My Summer Vacation...

A whole summer is whittled down to the last 3 days in Alabama... Tuesday, my son Jordan returns to Upland, IN, for his Senior year at Taylor University. (Why the name Upland? It's the highest point in Indiana.) We have really enjoyed having Jordan spend his final summer with us. Unfortunately, he was unemployed for most of the break. He did yard work for us, neighbors, and church, but serious money was clearly not in his summer plans.

I was reflecting on the pros and cons of Jordan spending the summer with us.... check these out:

Pros:

1. We got some serious yard work accomplished that Tami has been asking me to do for a long time.
2. The main sign at our church got repainted - and I didn't have to do it...
3. There was someone here to keep Cody alive and house-sit while we were in Australia. It would have cost me big bucks to board the dog for 2 weeks.
4. I had someone to eat sushi with.
5. I had someone to ride bikes with.
6. I had someone to see "District 9" with... definitely not a chick flick. Be careful....
7. Tami had someone, besides Cody, with her each day while I was at work. I believe she enjoyed Jordan's company, but not his debate-style of conversation regarding The New Perspective on Paul. Cody just listens....
8. We got to see Bethany, Jordan's girlfriend, a couple of times this summer. It probably wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been living with us.
9. He sharpened my humor and hoisted my humility. Jordan is a very funny guy. The problem is... he thinks he's funnier than me... no way dude! (humble, right?)
10. He demonstrated that 21-year old college seniors can in fact have a solid and meaningful relationship with his parents.

Cons:

1. My utility bills increased by at least 33% over the summer. For some reason, he can't remember to turn off light switches.... he also struggles with placing items back in their original "home" location. Hmm, might be a DNA thing....
2. Chick flicks will now return to the Bolte family of entertainment choices.
3. I will be eating much less sushi at my favorite restaurant, Mikawa. Tami won't touch the stuff. Although, the last time she accompanied me to Japan, she actually tried eating sea urchin. I won't even eat that! Now I can't get her close to any of it....
4. Tami will have to return to "Cody conversations" during the day while I am at work.
5. Cycling will be a solo activity again.... I wonder if Tami would consider it? Yeah right....
6. We won't have anyone in the house sleeping 'till noon....
7. The heady, philosophically-rich spiritual debates will come to an end. Fundamentally, Tami and I are very simple people... often our heads would just about explode after an exchange with Jordan... check out his blog! You'll see a marked difference between his and mine...
8. Since Jordan was here with us, Tami felt compelled to go shopping - more than usual... yep, just looking for an excuse to buy something for someone... If any of our kids decided to come home and live with us.... well, I'm guessing it'd be Christmas everyday! Dude, get out of town!
9. No one to do "guy stuff" with.... you know: cussing, smoking, spitting on the floor, sitting around in our underwear, watching science fiction movies, eating junk food (butter pecan ice cream!), etc.
10. Realizing that this is the final time we will have Jordan living with us. All of our kids know that they are welcome to come home anytime... for as long or as short as they want to stay... anytime!

We have a 7-hour drive ahead of us as we move Jordan into his campus apartment. It's exciting that he is finishing his college experience and will spring board into his upcoming future next year. What will his future hold? Not sure.... but at least for now, I can say we certainly enjoyed our summer vacation with Mr. Jordan Bolte....