I did get teary at each HS graduation....the speeches, etc just bring that out. Where I broke down was saying goodbye at the college dorm. With DS 1....he went to our state U less than an hour away...his first choice school. It was hard but I told him he was not allowed to come home for the first six weeks unless it was an emergency. I had heard stories of too many kids coming home every weekend and never immersing themselves in campus life and I wanted him to get involved, meet new people, and have the same experience as if he were miles away. He was rooming with best friend since toddlerhood and lots of other HS friends there as well so plenty of support. We all survived those six weeks just fine. With DS 2..our youngest...I felt somewhat guilty shoving him out of the nest since he was our homebody and the most likely to get homesick. I think he would have been happy to stay home and go to junior college, but his major was unusual and not offered by many schools and you had to take prerequisite classes freshman and soph years so off he went...12hours away not knowing a soul and a roommate from our area who never returned his "get to know you" calls and turned out to be 24! Roommate was a deadbeat and I worried all first semester about whether he could cope with everything. (Fortunately he was able to switch roommates second semester). He blossomed! He spent a semester in Bangkok. He formed a campus organization for a cause he became passionate about and works in that field today for a major non-profit. Hardest might have been DD....for 11years it was usually just the two of us going to practices and competitions for her sport. She went to school 6 hours away...I drove home alone as DH had to fly out from there for work. I sobbed all the way home. Was so distraught I missed an exit and didn't realize it for 20 minutes. I think I even pulled off to a rest stop just to cry. The upside was she loved the school, made great friends and it was a joy to see her come into her own after a not so great high school experience. She still lives there. Fast forward....they are all grown and gone....and we love having the house to ourselves!!! The boys live close by so we see them regularly, one is married. Of course we love seeing all of them and having them over and although it was an adjustment, we love the empty nest too!

I know the feeling, Shades- I'm enjoying an adult beverage right now. One of the first things I planted at our new place was 2 daffodils. That's right- two. The little church I visit up there had a sermon which related to daffodil bulbs, so each person got one in a little kit with fertilizer and instructions. I wasn't going to take one, but the cutest little boy ran up and was SO excited to give me one! Then folks I insisted I take two; one for me and one for my wife. In the spirit (pun intended) of the thing I felt obligated to plant them. We visited in February, and they were up and had buds. Alas, we weren't there for the actual flowers, but I was still excited. Two down; about 500 to go. I want to naturalize them all over the place.

I am also one who has enjoyed reading this thread. I have gotten rid of a lot of my Christmas decorations...and I was one the used to put a tree in every room (including the bathrooms), but have cut waaaayyy back....mostly because of health problems and a DH who does not "decorate"....so the outside lights are not put out anymore....because in this cold Kansas weather, it was me out there in January taking them down. I put wreaths with red bows in the windows, along with battery operated candles and a big wreath on the front door. I only put up a smaller tree in the LR and one in the basement family room where we all gather on Christmas to exchange gifts.....and of course, do decorate the fireplace mantle and I use a lot of bright red poinsettias scattered around. I always put out my grouping of singing carolers...they are so ugly that they are cute...and of course, never leave out the two nativity scenes that mean so much to me. When I looked through all of my boxes of decorations, I just kept telling myself.....what you take up from the basement has to come back down....and with my bad knees, it didn't take me long to just leave them there. I do believe that less is more...too many decorations doesn't give the eye a place to rest and gives the "cluttered" look. However you chose to decorate, I hope that each of you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and I hope that 2009 will be a better year for all of us.

cearbhaill, yes the juggling act! But after learning I need to order early for hard to get plants before they once again become unavailable I had no choice but to order them in Feb. I've been patiently waiting since then, I have 3 orders that are supposed to ship tomorrow. Once I get them in the ground I'll see what's next. When I began gardening I thought all I need are roses, a few hydrangeas my potted annuals and that's it. Occasionally I'd get free plants from certain companies like daylilies, then I'd learn about daylilies and I got hooked. I began researching other perennials and began getting hooked on blanket flowers, the follow year coreopsis, then I became obsessed with coneflowers, now I'm addicted to heucherellas. I also planted several small crape myrtle trees and a Vitex Shoal Creek Chaste tree. Pictured is Vitex it's not my tree, mine is still small but it has buds on it and it's getting ready to take off and bloom.