Send-off and Move-In

Yesterday was Lauren's "final" night at home. To celebrate her heading to UNC, we treated her to dinner at a restaurant of her choice. She picked "Iris" at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

It was a meaningful time of appetizers, entrees, lattes and dessert. Then we headed home and packed the truck, got ready for bed and slipped into Jammies and piled into our bed and talked and laughed and anticipated move-in day. We stayed up to almost midnight.

She did not know it, but she "filled-up" my Lauren bucket much. Her heart was in a place that wanted to be close to Mommy and Danny and home and the safety she is so accustomed to. Maybe she was trying to fill up her Mommy bucket too.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and although we planned to leave for UNC at 7:30, I could not fall back asleep. I tossed and turned and prayed (begged) God to protect my daughter as she begins her journey of college life. The struggle of letting go was more difficult than I had expected. I am still her mother, but she does not (or should she) need her Mommy anymore.

So little prepares you for parenthood and so little prepares you for the end of it. It is never what it seems until you experience it.

Finally it was time to head out and she sleepily came down the stairs. She said good-bye to the Bitty and BamBam. Danny had a great idea last night and snuck out and got glass paint and we decorated the truck in her honor. She thought this was quite funny and I loved the enthusiasm my husband brings to every aspect of life. We would enjoy the smiles and looks we got through out the day while in the truck through out Raleigh/Chapel Hill.

The weather was nice and sunny as we arrived in Chapel Hill by 8:15 (after a Starbucks stop). We drove around and found her dorm. We hit the Panera Bread for breakfast 'cause check-in time wasn't 'til 9.

Moving in was extremely organized and convenient. Lauren is on the 2nd floor of a co-ed dorm. She is in a suite with 8 girls. They share 1 bathroom with 2 sinks, 1 shower and 1 toilet! (YIKES!) But they have housekeeping cleaning the bathrooms everyday during the week (NICE!). Turns out no one from her suite is from NC. There are girls from Texas, San Diego, and Seattle! Her roomate Megan lives in Hickory, NC (3 hrs away), but has only been there for 3 years and is really from Maine.

Megan is a sweet, tall, bright red head. She is friendly but not an overly dominant personality. Think Sue Scudder for a close reference :) Megan's parents seem nice and we (including Lauren) think it will be a great living situation.

The best news of all is her dorm has AIR CONDITIONING! Thank God. Seriously. Not all the rooms have units and it was sort of "hit or miss." The rooms have plenty of space and she has a nice window view of trees, etc. Her dorm is close to the baseball and football stadiums, which will be convenient now that she is an avid Tarheel. We also noticed that the mattresses are all covered in a plastic casing. This means: NO BED BUGS!

Unpacking and organizing stuff took very little time. We were surprised at how much space she did NOT use up. Other than the bathroom situation, her "home" is quite nice and she should be very comfortable there.

We hit the bookstore to pick up her books, printer, and yes, got sucked into the AWESOMENESS of all that Carolina blue STUFF. You name it, and they've got it.

We had hoped to hit the Lime and Basil, a Vietnamese place for lunch but they were closed. Boo. But smart, Franklin Street (the main/cool strip with all the shops and food) was crazy. After settling for Jimmy John's we headed over to Sugarland -- a bakery that had gelato! We first learned about Sugarland when watching it being featured on Food Network! Too cool! It was YUM-eeeeee.

By now it was almost 2:30 and we had done what we had come to do: drop off Lauren. It was time to say good-bye. Back in her dorm room, she laughed and almost seriously begged, "Don't leeeeeeeave meeeeeeeee!" I think if we had offered to stay another couple of hours she would have been grateful. But she was fine. She was moved-in and already texting all her friends about meeting up for dinner.

I was grateful she did not want us to go. Before we left, Lauren, Danny, and I held hands in a circle as Danny prayed over her and us. There were hugs and kisses and "I love you's" and smiles and a little bit of tears, but mostly smiles. It was a sweet time. It was a wonderful blessed day. We had so much fun together and there was so much love. How could I have asked for the chapter of parenthood to end any better?

And tomorrow? Lauren forgot a bag at home. Turns out she also needs couple of other items for her dorm. Danny and I are going to drop them off for her after church. Hmmmm, maybe she still needs Mommy for a little while longer.