The never-ending list

Johannah will attend The Ohio State University which is on the quarter system which means that there are exactly two college-bound girls still living in our area while the rest of her senior class has already moved away to college, returned for a visit over Labor Day weekend and left again.

Those two girls will attend University of Cincinnati... also on the quarter system. They are three cheerless girls right about now, I tell you.

So far, Johannah and I have spent the summer with a very sexy credit card. We've bought Brand New bedding, Urban Outfitters sweaters, several pairs of shoes, plastic containers for under the bed, next to the bed, in the closet, a hanging bag for all those *&$^% shoes, winter gloves, two pair of pants ("in case" it gets cold, since she wears skirts full time at home), shaving gel and razors, nail clippers, new bras, decorative pillows that match the adorable duvet cover, a digital camera, shampoo, a new journal, hammer and nails, the all important flip flops for the grungy showers floors, totes for things, totes for other things, deodorant in a new fragrance, picture frames, feminine hygiene paraphernalia (though not the recommended stash of condoms and sponges on most lists), an alarm clock, a daily planner... you get the idea.

The floor in her room is covered in a lava flow of "what every girl needs for her dorm room but is afraid to actually fit in it." I shudder to think there will be FOUR girls in this one teensy tiny room with the same "list" of necessities. I keep thinking we've finished the list... and she keeps telling me we have as we leave to buy "one more thing."

So two days ago, Johannah jumped in the car, opened the brand new planner and announced: "I have a few more things on the list."

"No. Say it isn't so..."

"A lock for the computer."

"Oh, yeah, well that. Okay."

"And we still need to get the shower curtain rings."

"Yeah, I guess so. Okay."

"And ex-foliating cleanser."

"Wha.... the eff?"

She rushed ahead... "I know I've never used it, but I'm going to college and what if I need to clean my face? I mean, probably college is a time to start exfoliating, you know? And what if I get there and I'm like, 'Oh no! I need to exfoliate and there's no cleanser'? That would be awful!"

And then she smirked and giggled, cocked her eye-brow and looked sideways at me in the car. "Well, I might need it, right?"

"Good grief!" I laughed.

When the list grows to include things she's never used... it's time to go. Though I'll miss the never-ending list.

And her.

Thursday's the day.