He's Gone

I am now officially 2/3 of the way to being an empty nester and Abby is now an only child. The parents now outnumber the children in the house. Michael moved out tonight. He's gone. My heart and head are a jumble of mixed feelings.

In a matter of hours

In a matter of hours Michael will be moving into his bachelor pad with his buddies. Tomorrow evening we will load up his possessions and move him into his new condo. I am incredibly sad about this. Knowing tonight is the last night he will sleep in this house and knowing he will never live under my roof again feels so final. I know it's the natural order of things, but I can already tell the family is going to miss having him around.

You may be wondering what is going to become of his room. I can tell you Abby is not happy with our plans. Abby wanted Michael's room. To be more specific, she didn't want to change rooms, she wanted to EXPAND! (essentially she wanted BOTH rooms!). Ummmmm... no way.

Our plan for the room is to make it a play room for the grandchildren. It will be a nice place for them to play with their toys when they come over. It will also be a good place for a bed when they spend the night.

I'm sad to see Michael go, but I'm also excited to have a space for the grandchildren.

Hide! It's the cops! Or is it...?

Michael purchased a new (used) car. His old Toyota Camry required repairs that were just too expensive and not practical for an old car. The new set of wheels is a Ford Taurus. Not just any Ford Taurus... A former police car! Our community was selling some of its older police cars and Michael put in a bid and got one. Sadly all of the cool stuff was removed from it. No flashing lights or siren. No cage between the front and back seats. No police radio and no leftover weapons.

The cop car is now parked in our driveway and it looks like Lawrenceburg's Finest are staking out our house. Yesterday I jokingly said I went outside four times with my hands up! It won't be out there very long though. Michael is moving out this weekend and will take the Taurus with him. I'm kind of glad. It's a little unnerving feeling like the cops are watching me all the time.

Down on the farm!

Sing it with me. I know you are familiar with the tune.

Bob Evans--- Down on the farm! Admit it. You remember the jingle.

Michael is Bob Evans' newest employee. He was hired today as a host and busboy. He will primarily seat guests, ring up sales on the cash register and bus tables during busy times. This is good work for a college student. This particular restaurant is less than a mile from his condo and also less than a mile from school. What he will be paying in rent, we hope he makes up with his paycheck and not burning much gas.

Tune in later for information about his new (used) car and moving out on his own. The Meyer family is in for a big transition.

The Day the Shuttle Fell

27 years ago today, I was a freshman in college. I was working part time as a fry cook at Long John Silvers restaurant. I went in that morning to pick up my paycheck before heading off to my classes for the day. It was then a co-worker asked me, "Did you hear what happened?". That question usually indicates bad news. That day was no different. I said I had not heard the news and of course was told immediately the space shuttle Challenger had exploded shortly after lift off. I was only 19 years old, but hearing those words sent shivers down my spine. I don't know why, but something compelled me to go home and turn on the television instead of going to school. Obviously I was interested in what happened, but it was probably just a really good excuse to skip class (I hope my kids aren't reading this).

We all know the rest of the story. The temperature at Cape Canaveral, Florida was below freezing, the Challenger blasted off seemingly like so many shuttles before, 73 seconds later it exploded and 7 astronauts were tragically killed. This particular launch was being watched by an unusually high number of people because of the Teacher in Space program. Millions of school children around the nation watched from their classrooms as Christa McAuliffe perished along with 6 other astronauts.

I remember watching the wall to wall coverage that day. I think most Americans did the same. There was the typical speculation of the cause and the endless replays of the explosion. There was the view of the spectators as they looked on in disbelief and shock. I remember President Reagan addressing the nation that evening. His message was so sincere and heartfelt. It was a day I'll never forget. It was one of those days a person says, "I remember where I was when...".

I guess the only thing that surprises me is that it was 27 years ago.

The Challenger Crew

Disaster Strikes

Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery

Strikes, spares and a few gutterballs

We had a fun family outing today. Tami and I took the kids to the bowling alley to bowl a few games. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely, but I must admit there was a bit of sadness for me. I couldn't help but think this may have been our last outing with Michael. As I've mentioned before, it was difficult when Jessi left the house, but I guess it was bearable because there were still two kids at home. Now with Michael preparing to move out, it was clear this may have been our swan song with him. It's a strange thing to realize that time is marching on and waiting for no one.

On a related note, the bowling alley we went to was like taking a step back in time. This was a good, old fashioned bowling alley (not a modern, flashy, digital bowling-plex of the 21st century). The kind of bowling alley I remember from my childhood. It had the smell of stale cigarette smoke (yuck!). The decor was like something out of the 1960's. There was no electric scoring (remember when you had to keep score with pencil and a scoresheet?). There were no bells and whistles (no glow bowling, no bumper bowling, no flashing disco lights, no video games). There were just some old bowling lanes with beat up house bowling balls. There was a guy running the place who was somewhere between 85 and 90 years old (no joke). This old fellow was the only employee in the whole place (at least for a short time) and seemed to be enjoying the work. He worked at his own pace (slooooooow!) and all the customers seemed fine with this. I'm guessing most of the customers were regulars and knew what to expect from ol' Gramps. If you were looking for a fast-paced experience, you were in the wrong place. The place might be described as quaint (if a bowling alley can be quaint) and possessed a certain charm. This is the kind of place we love. Simple, inexpensive, slow paced, uncrowded, uncomplicated and a genuine blast from the past. Newer and bigger is not necessarily better.

The place looked a little like this:

And NOT like this:

Behold! The White Death Approaches!

The White Death. Snowmageddon. Snowpocalypse. Call it what you want. The snow is coming. Does that sound ominous? If you live in Cincinnati, that's how most people view the two inches of snow we are supposed to get today. People in northern climates scoff at 2 inches of snow. Cincinnatians go into panic mode. Two inches of snow is the lead news story in Cincinnati. In Cleveland it would get a cursory mention if anything at all. Two inches of snow in Cincinnati is enough to cause a rush at the grocery store and a blitz to buy snow shovels and salt at the hardware store. And don't even get me started on drivers... Two inches of snow is enough to cause Cincinnati drivers to lose their minds. You'd think they were driving through a mountain pass with a foot of snow. We're talking relatively flat roads that have been treated with salt. It's simple... slow down a little, leave some extra room between you and the car ahead of you, steer into a skid, drive defensively and smart. It's two inches of snow, not the end of the world.

Happy About 28

I'm pathetic and I admit it.

The temperature in the next few days will reach a high of 28... and I'm HAPPY about it. What? Why? Because we've had highs in the low teens and lows in single digits with sub-zero wind chills lately, that's why! It has been frigid lately and a warm up to 28 is welcomed. On an even more positive note, temperatures over the weekend and early next week are going to soar into the 40's and 50's. Oh happy day! Isn't that pathetic? All I have to worry about is how cold it is. Talk about the doldrums of winter! The only thing I have to talk about is the winter itself. There's no two ways about it... January and February stink!

This is exactly the reason my Mom and Cliff head to Florida in the winter.

And Mom, if you're reading this... THHHHHHHHPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFTTTTTT!!!!! (Raspberries to you!)

Empty Nest--- A Trial Run

As mentioned many times before, Michael is rarely home. He's as good as gone. Abby will be leaving tomorrow afternoon for her winter ski retreat with the church youth group. Tami and I will be giving the empty nest a trial run for the weekend. We will begin by spending a whole day with our #1 granddaughter. We are really looking forward to that.

And then there were three...

I've spent some time on this blog talking about Tami and I being in the pre-stages of the empty nest. Tonight at dinner it began to hit home. Dinner used to be a noisy affair. Mom, Dad and three kids. It was a real challenge to make sure only one person was talking at a time. When Jessi moved out, dinner was a little quieter, but not much. Michael and Abby picked up the slack just fine. These days Michael is never home for dinner and will be moving out in a matter of weeks. So Abby is now the only child at dinner with Tami and me. It's a strange thing to watch the family shrinking before my very eyes. I couldn't help but picture what things will be like in a couple of years when Abby is rarely home and getting ready to move out. It's almost comical to picture Tami and me sitting alone, staring across the table at one another and wondering where everyone (and the time) went. I joke about it now, but this is going to be a stark reality more quickly than I realize. I'm not much of a conversationalist, so I think the Meyer house is in for some quiet dinners in the future.

Will we look like this?

Or maybe like this?