Excuses, Excuses and Scrapbook: Nicole’s Room

So, there has been yet another two week gap between posts. You are probably wondering, “She has an empty nest. What’s her excuse now?”

Of the 25 days of an empty nest, there have been three days where I have been alone in this nest – today being one of those three days.

While we were moving Nicole into her dorm room, I got this text from my brother Dave:

Wait, I just got a text from Heather asking me for help with a tax form.

…

Okay, I’m back.

Where was I? Oh, the text from my brother Dave:

Wait, the dog needs to go out.¹

The text. From my brother.

Since then, weekends have involved soccer games, a trip to Charlotte, and my husband. None of those have been conducive to any level of concentration required for writing posts.

I’ve also taken on a new role – that of personal trainer. Once a week, I go up to the Lake to push Philip with respect to both exercise and nutrition. (Me being pushy?) I’m telling you, that job takes some nerve. His initial reaction to me telling him to take a hike or to me putting a full plate of food in front of him is not always positive. But, while I hold my breath waiting, he tends to work through that initial response and ends up pushing himself. Here we are during one of those PT sessions:

There have also been a few errands while the nest has been empty. Like me getting Dave’s car fixed after Nicole hit a tire on 495. Yes, you parsed that sentence correctly. Dave’s car. Nicole’s accident. Me getting it fixed. Another errand involved driving my brother to the airport. And then picking him up again that same day when his flight was cancelled. On our way back, he asked with a chuckle in his voice, “What were you doing today? Nothing?” Thankfully, the need for grocery shopping has pretty much disappeared since the nest has been empty.

I’m also still participating in my writing group and trying to get Lake Waban Blue off the ground. (I am nothing if not stubbornly persistent.) Dave and Phil both asked me why I wasn’t sharing any of my writing. Because I don’t like most of it. Or rather, none of it is as good or as finished as I would like it to be. One of these days.

Finally, I have managed to get some nesting done in this empty nest. Meaning going through Nicole’s room with a fine-tooth comb. When she left, we couldn’t see the floor of either her room or her closet. We redecorated this room a few years ago, and I have no plans to redo it even though the walls are purple. This is how it looks today:

¹Other interruptions while writing this post: An email from Nicole with her birthday list – had to remind her she already received her birthday gift (an iPhone).  More texts – this time from Jo about the pain of being a Panther’s fan (I told her it was too late to turn back now) and Heather wanting me to go to a Sox game with her (Yankees here we come). A package delivery – soccer cleats that are not technically part of the birthday present. And the dog throwing up – but while outside so I ignored that.

UPDATE: This text just in from Meagan, and I had to add it to the post.