Saturday, August 31, 2013

Empty Nest Year 3: Getting the Hang of It

L.'s third year at UT began with move-in weekend over the 24th.  Our experience with this has been different every year.

The first year we paid extra and moved in the night before the rush.  The second year L. drove down with out us and moved himself in.  This year his 'stuff' was stored miles from campus and he was moving into a new high rise.

I failed to mention he was on campus the whole summer for classes and a lab internship so the answer to the question, "Are you headed for Austin?" was "You bet!"

800 students were moving into one building on Saturday.  It was controlled chaos, well done, but chaos none-the-less.  We were in the unloading zone at our appointed hour, braved the waves of back-to-school shoppers at Target and Walmart and had L. set up and settled by the end of a long day.


Dorm living has changed.  The past two years L. was in a private dorm that looked exactly like a dorm room. This new set up is more like an apartment. The only thing lacking is a cook top and oven.

A kitchen/living room area shared by two bedrooms that hold two students each with a double sink, shower and stool.

Every visit is celebrated with good food and venues that are pure Austin; high energy, unique and Austin Weird.  You gotta love it.  L. does and so do we but it doesn't make saying good-bye any easier.  This third year is set to be full and exciting and speeding him towards plans post-graduation.  Where does the time go??

D. and I are as settled into our empty nest as L. is into Austin.  We are finding our way with new interests and looking toward our future. The journey, to date, has not always been easy but we have each experienced positive, personal and family growth.

And so we say, "Cheers!" to all new and returning students and the adults that make the college experience possible.

Google Image:
dearkidlovemom.com

3 comments:

  1. Late last month we moved our granddaughter into her dorm at Mizzou. It was a hot day and as you described your experience "controlled chaos." It was a bittersweet experience for us. She cried. We cried. Now we're making the adjustments. Our grandson also started high school, so although we don't have an empty nest, we are experiencing a lot of changes--but happy ones for sure.

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  2. I've heard how awesome the new dorms are these days...makes me wonder what things will be like for my kids in a few years. I talked to lots of sad moms this weekend, saying goodbye for the first time.

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  3. You are right...dorm room have really changed....these kids just don't know how it was when we went to school....Girls couldn't wear pants on campus...can you believe that with what they wear now?

    So glad you got him settled in. I am sure you will find lots of good stuff to take up your time....

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