Alleluia, they have risen! Our No. 1 daughter, son-in-law and their pair o'boys, that is. Mike the Builder finally finished their 8-month remodeling project, and they've moved down the avenue into their shiny "new" home. It really is beautiful, and I know they're going to love living there. They have great new neighbors, a gorgeous huge yard just waiting for Patrick's deft green thumb and more closets and crannies than they have stuff to stash. So I'm quite happy for them.
And I'm happy for us, too. Our house is now very minimalist and "ours" again. I took out the upholstery cleaner and scrubbed my so-dirty-they-stiffened kitchen chairs (where the boys boosters had perched) last night. They stayed clean all the way until this morning. And they're still clean. Holy Heloise! Now we have quite a few more repair and patch-up and clean-up projects in the wake of the Watsons, but what I like best is that they're little projects that Mike and I can do together. I feel like I haven't seen my husband since August.
But there's a down side, of course. I got home from work last night and tripped over ... nothing. I went to work out and came home and got great wet kisses and knee-hugs from ... nobody. The cat has returned to her strident self and is sprawled on the counter again. (I thought she might have forgotten about that.) I missed one little person or another, who greeted me nose-to-nose each morning, imploring "Nonna UP!" It was just a little harder to get out of bed to greet the day today.
So while we're awash in silence last night, we had two visitors: our daughters. One wanted a quiet place to study. The other wanted to use the computer. Quote for the night: "We're done being a boarding house and now we're a library."
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2 comments:
We have indeed left the building -- and believe me, we're just as thrilled as you. But we miss you, too, and in honor of our time together, a few parting words:
Top 10 reasons why living with Mom and Dad wasn't half-bad:
10. Who can complain about having a ginormous television their bedroom (how many inches is the basement t.v., anyway)?
9. Wine, wine, wine. Nothing but the best from your, ahem, "cellar", and now we’re spoiled for life!
8. The central vacuum cleaner system -- it should be mandatory for all parents of toddlers.
7. Mom makes a mean guacamole.
6. Ti-vo, we’ll miss you so.
5. Nicole enjoyed going to work in her pajamas.
4. The heated garage was a great place for the boys to ride their trikes on a sub-zero January afternoon.
3. Built-in baby-sitting service (we hope we didn’t take advantage of this one, but man, it sure was nice to duck out for a drink every once in a while after the kids were in bed). So, do you make house-calls?
2. The occasional double-ringer-doorbell visit from Uncle Gary. Nothing is funnier than hearing Will and Owen say “Uncle Jazzmo!”
… and the number one reason why living with Mom and Dad wasn't half-bad: instead of running to our room to wake us up at 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings, the boys watched “toons” with Nonna and Bumpa, giving us an extra, glorious hour of sleep!
I've left a little boy's perfect handprint on my glass hutch as a fond memory of the Leetle Monsters.
Oh, yes. We'll make house calls, free of charge. Sheesh, I can walk to your house in 10 minutes, give or take a few. I'll even bring the guacamole and a little somethin' from the cellar.
Thanks for the memories. I wouldn't have traded those for a million spotless houses or a jillion hours of sleep. Well, maybe the sleep, but as Dad says, "Sleep is highly over-rated."
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