There’s more things going on this month than there are days in it, for example.

Black History Month (United States and Canada)
National School Counseling Week (first week, United States)
Groundhog Day (February 2)
Mardi Gras (Sometime between February 3 to March 9 in non-leap years or February 4 to March 9 in leap years)
Ash Wednesday (Sometime between February 4 and March 10)
Waitangi Day, New Zealand (February 6)
The Super Bowl
AFC-NFC Pro Bowl
NBA All-Star game
Daytona 500
Westminster Dog Show
St. Valentine’s Day (February 14)
Presidents’ Day (3rd Monday of February)
Washington’s Birthday (February 22)
Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12)
Darwin Day celebration
Constitution Day (Mexico) (February 5)
Carnaval (Celebrated before Lent)
American Heart Month
Library Lovers Month
National Bird-Feeding Month
The Great Backyard Bird Count
Flag Day - Canada (February 15)
National Hot Breakfast Month
Imbolc February 2
Thinking Day (Girl Guides) February 22
B.P. day (Scouts Canada) February 22
Founder’s Day (Scout Association (UK)) February 22
National Engineers Week (week of Presidents day) (United States)
Independence Day (Dominican Republic) (February 27)
International Mother Language Day (February 21)

I’d like to add one more milestone for 2007, that being February the 3rd which I’ll always remember because…

Our youngest daughter is moving out today.

She’s the last of four…. two boys and two girls. There’s 12 years between her and her oldest brother and eight years between she and her sister. She’s the “our” part of your’s, mine and ours. The final addition to a second family that blended rather well I might say for our very own little sixpac.

It was like a tornado around here for years and as each child left life spun a little slower. I always thought I was going to die when the last one left…… but here we are and life goes on.

I always wanted twins and I swear the last one had the energy of at least two. I’ve often said it took all five of us to raise her. Very good practice for both her brothers and her sister who admits praying every night for a girl to save her from a life as a tomboy. The baby gave up her morning nap at three months and stopped napping in the afternoon by the time she started walking at nine months. Many nights I’d sit up with her as she’d play for an hour or so long before daylight. Not an easy task at 36 years old with five jobs between their daddy and I in order to make ends meet. But I did it because I knew it wouldn’t last forever. That’s the one thing I knew for sure having raised three before her…. just when you think you can’t stand another minute they change, they develop different habits, new behaviors and fresh routines that emerge sometimes for better sometimes for worst. But they do change none the less. And they grow up and they actually do move out.

I remember how the color seemed to drain from our home as each of the older three fled the nest. Testing their wings and crash landing from time to time they have all successfully built their own nests very close to the mother ship, much to both their daddy’s and my pleasure.

The nest our youngest has dreamed of and prepared for for years is being feathered just minutes from the only other home she has ever known in all her 24 years…. only minutes from here but it feels like so much more. This will be the first time my husband and I will live alone….. together. When we were married over 26 years ago we woke up with three kids in our bed the next day. It was Heaven. Family is everything. I’ve always loved being a mommy. It’s been the single most important thing to me since I was little…. and having four children has been an incredible gift. A blessing I count every day. I wish we had had more. Some of my children cringe when I say that because it was a struggle financially with four. We didn’t have all the things everyone around us did. No vacationing abroad or pricey vehicles upon graduation. We do have lots of wonderful memories of many, many camping trips and the work ethic and pride of ownership that comes from not having everything handed to you helped keep our children focused as well as appreciative and successful.

This month will mark a new beginning for all of us. Our youngest will learn to live alone with her boyfriend and we will learn to live together without children. I know now I’m not going to die… I just expect it will be very, very quiet around here most of the time.

I’m excited for our daughter and her sweetie…. I remember how wonderfully happy I was when I moved out of my parents home.

I’m excited for me and my sweetie too…… after all February has always been the month for sweethearts!