Goodbye Summer

The summer is officially over. Not due to the weather, but due to the fact that swim team practice started this morning. And so, the mornings of sleeping in and waking up when I'm not tired anymore, as opposed to waking up when I have to wake up Allison and drive her into town, are over. I definitely have mixed emotions. Because dropping Allison off at practice also means that my previous Sophmore is now a Junior, and this I am not happy about. Of course we all love to see our children grow up and become self-sufficient and productive adults, it is so hard to let them go. This is the last one to "flee the nest" and although that is still a few years away, it is on my mind all the time. Every "milestone" for her is the "last one" for me. Kind of opposing purposes don't you think? That would explain alot of our conflicts. Not that they need explaining. The very fact that she is almost 16 and I am not is enough of an explanation for anyone. We don't live on the same planet. Every so often we come together in a shared emotion or opinion and that is a beautiful thing. Every so often is not a frequent occurence. We live with it-it's temporary. We have named our ground hog-He is Caroga Carl, and we will be spotting and following him throughout the fall into the winter months. If we can keep him fed with cracked corn we should be able to find him on ground hog day, and that will be an exciting day. Imagine not having to depend on Puxatawny Phil for our spring prediction? Not that we put much stock in his opinion. Pennsylvania is way south of us, and so our winter and spring do not have much in common. So plan on hearing Caroga Carl's prediction February 3,2011. We thrive on these little things. Another thing to look forward to as summer wanes.