Empty Nesting . . . sucks

(I am too tired to figure out why this image won't move up properly . . . i'm sorry for terrible formatting).

I'm going to be honest -- Day 10 of this (my kids being well adjusted enough to embark into the world, leave the nest, move far away) and I am kind of disgruntled about the whole thing. I feel a bit crazy lonely and Oscar is beside himself. I'm kind of wishing we lived in a Blue Zone -- you know the places that are rated as the healthiest, happiest, longest living. It is where people are close to their families, have tight ties to their communtiy, walk, and eat a really nice Mediterranean diet. Despite the chaos of my family over the years, I miss them . . . I miss the craziness, their voices, the energy that once filled this house. It is also no small thing that Oscar isn't happy. He has been my shadow and stalks me whenever I go into the garage and open a car door. Yesteday we went to Lansing to pick up some art pieces. I was then cosmically drawn to a dearlership where he walked with me amongst rows of cars, searching for the perfect fit. He was committed.

Today, as I was leaving to celebrate my friends, Allison and Dan, at the grand opening of Dune, their store in Saugatuck (fulfilling a dream that Al has had for the past 20 years). She is finally putting out into the world, with so much talent and support from her husband Dan, a finely curated assembly of antiques and locally made goods that only she could put together, quietly, since she moved back to Michigan from California.

Getting back to Oscar, as I was trying to leave when he did the stealthiest move I've seen -- maybe ever -- (with a dog I raised). He jumped into the back of my car as the door was shutting. He was in and the door shut. I opened the door and he dove over from the back to the second row, getting momentarily stuck and then willing himself to the other side. There was no going back. God I love that dog. He's twelve and has major health issues, a slew of drugs in his medicine cabinet . . . and then BOOM!

I'm home again and an ire has come back to me. My body aches and I feel strange in my own house. Oscar and I put signs up to remind me that for the first time in awhile, with everyone gone, I put the alarm on. And then DWAYNE calls me at 8 something in the morning and wakes me up! it was actually nice to get the call, see him, troubleshoot, hear about his grandbaby girl and try not to sulk about my new situation. Time feels like it might move slowly. Poor Curt is going to get a lot of calls.