I Need Some Hypnosis

Lauren calls it my “sleep debt”. I call it getting old. My doctor will probably call it something else. Suddenly, I simply can’t get enough sleep. And when I do sleep, whether it’s in the day or night time, and if I’ve been awake or have just woken up, I sleep really, really hard. Then, when I wake up, my shoulders and neck are sore from not shifting positions the whole time. The fact that I fall out right after eating tells me that my meds need readjusted, but I don’t see my doctor until the first part of July.

Nathan and Heather are leaving this afternoon. Nathan is moving to Wichita to live with his dad and Heather’s going up to spend the summer as she usually does. Lauren is staying home because she’s grown out of the child visitation phase of her life and she has a job besides. Next June, after she graduates high school, she’ll be going to France for a year as an exchange student before enrolling in college. Heather will graduate in June ‘08.

For all my swagger over welcoming an empty nest, it’s sad, and if I didn’t have the hope of Vienna to look forward to, I’d be sorely feeling the passing of this stage of family life. When the kids first came to live with us they were still just kids and I wondered how I’d survive being the parent of a large family when I was used to a small one. I adjusted, however and now, as I see them going out the door one-by-one, I realize just how much I’ve enjoyed being a “Family Weird”.

Still, I’m looking forward to life with Nettl–just the two of us to come and go as we please–and to the times when the kids come visit us, and perhaps later, when they bring their own kids.

Ach! Let’s not rush. I’m not ready for that yet!