Mama Drama: where did the time go?

I just got back from finalizing all the details for my baby boy's 10th grade year of school and we will be at Open House tonight, ahead of the first day of school tomorrow.  From the time I woke up today I was filled with melancholy and nostalgia for those days when I had three to get ready for school and the little things we used to do to celebrate the arrival of a new school year. 

This year is so different.  My daughter is now a year+ into her marriage and living several hours away, my oldest son has started a new college several hours away and living on his own, and my youngest son is going to get in his own car tomorrow and drive to school by himself.

 Gone are the days of everyone having breakfast together, prayers on the way to school, first-day-of-school after school celebrations, and the sound of their voices sharing all the details of that first day. No more days of excitement over new school supplies, backpacks and lunchboxes. Life has been transitioning to this for years, but I think the realization that I only have my youngest for 36 more months really is hitting me hard now that my two oldest are out and on their own.  I am missing the days that felt simpler and full of  fun.  I miss field trips and class parties and even them getting excited about picture day.  Now, I am lucky if I know when picture day is!  I miss the anticipation of report cards and the arrival of yearbooks. I miss picking them up from cheerleading, football, baseball or basketball practice and all the games that went with it.  I even miss those forced back pack clean outs that often found moldy snacks long forgotten.

I am not sure why the nostalgia has hit so hard today.  Across the state my older son is having his first day of school and my younger one will have his tomorrow.  Maybe it is because my daughter was home this past weekend and it was good to see and hear lots of voices in the house and my Mother was here to visit last week?  I loved life when I had a full house and being Mommy.  It is the greatest gift I have ever received.  Seasons change and growth happens and, even though I miss my babies, I am proud of who they are and are becoming.  I have been blessed.

Happy New School Year!!!

{Semi} Wordless Wednesday

written on back,

"Me (Addie Lou Jones) fishing - a good looking gal - ha"

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Wordless Wednesday

Linking to Flip Flops & Pears (semi) Wordless Wednesday



Wordless Wednesday

Memories of Fall...

Homecoming by Bo Bartlett, III

(permanent collection  The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia)

In honor of fall I wanted to share one of my favorite works of art. I seem to never tire of looking at this piece, although all I have is a postcard and that doesn't compare to seeing it up close.    It captures my attention and stirs up the nostalgia of days gone by...both good and bad.  It is a uniquely American experience, and felt no more strongly than in the South. 

Soaps and The New Year

Here it is, at the end of another year. A time for looking forward and also a time for looking back. I find myself looking back on the changes brought by 2009. I must admit that one of the saddest was the passing of Guiding Light. Yes, you read that correctly, I am lamenting the passing of America's longest running Soap! I don't even watch Soaps, but I used to watch and still occasionally read up on my favs. By far, Guiding Light was always my favorite. I fell in love with the above pictured Grant Aleksander as Phillip Spaulding long before DH came into my life.

Though my adult devotion to the Soaps has been luke-warm, my dear grandmother (Ma Jones), who died several years ago, was a die hard Soap fan. It was known far and wide that you didn't interrupt her "Shows". She would even say less-than-positive things about any newscaster or President who saw fit to interrupt her daily visits in Genoa City (The Young and the Restless), LA (Bold & Beautiful), Oakdale (As the World Turns) and the final stop being in Springfield (Guiding Light). Honestly, even if the world were ending, it would have been well advised to do so before the beginning of her Shows or afterward...otherwise, she was NOT participating!

I am not sure what exactly I find so sad about the slow, winding down of the Soap Opera genre. Maybe it is the nostalgia that comes with seeing much beloved brands pass away (Pontiac comes to mind). I guess it is just seeing something that was so intrinsic to my childhood era end. My Mother and her friends watched Soaps. It was the background noise of our home every afternoon. As I became a teen, and into my college years, it became a shared experience among my friends. Who remembers where they were when Luke and Laura got married (the 1st time)? Were you huddled around the TV at home, or in a dorm room or sharing it with friends in the Student Center? Oh, and then there was the wide spread popularity of VCRs...to record and watch it later. No, I am not kidding!

Soaps always have beautiful people, with beautiful homes, and of course, beautiful clothes. The idea for my Christmas Wedding was inspired by Tom and Margo's (As the World Turns) Christmas wedding in 1983. Oh, and don't forget, no one ever ages poorly on Soaps...how cool is THAT? And now the news is, not only have we seen the death of Guiding Light in September of 2009, but 2010 will bring the execution date during September for As the World Turns, as well. I am just glad Ma Jones isn't here to see that...it would have killed her.

RIP, Oakdale....