*Sniffle*

So. 3am this morning, I woke up The Boy who’d crashed on the couch at about 1am. We made one last check of his bags, his things, made sure he had his money, his ID, his Choir uniform, and the Girl Next Door’s scarf that she’d forgotten and asked for him to bring up on the bus for her.

I’d given him the lectures (Don’t put anything in the pocket of the seat ahead of you. Keep your money and id in your neck case around your neck. Keep a hand on your fanny back – and wear it in front. Don’t break my camera or I’ll beat you. Keep track of your Chaperones, so they have an easy time keeping track of you. Remember the 3 to Pee rule, Don’t…) and gotten a roll of the eyes and a “MOOO-OOOOOOM! I have flown before! GAWD.” To which I smirked. “Yeah. With me, and with your NANA. Now, make sure you…”

I’m sure ya’ll heard the eye-rolling from there. But dammit, I’m MOM and I’m ALLOWED TO BE ALL LECTURINGLY PANIC-Y! So there.

So, anyway. Got him up, and his stuff together, and we were 45 minutes early to catch the bus. (He was a little anxious. Heh.) We brought the puppy with us, wrapped up in a blanket, for a little last minute cuddling. Then the bus pulled up, and it was time to load his luggage, grab his orange boppy pillow, and pick a seat.

 

Yes, Hendy even chartered the Oilers bus for them, so that they could ride in style and comfort! So, he hugged the dog, told me it was cold (It was -12F) and that he was getting into the bus. I made him give ME a hug too – because hello! hugging the dog and not his MOTHER? So, after a tight hug, I went back to the car, where I watched everyone else load up, then the bus pull away – I followed to the highway, and when I turned home – there was nothing but the tailights to be seen. SIIIIIIGH.

So. There you have it. The Boy is off on his Trip of a Lifetime. I’ve not received any phone calls, so can only assume they made it to Anchorage and the Airport on time, and are right now *checks time* just about to land in Seattle (3:10pm Seattle Time) where they’ll hang out for 3 hours before hopping the nonstop flight to London, where at 2:20 tomorrow, they’ll hop onto another flight to Madrid, where they’ll hopefully get dinner and a good nights sleep before all the festivities really begin Tuesday Morning @ 9am. All told, their travel time will be about 29 hours.

 I’m doing my best not to be all panic-y mom, but HELLO! my BABY! and he’s GONE! and he’s ALL ALONE (with 134 other kids/chaperones) and I can’t PROTECT him when he’s HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD!

Yeah. Clearly I’m not all panic-y worried mom at all. Heh.

(And the other kids/furbabies are under orders not to be cute for the next 2 weeks since I sent my camera with the boy. Harumph. I’m reduced to the old camera, and my cell phone. Sorry in advance. Hahah!)