Milestones and Do Overs!

If and when you have the chance to spend the day with one of your nieces as she readies for the milestone of college, I strongly encourage you to order front row seats. Don't stay home because the drive is too far or gas prices are through the roof. It is that once in a lifetime opportunity, so if you have to, bounce a check.

The original pookey bear is headed off to college and I had the great good fortune of touring campus and her elaborate 'dorm' and playing red light green light at the Kennesaw State University sign that happened to be at a major intersection. You want to capture every moment and you wish time could be still while you catch up. And you hope she doesn't mind you mention her in your blog.

Catherine is just a beautiful young lady. She is petite and bright and stunning in presentation; artistic and dynamic in daily living. I remember when her Grandpa answered the phone in the Maternity Ward's waiting room and him announcing her arrival and I remember her and her cousin Amanda eating the Turkey legs dressed up in bonnets in the Little Gray House and I remember her walk across the stage at high school graduation. I hope I never forget Red Light Green Light at the Kennesaw State University sign. Tonight we will have a viewing of the outfits she has assembled for Rush; and tomorrow we will be wondering where the time went.

I remember my own journey through college completely sucked so I am sensitive when it comes to my loved ones and their journey. Always working two jobs while squeezing in a class here and there. People making snide comments about how long it was taking me and that I must not be very motivated or give a crap. And the truth is I hated every minute of college. What was to love, working all the time, not having the resources to keep up with the younger kids. No Rush, no clubs, no one who can relate. It was a long, lonely journey and in the end, I am not sure I think it was the least bit worth it. I had no sense of following a passion or preparing for a career. I just wanted the damn piece of paper because it sure seemed so important to everyone else.

But this time around, as I start back to school, it is because I want to and I have a passion and a dream. Just like Catherine will follow her artistic vision and my niece Amanda is in pursuit of her passion for helping others through medicine. And where there will still be no Rush for me there will be joining the Woodbine Writers Club and the Camden Co Runner's Group to keep me well rounded. There may still be two jobs but one will be as a barista or bed and breakfast front desk clerk and the other will be working at Target or Publix so I can get a discount. And I secretly hope someone wants to take my picture outside The Camden Center where I will learn to bake and braise and butterfly.

Recipes: soft shelled tacos with meat and cheese, just like when she was five.

Roadtrips: HWY 98 to 85 S to 285 W to 75 N to 575 N to exit 14.That is where happiness lives.

Rennovations: I get a do over!