I am no longer an empty-nester! I have no idea how long this will last but Zach has moved home. After returning to school from Winter Break he started questioning everything that he was doing and why. He made the final decision to withdraw from MSU and return home to figure things out. I have to say that last week was a bit rough for all of us. I learned what I think is a very valuable lesson: I can guide my children and I can give them my opinion but I can not decide what they are going to do. I pretty much believe that I was the one that decided that Zach was going to go to college once he graduated high school. I didn't hold his hand through the process I did the process for him. That time of our life is over. Zach needs to figure out his path, his goals and ultimately how he is going to live his life. I can fill his head with hundred's of ideas but he is in the driver's seat from now on. He has already said that he might regret this decision but since he decided he can only move forward. College is always an option again, MSU is always an option again. I have to say that academically Zach did a fantastic job his 1st semester. His primary focus now needs to be on what he wants to do, where he sees his life and to get a job! Right now he just needs to get a job!
Sarah is staying in Germany until July 2nd. I would not say that it was touch or go because I don't think it would have crossed her mind to quit. I can say that the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were rough for her. She battled homesickness, winter blahs and certainly questioned why she had given up the comforts of home to be someplace that is often uncomfortable. Thankfully Rotary meetings prior to her leaving dealt with the roller coaster of emotions that almost all exchange students will face. She said "bring it on" and got through the rough patch. Hard to be unhappy when you are in Salzburg on the Sound of Music Tour! Other then her computer breaking this week I believe that Sarah is very happy with where she is and what she is doing. It was hard to hear that her computer had broken and that I could not do a thing about it. Had she been here I would have brought it to the "computer fixer guy". I hope her host family can help her with that.
My New Year's resolutions are cliche: loose weight and exercise more. Probably won't be writing about the Life of an Empty-Nester until it happens again. ta-ta for now.
