Blossom, little flower

The nasturtiums I purchased at the Beaverton Farmers Market are opening. Must be the hot weather that encouraged them. I'm not a big annuals girl, but I do love nasturtiums. I'm also crazy about cosmos, but I don't think I get quite enough sun for those here.

Speaking of Son: my precious little bundle of flailing eight-year-old is now a hundred miles away from me, visiting his grandma and grandpa in Eugene. His two cousins are there as well, and they will all be staying overnight. We'll come join them in the morning and stay until Saturday.

We don't part often, Son and me. Some people would probably say we don't part often enough. Granted, maybe that's true. Son didn't want to leave, and tried his darndest to break my heart about it last night. He was worried his bigger cousin would get bored and just want to watch sports on TV. He fretted about being made to eat a yucky dinner. He moaned about going to sleep without Mom and Dad in the vicinity. He also figured we were just trying to get rid of him when we admitted we are going to go out for a "grownup" dinner tonight while he is away.

It took all my stamina not to give in and let him stay home. I got anxious and agitated. I even went into our bedroom last night after having grown weary of the roundabout arguments, and I gave Husband the skunk-eye (your fault!). Husband went into Son's room to see if he could talk any more sense into him. We all chatted and sniped while I languished (languished!) on his bed. We finally made a few more good points than he could come up with, and then we fell asleep in our respective corners.

Son needed to go. He's got to realize he's strong enough to do this kind of thing. Anyway, it's just one night, his grandparents wanted to have all the grandkids to themselves for a short time, and Husband and I have been craving a little alone time.

We shipped him off successfully this morning. He maintained a pretty positive attitude, but he was nervous. That is until we heard the knock on the door. There stood Grandpa and his cool older cousin and his younger cousin who has become old enough to play like a big kid. Grandma came walking up, too, and pretty soon it was "Bye Mom, see you tomorrow!" All three kids whipped out their Nintendo DS's and fell into the back seat. Grandpa snapped a photo of all the grandkids while Jeff the Dog hopped into the front of their car. We told Jeff the Dog he needed to wait until tomorrow, and then the whole crew took off. Son didn't even glance at me as they drove down the street. He was far too engrossed in being with his cousins.

I called about an hour ago. Son sounded chipper on the phone. He said his older cousin was going to shoot darts at them outside while he and his younger cousin "run around like banshees." He kind of had to go, now. I said love you and goodbye, and he said the same. Then the phone went silent.

So here I am without my handsome little side growth, thinking about going to the store and cleaning the kitchen and wondering where we'll go to dinner tonight. It feels a little funny. Good, yes. Scary, yes... sort of. Here's a fine time to do my meditation, too. So many things to do. So many things I can do.

I'll be glad to see him when it's time, though. He may be gone from my side, but he's permanently parked in my head. He does make an attractive mind ornament.