small works in wool

This morning my middle daughter left for Vermont Law to study environmental law and many tears were shed on both sides. I'm so proud of her accomplishments (and a little jealous!) but I am beginning to feel a sense of dread around the edges because in just a few short weeks, my youngest will leave for college as well and here I'll be! Sitting on the nest and thinking, "why don't the kids call?" Of course, there are mixed emotions because I could literally stitch all day and night, eat out every meal (wait -- I'm dangerously close to that now), catch up on much needed home improvements and worry even less about whether I'm wearing clothes most of the time. On the other hand, no one to play speed scrabble with, no one to go out to lunch and gab for hours, no one to complain to because their bedroom is messy, no swim bags/shoes/towels to step over every time I come into the house, no one to buy fruit snacks and granola bars for (maybe I will start eating some of those things!) and, except when my husband is home in the evenings, just NO ONE. That's not strictly true because there is always Cooper, thwapping his enormous tail, shedding and leaving a river of drool across the kitchen tile. But Cooper doesn't like to talk about girl things. Here is an illustration for today -- it is called "Stay-at-home-Mom" and it says, "sometimes she wonders where she will sit when the egg is gone." Right now I'm looking for a comfy chair.