Early morning start

It was only 5.15am when he shook me awake. I had insisted that he say goodbye before he went, I wanted to be awake when he left. It isn't that I am worried, I believe they will be safe and have a brilliant time. He will return with lots of tales to tell. It isn't that it would be the first time he has gone away. He has been going away without his mum for the last 10 years, first on tours with his football club then later with his band. But this time it is different, he will be in USA for 28 days just him and 2 mates. Although I have seen photos of them and their names have been mentioned many times over recent years I don't actually know either of them . When he returns he will only be here for a week before hes off again on his next big adventure. This time it will be 3 years of University. I know he will only be about 12 miles away but he won't be living at home, he will be back for visits but I don't expect them to be either frequent or long. So apart from that one week in September I feel that my blue eyed boy has left home. He has suddenly grown up, by Christmas I expect he will have changed a great deal.

Today I am not at work, I was supposed to be having a day out with Plumber, but at 7am this morning he told me that he can't make it. So I have spent my morning tracking the status of DC's flight to San Francisco, they became airborn at 11.44 not bad for an 11.30am flight. I have also been studying their very detailed schedule for the next 28 days. among other places they will be visiting San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon, Denver, Hot Springs, Chicago and Niagara Falls finally ending their trip in New York City. He has promised me that they won't do anything silly that will get them into trouble during their trip. This is where they will be staying for the next few nights.

I have had a couple of dates in the last few days which I will tell you about shortly. I was going to write about them now but I have to go out on family errands.

Best experience ever

I was at work when I got the text mid morning

How will I get home?

This was the start of a flurry of calls and texts.

It was 12.40 when he told me he had arrived back where he had started from. I told him I would be there around 1pm

I arranged with my colleagues that for a change I would be going out at lunch time and taking at least an hour instead of my normal 1/2 hour at my desk.

When I arrived after driving through sleet to get there he complained bitterly that I had parked in a puddle.

As I drove he told me all about his last few days. Building a sculpture out of snow to represent something that the whole group felt would represent what they wanted out of this week. They made a flight of steps to represent steps to success.

He told me about being sea sick as they rowed canoes down a very cold river.

He told me that he made an omelette for the first time in his life and they didn't use milk.

He told me about the rock climbing, high wires and other things they did.

In short my quiet, shy boy talked all the way home. He told me that he feels more confident, they had learnt how to get over his lack of confidence. He told me that he could see the difference in others as the week progressed.

When I arrived home I watched him walk towards our house with a slight swagger as he carried his bags and his sleeping bag before I turned my car around and drove back to work.

When I got home he was on the pc chatting. Apparently he has put a message after his name on MSN that he has just had the best exerience of his life

For me that says it all. I am glad he has had a good time even though his mother was worried about him in the blizzards doing all these outside activities.

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