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Empty Nest

Anyone with children knows the day will come when you face the proverbial "empty nest". Your kids will be grown and living on their own.

When they're little, you can't even begin to imagine what an empty nest is like, because it's years in the future. Anyway, you're too busy taking care of your little ones to even think about what's for dinner, much less what it's going to be like in 15-18 years.

I have three grown sons with less than four years between the oldest and the youngest. My hubby has had a very intense and demanding career path since we married. I wanted and chose to be a stay-at-home mom and have never regretted it for even one second. Now, that doesn't mean it was all fun and joyful all the time. It wasn't!! It was damn hard. Especially when my hubby was working 100 hour weeks or traveling for business.

But we managed to make it through those very demanding years. And managed to have fun too!

When the boys reached their teen years, I began to see that the time for them to leave home was fast approaching. It didn't make me sad, but rather excited. Excited for them to be taking that first step to independence and excited for my hubby and I, because.....well, because it meant time for us as a couple again. And everything that goes with that.

Not all parents see it this way though. My sister, for example, started crying the September of her eldest child's high school senior year. And when they brought her to college 5 hours away, it was like their whole family was attending a funeral, with their daughter crying after them as the car pulled away from the curb leaving her at her new college. They repeated this process two more times with their two younger children. Same thing happened. Only their second daughter, grabbed my sister and cried "Mommy, don't leave me here!" and of course, my sister just broke down. I know, I know, those are extreme scenarios, but I have friends with similar stories.

Our experience was quite different, I am happy to say. The September of my youngest's high school senior year, I started doing the happy dance 'cuz I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

See, I never cried when my boys went to kindergarten, even when it was the baby's turn. All of my friends (and of course, my sister), had cried when they sent their babies off to kindergarten. I thought I was a bad mom. My boys couldn't get there fast enough as far as they were concerned and I was excited for them. In fact, while some children were crying and clinging to their tearful moms, I had to pull mine back by the straps of their backpacks just to get a quick kiss before they slipped into the door of their new classroom. As I was leaving and looking at all the red eyes and clinging children, I was relieved to not be experiencing that. And happy my children weren't either.

Bringing them to college wasn't much different. We live in New York State and my oldest decided to go to school in Colorado. I took two days to drive him there and my hubby flew out to help move him in. The mom of his roommate was there folding her son's clothes, organizing his sock drawer, setting up his desk, making his bed. You get the picture. And they only lived a couple of hours away.

My son wouldn't even let me unpack a box. Every time I started to do something, I'd hear "Mom, leave that there. I'll take care of it." And with such a tiny dorm room, it was too small for 4 parents and 2 kids, so I stepped into the hall and sat down while the other mom went on fussing over her kid. Then we said our goodbyes, gave hugs, kisses, more hugs, more kisses and left. I had tears in my eyes and my hubby thought it was because I was sad leaving. But I was just really hurt that our kid wouldn't let me do the "mom" thing to help him get settled.

Of course, there was a tug at my heart leaving him so far from home, but I was more excited for him and his new adventure than sad for me.

We repeated this process with our middle son and went through the same experience. He wouldn't let me help settle him in either. By the third one, I didn't even try.

We give our kids wings, so we shouldn't be surprised when they want to fly.

At the moment we have an empty nest. My oldest is now on his own, and the other two have one year of college to finish. But guess what?! They'll be back home in the spring as college graduates, looking for jobs and of course, they won't be able to afford their own places right away. And you know what that means. No more empty nest!

So for now, my hubby and I are really enjoying having the whole house to ourselves, eating dinner whenever, and not worrying about who is where and what time they will be home. Not getting up weekend mornings and checking bedrooms to make sure everyone made it home OK. It's like we're on a honeymoon!

We love it when our boys are home and we love it when they leave. It's the best of both worlds!! This is how we choose to experience what is sad for many and even traumatic for some.

We're excited for our boys because they are excited about their journey to independence. An independence we instilled in them along with an adventurous spirt, from Day 1.

Bangles!

This is a new twist on my wire crochet cuffs---no clasp! They're bangles. Yea! They just slip on over and sit lower on your hand than my more snug fitting cuffs.

The beads I used on several of these are more like large chips. Kind of like small nuggets, giving the cuffs more weight that feels so luxurious on your wrist. They absolutely shimmer in the light. And very dramatic. These are not for the faint of heart!

And what fun they are to make. Using different beads with different wires creates completely different and unique looks.

You can see them in more detail here.

Back in Black

I tried something new with this cuff. Instead of my signature clasps, I used a button and buttonhole and really like the result. And as always, with my limited photography skills, I was unable to capture the real sparkle of this cuff. It looks great on. You can see more photos in my Etsy shop.

The Golden Rose

Elegance and sophistication are the words that come to mind when describing this cuff. I used a shiny goldtone wire with small goldtone seed beads crocheted in. My signature clasp, a reclaimed brooch, is securely attached to one end of the cuff with a lobster claw clasp hooking into a loop made with the stem of the rose. This cuff is worn with the rose clasp off to one side. Pure elegance and sophistication. You can see more details in my Etsy shop.

Butterflies

Look what I found on the threshhold of my front door one morning. It was sheer luck that the doggies didn't step on it when I let them out.

So to prevent its premature death by being trampled on, I gently moved it to the flower bed and set it down to take another photograph.

Later when I went to check, it was gone.

I have no idea what kind of butterlfy it is, but if anyone reading this post knows, please tell me.

Blue Belle

We're all moved in, my gift shop is up and going, summer is here and this is my first new cuff in six months!

It feels so good to be back making my jewelry. I've had a very stressful 8 months of demolition, remodeling, moving, and starting a new business Through it all, what a challenge to also maintain an everyday life. There was absolutely no time for my art and passion.

So it is with immense pleasure and joy that I introduce my first cuff for 2009---Blue Belle.

Again, I was trying to use up leftover supplies before spending the money to purchase more. I only had a little bit of light blue wire left and quite a bit of shiny dark blue wire. So I simply picked up the wire, my crochet hook and started working. Like all of my cuffs, I have a very vague vision of the final product. It's much more fun and creative for me to let them evolve. My best work comes from that process.

When I finish the base of the cuff, that is when I decide what embellishments I want to add and I just happened to have these cute beaded flowers that were in different shades of blue.

Perfect for Blue Belle!

You can see Blue Belle in my Etsy shop where I plan to start selling my wire crochet cuffs again.

I'm taking Albina Rose out of hiatus and back into business.

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to share any thoughts with me. I love hearing from you all!