Sleep Over In My Daughter's College Dorm Room Apartment...

I was a non-traditional college student.  While most of my friends were off in another town attending college, I chose to first attend school in my home town.  That entire experience was quickly detoured as I chose marriage and childbirth for the next decade.  I then returned to complete my degree program at the age of 30, with four small children in tow.  And THAT is precisely why I have never had the opportunity to experience the "Dorm Room/Room Mate" phenomenon.  For one day this weekend, THAT was about to change!

Caitlin had decided to play hooky from class on Friday and begged me to spend the weekend in Canton, Texas with her, flea market shopping.  It didn't take much to twist my arm; we have been traveling there each November since...FOREVER.  However, with her in school, it has become a little more difficult to spend all 3 days there, so we usually head over on Saturday. 
At first, I toyed with the idea of just staying at our lake house in Natchitoches and driving to pick her up early Friday morning; that would cut an hour off of the 4 hour trip for me.  That's when she mentioned just coming over to Marshall, Texas, where she attends college and sleeping over at her on-campus apartment she shares with three other girls.  Hmmm...that was a thought AND we would only have an hour and a half to drive on Friday morning...OH, WHY NOT?!

I headed out for Marshall on Thursday afternoon and the closer I got, the more excitement I felt over being able to spend the entire weekend at the First Monday Canton, Texas Trade Days with my daughter; after all, this would our last time to do so with her being a single woman.  Upon driving up in her parking lot, she met me downstairs where we immediately headed out to Downtown Marshall, where we visited some of their really cute boutiques.  They were all decorated for Christmas already, in preparation for the upcoming Holiday City Wide Open House.  From there we walked around the corner where we enjoyed a nice dinner and then it was back to Caitlin's apartment for the remainder of the evening.

We carried my bags up to where I would be laying my head for the night and I must admit...her room was only slightly larger than my closet.  Although it was small, Caitlin had put her own special touch into decorating the space and it felt warm, homey and I felt sure that I could easily rest my head on her pillow for the night.

We awoke the next morning and I was personally very happy that I had chosen to sleep over at my daughter's college dorm room apartment.  Not only because it would save us a great deal of driving time, but because she was so happy to have me experience "her" way of daily living.  Afraid that she would not have my "necessary" morning dose of caffeine, however,  I packed a coffee pod with me.  Once again, she surprised me by being well-prepared for my visit by not only having coffee pods, but also holiday flavored creamer that she insisted I try!

We quickly loaded our bags into my vehicle and hit the road for our Girls' Weekend Road Trip.  The temperatures were crisp and cool as we popped in the first Christmas CD of the season and began singing along to the tunes.  LOOK OUT, CANTON,...HERE WE COME!