Empty-Nest!!

We are adjusting (slowly) to being empty-nesters! Having my weekends free after all these years of non-stop going during hockey and football seasons is a little unsettling!! My house is constantly in upheaval as I'm moving furniture around, painting rooms, and hanging different things on the walls... Anything to stay "busy"!!

We did go for a very LONG hike today... 2.7 miles ONE WAY on a mountain and it was brutal... So I'm thinking I need to get exercising back into my normal routine!!

I am very excited that Clemson Ice Hockey starts games this coming
Weekend!! So look out rinks, this hockeymom is ready!!

I'm very proud to be sporting around a new sticker on my car (given to me as a Mother's Day gift by my son!)

And I also wanted to show some
Pics from "move-in day"...

Hope you all have a blessed week! Thanks for stopping by:) This Hockeymoms Life is going thru adjustments, awakenings, and realizing life is way too short to sweat the small
Stuff!! Live each day to the fullest and tell the ones that mean the most how important they are to you!
"Laters" :)

Dorm living...?? Help a mom OUT!

So .... Anybody decorated a dorm room lately for guys?? Uh... Yeah... "Decorate - dorm room - guys" shouldn't even be used in the same sentence is what I'm very quickly learning!! We found some bedding;)
and some shelves... Got the futon! But my dilemma is their walls and curtains!! No HOLES in the walls... What's a girl ... Errr "guy" to do?? Suggestions??

Charleston, Family & Very Dear Friends.... Does life get any better than this?

So we took our first "College Tour" last weekend.... went to College of Charleston ("CofC"). 

 What a beautiful campus!  In the most beautiful city ever ....

Our weekend started off with the drive down on Friday in the hardest rain storm I've ever been in ... the ENTIRE drive to Charleston!  Our normally 3 hour trip took 4 and a half hours!!! (Can you say FRAZZLED nerves??)  We stopped as soon as we got to Mt. Pleasant at RED'S on Shem Creek:) Crab cakes sandwich = YUMMY!!!

Finally got to the beautiful home we rented with some very dear friends whose son was also touring CofC. 
The next morning we were up bright and early for our tour ...

After the tour, we were OFF to find more delicious food ... seriously this was the best meal I had all weekend.  This place (Fleet Landing) overlooks the water and has the BEST shrimp-n-grits EVER!!!!!  EVERRRRRR!!!!!!

Then we were off to "tour" (aka walk for HOURS ...lol) downtown Charleston!  If you've never visited this city, what in the world are you waiting on???

Charleston .... My Family .... & Very Dear Friends .... Life doesn't get any better than this:) 

COLLEGE ... already?? WOW!

I'll go ahead and be the first to admit ... I'm hoping this blog will be like my "therapy" in the coming year:) ...and save me $$ for therapist bills!!! 

  

My one and only child will be a rising Senior in High School in just a few short months, and we have kicked the college search into HIGH-GEAR around our household.  Did I mention I'm a hockeymom?? ...lol.. That means out of his top 5 schools, the majority of them aren't located anywhere near "home":( 

For you moms out there who have gone thru the anxiety I'm going thru ... talk to me girls!  To those of you with toddlers running around, and you can't even go to the bathroom without having a "family meeting" while mom is on the potty ... ENJOY this time in your child's life!!  Funny I say that, eh? The Sleep Deprivation? Diapers? Baby food? Your child thinking his name is "NO..[insert child's name here]"? Well I mean it ... it goes by WAY TOO FAST!!!  Don't blink .... or you, too, will be looking at colleges, my friend;) 

I have wonderful support from family and friends ... they love me even on my "moody" days which seem to come more and more frequently these days, with my anxiety kicking in, but just like all of the other challenges in my life, I will get thru this too:)  

I worry about the cost of college and how in the world we will pay for it (have you PRICED college lately?? WOW!!), I worry about our son being away from home (gosh, he will have been in my house for 18 years at that point ... I'm going to really MISS his daily hugs and smiling face)!!  I just want him to be happy, which means he has some really difficult and important decisions in the next few months of his life.  I just thought having a newborn baby was hard all of those years ago ... he's still my "baby boy", but it's time to take a step back and let him make his own decisions.  I'm still waiting ... talk to me girls ....tell me what kind of meds you took to get thru this!! (lol.. just kidding ...er, uh ... not really... lol)

So.... please bear with me if you have personal contact with me ... I'm on that roller coaster called "life" (as I know we all are) BUT BOY, is it taking me for a RIDE these days:)  I'm overwhelmed now more than I've ever been in my entire life .... And trying to remind myself to ENJOY this time of my life too;) I'm so blessed with such wonderful family and friends.  Life.Is.Good!!!