>College hunting, that is.

So Booboo and I just got home, late last night, from a whirlwind college scouting trip to Providence College.

We are exhausted. But it was a good trip, just me and my boy and we had fun. We gathered a bunch of info to start building that college search base: which ones did he like, which ones will fit best? Seeing them in person, it all gets a lot more real, real quick: easier to visualize, easier to make choices, put together pieces of the puzzle that is choosing a college.

I love the town of Providence! He liked it too, it’s a fun place. {Although he pointed out, it’s much faster, more intense up here. I laughed and said, yup.} It makes me want to go back to college and stay there: PC, Brown, RISD (oh, if only I had the talent to get in there, I never would have wanted to leave!). Great fun. We had good food and two long days.

But it was time out of time for me, and for him.

These college hunt trips are so special and with a faint tinge of bittersweet around the edges for me. It gets very real, very fast. These are waning days with my son at home. And we both know it. And it’s thrilling and daunting for both of us.

So we sit out in the sun, having an easy yummy lunch before we head back to the airport for the long trip home (and boy, was it a loongg trip home: Philly airport connection, ’nuff said!). And we talk, and we laugh, and I listen to him and look deeply at this young man beside me, handsome and funny, goofy and bright, full of ideas and dreams. And I close my eyes for a minute and lift my face to the sun and breathe deep. Life is so good and we are so blessed with this special son; now and as he ventures forth into his new adventures, all too soon.
So, yeah, we are both tired from our trip. But it was worth all the delays and travel crazies. One down (well, two officially), some more to go as we carve out the time. Now we have some good info for the journey. His big journey, coming down the pike.