I've come to a conclusion. Going to college and leaving home for college are two totally separate things. The big question people are asking me these days is "So are you excited?!" Excited for...a new city with thousands upon thousands of new people to meet? Yes! To not be able to yell good-night down the stairs before bed anymore? No. Excited for the amazing school spirit and atmosphere of a Big 10 school? Who wouldn't be?! To not cram into the undersized student section of bleachers at Lakeland High to cheer our T-Birds to victory on a Friday night? Its one of the things I'll miss the most. I can't wait to decorate my dorm, let my roomie and hall-mates know what they got themselves into by having me in such close quarters (I tend to dance obnoxiously, sing loud, scare and scream easy, snore, and do an annoying throat-clearing noise when I get allergies), and tackle the not-so-lovely task of studying. Not just studying for my classes, actually figuring out how to study. (Yes, that might just be an early SOS.) But I can't bear not being able to just "meet at the high school" on a Saturday night to "find something to do" and eventually end up driving the famous "Minocqua 500" a dozen times, listening to music, and crashing at the nearest friend's house after stuffing our faces with pretzels and Nutella. I hope homesickness doesn't hit me hard but...dumb parents, they made way too great a life for me here in Minocqua, I don't want to leave them! (At least I'm not leaving for Ohio Buckeye territory...my naive sophomore mind was even worse at geography and distances than it is now. A week ago I thought Duluth and Minneapolis were 7 hours apart. So yeah, even now I'm real good at that.) So back to the question: Am I excited? For college life? Oh my gosh you have no idea! To leave the only town I've ever known and not be a maximum-10-minute-drive from all the people I've grown up with? Absolutely not. Luckily, the leaving part is quick, I mean, you can really only "leave for school" once, right? Well that's a relief, because I hear this whole "college" thing is really quite a blast.

2 weeks before drop off....

Ok, so we are about 2 weeks out before having to move Kayla to her dorm room.  We were supposed to move her in on Tuesday, August 31, but, because of my work schedule, we are moving her in the next day.  I know it's a little disappointing to her because her roommate will be moving in on Tuesday.  But, I am glad to have Kayla home for one more day.

So, it's funny when I think back to when I went to college in 1986.  First off, I chose my college based on my need to be "in-state" yet to move as far away from home as possible.  Luckily for me, I lived in the Upper Peninsula (the U.P.) of Michigan and I chose to go to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; an 11-hour drive from my home.  I couldn't wait to move out.  In fact, I didn't even have my parents move me to college.  My high school boyfriend drove, and we brought a couple of friends along for the 11 hour trip in a pick-up truck with me and my friend Julie actually riding in the bed of the truck.  I don't know if it was legal then, but, nobody questioned it, or cared.  I don't think my parents even noticed that we weren't in an actual seat, and that we just hopped in the back of the pick-up truck and drove away.  I have no memory of being sad.

I loved my parents, family, home, etc.  It wasn't that I wanted to move out because of a terrible situation, it was more that I was anxious to begin my own life.  I was so secure in myself and self-confident that I wasn't sad to leave, I was excited to leave.

Anyhow, now I've come full circle and then some.  I am now the parent that wants to drive her daughter to college, wants to help her buy stuff, unpack, set-up the dorm, meet her roommate and BE THERE!  But one thing remains, I am not sad.  I am excited!  I can't wait to hear about her new friends, new experiences, and new life.  I am not sad....at least not today, 2 weeks out...