A Nice Window

Isn't this a cool window. It's in the landing of the front stairs at college daughter's new house. She's renting a house with 5 other kids for the upcoming school year. I helped her get the rest of her stuff moved in a couple of weeks ago and then she was back home for awhile. I took her back up to stay last Friday. They found a pretty nice house with 6 bedrooms and a nice kitchen, living room, dining room, etc. It's an older house, but in pretty good repair for a college rental.

I really envy her at this great time in her life. So many opportunities await, lots of interesting classes to take, an orchestra to perform in, and a new boyfriend...etc. I sometimes wish I could do it all over again, and get it right this time, but of course there's some downsides to going to college too. The poverty and stress for example, but I hope she appreciates the good parts.

I take my youngest son, TB, to college on Saturday. The town is only about an hour drive away, but it feels like he'll be a long ways away. It will be quite an adjustment I think, especially considering I'll be home alone with DH working out of town during the week. I'll have no excuses for not having a clean house and keeping up on my projects. I hope it will go okay and I won't be too sad. Another blogger had a great quote the other day and it really made me think about my upcoming circumstances. It is pretty easy to wallow in misery, not so easy to focus outward and accomplish something.

“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others…By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”

Japanese Garden at Como Park

On the same trip to St. Paul we visited the Japanese Garden that is just outside the conservatory. It was a nice break from sitting outside in the heat at baseball games. I didn't remember ever walking through there before, but when we told our son that we stopped, he remembered a trip there when he must have been very young. At one point on the trail through the garden you can step on stones to cross the water. He remembered that and thinking it was so cool. I'm sure I was stressed out worrying that he would fall in the water. I was reminded again that I just don't remember things as well as I used to. My husband and I had our 25th anniversary the weekend after this, so we had someone take our picture. If we look like a couple of fat, tired, worn out old-married folks, that's because that's what we are. Ha

After visiting the conservatory, garden, and zoo we went over to our son's house to meet him when he got home from work. We walked from there to Five Guys where we had a delicious hamburger and homemade fries and also peanuts in the shell while we were waiting. It was nice to go out with him and hear about his new job and catch up a little.

The Conservatory

Earlier in the summer we visited the Como Conservatory in St. Paul while we were in town for the State Baseball Tournament. It was beautiful as usual and since we were visiting mid-week it wasn't as crowded. We also walked through the Japanese garden and the zoo, but I'll save those pictures for another day. This hibiscus and the star gazer lily below were simply huge. I have a neighbor with a perennial hibiscus that is blooming right now; a very beautiful red one and the whole bush is covered with flowers. I have my own lilies too, it's just that the deer like to eat the buds. I had a few that bloomed before the deer got to them.