The Musings of a Latte Queen: Narratives of Everyday Life

 When was the last time you just wandered?  Let the road take you and your spirit guide you? My husband and I did that this past Sunday. We live in the Northeast and as still newbies up here, have places yet to discover.   So we got up early on Sunday morning, got ready, even skipping. my usual coffee-making-routine, and hit the highway while it was still dawning. The birds were chirping, the trees were swaying their hello, and best of all, it was mostly still. After making it down to the New York boarder and pretty much through what would normally be the snared traffic over the George Washington Bridge, we turned right to Long Island instead of left to Manhattan, and let the adventure begin. So unlike my husband, we didn't really have a destination, just said, where do you want to eat breakfast? We put in a spot in Glen Cove, and when we got there, my husband went inside and said, "nah." So we did my thing and put in a coffee shop and found the most delightful one called...

 I'm adding a new title to my name, The Empty Nester. My husband just finished up an epic whirlwind trip down south to get our daughters settled into their futures. The older one is a rising junior at Thee Jackson State University. We spent about three full days driving around finding her bed and items for her shared apartment. Move-in was Friday. We zipped down to New Orleans to get our youngest settled into her dorm at Xavier University of New Orleans. Another non-stop few days. She moved in on Saturday. When my husband and I sat down on the plane on Monday, we looked at each other. This is it, we are not raising kids anymore. Now, we know and they know that we are not finished with them. They will be home for Christmas and still line items on our budgets.  But it is new. Their day-to-day is not our's to plan or manage or keep track of. This is when we pray that all we instilled in them has prepared them for this new world. I spent thirty-five straight years with every wakin...