The Chaos Before the Calm

My house is a complete wreck right now. We've been shopping for bedding, school supplies, dorm room organizers, and every other imaginable thing needed to shuttle off two girls to college next week. We're all in a bit of a daze really. Amanda's things, since this is her first year, are spread all over our kitchen table. While Kate's things have been placed in the living room. Technically, we're not moving her in since everything she needs, besides clothes and personal items, is already in her apartment. We've been running around scrambling for this and that and then literally plopping ourselves down in front of the television or a computer to distract ourselves from the fact that this is our last week of normality. 

Kate will be starting her third year of college and will begin student teaching in the spring. Amanda, new to the college scene, is moving farther away from home (a whole two states away) and just received her first math textbook as a reminder that yes, this is really happening. And I am trying to look past the mess knowing that once all of it is gone, the girls will be too. 

Years ago, if you had asked me which I preferred, calm or chaos, I would have happily answered the former. These days, I'm more than willing to live in a house that will forever remain a complete wreck if I can keep my girls home a while longer.