Happy 18th Birthday and enjoy your new adventure of college!

Catherine at her early Birthday dinner before Larry left for HI. We gave her a combo of b-day and off to college gifts. We had a large box full of stuff from band-aids to a lock for her lap top. Here are the towels I personalized for her.

Today Aug 21st is Catherines 18th Birthday AND she left for college today. Scary! She has never driven in Kansas City and she had to go through KC to get to Maryville which is where her college is. She made it through but she was scarred to death! She was not scared to leave for college…she was dreading the driving part.

Tuesday I took Catherine to get a fridge for her dorm. I also helped her get some other stuff that she needed. I need to back up a bit though. On Wed night Cat brought Laura over here to try on some jeans we had gotten her. Well, when they pulled out of our driveway she had a flat tire. She pulled over and called me. I went over there and Catherine was getting her donut and jack out. Problem with that was, the donut had a large slit in it. There were no lights at all so I had drive back over to our house. She and I attempted to take the tire off with no luck. I sent her back to her moms in our car. The next morning we had the car towed to the shop because it was already to go in for work that day anyway. Ok, the car is in the shop. We were taking Cat’s house key to her moms house to the middle school to drop it off for Sean. Cat took it off her key ring and dropped the key. She saw it and tried to get it however it fell even further. So here we are in the school parking lot with out butts sticking out the door trying to get the key. You are probably thinking, “what’s the big deal, where the heck is the key”? I’ll tell you where the key was…it was UNDER a metal plate that the electric seat track was attached to. We used anything we could to get it out…no luck. We went over to the auto shop where her mom works to get wire to try to get it out. No luck there either. John, the mechanic, had to take the bolt out that was holding the seat in and finally got the key out. What a beginning to the day! Finally, we made it to Lee’s Sumitt, MO to do some shopping. We had lunch at Culver’s. For you GA folks, he closest one to you is in Northeast KY. Anyway, we talked about a lot of stuff. We covered all the Do’s and Dont’s. We discussed ideas and plans. I gave all the “Momma Talks”!

Ok, now to Wed…I took Catherine to get her savings account closed and open a new savings and checking account at a bank that is also in Maryville. Interesting explaining banking to someone who is clueless on how it all works. We did some more shopping for her necessities. We had more talks about money and about her getting focused. She will even tell you that her hair is brown but she has blond roots. Her grades in high school were very good but she can be an air head and she makes fun of herself. Gotta love a teenager!

She is off to begin her new journey. She is planning to be a Vet which is what she has wanted to do since she was 5 years old. We are praying for God’s guidance and protection. It is just amazing that she off to college. She asked us about a week or so ago if we were going to be sad and miss her. We told her of course we will miss her and will be a little sad but we are also excited for her. We are excited to see her go off and begin a new chapter in her life that will shape the rest of her life.

My thoughts at this moment… It’s hard to explain to an 18 year old the importance of the decisions they make as they leave high school. I mean, the choices and the roads they take at that point really does determine so much of their future. Thank goodness for many of us that God shows mercy and gives us opportunities to make some changes alone the way and sometimes make corrections. Right now, I can hear my Momma saying, “Kimberly, if you will just listen to me, I can save you a lot of heartache”! Why oh why did I not listen to Momma on that one!?!? However, all the ‘stuff’ I’ve been thorough has made me the Kimberly I am today. Hind sites 20/20. You know how you hear people say, “If I knew then what I know now” OR “If only I could go back and change a few things”. But, we can’t go back, only forward. I’m just thankful that after all of my decisions in the past, both good and bad, and some other things I won’t go into, that the road led me to here. It led me to a wonderful, loving husband who is a Christian man and I now have 4 children who needed me as much as I needed them. Yes, I would make some changes to the past if I could but I would not change the fact that I am married to my Prince.

So, if you have a teen that is approaching life after high school, don’t waste a minute preparing them. Equip them with all the knowledge and confidence that you can. Stress the importance of decision and cause and effects. Most important…Start praying for all that NOW. (and start a savings account)

kdp