Go Southwest, Young Man

We’re on the road, a little late, but it’s all good!! We have 19ish hours of driving ahead of us. Stopped for Starbucks and away we go! Ty & Steph promptly fell back to sleep once we got on the road. I don’t expect to see much of Tyler this trip, except of him sleeping. He seems to sleep his way through road trips, must be nice!






Steph’s now awake and journaling, a pastime she enjoys, so it keeps her busy. Jon is insisting on driving, which I expected, but I’m glad we took off early morning, so we can see some of the country as we head from Ohio to Texas, it’s much better than trying to sleep overnight through the hills and bumps!!

Yesterday, I had to take Tyler to the doctor one last time, a day before that, he got stung by a bee, it swelled and then he had trouble breathing. We knew he had a local reaction allergy to bees, but each time he gets stung it’s getting worse, so it was time for an Epipen, just in case, especially with him being so far away. So I was able to spend his last day home, just me, him and his girl, Kait, whom I love! So it was a very nice day.

Last night we had to take the littles to my friend’s house, she’s keeping them through the weekend and then my other friend is keeping them the rest of the time for us! THEY ROCK!!  Anyways, it was time for the littles to say good-bye to Tyler. We’ve talked about this and they’ve been commenting that they would “miss Ty-Ty when he was at Texas,” but I wasn’t quite sure if they got that he was not going to be around, as in not seeing him for a long time. He’s in the front yard playing with them when it was time to go, they say their good-byes, Tyler’s crying, the littles are crying. I wasn’t expecting this, I don’t know why, I just didn’t think about it like this. We get the kids all buckled up and they want to see Ty again, he comes back to the van to say good-bye again. More tears from all 4 of them and then I start, it’s so hard! Then the little stinker that Dylan is, he tells Ty that he wanted to see him cry, so he could laugh! Little shit! Lol Then we’re off. The little ones are crying and holding their bananas. This goes on for a few minutes. Then Dylan is doing the fake cry and squeezing his eyes tight, trying to squirt out a tear…lol Then he finally stops. They are his little buddies, they worship the ground their big brother walks on. He’s going to miss them and they’re going to miss him! I told them they’d see him at Christmas, so for the rest of the time I was with them, Ayden would ask how long until Christmas, I say 4 months, he says in 4 months he gets to see Ty-Ty again…awwww…breaks your heart, doesn’t it?

It’s going to seem like a long 4 months, but I know the time will go fast for all of us. We’ll be busy with fall activities and school. Tyler will be busy adjusting to college life and baseball and enjoying being on his own. I’m honestly not worried about him being on his own. I’m mainly worried about him not getting up with his alarm for class!!!! That boy could sleep through a train barreling through his room!! Frustrating! But I’m hoping when he’s on his own, that he’ll just take care of business and get up on time!

I’ll miss him and his antics, I’ll miss his “click,” he does this LOUD, obnoxious click with his tongue and I’m sure it will be missed in time! Lol I’ll miss watching him wrestling around and cuddling with the little ones. I’ll miss his beautiful smile and his cocky little way he looks in the mirror in passing and says that I created perfection! Lol He doesn’t have a self-esteem problem, does he?!? Lol I’ll just miss him. But I’m so proud that he gets to go out and experience the world, see new things and live his life. We’ll see him, we’ll talk to him regularly, so it’s not like we’ll never hear or see from him again, it just won’t be daily, which is the next chapter in his life, the natural progression of things….and I’m okay with it…at least right now, check back with me when we’re driving back to Ohio without him…







OhhhhhhKlaaHoma - Where the winds come whipping down the plains…



Day 2 of our 5 state trek. We made it to the edge of Missouri last night, lots of little stops add up quick! Too many Starbucks (Wait! There are never too many Starbucks!!!) But my sweetie was nice enough to scope them out for our trip! The best one – RIGHT NEXT TO OUR HOTEL!!! How awesome is that!?! Every hotel should have one either right next door or in them! Our hotel was okay, it was soooo humid in the room, the blankets felt damp, it was icky! But we crashed early, so it’s all good. Ty slept on and off most of the day yesterday, he was actually awake more than I thought he would be! Lol Not much to see on that first leg of the journey, so a bit boring, but still it’s not Ohio!







Oklahoma has been fun to see so far, cows in lakes keeping cool, flat land as far as the eye can see and it’s just cool to see from this Ohio girl’s perspective…Everyone is refreshed and excited to get to Vernon, I can’t wait to see where my boy will be calling home for the next 2 years, find out what his baseball schedule is and get him all settled in. I’m hoping he’ll be home December 9, when the first semester ends, but it will basically depend on his baseball schedule, if anything, he’ll be home through Christmas and then have to leave right away to head back to Texas. We’ll figure it all out. The littles will be so happy to see him for Christmas. I told him he will just walk through the door and surprise them!!

We have about 6 hours to drive today and then we’ll be there. The nice thing is that there is a hotel right across from the baseball field at the college, so it’s nice to know when we come down for a visit, that we’ll be so close! I can’t wait to come down to see him play ball at the college level. I’m so excited for him and this opportunity he has. I’m excited that he is going to college and planning his life! I’m gonna miss him like crazy, but I’m excited for him!

















Day 3, Move In Day.








Today is the day - Today’s moving in day!! He was so excited and antsy to get moved in and get this show on the road! We first stopped at all the necessary places to make sure he’s registered, pay any last minute fees and get the keys to his new home for the next 2 years. It’s tiny! He got there first, so he chose the bed by the window. He has a lot of stuff! LoL But he is one of the furthest kids here. Tyler is moving in to the athletic dorm, so he is with all baseball players, convenient, eh?
So after going back to Wal-Mart AGAIN, we got all the necessary cleaning supplies and any last minute things he would need. We finally get back to the business of moving in; Tyler unloads the van, while I start the cleaning like only mom can. It wasn’t too bad, but I feel better leaving him there with the place starting out clean…He shares the bathroom with 3 other guys, so you get the idea….

So far so good on the tears, none yet. I’m excited for him! He’s so excited and can’t wait to get us on the road home! I don’t blame him; I was excited to get on with my life, so I know exactly how he feels! He got his Christmas present early, a flat screen TV and now he’s set!

I plan to come back down to see one of his games this fall season, so it’s not like I won’t see him until Christmas. He’ll be home about December 9ish, so it won’t be so bad!

We took a tour of the area after he was pretty much settled. There really is nothing around here, not too much trouble for him to get in to, we hope! Lol This local Wal-Mart doesn’t even carry organic food…we were looking for some items and the guy we asked said he’d never heard of it! Lol We went in to the next big town and found some grocery store that screamed healthier food, so we hopped in there and we found what we were looking for, but that store is an hour away, surely not in walking distance like he needs being without transportation of his own.







We may see him tonight, he kicked us out of his room so he could get settled and unpack and just be in his new space. We’ll see him tomorrow to add/drop a class that he needs to have. Then that’s it…we’ll be heading out after lunch with him…He officially starts his college life and baseball life that evening…

Tyler ended up staying the night in his dorm, he and his roommate spent the evening rearranging and organizing the place, it’s more spacious than when we last saw it. The whole dorm smells like teenage boys live there!!






The drop is complete.

It’s 1:03 p.m. Texas Time. We’ve just pulled away and left Tyler to start his new life as a college student away from home…I didn’t cry as much as I thought I would, I think it may hit me once we get home and he won’t be there. He’s so excited and happy to be here. I’m excited and happy for him. He’s in a good place and seems to be all set up to have a great college experience. He’ll be so busy with school and baseball, there won’t be much time for anything else, plus Podunk doesn’t have much to do! Lol But it’s cute and perfect for him.

We’re headed out of town as I type. I’ve never seen so many cows and pick-up trucks in one area. Minivans aren’t that common! SUVS and pickups is the name of the game around here…It’s pretty down here, open fields and cows and we actually saw camels!! We saw more of Wal-mart than I ever care to in my lifetime! But it had what we needed and it’s in walking distance for him and I feel good about that, I can send him Wal-Mart cards and Subway cards and he’ll be happy!

½ hour down, 19 to go, we’re going to tag team the drive home and see if we can get home early. Sending a kid off to college and getting him set up is EXPENSIVE!!! Definitely have to save up for the next 4 kids to get out on their own…


Wednesday:

We made it home earlier than planned. We tag-team drove until 3 a.m., then had to pull in to a rest stop to catch a few hours sleep; 6 a.m. we were on the road again. It’s really not a bad drive, pretty much a straight shot and not too many hills or curves, so it was a nice drive. We got home about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, got cleaned up and then picked up the littles.

The emotions took over once we pulled in the driveway and walked in to the house. I just cried like a baby, seeing Tyler’s truck in the driveway and knowing that he wouldn’t be coming through the door any time soon, that we wouldn’t hear his music from the basement and YES – I even miss his “click” already!!! As long as I don’t think about it too much, I’m okay. I’m sure once we get in to our new normal, things will get better. We will be in contact with him regularly, we can text, we have facebook and email and obviously the phone to talk. He’ll be home early December and depending on his plans with his girlfriend, Kait, we’ll see him some of the time and probably be with her the rest, her plan is to get a job down in Austin, since she will be going to school down there anyways. Then he doesn’t start second semester until mid January.

Tyler called last night and I was able to talk to him for about an hour. He is lonely. He’s second-guessing the decision to move so far away. There really is nothing to do down there. Plus he doesn’t really know anyone yet. He said he wasn’t expecting to feel so lonely. Breaks my heart for him. But like I told him, once school starts on Monday, he’ll be busier with school and baseball will be more involved, yesterday morning was their first practice and it was rough, kids throwing up from the heat and intensity! I didn’t think baseball conditioning would compare to football practices! He made it through, it’s just hot down there and all the running, etc they had to do. He did get sick in the shower after practice, unexpected for him. But he’ll get used to it and learn a system to get through. He had his water bottles, so he was staying hydrated.

I miss that boy! But this is the next phase of his life and he will be fine. Once college life gets going, he’ll make new friends, get to know the baseball boys better and hang out with them. It’s just a hard transition from friends and family to not knowing anyone and no way to see friends and family on a whim…But I have faith that he’ll be fine. He’s in kind of a mini boot camp and this will definitely be good for him. Like he said, he couldn’t handle it if it was 6 weeks, but it does make you mentally stronger and who doesn’t need more mental strength! We’re going to get a web cam for our end, his girlfriend sent him one for his end, so it’ll be nice to see him “in person” and the littles can’t wait to “see” him again! They miss their big brother! Stephanie even cried as we were pulling away, she’ll miss him. Even though they act like they don’t like each other, I know they do. I hope they will communicate with texting or something and stay in contact; I will try to encourage it.

4/5 days until school starts and we can all get back in to the swing of things. The summer went by extremely fast and we had sooooo much to do, to prepare for Tyler’s big move to Texas. Now that there is 1 week left of summer, it feels like THE longest week there ever was…

I knew moving him would be hard and driving away without him - I just didn’t anticipate coming home to the “empty” house would be even harder…So all of you that may be reading and have kids going to college soon, especially the ones that won’t be close to home, the return home will be so much harder than the goodbyes at the dorm…

If you’ve read this far and it’s a jumbled mess, forgive me, I’ve just been trying to get my thoughts out and some of it may not make sense to anyone but me! Lol

Just some misc. pics...