It has been five years since they moved in. Yeh, hard to believe. Hard to believe for all of us. Just when it looked like they'd be living here for at least another two years, Todd got a raise. And Amy started looking for a house. This has been quite a relief to Bill. He's been having the hardest time coping with them living here for some months now. It's been the noise level of the kids that's been the main sticky point for him. It will be a relief for them, too. They will finally have a house to do what they want to it, to place things all over where they want it, and to let the kids do and be whatever they want. This will be a much needed change for everyone.

I think the biggest relief will be getting my kitchen back. And also for Amy, getting her own kitchen. There have been too many times that our dinner plans have crossed over each other. I've mainly given way to them cooking first because they've got two kids that are hungry and can't wait. Bill and I just go out to eat a lot of the time. It will be interesting to see if our eating out goes down or not once they're gone. I've not been wanting to cook as much in my old age. I think, and hope, that is changing. My body has been wanting more vegetarian meals. Even before I knew I had cancer, my taste for beef and chicken had lessened.

What I will miss is the morning routine of sitting with Amy, Addilyn, and Elyse while they are eating breakfast. Sometimes, I'll eat some, too, but I'm not usually that hungry yet at 8:30 a.m. It's fun to make Elyse smile and I enjoy talking with Addilyn. After Amy lets Elyse out of her high chair, she runs over to me and hugs up against my hips. Then she'll start her endless trekking to find things to bring to me and share. She's a character. Like her sister was in her own ways at that age.

For Bill, what he's looking forward to is getting control back of his basement and workbench, and being able to find all his tools again. The basement is where the Muckheads had to store all the household items they couldn't use while living here. Oh, and Bill will be glad to see all the plastic disappear from the yard. He's had this running joke about being overrun with plastic--mainly all the plastic toys one seems to need to raise kids.

One interesting development of all this is that we are inheriting their cat for now. Good ole Butterball, son of Kaboodle, orange and white wonder. The reason behind this is so that Kip's girlfriend, Emily, can have a cat-free environment when she comes down with Kip for a visit. She has a severe allergy to cats. When she was here the time before last, she stayed in our house too long and her asthma kicked in pretty bad. She ended up having to go to the urgent care up in Columbus when she got back. Amy wants to make it easier on the gal to come for a visit so Butterball will stay here with us until we move out. Kip and Emily have decided that they would like to move to this area after she graduates. But it would all depend on if she could get a teaching job somewhere down here. I like the prospect of them moving here. Amy and Kip have always been very close and they have missed each other. And now that he's got a girlfriend that fits right in all is more desirable for them to be closer to us.

Ah, like winter changing into spring, life always has a way of changing, too.