Drawing to an end

 It seems like this is the right time to wrap up this blog. So I'll end this with a note directly to the kids.

Reed and Amy,

We called our trivia team "Empty Nesters"
and we won third place!

Somehow we've arrived at the time when you are both officially adults, off at college and beginning to make your way through the world on your own. 

It's a tough thing to adjust to, this whole "empty nest". 

We spent 21+ years knowing where you were at all times (I'm including pregnancy, where I certainly knew where you were, since I carried you around in my body!), and generally how you were doing and what was going on in your life. Now we can only watch your whereabouts on our phones (thank goodness for technology!) and check in periodically with the hopes that we're not being annoying, as you attend classes, hang out with friends, and learn how to be (mostly) totally responsible for yourselves. 

We don't have any doubts about your ability to manage that, so in a sense it should be easy. But it's not. We miss you every day, and the house is so quiet.

It struck me the other day how time goes along and we find ourselves playing the roles our parents played. Having a scheduled weekly phone call to catch up, like Tod and his Dad did for so many Sunday mornings, and before that his Mom. Grandparents waiting and hoping for a phone call or a visit. I think no matter how often you call or visit, your parents and grandparents wish it were more. I see a glimpse of our future in these thoughts, and wonder where life will bring you both and how often we will get to talk with and see you in your big, bright futures. I guess I'm a little melancholy.

I started this blog with the idea that one day I'd have it printed out for you, so that's what I'll be working on next. I am not sure if either of you will ever really read it all, but I hope you will, and I hope you will know how much we love you and how important you are to us. Being your parents is a joy.

We love you so much and are so proud of both of you. 

XOXO,

Mom & Dad

She's doing great!

First day of class!

Amy seems to have settled into college life beautifully! 

She ended up with a MWF 8 a.m. microeconomics class, which isn't ideal, but she's rolled with it. She has had a little bit of homework in that class, and some drawing homework in another, but mostly she's just having a whole lot of free time, which is a new feeling for her.

She has also gone on a tubing outing as well as a paddleboarding outing, which I'm so happy about. She did a few of the other initial social activities too. She's gotten to know the other first year TDPs (that's Theatre Design & Production majors) and made a couple of shopping outings. 

Her roommate Erica has gone home all three weekends so far, so she's even had the room to herself a bit. They don't seem to really be interacting with their suite mates much but I guess that's okay?

Amy has tickets to a concert on Sunday night in D.C. so she's going to come home Saturday for that, and head back to school early Monday morning. We are waiting for her to say she wants to bring her car back, which will be fine. 

So happy that it's going so well!

Two kids in college

Our NYC trip didn't have the greatest timing, as it bumped up so close to when Reed was to leave for JMU. But we made the most of the last day before he headed out. Sunday evening we went to an early dinner together at Foster's Grill. Later, Reed and I picked up dessert from Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard and brought it home, where we played several games of Uno. It was a really nice evening together. Then Monday morning we all got breakfast at First Watch before loading up our car and Reed's. We probably could have actually fit all Reed's stuff into his car, if we'd taken his desk chair apart, but he seemed to want us to go with him so we were happy to do that. Plus it gave us the chance to check out his new apartment, say hello to Will and meet their new roommate, Ben. 

It's still not easy, even on the third time doing it, to drive away and leave him at college. But he is happy there and doing awesome, so it's all good! We are proud of how hard he's worked at school and excited for him to have another terrific year at JMU.

Two days later it was time to bring Amy to Shenandoah University. The packing experience with Amy was quite different than it was with Reed in his freshman year. And it sure seemed to me that Amy had more stuff than would possibly fit in her room, but it all worked out fine. We hit the Starbucks on our way out for breakfast and then headed west to Winchester for an early move-in time. It was all very well organized, with many football team members on hand to swarm our car and carry everything in for us...we didn't have to lift a hand (this is only done for freshman...next year we'll be the ones lugging stuff in!). Then it took a couple of hours to get things unpacked and do some decorating. Amazingly, the only things we neglected to bring were batteries for her hanging lights and a door stop. We went to lunch (Sonic FTW!) then to the grocery store for a few food items, then back to campus.

All moved in!

There was a convocation event in the late afternoon which was a very warm welcome for all the incoming students. "Shenandoah" means "daughter of the stars," and each student was able to walk across the stage and get a star keychain from the University President, Tracy Fitzsimmons. We were glad we attended this event.

Then, somehow, it was time for us to leave our youngest child at college. I think it's safe to say it was hard for all of us, even as ready as Amy is. So far she has attended a bunch of the welcome week activities, and even won a prize at late nigh bingo! Classes start on Monday and then the real work begins. I'm nervous and excited for her, but I know she will be great. 

It seems like just ten minutes ago that we were sending these little people off to kindergarten and second grade. And now they're both in college. I miss them already. 

Where did these little people go?

 

We ❤️ New York! (well, we ❤️ shows)

Several months ago I heard that comedians Seth Meyers and John Oliver were doing a show together in NYC. I thought that was the perfect excuse to plan a trip. Reed didn't want to go along, and this time we decided we should respect his wishes, even though it really would have been wonderful to have him there. He stayed home to work and take care of the pets. 

We took the bus up (because we're classy like that) on Thursday morning. We found a nice spot near the bus dropoff for lunch and then headed to our hotel room for some rest. That night was the comedy show, and we'd gotten Amy a ticket to see "& Juliet," which she'd really wanted to see for some time. Tod and I dropped her off at her show and headed to ours. She navigated the couple of blocks back to the hotel after her show on her own (it made me a bit nervous!). 

Friday we checked out the Museum of Art and Design, which had a special Taylor Swift exhibit. That part wasn't extensive but it was still cool and because of it we were at a museum we otherwise wouldn't have visited. We checked out the rest of the place and learned about paper clothes that were made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as lots of other cool and beautiful things. Then we returned to the main branch of the NY library, where we'd visited the previous year. On that trip we'd overbooked ourselves and had to leave the library sooner than Amy had wanted to, so she wanted to finish her visit. 

We hadn't planned anything for Saturday during the day, and I saw an ad for "Broadway Roulette" where you say when you want to go to a show, they give you a list of 15-20 shows and you can eliminate 4 of them, then it will pick a show for you with discounted tickets. We figured why not, let's give it a spin (see what I did there??). They don't notify you until a few hours before the show, so we waited to find out what we'd be seeing. 

Friday evening we saw "Shucked," a musical comedy that had gotten some Tony awards. While we did laugh a bunch, and the singing was off the charts amazing, we had some issues with the show. It doesn't portray small town people in a positive light, which felt kind of like city folks punching down. That's kind of the whole point of the show but it was kind of off-putting. Plus there's one character who's coded as gay and they make several jokes I would call homophobic. So strange that those are the two issues we saw with it. But I think we enjoyed ourselves well enough.

Saturday morning we got the word that we'd be seeing "Some Like it Hot". Amy and I were both apprehensive because the movie it's based on is pretty transphobic and Tod was ambivalent, not knowing anything about it. But we ended up being very happily surprised. They reworked the story to remove the transphobia, the singing and dancing was amazing and it was a fun show. We all agreed that Broadway Roulette was a fun way to go.

Saturday evening we saw "The Cottage," which is a comedic play. We had a lot of laughs and I think we'd all give it a thumbs up but it wouldn't be something we'd necessarily tell people to go see. It starred Eric McCormick, who played Will on the "Will & Grace" television show. 

In between all of this we hit some stores, had some really good meals and some yummy desserts. We have gotten a lot better at NYC – we didn't over schedule ourselves and left room for some spontaneity. 

Sunday morning we got breakfast and boarded the bus home! Terrific trip, and really nice for Tod and I to get this dedicated together time with Amy before she left for school.

Hello Rosie!

Such a pretty girl!

This little cutie joined our family on August 3. She came from FOHA, which is where we also got Eddie. They named her Rose, because though she was not more than a baby herself, she gave birth to kittens under a rose bush in Shenandoah County. She came to FOHA with her babies, who all got adopted before her.

When I went to visit the cattery in search of a new kitty, she was in a room all by herself. They said she "shut down" when they tried to have her in "gen pop" (my words, not theirs!) with the other cats. So she had her own area, which was right next to where the kittens were. I went in and sat down, with the hopes that she'd come out from hiding behind the couch to get some pets, and sure enough she did! She was still skittish, but she came out. The FOHA worker was surprised that she came out for me (Tod says she played me like a fiddle). I'd originally been thinking of getting two cats, or a cat and a kitten. But Rose was my favorite of the cats, and it didn't seem she wanted a cat roommate just yet, so we decided to just get her and then maybe add another cat later (her foster mom thinks she'd do best if a kitten was the new friend, so we will keep that in mind). 

We are not great at naming pets, but we did try on several names for size – Olive, Betty, Dolly. Reed's suggestion of 'iPhone' was soundly rejected, though. In the end, we decided that Rosie suited her and also honored her difficult life before she came to us. 

Trouble!!

It is wonderful to have a cat again. We kept her in the office for the first few days, and she didn't really hide in there much at all, she would come out to get pets pretty easily. And after a couple days she was very interested in what was going on outside the office, particularly with regard to Shelby. Plus, while Diesel stayed with us recently, he dug up carpet by the door, and she was doing that too (not that our carpet's not totally ruined already, but still). So we probably let her out too early. Then it became a game of figuring out where she was hiding. Mostly under our bed at first. Then in the storage area in the basement. Then I couldn't find her, and was sure she had to be in the storage area somewhere. Well, it never occurred to me to look UP, but that's where she was – up in the rafters (is that what they're called in a basement??). Then she was MIA for an overnight and I started to get worried that with the construction we've had that there was some way she managed to escape. The search focused again on the storage area. Tod was the one to spot her. It's tough to explain, but she'd gone inside the bulkhead (i.e. near the ceiling) in between the wall and the duct work, and she'd gone clear across the house, probably 20 feet back, and into an area that seemed like indeed it might have led to the outside if she tried hard. We were able to lure her to a visible location, but she didn't come down. We made a couple of paths where she could more easily jump down and I sat nearby and talked to her in the hopes that she'd come down. No luck. I decided I'd sit somewhere nearby but not visible to her. Sure enough it wasn't long before she was meowing, and we hadn't heard a peep out of her up until then. She seemed to be saying she didn't know how to get down. I tried to encourage her to use the paths we made or try to figure out how to reverse how she got there in the first place but it wasn't working. So when she came near enough, I grabbed her and had a heck of a time keeping her from slipping away again (there may have been some tail grabbing). She scratched me up pretty good but I managed to get her out of there. Needless to say she's not allowed in the storage area any longer.

It's a bummer that our never-ending construction meant that we weren't able to get a new cat until it was close to time for the kids to leave for college. She has slowly been becoming more brave about being out and about, but has spent a lot of time under our bed. Amy made a big effort to gain her confidence, and made a lot of progress. She is still trying to learn what all the sounds in our house are, so she knows she's safe. Shelby is still a bit too excited about her. But I think it won't be long before she's hanging out with us all the time and Shelby is her pal. Maybe one day she'll even be a lap cat. Right now she LOVES pets and will sometimes sit near you but not on you. We're all still getting to know each other, and it is wonderful. 

Road trip!

Many months ago, Amy and her friends started planning for a road trip to Philadelphia for a music festival. It was the Bittersweet Daze with mxmtoon, Ricky Montgomery, grentperez and Cavetown at the Skyline Stage at the Mann on August 4. They bought concert tickets, booked an AirBnB,  canceled the Air BnB in favor of a hotel room, and made their travel plans. Molly was the driver and planner for which rest stops they would stop at, Amy was the navigator, and Yohannes held down the back seat.

We were worried about this trip, as driving to Philly is kinda scary even for longtime drivers. But we reminded ourselves that in very short order, these same kids will be at college doing absolutely whatever they want all the time. Plus they're all adults. So we signed off on the trip and hoped for the best.

Made it to their hotel room.

Well they seem to have had a great time, with absolutely zero problems. They made it to their hotel, then over to the venue for the 5+ hour general admission, all-standing concert. They made it back to their room, found a great breakfast spot for the next morning, visited the Franklin Institute (science museum), then headed back home. 

I hope they made lifelong memories of their very first adult adventure. 

Starting to get really real

It's been a hot couple of weeks, but the last couple of mornings have been unusually cool. These kinds of mornings are always a more potent reminder of the coming change of seasons (life and weather) than the calendar. 

Each back to school time is a bit sad for me, and this one will be the saddest of all. Both kids will be off at school. Reed will be at his junior year of college, which means next summer may be the last one that he lives with us. And if Amy gets involved in Shenandoah's summer program, she may not be home in the summers either.

Just because it's how it's supposed to go, and is what we've been working toward since these people came into the world, that doesn't mean it feels right or easy. It's not that I worry for how the kids will do – they will be awesome – it's the weirdness of spending 18+ years knowing where your child is at all times, and how they're doing, and now just dropping them off somewhere on their own. 

But we will all be okay. The transition may be bumpy, but I think it will make our remaining time together even more valuable. 

No more kids in this house!

Well that's a wrap on our 14 years having a student in Loudoun County Public Schools!

It's been a super busy time as the school year wound down. And we had lots of reasons to celebrate Amy – enough that I need to make a bulleted list!

• Commended student at the Blue Ridge Cappies Awards
• Freedom Theatre Student of the Year (teacher choice)
• Freedom Theatre Most Valuable Thespian (student choice)
• Freedom Theatre Best Head Tech Mentor (student choice)
• Freedom Theatre Boosters scholarship winner ($1,000)
• Freedom High School Parent Teacher Student Association scholarship winner ($500)
• International Honor Thespian
  

When you tell your friends a certain word (slay) annoys you,
it becomes a nickname. 

I'll start with the last one, since it is the one she's most proud of. She was the first person in Freedom High School's history to earn the distinction of International Honor Thespian, which required putting in more than 1,800 hours in the theatre program. It is quite an accomplishment! One other student this year earned National Honor Thespian (1,200 hours) so the two of them got to wear the white ITS stole at graduation; Amy's was accented with a pin for her achievement. (And don't get us started on the fact that it looked like she might not be allowed to wear the stole at graduation!) Amy's wonderful Theatre teacher, Mrs. Wickham (formerly Novi) tried to get Amy's achievement recognized during the graduation ceremony, but had no luck with that. She will, however, have her photo in the Fine Arts Wall of Fame, so we will have to check that out next year. Because this was such an incredible achievement, Mrs. Wickham coordinated a surprise get-together on Amy's last day of school, where she gave a little speech and they showed a short, fun video about Amy. She was a little overwhelmed with the attention, but I think she enjoyed it. 

School scholarship night

Working backwards through the list, next up is the PTSA scholarship. Any student who was a member of the PTSA could apply, which included detailing your activities during high school as well as a short essay about what you'd tell Freedom students if you had the chance. Amy wrote about being more understanding of people with disabilities, which is an important topic to her as her friend Tree faced relentless bullying for their use of crutches. She wants people to know that sometimes people with disabilities have good days and bad days, and we should all be understanding and accepting. There were several winners for this scholarship, most of whom wrote about sunny, happy "be your best self" sorts of things...I think Amy was the only one who was basically telling people "bet better". I love that she wrote about that and was chosen for a scholarship! And the $500 is nice too. This scholarship was presented at the school-wide scholarship night, which was so interesting to attend – so many incredible students being rewarded!

Next is the Theatre Boosters scholarship. For this one, she was a shoo-in, since it is mainly based on the number of hours you put into theatre and no one has put in more hours than Amy. 

ITS banquet awards with Mrs. Wickham

Amy was presented with the Boosters scholarship at the annual ITS banquet, which is a lovely dinner and awards ceremony. They do paper plate awards (Amy's was a Super Glue award for keeping things together) and then the "real" awards, which are voted on by the students, during a ceremony. She was surprised to win Best Head Tech Mentor, but probably not as much surprised to win Most Valuable Thespian. Many times Mrs. Wickham has referenced Amy being half her brain, so it was great to see this acknowledgement by her peers. 

The Freedom Theatre Student of the Year was announced during a school-wide assembly. Interestingly she didn't even get a certificate for that one!

This year the school moved out of the National Capital Area Cappies (a huge group, covering schools in Virginia, Maryland and DC) and into a new Blue Ridge Cappies group, which is just Loudoun schools. Amy had really hoped to be nominated for a Cappie for her work marketing the show Matilda, so it was a disappointment not to be acknowledged in that way. But Mrs. Wickham was asked to choose students who weren't up for awards but whom she thought should be recognized, and Amy was one of the two students she picked. So that meant she was mentioned as a comendee, and she also got to present one of the awards. The event was held at the Hylton Center for Performing Arts, which is a beautiful venue in Manassas. She did a great job presenting. They didn't win all of the awards they were nominated for, but they did come away with some great wins for individual performances. I got to chaperone that day-long field trip, and I was so glad to be there. 

Most of her graduation attendees

We got so lucky with Reed's graduation. Because of covid it needed to be outdoors, so they held it at the school football stadium, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Unfortunately now they've gone back to holding the ceremony at the EagleBank Arena on the campus of George Mason University. It's understandable that the school prefers this (all the administrators have to do is show up and participate, they don't have to rent a stage, sound system, chairs, etc....plus the main benefit that they don't have to be concerned about the weather) but it is just so impersonal. One school has their graduation, then another school files in, then another. Very hard to make it feel special. But Amy had a good crowd on hand. We were so grateful that Martha, Kenny and Poppy came out to celebrate Amy. At graduation we also had the Kippers, Aly, Jennifer and Kyla, plus the Conners and Wenzells watching online. 

Amy finished 187 out of her class of 497 students, with a 4.14 GPA. Very impressive!

With friends Kayla Zee,
Bella and Tree

Our house renovations still aren't complete but they were done enough that we were able to host a lovely graduation party for Amy the next day. Lots of friends, family and good food. 

Now summer is underway and soon we will be visiting Shenandoah for her orientation, and starting to gather all the things she'll need for college. It's hard to believe this chapter of our lives has come to an end, but it's so exciting to think of the opportunities ahead for her, and the new world it will open up for Tod and me as empty nesters. 

We have a couple of pretty terrific (grown up) kids. 

She went 3 for 3

I mentioned before that Amy applied to three schools – her top choice Shenandoah University, Christopher Newport University, and Virginia Tech...and I noted that she was accepted at the first two, but hadn't written about the last. She was also accepted to Tech – three for three!

So many kids got deferred out outright rejected from Tech, so it's really impressive that Amy got in. She turned them (and CNU) down in favor of Shenandoah, so now we are all set to have a Hornet in the house! Way to go, Amy! So proud of you.

Farewell for now, our furry friend

I didn't know I was a Crazy Cat Lady until Eddie came into our lives.

When we met Eddie at FOHA, he was a special project for one of the regular volunteers, who liked to give extra attention to the cats who weren't as outgoing. And indeed he was on the screened in porch, just chilling out. He wasn't like the other cats who might run up to greet everyone who came in. Well, that volunteer certainly sold me. 

They definitely got every bit of this right. 

We got Eddie home and kept him in the office initially, so he wouldn't be overwhelmed with a whole big house all at once, not to mention a crazy dog to deal with, who'd never been around cats. He hid in the bookcase and behind the printer. But eventually he was out and about, after some days spent mostly under our bed. I lured him out with toys to chase, and his interest and trust was hard-earned. A lot of time spent laying on the bedroom floor talking to him. When he finally came downstairs on his own, I remember how happy I was to see him starting to explore his new home. 

Hiding spot in the bookcase
for the first little while.

Amy was a big impetus for getting a cat, with me being the main driver. Tod wasn't so sure he was on board with the whole thing, but he loved Eddie too, and grew to enjoy having a cat. Reed and Eddie were friends too, hanging out in the basement together, with Reed patting him on the head in what sure looked like a bit much, but which Eddie seemed to enjoy. 

It took a solid few months before Eddie would come lay next to me while I took a nap, then there was a time he would sit on a pillow on my lap, and it took much longer before he decided it was okay to lay directly on our laps. I felt like the luckiest person in the world that he decided to love me back in that way. 

What's the opposite of a nickname, which means the name you call someone is actually longer than their real name? Because Eddie was called Edwardo more often than he was Eddie. Not to mention Eddie Spaghetti, Professor Kittington and Edwardo Kitington III. We are quite bad at naming pets....Shelby had a goofy name (Aston Martin, also after the car) but the best we could do was to take her dog mama's name for her. And Eddie, well I think it just suited him. Plus I remember the day we brought him home, there was a big article about the comedian Eddie Murphy on the front page of the Washington Post's Style section, because he was getting the Mark Twain Prize for Humor. So we thought maybe it was meant to be. 

That's a face that says
"fine, I will tolerate this".

Eddie never did really like being picked up and held, but he put up with it...I like to think he knew how much it meant to us. Here at the end of his too-short life, I think being held might be painful for him so I tried to give him space. All I wanted to do was hold him and never let him go.

Some might say Eddie had an angry or unhappy look about him. But that's just how he looked, it wasn't his spirit. He was a very loving boy, the best boy.

Over the six months or so, Eddie had started running up to greet us when we came downstairs and when we got up in the morning. I called him the Walmart greeter. It took a long time for him to get to want that much interaction with us...I wish he'd had more time to get even more comfortable with us. In the morning, if we were upstairs and he heard Amy stirring in her room, he'd run down the hallway to sit outside her door. If we were already downstairs when Reed came down, he'd run up to the back of the couch to offer a good morning greeting. Eddie sometimes would sleep next to me and that felt like such a privilege too (even if it would make me feel kind of trapped under the covers). He would lay next to my hip, with his head facing the door, always. I would rest my hand on him, I hope he knew that meant I loved him. 

Helpful. 

We spent a lot of time together, the three of us, Eddie, Shelby and me, especially since the pandemic. Eddie would often come sit right in front of me when I was working on the office computer, just staring at me and completely disregarding the fact that he was blocking my work. I talked to both pets a lot. They would also follow me into the upstairs bathroom in the mornings and sometimes at bedtimes. They'd also frequently join me in the powder room downstairs. I guess they wanted to make sure I hadn't skipped out, or maybe they thought I needed really close supervision. I am going to miss that.

My favorite things Eddie did included his nighttime play time, where he would yowl SO loudly. He didn't meow often, and his meow was super quiet. The first time he did that nighttime yowl it was so surprising and wild! His purr was quiet too, you had to get really close to hear it. I am so sad I won't hear these things again. We also had a routine where I'd go upstairs to bed, get my teeth brushed, and by the time I came out of the bathroom, he'd be there waiting for me, ready to play. I kept his favorite toy by my side of the bed so he could have play time almost every night. A lot of nights as we'd watch TV, he'd also go over to his toy and bat it around to tell us "hey, somebody ought to play with me." It was also a joy to see him chase his tail and play by himself. What a guy, as Reed would say.

Buddies waiting for dinner. 

When I would give him a kiss, he would always then put his mouth up next to mine, like he was kissing me back. As I said before, he was a quiet boy, didn't meow too much and when he did it was a tiny sound...mostly he meowed in conversational greetings with me. He was also a love biter. You'd be petting him and he'd chomp on you...never to hurt, I think he thought it was a way to show love, no matter how many times I explained to him that I didn't enjoy bites. All these things about him that made him him made my heart smile. 

Always waiting for us to
come back from
walking Shelby.

As our house renovations finally got underway in the last month, I had been thinking about the great things I was going to get for Eddie once we had more space. A hammock to go in the window, a cat tree for the addition. And some kind of enclosed litter box (okay that one is more to keep Shelby from eating his poop, yuck). Now I am so sad I won't be able to do those things for him. 

Oh Eddie!

So my advice, to myself in the future, and to everyone who loves a pet, is to buy the cat tree, even if you don't have room for it. You don't know how long you're going to get to spoil your pet. Do all for them that you can. 

I am worried about how hard things will be here in August when Amy goes off to college too. I knew that having Eddie and Shelby here was going to make it easier. Eddie was always my baby, and I knew he'd help fill the void Amy will leave behind as she spreads her wings. Now I'm so sad we will miss that time together. I always talked to Eddie and asked if he'd come be my pal and sit next to me while I played Wordle and had coffee in the mornings, and he pretty much would always join me, sitting on the arm of the chair, or sometimes in my lap. How lucky I was, to have that pal time with him. How I wish there'd been more days together, but I will treasure every day we did get to have.

Best things ever –
naps and my kitty.

Today we said goodbye to Edwardo, here at home. He had lost a lot of weight in the last several months, and when I came back from 11 days away in Florida helping Jim after his hip replacement, it was clear things were pretty dire, as much as we hated to admit it. A trip to the vet confirmed cancer in his belly. Devastating. I hope we did right by him in every aspect of his life. We certainly tried our best to give him all he needed, always. 

What a beautiful boy.

Love you forever, Eddie. 

March 30, 2023 addition: This post is a celebration of Eddie's life. I wrote in detail about Eddie's passing in a Word document named "Goodbye Eddie" and saved on our My Documents folder. This is the other piece of the puzzle that is saying goodbye to my best furry friend. 

Still a movie guy

When Reed was home for winter break, he made a list of all the movies we should watch, as he gears up for the Academy Awards. 

We didn't quite make it through all of them (and we saw some that hadn't made the list) but it's always interesting the movies he chooses. Tod and Reed went to/watched a few of the ones I knew I probably wouldn't enjoy (Babylon, Decision to Leave, The Whale) and the three of us watched a couple (Banshees of Inishirin, Pinocchio). Reed still has his monthly movie subscription for Regal Cinemas, along with his roommate Will, and they try to get to a movie at least monthly. 

It's wonderful that Reed broadens our movie horizons. Still some on this list that I want to see (Women Talking, for one), so I better get on it before it's Oscars time.

 

What's that I hear?

One interesting thing about Reed is that he doesn't sing along with music in the car. Ever, as far as I know. I can't even comprehend it, because some songs are just meant to be sung out loud. But to each his own, I guess. So the other day when I heard the faint sounds of singing coming from the bathroom where Reed was taking a shower, it made my day. I didn't listen close enough to hear what song it was, but I sure was happy to hear it. Tod said he's heard Reed singing in the shower before, but I don't recall him ever mentioning it. Here I thought Amy was the only one who sang out loud in the shower. 

2 for 2 so far!

On January 4, Amy finally heard back from her top choice college, Shenandoah University, and she was admitted to the theatre program. Yahoo!! So proud of her. Now we wait to hear what financial aid she will be offered, before she makes a final decision. SU is a private school, and pretty costly. Hoping she gets the max amount of scholarship!

Then last week she got word that she was also admitted to Christopher Newport University's theatre program. Fantastic! It's her second choice school, and it's really good to have options. 

Still waiting to hear from Virginia Tech, but Amy isn't really interested in going there so the outcome won't have much of an impact. 

Hard to believe she will be off to college this year. But she's ready for it, and she's also really excited about it. This is a very different experience for us, because Reed was ambivalent at best (though he seems to be enjoying it now!). 

What an exciting time!