Changing Seasons

This morning marks the Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere. Though in the state of Kentucky, it has been Summer since the Winter because we skipped right over Spring and when right to the sweltering heat and humidity that is a Summer in the South.

Wouldn't you know it, it's raining today. *see photo of my wet Crimson Pirate daylily* 100% chance of rain all day. Probably going to rain again tomorrow too. I'm ok with that. I have things to do. I wanted to go to the lake tomorrow, but I really needed to stay home. Mother Nature knew this, I guess, and sent us some relief from the heat for a couple of days.

It's a new season of life right now too. My oldest, Neil, has found his wings and flown away from the nest. It's hard to say "moved out". It's like saying those two words makes it feel more real. So far, I have not had the inevitable breakdown that I am expecting to hit me at any moment, but I've been trying to stay busy doing stuff to keep my mind off the empty room. Ironically, most of my time has been spent cleaning out that particular room.

Our house is elderly, but has good bones. We outgrew it about seven years ago when Ro was born, but just didn't want to and really couldn't afford to get a bigger place. Technically, this is a three bedroom house. In reality, it's only a two bedroom because you have to walk through a bedroom to get to a half bath and the "master" bedroom. To me, that's not a bedroom. That's a room that just happens to have a closet in it. So we converted our dining room into a make shift bedroom while the littlest little took over the passthrough bedroom.

That's right folks. We haven't eaten at a table in seven years. *pause for dramatic effect*

So... we've been painting and cleaning out rooms in preparation to move Ro to Neil's old room. Plus we have a "back room" that is the laundry area. Many moons ago, it was actually a porch, but at some point it was closed in. It was where we kept our cats, but now they are all free to move about inside and outside the house. That room is now a proper mud room with plants and dog beds and places for my husband's work junk to go. Though I still want to paint back there and put down new flooring.

In a couple of weeks, our oldest daughter, Kaia, will be moving in with her boyfriend. She will be a whopping 0.3 miles away, really just around the corner. Then we will begin the process of turning her bedroom back into an actual dining room. I'm not even sure what it will be like to eat at a table again!

So you see, it's a very real change of life season around here. And I'm hanging in there...