The Countdown...

...is on. Only 10...9...8...7...6...5...4 weeks and 3...2 days until... until what? A new life? Drastic change?

This is R-Day coming up, in which the Empty Nest becomes the new reality. With 13 years between the first child and the last, the Empty Nest isn't exactly new around here. But this now, is the real thing.

For better or for worse, the Empty Nest will be official that day. It's not going to be a total change. Thanks to the last two years of CTC, Speech Forensics, and a few other such time-takers, we have experienced the luxury of a gradual, leisurely weaning from the last remnants of this world of life-consuming parenthood. And of course the last almost four years have held the frequent presence of the Blue-Eyed Boy, who thinks he is not only my kid, but my "only kid."

But whatever~Good, bad, or indifferent, life will never be the same.