A sleepily joyful homecoming

I’m sorry these are blurry. My camera was (is still) buried in the piles of luggage, so my phone was all I had handy for these pictures, taken at 3 a.m. this morning.

My son is home, living here for the next month until he heads to Germany. I am happy and occasionally overwhelmed by grief. How does anyone survive their children leaving home? I think it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

My first sight of Kevin on Thursday was a huge grin before being enveloped in a hug. We had a nice low-key day. We took Kevin to a restaurant he’d heard about from his drill sergeants and wanted to try. It was delicious. We hung out in the air-conditioned hotel room, watched TV, napped, and talked. We went shopping at the Exchange. On Friday, the graduation was at 9 a.m. The ceremony was rousing and funny and just the right length. A nice rite of passage with no boring parts. Apparently the Army knows what it’s doing. Afterward Kevin did a little more shopping on post, we had lunch, changed clothes, and got on the road about 2 p.m. It was a very long ride home.

My son is impossibly beautiful. I don’t know why the girls don’t swoon everywhere he goes. He’s full of stories and swear words. He’s calm and confident and has a new level of self-awareness. He calls waitresses and cashiers ma’am. He has ambitious plans for his future. He drinks Monster energy drinks like water. He eats fast but healthy and less than he used to. He sang cadences for us in the car. I didn’t even know he could carry a tune. He missed music most during his training. He made good friends, some of whom he will miss and many of whom will be waiting for him in Germany. He probably won’t be deployed until late next year. He still wants to be a mechanic. Or a weapons specialist. Yes, that sounds like my son.

He’s still Kevin, but he’s grown. He’s bigger and smaller all at the same time. It’s good to have him home.

Birthdays and Miracles

Firstly, look what my mom sent me for my birthday:

It’s a pendant and earring set. She said it made her think of Halloween when she saw it and of course, that made her think of me. Isn’t it awesome?!!! I have to get a chain so I can wear it soon. It will look great with the new black pants and jackets I’ve been buying for work.

Here’s a lovely birthday week story:

I planned a get together with a friend for this week so that I wouldn’t spend the whole week alone. We were going to watch the first two Twilight movies on dvd, plus all the special features. I got New Moon as soon as it was released, so it’s been sitting here for a couple of weeks, still in the shrink wrap, waiting for tonight. Today my friend texted me and said something came up and she couldn’t make it tonight. No go for tomorrow night, either. So I was here feeling a bit sorry for myself and thinking that I need to do something to make more friends who actually live in the same town as me, when I look out my window to see a car pulling into my driveway. It was my classmate, Shelley, who is taking the Careers in Psychology class with me. She came over this past Sunday and we did our collages for The Artist’s Way together. On Sunday she admired some of my vintage pieces and we talked about our mutual love of home renovation and vintage decorating. Today, she was just stopping by to bring me two old windows that she’d had for a long time. She’s getting rid of stuff in preparation for a move and wanted me to have them. For free. For my birthday. She even brought a birthday card with them. Here’s the windows:

 

They’re so beautiful! I got weepy and gave her a big hug and said I’d been feeling sorry for myself and she made me feel so good. Then she invited me to Red Lobster for dinner tonight. Apparently someone’s listening up there.

And finally, a picture of the new me, taken with great difficulty after many somber and silly tries:

V-Day Tablescape

As must be obvious to the most casual observer by now, school and blog posting are not mixing well for me. The last 3 weeks have been pretty rough. However, this next week is not looking too bad, which is nice, since it’s my birthday week. Mr. MC will be out of town all week, so I am planning fun things to do for myself.

For fun, here’s a tablescape I did for Valentine’s Day:

It was fun to use my new table runner. I got it here. It is red and white striped ticking with a pretty white ruffle. It was listed as a Christmas item originally, but it will be handy for all sorts of occasions. The pretty gift bag, heart shaped bowl, and red and clear glass hearts were all gifts from my mother-in-law. She likes to give us fun little Valentine’s Day care packages every year. I put the glass hearts and some tea lights on my ironstone platter and they looked very pretty lit. Unfortunately, I’m not a skilled enough photographer for those sorts of pictures. Maybe eventually I’ll learn to use my camera well enough to do that. For placemats, I just used some pink tissue paper I’ve had for years. It was fun to do a festive table. I’d like to do more.