The Path

Ahh, it was so nice to have Kayla home for the weekend.  I am still caught by surprise by the lovely young woman Kayla has become.  It still is a bit strange to me that she is no longer a kid or a teenager that needs routine parental supervision.  She's taking care of herself, doing what she needs to do, and she's on the path to making a successful life for herself. 

She has always had a clear goal of wanting to be a teacher, and she has not waivered in that goal.  Now, she's in college to be a Spanish teacher, and after being there for just a couple of weeks, she is looking at this goal very clearly, and making sure she is on the right path to achieve it.  Right now, big questions loom, "is this the right college for this degree...would it be better for me to be at a different college and finish in 4 years and then work on my Masters while teaching?"  All good questions, and amazing that someone so young is so focused and clear in her vision. 

I'm glad she's thinking of these things and moving in the right direction.  But, I don't want her to worry too much about the future.  Like I told her, if she takes care of doing what she needs to do each day, the future will take care of itself.  Looking at the big picture is sometimes too overwhelming.  Just take it day by day, step by step, Kayla, and you will end up exactly where you are meant to be.

A Visit to Home

First visit back to my pretty little village this weekend! I know, I know, 18 days doesn't SEEM like a long time to be away but it is when you're used to being there every single day! I enjoyed some good old-fashioned Northwoods fish fry with the parents, a relaxing evening of watching "Sophie's Choice" with Mom (which by the way...is not a happy movie! Prepare to be traumatized by her "choice!"), grocery shopping at Trig's, baking a homemade apple pie, walking along the Bearskin Trail while the leaves are starting to turn, tons of delicious food prepared by the world's best cook (yes that's you Mom), cheering on the fabulous Pack for another victory for a 2-0 record thus far, and of course, sleeping in my wonderful bed that I do not have to climb up to :). Oh yeah, I saw those siblings who I dearly missed as well, but not much has changed (meaning the words "Tyler! Stop!" were still present in the house.) I drove a car instead of walking to where I needed to go, took a shower in a tub, not a stall, and kicked back on our big comfy couch, not a little futon.

And what a nice weekend it was, but I realized a few things. Home is comforting, familiar, relaxing, and gives you the sense that life will eventually work itself out from the unsurity and "overwhelmingness" that is college. College, on the other hand, is independent, exciting, inquisitive, and new. I love my family more than anything but they can't come to college with me! That would be some sad plot to a movie where the kid is too homesick and makes her parents live in the dorm with her...come on. Minocqua is my home, and who knows, eventually maybe it will be my kids' someday as well! But right now, I'm here, in one of the biggest metro areas in the nation, home to the country's largest Mall, (and worst football team...sorry Minnesotans!), and I am having an experience I will remember forever. And you know what else? I really don't miss unloading the dishwasher :)