Granddaughter's Upcoming Quinceanera

I have a granddaughter who will be having a quince in about a year and 4 months.  Right now, believe it or not, is the time to start planning.  First of all, at this stage of the game,  it's too early to pick out a dress, because of course, you want it to fit....but you CAN start planning on colors, themes, start a notebook with ideas of how many people you will be inviting,  writing down their names so you can get a head count on how big of a place you will need to rent for the upcoming event. Most event locations like to have a year notice, especially if it's a place that gets booked up quickly. Plan on calling around places in your area, remembering that you need to be able to have the quinceanera in a location that's not too far from your home area so that your daughter's friends will all be able to attend. Once you get your notebook started, keep track of how much the event locations are charging, write it all down, even how much the deposit is. If you and your daughter can come up with a theme for the quince, you can start looking around for decorations on sale. I suppose I will once again start getting ready to help, especially since I went through one just nearly 3 years ago with my own daughter (the youngest).

Boot Camp Coming Up Quickly

Time is creeping quickly by, and my darling daughter is embracing the shorter days until it's time for boot camp. What is there to love about boot camp? The yelling, being told what to do? Perhaps it's just only the beginning to a new life for her, the learning of how to work well in a team of others and discipline.  Oh, discipline, there's something that she knows about. Her growing up years have been about being frugal, how to save money, but also getting the things that she wants in life even when it's a want, and not especially a need. Boot camp experience will teach her things that she wants to learn. In fact, she's very eager to learn more. She wrote a paper for a school project that she gave to me to read....I teared up just reading how she felt that she had experienced  a great 4-years of high school and that she wanted to make a difference in her life by helping others and that is why she chose to be a hospital corpsman in the Navy. My little lady has grown up so much. I just can't express to you how very proud of her I am. I will be going to see her graduate from boot camp when it's over, and I just know the tears will be flowing. I am a very proud mother.

A Teenager Growing Up

Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that I brought her home from the hospital. Tiny and petite, sweet and loving. My daughter used to be extremely shy for a long time, until the last two years in high school. I don't know if her having a horse and jumping in competitions helped, or it was the fact that her brothers and sisters got her out of her shell of quietness, but she's not quiet and shy anymore. High school is done, and I might add, senior year seemed to be the  best year of them all.  Quicker than lightning, and soon she will be 18, actually next month.  My baby will be an adult.
 I don't know if it's the fact that she's the baby, having already raised 4 before her, or  if it's the fact that she will soon go into the Navy, and will be out seeing the world,  but I feel like time has flown. I am not sure how I am going to deal with an "empty nest." Most of my friends have already experienced that empty nest years before me, and in fact, my oldest grandchild IS already 18. Sounds wierd, I know, but very true. Very soon, boot camp will begin, and my darling daughter will spread her wings and experience the world..... I will soon be able to say that I am a proud mother of a sailor in the Navy.