The birds have flown and the nest is bare.
9:56 p.m.
My brother-in-law had a party going in full swing when we arrived at his place, including my sister-in-law, their daughter and her fiancé, her best friend and her boyfriend, my husband’s parents and his kid brother, plus us five. I ate an inordinate amount of food and I had two large glasses of wine and I was so stuffed that I ended up going to bed around 9:30. At midnight I woke up (a hot flash--what else?) and people were still out and about, so I wandered around the house until weariness overcame me again.
The next morning we loaded up the truck the rest of the way with Buddy Boy’s belongings which he’d left at his uncle’s last spring, and then drove 150 km back the way we’d come so we could drop his stuff off at his new digs. Nice digs. He’s renting a house with five other people (two are a couple) and has a basement room. One of the roommates has a light cannon television which they were watching when we arrived. Not bad for students.
When we were done there, we all got back in our respective vehicles and headed south to move Little Princess and her boyfriend into their apartment. That was a much bigger job. I stayed in the truck and pulled boxes and furniture out to where the heavy lifters could fetch and carry. Eventually we got everything unloaded. Then we took the truck back to the rental place and found a pub to eat at. I had samosas. They were incredibly yummy, considering breakfast had been eight hours earlier.
We even managed a visit in with my mother at her residence. She was very glad to see us, even though I’m sure she wasn’t always sure who we were. I asked her questions and she couldn’t give me answers, and she told stories that had no basis in reality, but it was still nice to see her.
Then we had to leave and it was hard to say goodbye. I hugged my daughter and said goodbye to her and her BF, who just had to walk home from the residence. We drove our son back to his place and that was hard, hugging him and saying goodbye. Originally we planned to stay overnight in my mother’s house, but instead we just drove eastward, stopping for the night at a Travelodge in Kingston (really nice room, but an uncomfortable bed) and then continuing on our way this morning, arriving at our own stable door early afternoon.
It’s been a roller-coaster ride emotionally. Neither of the kids has a phone yet, so it’ll be a while before we can make voice contact with them. I miss them terribly and the house seems so terribly empty now. But school starts tomorrow and I have to decide if I’m taking Spanish or sculpture.
I leave you with some photos. This is my favourite highway sign on the 20 heading west towards the Ontario border. I don’t know who these obscure saints were, but their names now grace three small towns, one of which boasts a golf course, another a beach (I know this from the highway signs). I was driving, but I handed my camera to my daughter’s boyfriend and asked him to take the picture.
This other was taken yesterday morning just before we left my brother-in-law’s. There we all are, from left to right: my daughter’s boyfriend, my daughter, my son, me and my husband. Like the truck? It had Arizona plates on it. Don’t ask. I couldn’t tell you anyway.
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