I got to experience something over this past weekend that I have never gotten to do before.

We were at Watkins Glen, New York at the road course race track. I was helping my DH all day on Thursday and all Friday morning clean up and detail cars so they would look great for the race fans coming in. We really worked hard all through this time.

On Friday he told me that I was going to get to do something fun at 12:30. So at 12:20 I met up with the group and we walked out on the track, through the winners circle and out into the pits. There we met the two professional drivers that take people on "Hot" pace laps. We went two at a time and rode in Pontiac Solstice GXP's. After getting buckled in, and chatted for a moment with the "young" driver..off we went.

We reached speeds in some parts of the track of about 110 mph. And we'd squeal the tires and zoom through the hairpin curves. It's a 3 1/2 mile road course with I believe 11 different curves in it. I had a blast. I could have done that all day. But it was fun.

The man behind me took a movie with his digital camera and said he'd send a copy. I hope he does. While it's not me..it's the same type of car and I'm in front of him on the track. We had just driven away from him and he couldn't see us until the end. Then I'm getting out of the car at that point.

It was an awesome experience.

I just wanted to share something from our fun evening with our DD last night. She bought us 3 tickets (one for herself ) for Christmas to go and see David Copperfield when he was doing his illusion show in Kalamazoo. Last night was the night.

We had a wonderful time throughout the entire show. He made some pretty amazing thing appear or disappear without any way to figure out how it happened. I'm sure most of you remember his specials where he made a plane and the Statue of Liberty disappear. Well..we got to see a full size vintage car appear above audience members that had been randomly selected from the crowd. It was awesome. He also took a photograph and an audience member and ended up on a beach in Hawaii with the photo of different audience members. It was a live feed and he showed the photo once he appeared there, and came back with handfulls of sand.

The final act was really cool, and our favorite. He had his staff go out into different areas of the theatre with large balls. Like beach ball size. They started playing music and the balls were just batted around. When the music stopped, the person with the ball got to come up on stage. DH actually caught the ball, but handed it off quickly to Molly. She hesitated and we told her to go, so off she went. There were 13 balls and so 13 audience members to go on stage. There was a prop on stage with 13 chairs. They got to walk all around it and look at it, then they sat them in the chairs. Molly was in the front middle, so she and a man next to her were asked their names so he had someone to communicate with. He'd talk to the two of them as they got them all set in the seats. They all got flashlights, Molly and the other man getting larger brighter ones so you could see that they were still sitting in their middle seats. Then they pulled the white curtain down around them. He told them to continue to wave the flashlights which they were all doing. Then he yanked the white curtain down and all 13 people were gone. 5 seconds later, the spot light shined up into the balcony and all 13 of them were up there, with their shining flashlights. It was amazing.
After this last act, we headed out into the lobby to try and find Molly. We heard some announcement about family of the 13 people but there was a lot of crowd noise and we really didn't know where to meet up with them at.
It probably took about 15 or 20 minutes of milling about in the lobby, but she finally came through a door and out to meet up with us. They had taken them all to the green room, let them see a recording of this illusion from the night before, then David Copperfield came in and talked to all of them and gave them all an autographed picture.
We thought we'd get an inside scoop as to how this was done, but all she'd say is she didn't really know how they got up on the balcony that fast.
It was a wonderful evening.
Next weekend Molly and I are off for a just the girls evening in Dayton, OH. She and I are going to see Sugarland, Dierks Bently, and Kenny Chesney in concert. (All country music acts if you aren't familiar with them). I hope I can keep up with her on this one.

Hi Guys! Sorry this has taken me so long to get out. I was swamped here with stuff to get done after getting home. Life has now slowed back down a bit.
We had a blast on the cruise. Here's a run down of our trip. Hehehe

We spent Friday night at the hotel near the airport in Dayton. It was just easier than doing it from Mom and Dad's. We had to be at the airport by 4:30 a.m. And trying to get showers, dressed and slip out with the dog and the low water issues at Mom and Dad's just made that seem like a real chore.

We got to the airport on time. Got checked in without any real issues. (Our e-ticket wouldn't read in the kiosk, so we had to check in at the desk, but lines were short so it wasn't bad at all, and the kiosk stuff makes me nervous anyway).
We had a stop in Cincinnati. Had a bit of time for breakfast and to wander around. Then headed out to Tampa on the next flight.
We got into Tampa about 10 minutes late, but not bad. We went to baggage claim, all of our luggage showed up, then we found a spot to wait on Bob and Linda. Dave's cell phone rang right then and they had landed and were getting ready to unload the plane. We met them right at baggage claim. We found a cab guy who waved us in a van so we could all go together to the port.
We arrived at the port by noon, and we're sure what to do. Our paper work all said we couldn't get on the ship until 2:00. But the man on the sidewalk, showed us where to check our luggage in (it all has your cabin number attached, so they take it to the cabins), and said take the stairs up to get checked in. So up we went...no lines...we had done pre-check in stuff, so we went to the special area...picked up our stuff...got sent to the next door, got id pictures that go with out on board ship id cards...sent out the next door and we were boarding. It was great! There was a lunch buffet set up...so we ate, drank and just chilled out waiting on the rest of the world to board.
At 5:00 we had the mandatory life boat drill. Those are a pain, but also sort of fun.

Then we set sail. We were wondering about Tropical Storm Gamma which was right in our way. The captain came on with an announcement that he'd keep us informed. But we didn't have rough seas or storms or anything.

Our first day (Sunday) was at sea all day. It was fun. We just settled into being on vacation. Did casino stuff...drank pina colada's....swam....and enjoyed getting accustomed to getting around the ship. It does take a little while.

Day two (Monday) we stopped in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We took the tender boat in for that. (Some ports are too shallow for the big ships to dock in). We actually used several of the life boats for tenders here, and we got to ride in our own life boat. That was sort of interesting. We walked around town for awhile...then came back to the quiet ship and spent the day enjoying the quiet. It's fun when most people get off and you have the ship to yourself.

Day three (Tuesday) we stopped in Costa Maya, Mexico. We were able to dock here..so no tender boats needed. We went in to the tourist part...did some shopping...lots of looking..then found a cute open air bar and had Mexican Beer (in the bottle..too many warnings on the ship about don't drink the water including ice in your drinks). Finally headed back on board. Linda and I decided this would be the day to attempt climbing the rock wall. The wall opened at 4:00 that day and we were there a bit early to be first in line. I went first and got my instructions from Ben (from Australia). Then up I went. It was much harder than I thought it would be, but I made it to the top and rang the bell. I was really excited about being able to do that at 50. Linda climbed next, and although she only made it halfway..it was a lot further than she thought she'd make it, so we were both tickled to death.

Day 4 (Wednesday)..We stopped in Belize City, Belize. We had to tender in a long way here. There were 5 cruise ships anchored off shore but the boat ride in took almost 20 minutes and the boats were fast. (Not the lifeboats this time). It was fun just taking the ride in. We did the main tourist part of town, then decided to take a bus tour of the city. It was a very poor city..(middle class earns 8,000.00 a year)...interesting to see, but not a place I'd go again, unless it would be on a cruise stop. They make it sound rather glamorous, but it's just not that way..at least right in Belize City. We drove all over it for almost 2 hours. Then we took the tender back to the ship.

Day 5 (Thursday)...Today we stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. They had only opened the port of Cozumel to tourists 11 days prior to our stop. Hurricane Wilma had really made a mess. We had to tender in because the port is completely destroyed. Most of the concrete docks were gone. There was not a green leaf any place on the island. Most of the trees were blown down. You could look right through the high rise hotels on the beach (oh and the beach was missing). We took a cab to a portion of the town that was opened up. It actually looked like it got spared some of the damage. We had beers in a Mexican Restaurant that Bob and Linda had been to before. The waiter told us that Wilma sat on them for 63 hours. The tall communication towers that we could see in the distance were broken off about half way up. But they were working to restore the damage everywhere we looked. Lots of shops in the area of the restaurant were open and seemed just fine. It was interesting to see, and I don't think I want to live next to the ocean. It's amazing to see that first hand.

Day 6..(Friday) we were at sea again. We spent the day relaxing, playing cards on the deck, enjoying each others company, and just chilling out. This is the night that your luggage has to be packed up. It goes into the hallway at 11:00 p.m. You don't see it again until the next morning when you get off the ship.

We had great food, great service, and loads of fun.

Saturday morning we were in the second group to get off the ship. That meant 8:00 a.m. So we went down to have breakfast around 6:00 and waited on them to call us. They call you by color number (based on when your flights leave). We all went through the check out procedure, which really isn't too bad. Declared our purchases to the customs guys..we didn't have much so it wasn't a big deal. Then headed into the warehouse to claim our luggage. We found all of ours..but Bob and Linda had one bag missing. We thought our flight was earlier than theirs. (They hadn't actually checked). We hung around helping them as long as we could, then they sent us on so we wouldn't miss our plane. We got to the airport and we could see their bag sitting with a RCCL person. So we got our bags from the bus, and checked to make sure that was theirs. It was and the RCCL person said they knew it was here now and they were on their way. Seems someone didn't pay attention to the bags they were grabbing. And picked up Bob and Linda's bag. Linda found a similar bag left in the area where all our luggage was at. She called the cell number on the ID tag. The man answered his cell phone. They hadn't checked their luggage yet at the gate, and Linda told him he had the wrong bag. The man argued with her that he had his bag and the one at the port wasn't his. She asked him how he thought she got his cell number, so he finally calmed down and looked and sure enough..he had their bag. So his bag was sent by the cruise line to the airport for him...and they held on to Bob and Linda's bag till they got there. We saw them heading to their gate, and found out their flight was actually before ours. But they made it in time. We all got one more hug in. Then we all flew home.
We had a stop in Atlanta going home, then on to Dayton. We spent Saturday night at Mom and Dad's. Molly was still there from Thanksgiving so we got to see her. We all got up on Sunday and headed home. Lots of traffic on the roads, but we didn't have any real problems getting home.

We really had a nice trip. I can't believe it's over now. I'm ready to go again.

I've gotten some pictures loaded in my photo gallery of the concert last weekend.
Enjoy them!

Well..We survived the Jimmy Buffett concert. We had a blast. We got to River Bend music center at about 5:00 in the evening. Found this too good to be true parking space, next to some really fun folks. We all partied a bit until 6:00 when the gates opened. We all headed in. Found our spot on the grass and waited until 8:00.
The show started right on time. And he puts on a great concert. The band and Jimmy have as much fun as the audience does. Jimmy was recording the crowd when he walked out. It was funny.
We dancing and sang at the top of our lungs, on the hillside, with about 25,000 of our new best friends. I'm thinking I might be getting too old to dance on hillsides for 3 hours. I have some very sore muscles in my shins, that I know are from this.
The show ended at 11:00. We made our way out to our car, which was still sitting in it's too good to be true parking space. We drove right out of the lot we were in. Got back to the interstate and headed back north to Dayton. Dropped my sister off at her house and went to my parents to sleep.
It was a blast. I'll put a picture or two in my photo gallery once I get them back. Had to send them out to get a photo disc done.
Parrotheads rule!!!!!!!
Wasting away again in Margaritaville....

I'm getting so excited today. We'll be heading out this weekend for Cincinnati, OH. We're going to go see Jimmy Buffett! I can't wait. It's going to be a blast.
I've got a lot to get done before we go, or I'd make this entry longer. I'll write again first part of next week and share the concert fun.

Hi Journal! LOL I have the best intentions each day of coming in to submit an entry, but I just get sidetracked and then it doesn't get done.
I'm doing good on my lowered HRT. I'm doing 2 lower one higher dose now. I think I've got 5 of the higher dose left, so soon I'll be completely switched over. But so far, so good. No real changes in the way I feel. But it's a good feeling in my head to know I'm taking a little less hrt now.
Today marks the 100 days till our cruise day. It's getting close enough to start planning big time for it.
We are going to Cincinnati Ohio on August 21st to see Jimmy Buffett in concert. I'm very excited for that. Should be a wonderful time.
Molly is still enjoying her job and she got her first paycheck this week. So it's feeling very real now.
DH and I are planning a trip to Massachusettes late in September. It's just us going, and we're looking forward to it. It will be the first time in awhile we've taken a trip alone. DD loves to go with us when we travel, and we love having her, but she will be in school by the time we go, so just us. And we didn't even pick the date so she can't say we didn't want her. We're staying with my DH's brother's. He sent us dates that would work well with his schedule. We'll be in Pittsfield for a few days, then out on Cape Cod for a few. We haven't really decided yet whether to drive or fly, but I'd just as soon drive. I love road trips.
No real stresses for me right now. This is the first August since 2000 that we aren't getting ready to move DD someplace. She has her same apartment that she moved into in January, and she'll be there until she graduates now, then she'll have to move to where ever her new job will take her. But that's a way down the road to have to worry about, and she says, if she gets a good job, she's going to hire her move out, and we can just come and help her settle in if we want. That would be fun!

Well..I haven't been in here like I should. I think it helps to just write somedays. But I tend to save this for last, then I don't get it done.
Life is going along good right now. DH is busy as usual at work, but that's nothing new. Molly got a part time summer job working for the university. She's working in the Paper Technology Dept. (her field) looking for missing alummni. She's having fun and getting paid, and not just sitting either in her apartment, or my living room everyday. So this has been a good thing.
She's on the road to an April graduation. I'm so happy that she's finally got a light at the end of this tunnel.
The BEST 3 Years of her life...Her Senior year at WMU
(I heard that from someone the other night, and it fits her perfectly, since this is her 3rd senior year).

I've just started on a lowered dose of my HRT. It was my choice, but I sure hate messing with what is working. I just don't want to take it forever, and I thought I would try the next lower dose. He gave me a RX for a year, then said we'd see how I was feeling. There is still one lower dose I could go down to. I like the thought of slowly weaning off, and not just stopping it. He also told me I could call and go back up if need be...i.e. hot flashes and night sweats again. So I'll see. I've got about 10 of the original dose left, so I'm going to do an every other day thing until those are gone, so I'll even switch over slowly.

We have 114 days until we go on our cruise. I'm so excited. We've been planning this one for a few years now. We're going with another couple. This year (2005) is their 30th anniversary and it's our 25th. We decided 3 years ago that we should do an anniversary cruise. It's not on any of our anniversaries, but it's within the same year.

This feels good to write...I'll be back...Hopefully with a more regular pattern.

Well, We got Molly moved into her new apartment over the past weekend. She's busy now turning it into her home with all her personal stuff.
Food over this time frame was terrible, but exercise was huge. She has 19 steps up to her apartment, with no elevator, so we did a lot of carrying stuff up steps.
I'm glad to finally have her home and closer to us. She's two hours away, but compared to last summer when she was in Green Bay, this feels like next door.
Now it's time for me to concentrate on me. Curves, my walking, and better eating will be my focus for awhile. This is my year to take control, and I'm starting now.
Oh, and we have a huge snow storm heading out way, so I'll get in a lot of extra exercise tomorrow by shoveling.
I'll try to post each week with how I'm doing.
Have a great day.

Well, DD and I got home on Monday night from Key West. It was snowy and cold here, so we were immediately missing the warm weather down there.
We went as girlfriends, not Mom and DD. And we had a blast. Did one of the Ghost walks, a Trails of Margaritaville walking/pub tour, and a regular Key West Pub Crawl.
We walked from one end of Duval St to the other (several times) and I think we saw everything.
We stayed at the La Concha Crown Plaza right on Duval, so we didn't miss having a car.
It was just a nice way to spend some fun time with DD.
After the holidays she will move back to college, but she'll only be 2 hours away, so not too bad that way.

Well, It's November 16th. We leave on the 18th to drive to Green Bay, WI. Trailer in tow. We'll pack up all of DD's stuff for her move home from her 6 month intership. I've missed her so much, even though we've been to see her several times. I'm ready to have her a little closer now.
She'll be here during December. Then we'll move her into another apartment in Kalamazoo, MI where she will finish up her schooling. There is a light at the end of this tunnel.
She'll only be two hours away then also, which will seem like nothing compared to the 9 she's away in Green Bay. I can actually just go and visit her.
Looking back, the 6 months really went fast, but I'm glad it's done now. She has loved her job and the people she's working with. This week is going to be rather emotional for her, I'm sure. She's excited we're coming. She's got most of her stuff packed up and ready to go. But the goodbyes at work are going to be hard for her. She's made some really good friends. Some have sort of adopted her and included her on their family outings. She never got to a Packer game (those tickets are like gold to get) but she did get to go to a couple of their, Meet the team, shows where you sit in on the questions and answers on one player a week. She enjoyed those.
Her and I are planning a mom and daughter trip in December. We're going to Key West for a long weekend. We have more planned to do than we can possilbly get done, but we'll manage. It will be a blast. We are staying right on Duval Street, about in the middle, so we'll get in lots and lots of walking each day. It will be nice to just spend a little time with her like this.
I've missed her so much.

Wow, where did the summer go. It seems like it was just the beginning of summer. Time does go by quickly anymore.
Everything is going great. DD is doing well in Green Bay. She's been offered a job with this company when she graduates in two years, so she's obviously made an impression. That's good. She's even getting to travel and see a few other parts of their company later in October. She's excited about that. It will be a great experience for her to get to do this.
My DH and I are planning a trip this week. We're going to go to Chicago together. He has to work part of the time, but we'll have the evenings to ourselves. So Tuesday we head to Chicago (after I drive to Ohio and back to leave our dog with my parents). We'll spend Wednesday and Thursday in Chicago. Then we'll head up to spend the rest of the weekend in Green Bay with DD. She has stuff planned for us to do, so it will be nice. The weather looks lovely too.
We'll head back home on Monday, through the upper peninsula of Michigan, over the Mackinaw Bridge and down through the state to home.
I'll head down on Tuesday to visit with my parents for a day, take them out to eat to celebrate 58 years of marriage. Then I'll head back home on Wednesday.
Lots of driving, but well worth the time away. Road trips are very relaxing for me. I love to travel by car.
Everything else is good for me. DD will move home before Thanksgiving. Then she'll go back to college the first part of January. But she'll only be 2 hours away at college. Much better than the 9 hours she is right now.
And we're both very excited for our Key West trip. Luckily, the hurricanes in Florida have spared the Keys. We are planning on doing a Ghost Walk (which starts at our hotel because our hotel is one of the haunted spots in Key West). Then we'll do a Pub Crawl one evening. Those are always fun. You get to hear a lot of stories about the places you are visiting, that you can't find in any information books.

Well, It's August 5th. DD has been in Green Bay for just about 3 months now. She's doing great. She loves her job. We've been to see her one time (July 4th weekend) and she flew home last weekend for our family reunion.
She's really starting to like her time in Green Bay. She's been supporting herself and getting all her bills paid on time. I'm very proud of her for doing so well now.
She's loving her job and her co-workers. That helps her so much. They know she's there alone and help to look out for her some also. That helps me.
She and I were on the phone Tuesday night and we planned a Mother and Daughter get-away for when she moves back to Michigan (and before she starts back to school).
She and I are flying to Key West for 3 nights of just laid back fun. We leave on December 10th and return home on December 13th. We are both very excited to be doing this together. DH can't commit at this time to go with us, so we've booked just us. We do have two beds if he can join us, which we would like. But it's a very busy time for him with his job and if we wait and see if he can make it, we'll end up not going.
So he told us to just go ahead and go. So that's all we needed. DD was on the computer using Expedia. We were on the phone making sure we both knew what we were doing. We now have flights and a hotel reservation, so we're all set.
It's very nice to realize that as she grows up and becomes and adult, that she is not growing away from us. She stays just as close as ever. And I'll always treasure the times we've spent with her.

DD started her new summer intership job on Monday morning. She really didn't know any of the details of her job until then. (That was making me a little nervous, but all I could do was wait to hear from her).
She's working in the labs at a paper packaging plant in Green Bay. She's already loving the job and the people. Everyone knows she's far from home and is treating her wonderfully. Everyone has hints of places to go, things to do, etc. She's been spending time learning her way around the lab. She'll get several of her own projects to work on over the summer and she's very excited about that.
Other than huge blisters on her heels from the steel toed shoes that they have to wear (of course she didn't break them in any first), and going through all her bandaid supplies the first day, she's really enjoying it. Her blisters are large enough to bleed, so I keep telling her to keep some sort of antibiotic cream on them. Geesh! She said they were better yesterday because she really bandaged them well. I told her to keep that up.
I'm doing much better now that she's settled in, seems to like the job and the people, and is now too busy to have a weekly melt-down like last weekends. She's actually looking forward to this weekend's free time just for herself. What a relief that is.

Today was Molly's first day at her new job in Green Bay. She just called and is thrilled with everything. What a relief for me to hear this.
We got her moved in over the weekend of May 7th, 8th and 9th. We left on the morning of the 9th to head home. Looking back, it wasn't the best day to do this. Leaving her on the morning of Mother's Day made for a very tough first couple of hours of our trip home. (Plus, we forgot we had money to leave with her and had to actually go back and say goodbye again). I got through it all without tears. Once we got back into Michigan, if just seemed easier to head on home.
She's done very well this past week getting everything in order. She's been lost and found her way back. Has been site-seeing all over her area of Wisconsin. And even had her own melt-down last Saturday. She decided the thing to do would be to drive home late on Saturday, getting here around midnight. Then head back to her apartment on Sunday morning. I calmly convinced her to re-think her decision and she finally realized this wasn't a wise thing to do. So she drove north and did some exploring and found a winery. (She was happy that she now has wine in her wine rack. LOL ).
Now that her job has started up, I know her weeks will be busy and her weekends will be for her own free time. I think being busy will really be a big help.
I'm going to try and keep this going on a week to week basis and see how she and I are doing. Now that everything has settled down, I am doing rather well. It's like she's away at school, which I had gotten very use to.
I do like the "us" time that DH and I now have together. We just need to find more of it. We're planning to do something fun together this next weekend if the weather is good.

Last night I really let the reality of this move set in some. My daughter is moving 8 hours away and won't move back for 6 months. I know that's not forever and that it's probably a really good thing, not only for her but for us. But it just really hit me last night.
And to top off my feelings, I realized that we will drive home from Wisconsin, on Mother's Day without her. That about did me in.
We're going to celebrate on Saturday evening. DH said we'd go out somewhere nice. So Saturday is going to become my official Mother's Day this year. And hopefully I won't dwell on it for 8 hours on Sunday.

My daughter has been spending the last couple of days getting everything organized and packed for her move to Green Bay, WI. I am excited and fearful all at the same time. She seems to be fearless. I don't know if that helps me or causes me more concern. She is getting rid of a lot of her "kid" stuff. It's not really bothering me to watch her do this. Maybe that's a good sign. We've spent the last 22 years getting her ready for this step in her life. Maybe it's really time for all of us. My DH and I are discussing being a couple again and doing stuff to the house that's just about us.
There must be 50 boxes of stuff sitting here and there, but as she goes through it, the piles seem to be getting smaller.
Right now, I'm just hoping we have everything ready to go by next Thursday evening, when we start out for Wisconsin.

I thought I'd start my journal here to help myself and others who are having to deal with Empty Nest Syndrome. My DD who is now 22, is finishing her Senior year at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI today. She won't be ready to graduate yet, since she changed majors and needs at least another full year to complete everything.
I've been dealing with the college empty nest for 4 years now. But on May 8th, DD will officially get her first apartment. And it's not close to home at all. She has been accepted for a 6 month internship with a paper company in Green Bay, WI. That's where her apartment will be. That's 8 hours from home, so I don't think I'll see much of her this summer/fall. She'll be there until mid-November. Then she'll return to Kalamazoo to continue with her schooling. She will no longer be living in a dorm and already has her apartment there also.
I'm hoping that by putting my feelings down in my journal, that it will help me as well as others who are dealing with this.
I know I'm not alone in my feelings here.