Labor Day Weekend

For years and years, our wonderful friends,

the Smiths and the Edmunds,

drove from far and wide to our house for

Labor Day Weekend!

Ever since the kiddies were little,

we crammed as much fun as we could into three days

Toasting marshmallows, fishing...

Our endless Bocci Tournament ( a type of lawn bowling)  that Hubby and I never won!

Always a trip to the Farmer's Market to pick up

corn-on-the-cob and watermelon.

The Edmunds have three daughters, and the Smiths have two.

Our son Mark was always the only boy.

As they grew...he continued to be the

only rooster in the hen house.

The hens adored him and he adored the hens!

Our Labor Day Extravaganza was our way of eking

out the last bit of summer fun.

We LOVED it!

Now the kids are grown, and this year

I felt lucky to have my own two home after their first week of college.

Instead of summer fun,

I was buried in the basement trying to transform this futon:

The Rooster did not want any more pink in his life.

This futon came from Lindsay's adorable dorm room her freshman year.

I am an avid seamstress and sewed professional window treatments, bedding and pillows

for twenty years.

I made those cute little loft bed skirts for the girls.

Mark and his roomie lofted their beds last week, and my son begged me to

re-cover the futon.

So, Sunday morning, I was at the fabric store picking out BOY fabric

then sewed together this:

After our traditional Barbecued Ribs dinner that I managed to grill up while sewing...

(I was a harried wreck all weekend!)

I helped load the futon into the van.

On Monday, I drove Mark the hour and a half

back to school in the rain...

all the while thinking of hauling that heavy thing through the downpour.

Luckily, the rain stopped when we arrived.

I struggled to help him drag it out of the car and dreaded heaving it up to the third floor.

"Mom, I'll carry it," he said...and

HE DID!!!

So nice to have a nice, strong lad!

Here's the result:

No pink dust ruffles for them.

I think their room looks very MALE.

(Nobody would ever know about the pink that lurks beneath the blue!)

Especially guyish with my son clutching the video game thingy.

I left feeling happy and relieved.

HE LOVES COLLEGE!

I knew he would.

As I drove home in the rain I was thinking...

I have nine months before I have to drag it all home again.