Tres Bien

The kids are gone. After spending a few days coming to terms with the empty house, I had to decide if I was ready to travel. Brian had a trip with two one-day layovers in Paris with two days in between. OK, let's see. Stay home alone to cry in my soup or four days in Paris. No brainer! Paris it was and Paris was great. Had beautiful weather. Sunny but not hot. I visited Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, St. Chapelle, Montmarte, Sacre Coere, the Lourve, Musse d'Orsay, Musee d.Orangerie, Musee Carnavelet, the Mairais section, Hotel Sully, Victor Hugo's House, and of course, the Eiffel tower and walked past many other places of interest. My favorites were St. Chapelle with it's breathtaking windows and Musee d'Orangerie with it's oval rooms of Monet's fantastic large scale water lilies. Although Musee d'Orsay runs a close second. I survived the two nights at the hostel with no air conditioning, very little water pressure, and two roommates who snored LOUDLY (otherwise it was clean and pleasant and I felt safe). I would love to go back and visit a few other places and do some other outlying areas like Normandy, Versailles, and Monet's house and gardens. Maybe another time.





The Louvre at night.

Ball State Bound

Four years ago if you would have told me all three of my very independent children would have ended up going to the same college (a state college at that), I would have laughed a deep, hearty laugh. But, alas, God has a way of surprising you. Aug. 19 & 20 we moved all three to Ball State. Jordan moved in first on the 19th because he had no specific time frame on move-in. Bethany and Aaron were scheduled for a Aug 20 move-in date.

We took off from home with the mini van (with back seats removed) full and a trailer loaned from Dad (Thanks Dad!!) containing the large pieces (desk, chairs, futon, mattresses, book shelves, bikes, refrigerators, and many a Rubbermaid container full of the essentials for college life).

We arrived at Jordan's frat house just after lunch at DQ. It's a good thing we ate first because I don't think we would have much appetite after seeing Jordan's new "place." It gave Bethany and Aaron a new appreciation for their humble dorm rooms that supply things like clean bathrooms and floors, light fixtures, closets, and walls without holes. After locating a vacuum and giving the room a thorough once over, we spent the rest of the day hauling Jordan's things up and trying to get the room livable. We spent a bit of time at Wal-Mart picking up two very bright standing lamps, a desk lamp, and three strings of rope lights among other things. Does this give an idea of how dark the room was? Then we moved on to Lowe's to pick up supplies for building a closet and a creative idea for installing the window air-conditioner without boarding up the remaining portion of the one and only window. Then back to the frat house for a bit of construction. By the end of the day, we were exhausted and Bethany, Aaron, Brian, and I headed to the hotel and for the jacuzzi to soak our aching muscles.

The next morning we dropped Bethany and Aaron's things off in their respective dorm rooms before lunch. Wow! What a contrast from yesterday. We then hit the village to pick up the books we had reserved for Aaron and his art supply kit. Then a final shopping trip for last minute "needs" and the now traditional dinner at Thai Smiles II restaurant. After hugs and goodbyes (and me holding back tears...where did those come from) Brian and I headed home completely exhausted and just tried to make it home awake and alive. Obviously, we did. Now let's see what an empty nest is really like.