Summer time is here and that means that Alex returns from college in Michigan. Just like when he left for school this fall, returning home to live for the summer comes with some big adjustments. In true Alex fashion, he doesn't actually plan on spending much time at home. He has decided to spend his summer in two week intervals bouncing between home in St. Louis and his new home of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Following his 19th birthday, Alex came home for the first time this summer on May 20th. During this visit, he was also bringing his new girlfriend and they would be staying for two weeks. The week leading up to him coming home, I feverishly cleaned the basement which is doubling as his room. In the spring, I had bought new living room furniture so I was able to move the older furniture downstairs to create a living room area. When Alex came home over Easter break with his roommate, it was essential to have additional bedding so everyone had a place to sleep. The couch has a pull out bed and it was perfect for Cal, his roommate, to have his own space.
However, it was during that week that I realized that the bed on the couch was just becoming the bed. It never did get folded back up to utilize the living room area as I had intended. The basement was also quickly overcome with a mess. After they went back to school, I put the bed back and cleaned up some, but didn't give it a lot of time or attention with all else that we had going on.
So, when he was going to be coming home with his girlfriend, it was important for me to have a nice clean space for them. I was able to secure an additional single bed from my sister and cleaned out the corner of the basement that was primarily toys. It took me a good solid working day, but I transformed the basement back to a workable living space. Alex had his bed. The couch and loveseat were serving the purpose of the living room area and a separate space was set up with a bed, mirror, desk and chair for his girlfriend to have her own space. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean and workable.
By the first night of them being home, I realized my efforts may not have even been worth it. The clean space quickly became a mess and the extra bed was never utilized. Eventually, I gave up on it being a functional space for anyone but him and his friends and decided if the mess didn't bother them, it would just leave it be. Because the basement is a walk out, it did become like his own personal apartment minus the kitchen and bathroom. He seemed perfectly happy with the set up (and the mess he created) so I suppose that is a win.
His girlfriend, Lauren, is perfectly nice. She is very quiet and didn't say a whole lot. But she was polite and kind and honestly just tried to stay out of the way. That is not an easy thing to do when the house is full of people, I work from home and we have only one bathroom.
Prior to memorial day weekend, Alex and Lauren packed back up and left for Michigan. Lauren is from Grand Rapids and they would be spending the next two weeks with her family in Michigan. This week, Alex has arrived back home again, but Lauren did not come with him. She also has obligations in Michigan to attend to and will be leaving for college in Massachusetts this fall. During this time, Alex is focusing on working and catching up with local friends. He has quite a few shifts lined up at the local Applebees and is in desperate need to add some funds to his bank account. He has a few lunches scheduled with old school mates and is trying to squeeze in as much sand volleyball as possible.
Alex is here through Layla's birthday (June 25) and then he is going back to Michigan to work a few shifts there and spend the Fourth of July weekend on Lake Michigan with Lauren and her family. Around July 10th, he will come back to St. Louis to spend the rest of the summer. We leave for vacation on August 5th and return on August 12th. That following week, Eva and Layla start school and Alex will be going back to Michigan to start the fall semester of his sophomore year.
I was a little disappointed in the disjointed scheduling for the summer. Selfishly, I just wanted Alex to be home with me and the family for the whole summer. However, as we have survived parts 1 and 2 of his return, we have also appreciated the time when he has been away this summer. I hope it is giving him the best of both worlds. I know he'll have an amazing holiday on the lake and look forward to a few more weeks of him at home prior to the end of summer.
And as far as the basement goes, well, I've given up. I did my best to make it nice and comfortable. And if he is comfortable with a mess, so be it. In September, once he is officially back in school, I will tackle the mess he left behind so that we can have our extra living space back and it is ready for him to destroy when he comes home again for fall break.
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