For the first 50 years of my life, my perfectionist self mistakenly believed it was all about knowing more, getting it right, planning, attempting to prevent bad things from happening, and keeping all of my chicks in a row. It took me this long to discover that the JOURNEY is all that matters. This quote from Gilda Radner sums it all up:

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
"


Thursday, May 28, 2015

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.

Friday, May 22, 2015

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!