Hey there, Chickadee

Morning everyone! I'm skipping out on Scrap Stash Saturday today...no time to blindly dig into my scrap stash lately, so you're getting a "normal" card today instead.

Still loving all my new PTI stamps that I received a few weeks ago (it's probably been more than that, but time means nothing to me these days as it's passing by much too quickly).

This card was made with a set called Everyday Button Bits. It's designed so you can add a button to the image to complete it, such as I did with the little birds here. I chose to add the eyes myself, because I thought the birds looked a little weird without eyes! In hindsight, I should have "grounded" the birds too (if I wanted to be politically correct the the stamping world), but quite honestly, I didn't think about that until just now. Maybe I'll go back and add some "grass" just to make it look a bit better later today. Isn't that gathered ribbon scrumptious? I got a few yards of it at Archivers a while ago. It stretches and it's gingham. Couldn't be any cuter.

Well, life around here has been crazy to say the least. I've been hearing from a few people that they miss my ramblings...in fact, they don't even care about my cards, they just want to know how I'm doing! That makes me laugh. Must mean my design skills are slipping.....!

To be honest, I'm just ok. Not great, not horrible. Well, some days have been horrible, but I'll spare you the ugly details of those days, lol! Doug has still not found a full time job, but for most of the summer, he has worked full time at WCCO-AM. Filling in a position caused by a termination. He's up at 345am every morning and works till at least 1pm. In the fall, he will start traveling again producing radio broadcasts for different NFL and college football games across the country. He'll be gone nearly every weekend from Sept through Dec. That sort of sucks, but, hey, you take what you can get, uh???!!!!

Exactly one week from today, we pack up Eldest Son and make the "dreaded" (for Mom that is) journey to college. He will be a first-year freshman at the University of Wisconsin/River Falls. It's a great school, and is just less than an one hour away from our home. For that I'm so thankful!!! His new roommate is from Baraboo, WI, and they have not met each other in person yet. They've talked over FB some, but that's about it. One of my son's very good friends is also going to UWRF as well as my niece, so let me say it again, I'm thankful!!! It really helps knowing he will know at least a FEW people going in.

While I'm thrilled for this new journey he's about to embark on, I will miss him so much! Sending a child to college doesn't only affect the child. Let me make that perfectly clear! It affects everyone, from mom and dad to annoying little siblings. Youngest Son is definitely going to miss his "loser" brother. He's even said so out loud--which touches my heart. The dynamics of our home will change. Much to Youngest Son's chagrin, he is not looking forward to being the only one that has to " _____________" (insert any number of appropriate chores, such as "take out the garbage", "fetch some paper towels", "unload the dishwasher", "load the dishwasher", etc, etc, etc.). In fact, I secretly think he's having nightmares about all the work he's going to have to do once Eldest Brother flies the coop. Come to think of it, maybe that's why he told his brother he's going to miss him. It's not, after all, because he loves him (like I foolishly thought it was), but it's because he's going to be stuck at our every beck and call 24/7! Poor guy.

Besides dealing with all the emotions and what not of Eldest Son leaving for college, I've had to deal with what's turned out to be an extremely rough summer for Youngest Son as well. Being 15 brings with it not only the privilege of being able to take Drivers Training (which, by the way, Youngest Son has not done yet), but also the privilege of learning some really tough life lessons, ones he'd probably wished, in hindsight, that he hadn't had to learn at such a young age. Who said teenage boys were easier to deal with than teenage girls??? Someone who obviously never raised any, that's who!!! I have to keep on telling myself (so I don't go jump off a cliff somewhere), that it's a privilege to help them through their turmoils, and how blessed I am to be their mom. Seriously. I kid you not. There were a few days recently that I seriously wanted to run away from everything. Problem was, I didn't have anywhere to run, so I came back home to face the music. I thought about getting drunk or stoned, but I don't partake in those vices either, so my only choice was to whisper a silent prayer to God and suck it up. I'm just being honest with ya. I know many of you out there handle your kids troubles with grace, dignity and reason, and God bless you for that! But if you do, I'm convinced you only have young children and haven't had to deal with the dreaded teenage hormones yet--just kidding! I know that being a mom is hard at any age, hormones or not.

So, that my friends, is my summer in a nutshell. What I'm doing and how I'm feeling. I am going to milk this next week for all it's worth--my last few days with my Eldest Son under our roof. Tonight we're going out to a drive-in diner in St. Paul called Dari-ettes (or something like that). We love to go as a family in search of great little eating establishments, and this place was featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives on the Food Network! Before that, I'm going to take Eldest Son out to pick up a few last minute dorm room things, and Dad and Youngest Son are doing a little work at the new MN Gopher football stadium! It's beautiful!

Have a great day. I'll try to touch base sometime again this week to let you know how things are going.

Hugs,
Amy