The kids are all gone

Joe left for his senior year at Bates yesterday.

He was the last one out the door.

Pardon me for being melodramatic. He was the last one out the door for the summer.

With Katie having left for Brandeis two weeks ago, it's really empty nest time for me.

I know, they'll be back soon. Plus I'll be with Katie for four days starting Wednesday when we meet in New York. I'll see Ben there. And Joe will return for his October break. Still, I miss them.

I've been alone in the house before, but this feels like a different kind of alone. I felt it as soon as Joe left. For more than 20 years, my days have been arranged in some way around children. Now they won't be. At some point I'll appreciate the freedom, I'm sure. But for a while I'm going to have to struggle through an adjustment period.

The pluses are obvious, starting with less mess all over the place. This morning I read on the living room couch in the sun, the dog beside me. Then I stretched out and took a quick nap. So? It was hard to do that before; piles of laundry often claimed all the space. Also, there is no longer an obstacle course around the couch. The hockey equipment, which jutted out from under the piano, was gone, as were the stray sneakers, and sometimes even discarded socks, that I kept reminding people to pick up.

I'm planning some big de-clutter projects, which I already started to work on, a bit at a time. I went for a longer bike ride and a longer walk with more so-called running built in. Last night I saw "Eat, Pray, Love" with two friends named Deb. We went out after for a snack and a drink.

Since I hardly drink at all, I got a little tipsy. Neighborhood Deb (Sharp) walked me to the door and called later to see if I had safely made it up to bed.

I might feel alone, but I'm not.

Love those Kisses

Sorry to be a lazy blogger.

Life continues to be busy. Katie leaves for Brandeis next Sunday, and what with vacation, dorm room shopping, Monday's visit to Dana-Farber (all-day affair no matter how you cut it), coffee and walks with friends, a beautiful evening at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket and a pleasant long lunch-time visit today with my cousin Betsy and her husband Michael (who I see only about once a year), I haven't had time or energy to sit down and post.

Lunch by the way was nice. The humidity has passed, and it was a sunny, comfortable day, with the sun streaming through the windows. I served a big salad, a pasta salad, local peaches and blueberries and a homemade blueberry/peach pie. (No, I didn't make it. My talent lies in having found, in my opinion, the best farm stand selling it.) I ordered it from Evelyn, co-owner with her husband and baker extraordinaire at Breezy Acres Farm in Granby.)

Anyway, I wanted to report on Monday's clinic visit. Donna drove me (thanks, Donna!). When I get a ride, I feel so much better than when I go alone.

The wait at the clinic was relatively short. My counts were about the same as two weeks ago. On paper, I didn't love some of the numbers, but Melissa said everything looked fine.

As I predicted when eating plate-fulls of fish and chips on Cape Cod the previous weekend, my sodium went up, although it is still low. Unlike for most people who want to reduce their sodium, my sodium has been low, so up is the right direction.

My energy is better. I've been talking longer walks and have pretty much, thanks to physical therapy, learned to stop zig-zagging. My balance has improved, too. I was surprised that my hematocrit remained at 25.7 (out of a normal range of 34.8-43.6). In other words, I'm still very anemic. Usually I can feel the low, but I don't. I guess my body has adapted.

My platelets were stuck at 76 (normal=155-410). But that is not dangerously low. And my white count, at 9.4, was basically normal (normal=3.8-9.2).

After this hassle- and drama-free visit, we had a few hours before heading back. After taking the "T" downtown to check in with Donna's daughter at work, we returned to Brookline, where we had both lived, though at different times and when we didn't know each other.

Procuring a tin box of Barton's Almond Kisses was the highlight of my day. We got it in a very Jewish section of the area called Coolidge Corner, at the Israel Book Shop. As I discussed with the woman behind the counter, most everyone's Jewish grandmother had these gooey candies on her coffee table. The description on the tin reads "Smooth and creamy chocolate caramel kissed with whole almonds."

They are relatively easily found in New York, but harder to get elsewhere. The woman at the Israeli Book Shop said shoppers come from all over. The allure isn't so much in the candies as in the tin itself: black background with colorful figures. My grandmother actually kept the candies on her coffee table in a cut glass container with silver tongs. She kept the box in the kitchen.

When I told my friend Deb about my find, she knew exactly what I meant and practically squealed with delight. She didn't want the candy, just the tin. I told her I'd bring her one. Actually, the candy doesn't seem to taste as good as it used to (it's very sweet), but that doesn't stop me from eating it and enjoying the tin.

We keep the dog biscuits in one of the tins now. I have to be careful what I grab.

Time to celebrate

It's all graduation, (mostly) all the time.

We've also got Maddie needing a lot of TLC and many trips to the vet, but she is healing very well, so first things first:

Katie's graduation from South Hadley High School is this Sunday, June 6. A stream of activities includes parties and school events. One of my jobs is to figure out where I am invited. Yes to the scholarship award program at the high school yesterday. Yes to the baccalaureate program tomorrow. No to the senior banquet after the baccalaureate. No to some parties, yes to others.

I'm not sure what to expect from the baccalaureate. I didn't go to Ben or Joe's. I guess it's a big celebration. A slide show of the seniors then and now is planned, with music to cry by.

Katie and two friends, Connie and Rachel, shared a party at Rachel's house this past Sunday, the three families participating in planning and splitting the cost. Katie's dad helped too. It turned out very well. Katie's friend Connie baked an incredible cake made of four pieces, each one forming a digit in the number 2010. Each piece was its own cake; I believe they were lemon, chocolate mint chip, strawberry shortcake and peanut butter.

After graduation this Sunday we'll have a small party attended by Diane and David and and a few friends who are like extended family. Joe is already here, and Ben will come from New York.

It's all very exciting!

This has led to a rare urge to clean. I swept up a lot of pine needles off the little deck where the grill is and in front near the steps. I wanted to get them into the cart to dump them in the woods, and also pull out some weeds where I was sweeping, but I made myself stop to let Joe or Katie get closer to the dirty work, as per doctors' orders.

Inspired by gardeners Ann and Susan, I want to buy some more flowers for my planters, but it might not get done before the weekend. I walked to the farmers' market on the town common and splurged on a planter put together by a local woman. From her garden, she chose lobelia, impatiens and a green butterfly-shaped plant whose name I forget.

Way too early for me, Katie leaves Aug. 22 for orientation at Brandeis University.

On the dog side, Maddie is healing remarkably well. She has to wear what most people call a lampshade around her head, because as soon as it's off, she goes right for her stitches. We take it off when we walk her (not very far) or feed her. She has to go back to the vet every few days. Usually we do it in twos, but the last time I did it by myself when we realized I could get her in and out of the car alone. The bandage has come off and gone back on, depending on how the stitches look. It was on, but last time the vet took it off so the area could get some air. We return tomorrow.

We could be going closer, to our regular vet, but we decided to stay with the emergency hospital – Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital – in South Deerfield, Mass. – just to finish the job with the same people. It's about 20 minutes away, but the more we go, the easier it seems. Also we've all been so impressed by the veterinarians there.