Well, I didn't intend to be gone for so long but, last week, I felt like a hamster on a freshly greased wheel.  I had so much work and other commitments waiting on me when we got home from our trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains and I have been non-stop ever since.  John Samuel was also home all week for his Mardi Gras break from school so I enjoyed having all 3 of my kids going in and out for several days.  Oh, and don't let me forget the week long preparation for the garage sale we had on Saturday.  Well, let me rephrase.....the garage sale that Blair, Carson, and John Samuel had on Saturday.  My body's clock doesn't really run on garage sale time and Davis didn't want to haul all the stuff out of the attic and so we told them if they'd handle it, they could all split the money and, I must say, they did quite well for themselves
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Our attic was getting ridiculous.  Surely, you have a space like that.  Whether it's a basement or attic or storage building, there needs to be a purging every now and then.  Well, for us, when we don't know what to do with something, it gets sent to the attic.  It's kind of like a place of waiting for our stuff.  It's where things go that we're not ready to trash but we don't want to have to look at it while we work through the process of letting go.









Because I know you're deeply curious about my attic, I'll give you the layout.  I have the kids' old toys and books up there on one side.  I'm very sentimental about those and keeping them, hopefully, for our future grandchildren.  There was a whole section devoted to containers and supplies for decorating weddings/parties.....which I haven't done in 7 years so that section was becoming irrelevant.  There were all the things from Davis' office that were sent up there after he retired.  There is a big box of trophies, plaques, and medals up there....some of them -participation trophies as my children are from that era.  What's a mother to do with those?  There was the stuff from Blair's college days of dorm and apartment living.  Carson had some hobbies and interests that have fallen off his radar and those things were up there.  Of course, there are all the seasonal sections.....Easter, fall, Christmas and summertime/beach/camping must haves.  It was basically becoming a hot mess and it was time to separate the wheat from the chaff.  I couldn't think of a better time to do it than the week that John Samuel and Carson would both be here to get it all down.










We went through things and sorted and priced and laughed and formed quite a pile for the trash man. There were things that reminded us of different times and seasons.  Some things that seemed so important when we got them were just in the way now.  Most had served their purpose for a particular period but had since turned insignificant to us.  Some things we'd just outgrown.  Other things, well, we'd just changed and they weren't wanted anymore.  It's funny how time can do that. 
 
On the heels of our silver anniversary trip, I was thinking how in the first 25 years of marriage, we leave our parents.  The next 25, our parents start to leave us.  The first 25, we spend bonding with our children.  The next 25, our children are breaking away from us.  The first 25 years, we're busy acquiring things.  The next 25, we spend getting rid of things.  The first 25, we want to hurry things along.  The next 25, we scramble for ways to slow it all down.
    


I'm in the middle of this cycle of life.  Blair will move out on her own this summer and get married in the fall.  When she left for college, I always knew in the back of my mind that she'd be back home for summer breaks and Christmas vacations and maybe to get on her feet after graduating.  But, I know when she leaves this time, it will be for good.  And, oh, how I've enjoyed having her here for the last 10 months.....as a friend.  Carson will start his senior year in high school in the fall.  My baby.  I don't even know where the time went with him.  He'll be headed off to college before we know it.  And those are all really good things.  Wonderful things.  But, sometimes, even wonderful things pull at a mama's heart.
   


Just like there's no reason to hold onto the old things that we squirrel away in the attic, it's useless to try to hold onto any moment in time.  It's always moving.  Always changing.









But, there are new moments to come.









New seasons.










Filled with new joys.






 






Y'all have a good one!