The Weekend That Was.....Letting Go, Being Wet and Marking the Years

First things first.

Here is the worst damage Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene did in our yard......

You probably can't make out the clumps of leaves and twigs littering the yard.
And Hubs fished small branches out of the pool.

We got lots of wind and rain.
LOTS of rain according to my makeshift rain gauge.....

Yes, my onion root cellar is a multitasker!lol
We got 8 inches from Irene.
I am shocked that no trees here were uprooted since the ground was already saturated from the abundant rains we already had experienced in August.
My neighbor has a tree that is heavily listing to one side after the storm that may fall during the next windy day.
The yard is like a bog it's so saturated.
You walk on it, you sink.

The sun came out around 3pm yesterday.
Then we had a band of rain as late as 5pm.
Some more winds around 7pm and Irene was kaput here.

Hubs went out yesterday and saw some tree limbs down and road flooding in the usual places when we get heavy quick storms here.
I got a phone call from the school district this morning.  Seems they are excusing students who can't make it in for the FIRST DAY of SCHOOL today, due to intermittent road flooding around the district.
Too bad they called AFTER #2 son headed to school.
He will be pissed he missed the opportunity to play hooky, legally.
Sometimes "the man" just can't catch a break, can he?

Now let's back up a bit to Friday.
To say Daughter was ready to leave home would be an understatement.

She's saying in this picture, "Will you get in the car and start it already!!"

Once we got to college, she set us to work unloading the car and transporting it all to the SIXTH FLOOR(somebody just kill me now!)and then stashing it all away into place.
I think she missed her calling as a Drill Sargent!lol

 After we got things squared away, she consented to a photo....the only one she willingly let me take.

She is still without a roommate in her double room.
She has never made friends easily so I worry that she doesn't have a roommate at this point.
I know she'll overcome this eventually.

As I sat later waiting on Hubs to come pick me up with the car, I watched some of the stuff I saw other parents/students unloading from their cars.

36" Flatscreen tvs.
Seriously.
Who needs to bring that to college?

Refrigerators the size of a small child.
Some were larger than the one in my 1st apartment.

A box of 100 tubs of ramen noodles.
I guess that kid is on the 8 meals a week meal plan.

A waffle maker.
?

We only had to make 1 run to Walmart for longer cables and cords, etc. and then we were done.

I have no photo of Daughter with either her father or me, so I'll end this part with a shot of her "Home Sweet Home" for the next 3 months....

I just wonder how long until I get a phone call that she needs money.
Oh and you KNOW I'll get that call......lol

On Saturday morning #1 son and his girlfriend left to go back to school before Irene arrived, and as of Sunday night he was back ensconced in his dorm for another semester.

On Sunday evening, after the rain let up but before dark, I began weeding the front garden/flower bed jungle.  I figured with 8 inches of fresh rain in the ground, it was not going to get any easier to pull weeds!lol  I filled a black garbage bag with weeds before my back gave out.  There is at least another bag full to pull so I'll finish the job later today.

Sunday was also Hubs and my Wedding Anniversary.
Yes, I have now been married for TWENTY NINE YEARS.
And all 29 to the same man.
I caught a glimpse of us in the mirror the other day and yes, it IS true.
You do start to look alike when you've been together this long.
Since neither of us is/was very attractive to begin with it hasn't been a devastating development.lol
I just don't remember agreeing to get this old, with our without a spouse.
I've lost my youth and I'm barely hanging onto pieces of my mind and my sanity these days, so it's a good thing my sense of humor is intact. ;-)

So now it's Monday and all my kids are back in school.
The Hubs is back at work and I am blissfully alone....except for the dogs snoring gently behind me in their beds.

Ok, I am not really alone.
There are 4 bowls of tomatoes staring at me each time I walk into the kitchen, whispering, "Pssst! You need to can us NOW!"
So tomato prep is on the agenda today.
And tomato canning is on the agenda for tomorrow.

And here is what is still outside waiting for me......*SonyaAnn DON'T LOOK WARNING*........

So what is up in your part of the world lately?

Sluggy