Four More Days

image: hiusa.org

Four days!....and I'm feeling a bit frantic. What to do? What to do?

After a wee bit of stomach pain, the typhoid pills are taken, her things are all together, and she's busily packing her room away for a year and a half.

Why does that suddenly seem like SUCH a LONG time?

image: seasidecarouselmall.com

She wanted to go to the beach for one last time, so today, that's what we'll do. She's in search of a floppy cotton hat (on her packing list). There's a GREAT hat shop at the beach, but the kids usually try on the wackiest thing they can find. So much so that part of me wonders if there's a legit hat anywhere in the place. Regardless, that's where she wants to look.

She also still needs to get her driving record. That will happen Monday.

image: roadsideamerica.com

We'll take our traditional stop at the cheese factory on our way home today and pick up an ice cream cone. So happy for these little family customs that somehow bring stability and comfort during times like these.

I rode in the car with her yesterday, and I suddenly realized how I'm taking all of this for granted. It just hasn't clicked yet. We had people in our home the other night to say good-bye to her, and I just felt like Wow! How nice to have friends over.

When will this seem real?

Now that I look back, this is how I felt around the time she was born....Clueless! I went in to be induced that morning and was cracking jokes and having a good ol' time. Yup, clueless! That is EXACTLY what this feels like. Subsequent deliveries were met with a bit more realism and even a tiny bit (Haha! Yah, right....Tiny bit?) of trepidation.

She came home from saying good-bye to friends last night. She went straight downstairs to her room--very unlike her. I called out to her, and I could hear the tears in her voice. I haven't seen her cry since she was a baby. This child is a rock. I went down to talk to her. #3, lying in her bed across the room, eyes very wide with what look like shock, said, "She's crying." #1, busying herself with clearing her bed from all of the stuff she has yet to pack, chimed in, "And it's not pretty."

She assured me that she knew everything was going to be okay. She has such conviction for what she's doing. "It's just going to be such a long time." One of her friends is heading to Hawaii tomorrow and is currently waiting for his mission call. She knows that it will be two and a half years before she sees him again. Tough!

So, the next three days, we will fill with packing, taking care of those last preparations, and having fun. She leaves on Tuesday.

We discussed her last dinner with us while we were driving around yesterday. She wants my mom's dip*. That is all. I tried to pin her down on a real meal. Nope. She wants my mom's dip. So, that will be what we shall have. I may add a meal around it, but if that's what the girl wants, that's what she shall have.

That's what you do when you only have a day left, I guess.











*For the recipe, see the Madhouse cookbook, and good luck.

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