The Studio

For the past 2 years,  Annie's residence in Rochester 

was the dorm at 100 Gibbs Street.  

Over the past 2 years,  I've tried to get pictures of her 

coming out of the dorm as we wait in the car 

for her to meet us.

More often than not,  she's running late.

But she always seems happy to see us.

This is the last picture of its kind 

because Annie moved out of the dorm 

and into a studio apartment 

where she will reside 

until she is finished with college.

This is her new building.  

It's an apartment building near school, 

home to people of all ages from all walks of life.

Unlike the dorm.

She moved in a few weeks ago

 and I drove up with the minivan

 loaded to the max with furniture,

 pots and pans, food, dishes, and a bike.

Arriving at dark,  Annie and I 

stayed in a hotel until the next day

 when we had a chance to unpack the car

 and set up the apartment.

There was hardly a place for her to sit.

It is a pretty large studio apartment with lots of light!

There is a separate galley kitchen and bathroom.

The only downside is the lack of storage space with only one tiny closet.

The bathroom is really pretty with tile and an old fashioned green tub and sink.

After unpacking the car, we measured windows and headed out shopping!  We bought curtains, waste baskets, kitchen essentials, a lamp, shower curtain, and enough odds and ends to make the space functional and homey.

Then Annie went to work at her coffee shop job just down the street and I began setting up.  I hung the curtains and shower curtain,  assembled a floor lamp, scrubbed the stickers off all of her dishes, unboxed her toaster...

By the end of the next day,  it was looking pretty nice!

This is the coffee table that Annie and I made when she was at home.  We used wooden pallets donated by Agway!

This little accent chair was from HomeGoods.  Isn't it pretty?

We got a cute red basket to hold toilet paper under the bathroom sink and a gorgeous shower curtain.

Annie picked out mismatched plates at HomeGoods too.

This is the view from her windows.

On my second day there,  we did a different kind of shopping.

This item was not functional, but it was just as essential 

to making the apartment a homey place to live.

Meet Jerome.

But his story is for another post.

High on Being a Mom

I often reflect upon a particular quote I read when I was a young mother.

Jackie Kennedy once said, 

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."

As with so many things in life,  motherhood has its highs, lows, and pretty much everything in between.  

But man, aren't those highs so nice?

On a recent car trip to Rochester, alone,  I had a lot of time to fill

and a lot of thoughts to fill it with.  I had just returned from a 5 day family trip to visit my daughter, Kerry, in Nashville.  We were all there together, and it was wonderful!  I was on a mothering "high".

We haven't been to Nashville since we moved her there last July.

She was facing a huge life change and wasn't really enjoying it.

It was not the best of times.

Seeing Kerry now,  working as a nurse at Vanderbilt,

was a proud moment,

but seeing her smile so freely and be her goofy self

was even better.

Her happiness was contagious.

We were there to spend family time and get a glimpse 

of what her life is like in Nashville.  

And also to meet Fletcher, her cat.

We returned to a favorite eating spot from last year.

We "escaped" .

We played.

We rocked.

We ate.

We hiked.

One evening,  we just sat in the hotel lounge and played rummy.

And when the time came,  we said good-bye.

It was a very special time.

  

Each of us is in a good place in our lives - all at the same time.

How often does that happen?

Kerry talked of plans to go back to school

for an APRN program next year.

Adam was deciding between two job offers to teach high school in New York City starting in the fall.

Annie was excited about moving into her first apartment

in a few days.  She will be living and working in Rochester over the summer - the first summer she will not be home with us.

We were just happy to talk and laugh and enjoy good family time.

I am definitely on a motherhood "high" right now

and enjoying every minute of it!

happy muthers day by sami s. (and my bruther, Adam)

well. hear i am back at this blogging thing agen.

i guess i want too say a few words about my mommy (my hu-man mommy, I meen).

 i feel like I am the right person dog to tell you about her becuz I am always there to sea all the things she duz. I sea all the things she duz that no one else seas. And all the things she never tells any-one that she duz.

Sometimes I try to tell them (the kids) every-thing she duz that they do not sea or apreesheate, but they dont under-stand my langwege. Good thing I lerned how too blog so I can share the things i observe about how speshul my mommy is.

First, i love that she teaches the kids a lots of tricks. And she is soooo pashent!!! Theres one trick called “Take your vitamin D” that Adam still cant do, but she keeps trieing to teach him any way. It must be a hard trick!

I also love that she takes so meny picshers of their lives (and mine to!). So one day they will be able to look back and remember.

Im impressed how she responds when-ever they yell “MOOOOOOMMM!!!” threw-out the house becuz they need some thing (even though it wakes me up from my nappings). sea look, for example, i am not a happy kamper in this pic-sher. but she always helps them out when they yelling for her help.

She also makes the kids indipendent. i still dont know how too feed myself (exsept when I eat cat poop out of that magic box) but she made them know how to get food for them selfs. Even if it means that she explainings a resipea to adam three times on the fone before he gets it! Or if it means she has to copying all her resipea cards, printing out new resipeas, and making a resipea book for each kid. (i wonder if she puts any apple resipeas in their…)

But even though she teaches them cooking and indipendens, I still sea her preparings there favorit foods when she knows the kids are coming home so they can having a nice speshul feeding time toogether. And when their frends come over for play time, she spends hours preparing a big speshul feeding time for them around the big table.

Then, when the kids are away, she duz things like helping adam pick out a job interview clothing by sending picshur messages back and forth. Or helping him when he had that credit card crysis.

And she interupts what-ever she and daddy are looking at on the noisy-picshur-box at night when they call to say hello and tell her the boring deetails of their day. (i still dont understand what they are looking at for so long on that noisy-picshur-box! Thats why i rather watch them!)

And even more, she is constantly visiting them in their far away places, evan tho it can be tired for her. i know this becuz it takes a lot of effort becuz every time she visits them, she take me and halle to play with the doggies at bay-woods. (like hear when she visitd adam in italee or went all the way to roch-ester to see annie).

finally, just like she lets me and halle play all on our own in the big back-yard, she lets the kids go out on their own. even out-side the fence where she cant sea them from the kichen window!

And evan tho she tells me and halle when its time to come in and makes us come in-side, she duznt do that with them. I guess she trusts them that they will come back and she luvs them enuf to let them decide when they will be coming back too us.

Maybe one-day she will trust me enuf to go out-side the fence… put me on a train by myself or evan let me take the car and go have advenchers in other plases! But for now I am glad that she lets them do it and I am so happy to be neer her and enjoy having her as a mommy. i am happy i get too sea all the wunderfull things she duz that only i know about.

o-k I am getting tired. Tie-ping is so tire-sum when you only have paws and no fing-ers. happy! muthers! day! mommy!