritten agreement that, if it doesn't rain, we'll just let our yards turn temporarily brown.  We know it will rain again sometime and the green will come back but when we go through a dry spell, the yard's just going to turn brown.  We'll water plants, but the grass suffers.

Our most recent dry spell has ended with a vengeance.  We have gotten some of that wind and rain from the Tropical Depression Lee.  Over the holiday weekend the rain came in and temperatures plunged into the 50s at night, if you can believe that. 

It won't last but we're thankful for the wet stuff (although we've about had enough) and especially the relief from the heat.

Daughter has observed -- and I agree -- that people are getting a little ridiculous, talking about "how cold" it is, wearing jackets, etc.  I think folks just look forward to the change of seasons and hurry it along any way they can.

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We went to the first Auburn game over the weekend.  They narrowly escaped defeat to Utah State. That's not a good sign of things to come.  Oh well, you can't be on top every year.

Game time was 11 a.m. I detest the early kickoffs but of course it's all about TV and the money a school can make from that. Anyway, I knew it would be unbearably hot and I had no intention of sitting out there for the entire game. 

As it turned out, there was a very stiff breeze (courtesy, I believe, of the aforementioned tropical depression) which made it entirely tolerable. I went down and took a break at half-time but other than that, I stayed right with it. 

Got to spend just a little time with Younger Son.  He seems to have adapted well to college life.  Miss him terribly.

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We spent the remainder of the holiday weekend at our friends' lakehouse in North Alabama. It's become an annual Labor Day Weekend tradition.  This year it was a complete washout with the weather.  The wet and wind from the tropical depression followed us north and hardly let up from the time we arrived Saturday night until we left on Monday.

We had a brief break late Saturday afternoon and had a very pleasant time sitting out on the dock for a couple of hours before the rain once again started.

We still had a great time with great friends.  Lots of good food, fellowship and rousing games kept us occupied and entertained. 

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We will have warm weather again, you can count on it. Still, this past weekend always marks the unofficial end to summer and a gradual beginning of a change of season. 

And as that season changes, Wife and I are gradually adjusting to a new way of life.  Daughter is here with us (and we are so glad) but she's an adult (she calls us her roommates), and we try to remember that.  (Sorry, Sweetie, but these things take time).

We will soon see Older Son and DIL off on their new adventure and we are preparing ourselves for that.

And today I just happened to notice that my last blog entry was my 200th.  I appreciate all of you who have come along for these mid-life thoughts.  (When do I have to call it late mid-life?) 

We'll see what happens with 200 more.