Rainy Days and Mondays

Well, Happy Labor Day for what it's worth. It's been raining for two days straight so that kind of put the kibosh on any plans. The one nice day Saturday we did the grocery shopping and checked on the houses, if I knew we were going to have crappy weather I would have saved it til today. Adam is in Ohio til this afternoon, he finished enrolling in electrician school out there, he will be staying with friends until he gets an apartment and he already has a roommate lined up. For some reason a lot of his friends from the navy migrated out there near Cincinnati so he's pretty excited about it. I have to admit I have mixed feelings about it, as much as you want them to be independent and out on their own, it's nice having them near too. He won't be too far, only 3 hours from here, so not to traumatic. Scout the kitten will miss him, we still have to keep him in the basement when we go out and with Adam sleeping during the day it was company for him. But Scout is rapidly expanding into a cat and is almost too big for the dogs to swallow without a fight so it won't be too much longer. And really, as much as kittens are little, cute and fuzzy, they're also genetically engineered to survive in much harsher circumstances than a house with two dogs - we've noticed if the dogs get over-enthused he goes to ground pretty fast. When he gets big enough we'll also start letting him out during the day, right now he has to content with sitting in the window and watching the world go by. I noticed this morning that some of the leaves are starting to turn, I was a little shocked but it is the first of September. Where did the summer go? Where did everything go? Lately I've been mulling over this very subject, 30 years ago my entire family lived in one place, now we live all over. I think a lot of it is seeing my cousin's children, my children!, my lifelong friends and their kids on face book. Birthdays, graduations,weddings, jobs - all right where  I am not. I remember throwing my sister's 40rth at my house and having to move an entire BBQ inside because of the rain, we filled the kitchen and living room. Adam's graduation was held at a park - this was before we, and everyone else moved. Jackson's graduation 6 years later we held at a restaurant. Then we scattered further, we are so far away from each other. Many families are in the same boat, economics and opportunities drive us. Long Island has not been my home for years and honestly, I would not go back. The crowds freak me out  - and economically we are so much better off here. And that is not what I miss anyway. I miss the parties, stopping over Bette's for coffee, walking the dog and running into people I know. Dinner at Grandma's, the beach at the end of the road where we all had our spots and no one else sat there because they knew it was taken.  It would be nice to live near one family that I either know or am related to, but that is not in the cards right now, is it?