Typically, I check my email four or five times a week, but this week I have been an email fiend, checking it four or five times a day. Some curious, caring person might wonder why. Why the change in my usual, laid-back style? For what am I waiting so impatiently?

Before I answer, let me explain that last Friday, we put our oldest daughter on an airplane for Connecticut, where she will spend much or all of the summer with my/her cousins, who have just moved back to the States after about ten years in Japan. My first cousin's husband, a native of Japan, cannot join her in the U.S. until sometime in August, and my cousin was loathe to play single parent to their two year old alone. It seems a perfect fit for Dragon, who has been diligently studying Japanese for the past year and, as the oldest of nine, knows perfectly well how to clean house and entertain small children (along with a myriad of other useful skills).

But it meant that she wasn't at her graduation ceremony Sunday evening, although we videoed Gary's speech so she can watch it later. And it means she's not here to critique the layout of her senior page for our homeschool yearbook.

Mainly, though, it means one less child around our table, two fewer hands to help with the workload, and considerably fewer hugs, smiles, and conversations.

Thus, I wait obsessively for an email from the child who normally only checks her email once or twice a month. *sigh*

Update: Dragon emailed yesterday and let me know that my inundation of her mailbox was cramping her wingspan. I just wanted to be certain that she felt comfortable and was making herself useful. Given her response, I'd say she's doing just fine--so now I will be, too.