Empty

My house is empty.

So are my emotions.

Everyone left on Wednesday morning. Troy to work. Mom, Dad, Morgan, and Connor to Oklahoma. It's just me and my emptiness.

I haven't written until this point because I didn't know how I was feeling or what to say. At first I thought I was just bone-tired. We packed a lot into 4 weeks. Then when tears filled my eyes Wednesday night, I thought I was depressed. But I think I'm mostly just empty.

I keep thinking about little things that were a normal part of my day for the past month that are not here anymore:

Connor's footsteps coming up the stairs from his bedroom in the morning. And with sleep still in his eyes saying, "I'm bored."

Peeking in on Morgan at 1:00 in the afternoon to make sure she's still alive to see her lying in bed curled up with a Harry Potter book. (She read the whole series again while she was here.)

Connor playing Wii sports while I'm making dinner and hearing his little delighted voice saying, "I'm really good at this!"

Girl talks with Morgan as we drove from point A to point B. LOVE THOSE CAPTIVE MOMENTS!

Watching Connor take on "big boy" responsibilities like helping clean the table after dinner and ordering for himself at a restaurant.

Hearing Morgan learn to take a compliment gracefully.

No Spongebob, no YouTube references, no day trips to explore museums and amusement parks, no fun filled discussions at the dinner table.

Empty.

That's all.

In Honor of the Shuttle Missions

I wish I had the foresight to plan this, but it just happened this way.

We finally launched our model rockets on the very day the last shuttle mission launched. I had penciled it in on our Calendar of Events.

We were waiting for a break in the rain. We got it, a break...barely.


We launched the smaller rocket first...


And retrieved it...




Then we launched the larger one...


And lost it...

But still had a great night.

Calendar of Events

I tried. I really, really tried. But I just can't do it. I can't just let a day happen and plan events accordingly. When did this happen? When did I become the cruise director?

I admit it. I've always wanted to have vacations planned. Mostly because I wanted to pack everything I could into those limited days. But to have every day planned?
I think it started when I stopped working full time. I no longer had my day planned based on what needed to be completed by a deadline.

I started pondering this as I looked at the "Calendar of Events" for July attached to the refrigerator. It didn't just appear. I worked long and hard on it.

The obsessive compulsive part of me understands the Museum Mondays, Take-turns Tuesdays, Wacky Wednesdays, Thrifty Thursdays, Family Fridays, Special Night Saturdays, and Simple Sundays. The practical side of me knows that I need to have things planned so that I can find coupons and directions for the outing. And the rest of me loves the ability to look at the calendar and tell the ever-questioning seven year old boy what we have on the agenda for the next day.

So what's on the agenda for this Thrifty Thursday? The pool and the library.

Rockets And Red Glare

Rockets:
Our church announced that as part of our annual Independence Day Celebration picnic, we would also have a model rocket launch. Knowing that Connor is a typical seven year old boy who has a unique interest in all things scientific, I made a mental note to include him (with help from Uncle Troy) in this activity.
On Monday, I took advice from a hobby shop owner named Wolf, and bought a two rocket set. He assured me, the novice rocket builder, that the set was all inclusive.

Red Glare:
On Friday, Uncle Troy was sick, more seriously than I realized. (This sickness lasted all weekend.) I asked him to read the instructions on the rockets to insure we were ready to hit the ground running on Sunday. He read through the general instructions and said we were ready to go. After the picnic, we noticed that kids started lining up at the launch pad with their rockets ALREADY BUILT! So we hurriedly opened the packages and realized that in addition to the "all inclusive" kit we needed: super glue, masking tape, "recovery wadding", a craft knife, a ruler, and a pencil!
REALLY, WOLF?!?!

So, picture the scene: Connor is watching other kids launching rockets, questions about our progress running like a river from his mouth. Troy is trying as best he can to "McGyver" this contraption with supplies borrowed from the church office. I am TICKED because Wolf misled us and because I didn't think Troy was as prepared as he should have been.

We finally gave up on the construction and went home "Red Glaring" all the way.

Rockets, Part Two:
Today, Connor and I sat at the kitchen table with most of the extra supplies at hand and finished as much as we could of the rockets. We still have to buy "recovery wadding" at Hobby Lobby tomorrow.

For now all is well. Troy is finally feeling a little better (after a bout of severe dehydration). Connor is satisfied that we have two rockets (sans wadding) on the launching pad. And I am thrilled that life is better for both of my boys.

Launch pictures to follow...