Harry just left for his father’s house. He will be there for five days before coming back here on Wednesday.
He’s here on Wednesday and Thursday, and then he moves into his dorm on Friday.
There are only two days left.
Sad face because he’s going away. Excited face because I can’t wait for him to take on college and frankly make it his bitch.
I need to play guitar tonight. I’m starting to go crazy again and I need to play to fix my brain a little.
Harry goes back to his dad’s today and comes back on Wednesday and Thursday. Then over the weekend Bellana comes home and stays with dad for the weekend. It’s his birthday next week so they are celebrating over the weekend. Then on Monday and Tuesday she will come here while Harry stays at Dad’s. I am hoping we can steal him for a little while but I doubt it.
Then on Wednesday Bellana goes back to Burlington. I go back to work for two days and Harry comes back to our house for two days. Then on Friday we move Harry into school in Burlington and that’s it for us having kids in the house.
Less than two weeks away from the empty nest. If you were wondering where today’s flavor of misery comes from, that’s it right there.
I had a moment just now where I thought I missed the premier of The Walking Dead’s 11th season, but that doesn’t actually happen until next week. Whew, eh?
I closed all three rings in my activity app tonight. That means I closed all three rings every day for a week. The app calls that a perfect week. I’d be much more excited about it if my legs weren’t in so much pain.
This has been a really good weekend for the three of us. The only thing missing was my step daughter. She’s coming down next weekend and we are going to get to spend some quality time with her. This weekend though was all about Harry and it was wonderful. I’m so excited for the next chapter in his life to start in two weeks but I’m also crushed that he has to leave us. I want to make the most of the time we have left.
For now though, let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow’s a work day.
Sweet dreams, internet.
Well here we are. Today is the last Sunday we have with Harry before he leaves for college. Next Sunday is with dad, and the Sunday after that he’ll already be two days into his college career.
So we’re being weird today and driving up to the New Hampshire lakes region for some mini-golf and some wandering and exploring. It’s kinda our thing. The wandering and exploring, not so much the mini-golf, but that’s our excuse-destination.
Pics will be shared, I am sure.
Off we go!
This is totally selfish. We’re just focusing on me here, not on anyone else, m’kay?
I am about to have a really rough time. I am leaving work early today, at 3:30. The plan is to spend the extra two hours off hanging with Harry. After that I head to my parents house for nana/papa sitting shift… for 48 hours. Two whole days there without a break. Without going home and seeing my family. It’s going to be a nightmare.
It is the price I had to pay in order to get most of the last week of August off so that I don’t have to miss a Bellana visit and so that I can help Harry move into his dorm. A double shift is going to suck, but it is absolutely going to be worth it.
We are hopefully going to watch the first episode of Marvel’s What If? tonight. Then when I get back Friday night we’re watching The Suicide Squad. It’s our last weekend with Harry before he leaves for school so we’re going to super hero the shit out of it.
Starting around 6:30 tonight I am going to have a miserable 48 hours, but after that it’s going to be great. Run that gauntlet, red head. Run it.
You know you’re close to the border when the Canadian flag starts popping up at random places.
Look kids, scenery!
We were stopped someplace and I saw this and liked the look of the field for some reason and I wonder what’s under that little bump. A bomb shelter? A meth lab? A Hobbit Hole?
See the school bus? I don’t know what was going on, but I saw privately owned school buses all over the place. It felt like The Partridge Family or something.
You’re going to have to seriously tax your memory for this one… when was the last time you saw a gas pump without a card reader?
And finally…..
Bellana is all moved in. Her dad is bringing a few things up next weekend, but for now she’s there and most of her stuff is there and her roommates are there and everything is good. She has a new apartment, now she needs to transform it into a home.
Jen and I left Burlington around 4:00pm, maybe more like 5:00? I’m not sure. We chose to take the scenic route home which somehow led us to NH route 9 which is so winding that I’m sure we drove in a spiral at least twice, and it’s so badly lit (just some reflectors on one side and some reflective yellow paint) that I’m positive we were underground for at least 15 of the 40 miles.
We are home now. We are exhausted, proud, excited to see what comes next, but still a smidge sad.
Congratulations, Bellana.
Now it’s time to shift our focus to Harry who is graduating from high school in less than two weeks. I’m so proud I might pop like an over-proud balloon!
Today has been the last day before Bellana moves into her own apartment. Allow me to let nine year old Bellana demonstrate how I feel:
Now allow me to let nine year old Bellana demonstrate how she feels:
We are packing up the cars for the move tomorrow. I am happy for her and sad as fuck for me and Jen. The happy definitely outweighs the sad though and I am choosing to ignore the sad until Wednesday at the earliest.
Is everyone psyched up for the Bruins game #2 with the Islanders tonight? The NHL iOS app says that game time is 7:30pm so… 7:50ish maybe? I’m not sure how much, if any, of the game I’m going to be able to catch tonight, but guaranteed I’ll be keeping an eye on things.
I’m wearing one of my Bruins t-shirts. I wore it on the last two game days (yes, I washed it, sheesh) and they won both games. I’m not sure if that qualifies it as a “good luck shirt” but I ain’t taking any chances. I also haven’t shaved since before game five of the first round series. I don’t know if the idea of a playoff beard being good luck extends beyond the locker room, but why take the chance? Granted, there is no way in hell that I’ll keep the fascial hair as far out as game three. It’s doubtful that I’ll shave first thing in the morning tomorrow, but it’s also very likely that I will shave at some point tomorrow. The itchy… it’s just starting to drive me nuts. I’ll fight the urge tonight, purely in the interest of hanging on to the home ice advantage, but after that the team is very much on its own.
The plan tonight is to get out of Mom’s and get home as fast as humanly possible, thought I may not have enough gas to get there. We’ll have to see. Then once I am home we spark up the grill and sneak a Memorial Day cookout in at the last minute. Sunset is 8:15 and I don’t think it’s raining anymore. After that it’s time to start loading up the Mazda for the drive up and over to Vermont tomorrow. Tentatively, Jen will go up with Bellana in Bellana’s car, and I will follow by myself. Once we’re up there and the car is unloaded, we’ll head over to Target (the nearest big store) and pick up some last minute apartment supplies. When that’s all set Jen and I will head home together and I will see my depression level increase from “alarmingly depressed” to “fuck it, I’m not getting out of bed depressed.”
Go back to all of my posts from August 2019. Bellana going away to college messed me up. This is effectively the same scenario, but for some reason it is soooo much worse this time. I think part of it is just the word “apartment.” It’s an “apartment” instead of a “dorm room” and that makes a world of difference. The other part is that August 2019 will be literally repeated in August 2021 when Harry goes away to school. That’s not a partially empty nest, that’s the full boat.
Don’t get me wrong, I am prouder of both of them than I could ever express. I love them so much. I can’t imagine any parent loving their kids as much as I love my step kids, mostly because I love them so much I feel like I could explode and I can’t fathom someone actually surviving while feeling something more than that. I want the best for them, I want them to have it all, I want them to succeed, I want them to have the time of their lives in the prime of their lives. There’s just a part of me that selfishly wants them to stay home with us forever, that’s all.
Okay, calm down. It’s going to be okay, Rob. It’s going to be all right. Let’s just distract ourselves from the near future by watching the Red Sox. They are losing 4-0 to the Astros. Hey look, both teams that cheated their way to a recent world series are playing each other. Hardy har har. If the Red Sox lose today, does that mean that cosmically there is space available for the Bruins to win? The universe is so screwy.
Inside the Red Head's Head 