Time is running out....

I feel like the days are rushing by at an amazing rate.  So much happening at once.  The house selling, the home buying, the packing, moving, tossing, deciding and the leaving.  It isn't so easy to leave this time.  Mostly when we move and as I have said before we have done this many times, I feel little tugging, it's time to move on, to change and it's exciting.  It's all these things this time also, but I don't know, maybe it's my age, hey am I mellowing oh I hope not, well not too much anyway.  It's kinda sad this time, so much has happened here in the last 4 and a bit years.  Firstly my dad passed away just before we built this house, we used a substantial amount of my inheritance to build this home and I guess maybe I am feeling a little tug on my heart strings.  Then Alicia our eldest was engaged and married while living here.  She left this home on the morning of her wedding and became Paul's wife.  Until that day she'd been our princess, the first born, and I can remember coming home after her wedding and thinking, she's gone, things will never be the same again.  Now she is Paul's princess too. Then Ashleigh and Danielle left to travel overseas and I can remember the tears that brought me.  The finality of that event, I knew things would change forever.  It took about 3 months for me to get used to the girls not being here, to stop missing the chats, the hugs, the I love you's as they leave for work or go to bed.

But I, we did get used to it and Adrian and I started a new chapter in our lives, the empty nesters as they are called.  And we enjoyed it, we loved cooking together, talking, walking, getting to know each other as Kim and Adrian again and not just the girls parents.  We decided around then that we wanted to travel too, so we booked a trip to Europe and England in May and then I begged Adrian to take me to England at Christmas to visit the girls.  Then Alicia announced her pregnancy and oh boy were we excited.  Grandparents, we were going to be grandparents how wonderful, we truly couldn't wait.  Adrian made a toybox, a big white, beautiful toybox, with stars and moons on it and handpainted just for his grandson Lucas.  Alicia and Paul told us they were having a little boy and we were over the moon.  Finally Adrian had a little boy to take under his wing.  Paul is just a little too large for that, even though Ade would love that too.  We were a little nervous about not being here for Lucas's birth, but we would be back 3 weeks later and it was too late to cancel by then.  Of course the tragedy struck before then and both the girls and us were home earlier than expected.  So we were in this house for the terrible phone call to tell us they had taken Lucas off the transplant list.  We were here when we came home destroyed by the taking of this little baby we barely knew and we have lived here as we have grieved and sobbed and talked and hugged and wished and prayed it never happened. 

We have been here for the healing and the growing that has taken place too.  The girls and I have laughed and cooked together.  Adrian and I have loved and laughed with them.  We have had cocktail nights and homemade pasta nights.  We have had CSI marathons and Gossip girl nights. 

We were given the wonderful news that Paul and Alicia are expecting again on Christmas Day 2009 in this house.  So no wonder it is a little hard to leave.  So I took a walk around the garden we have planted together and I'm giving you a little look at the beauty in my life, in this house.

I know that the next home will have wonderful memories attached to it too.  We will celebrate Christmas this year around the pool, together with a new baby.  We will plant a new garden, acres of it, and we will renovate and change this home to suit us.  Ashleigh and Danielle are moving out in June/July when we return from France.  So much will happen in this new home too.  So while I am a little melancholy right now, I will be happy too and life will go on and on.

Oh and just so you know that I don't just roam around the yardtaking, whimsical photos of plants, I hung this washing out, all or it.  I ironed it too, the bane of my life I must say, oh for an ironing lady, seriously.  It's a bit of a novelty to actually hang washing out on this line at the moment.  We have had a lot of construction going on over the back fence and the dust has made it better to use the dryer.  But look at the sky the blue, blue sky I just had to hang it out didn't I?