Sunday, June 28, 2009

After 18 years, I was still horribly unprepared for this.

My baby is off at college now. I can't believe it! Here's a few pictures I took over the past few days:


Packing up the van on Friday.


Being a nut.


Hannah and Kali playing in their room. :)

In the dorm room! Her roommate wasn't there yesterday; she should be there now.


More of the room. Her bed is fairly high off the ground, so there was plenty of room to store stuff underneath it. Kali said she was going to sleep under there.







Hanging out in the bathroom. :)


Don't we all look like a lovely bunch? Oh lord.


Yes, you read it right - there's housekeeping. I want that!


View out of her window; please excuse the screen.




Going back to the van.


The campus is so pretty. Hopefully I'll be back over there soon visiting Mary. That is, if she'll let me in!


The girls HAD to sleep in her room last night. Well, Hannah fell asleep in there, but Kali didn't. She couldn't fall asleep and ended up sleeping in our bed. She said "mom, where do you think Mary's sleeping tonight? Do you think she's in her dorm room now in bed?" Oh my. Just about broke my heart.

I will tell you that leaving Mary at UCF was ugly for me. I was totally unprepared for how awful I felt. Really, I felt like I up and left her there. She thought that was kinda funny. The energy in the house has totally changed and I'm trying to get used to it. The girls have been playing in her room most of the day after we gave it a good cleaning. :) Hannah has already taken over the closet, too.

She ended up having to work today at Penny's. According to her, it was hell. I bet she'll sleep well tonight! Classes start tomorrow for her. She is going to be one busy girl. Hopefully she'll find a few moments to squeeze the rest of us in. :)

I still can't believe she's there, though. It's so odd. I had 18 years to prepare myself for this, and I was not. I know she's going to be just fine out there, but it doesn't make her leaving here any easier. I miss you, Mary, and I love you.

1 comment:

Nessa said...

Hey mama! Thanks for letting us into your world to see this movement in life. Mary has proved to have grown up so well and I believe that she will go all the way. I bet you are so very proud of her.

I am years away from dealing with Bella spreading her wings, but from your experience, I am sure I too will have a hard time dealing with it. I hope that Bella decides to study close to home so that I can visit or she can come on weekends....but that will be up to her.

Hang in there mama! Now you can go visit Mary and while you are there....pop by Disney!