Summer means both kids are back in the nest, and this mom couldn’t be happier. Here are a few things that are happening right now:

Smelling fresh cut grass. When I think of summer, I think of the sound of lawnmowers and the smell of fresh cut grass. It’s funny how certain smells can trigger a memory. The smell of grass brings to mind Saturday mornings at our little beach bungalow when my Dad would cut the lawn. I clearly remember his excitement when he got a power mower after years of sweating behind an old, rusty push mower. I love the smell of fresh cut grass and the memories that go with it.

Tripping over the mountain of shoes in the hall. I know my kids are home when I nearly break my neck maneuvering through the piles of shoes, sneakers and sandals deposited from the garage through the kitchen. It’s funny that when the kids are away at school I actually miss the shoe obstacle course. Now, it’s just making me crazy (read: Pick up your darn shoes!)

Celebrating my baby girl’s 21st birthday at the 21 Club in New York City (21 W. 52nd Street, New York, NY) with her girlfriends. Caroline is a beautiful, intelligent, funny, fun and sweet girl. I couldn’t be more proud of her. She is one of the greatest blessings in my life. Happy Birthday, Bug!

Sending my baby boy off to London with his buddies. He will be studying at the London School of Economics–at least that’s what he says. (I have come to find out that it may be more accurately described as the London School of Gin and Tonics.) Caroline had an amazing time studying abroad in Copenhagen last fall, and we really wanted Garrett to have the experience as well. As a college athlete, Garrett, like most of his friends, can’t travel abroad during the school year. The LSE program is really his only opportunity for international study. He knows easily two dozen kids who will in London at the same time. So, I’m not sure how much actual studying will occur, but he is sure to have the time of his life.

Watching The Bachelorette. This has become a Monday night ritual for Caroline and me. I can’t really say that I am a Bachelor/Bachelorette fan as much as I like to share the experience with Caroline and yell at the television. For a mom, the show has proven to provide endless teaching moments like “this is not how to find true love” and “that is clearly sexual harassment.” I’ve watched the show on and off since the first season premiered in 2002. When my kids were toddlers, I would put them to bed and call one of my girlfriends, and we’d watch the show together on the phone. Before the internet was filled with spoiler blogs, franchise devotees could scour fan chat rooms for clues to how the season would end. If you watch the show as if it is a game with a winner at the end, you start to notice how the contestants strategize and how the producers manipulate the players and the game. Clearly, I don’t think there are any real winners, and there are definitely a good number of losers. For me, The Bachelor/Bachelorette is about community, sharing the experience with other “fans,” and it’s a good reason to have wine and peanut M&Ms on a Monday night.

Grilling salmon. I am not a fan of fish, and I sincerely hate salmon. I don’t like the look of it, can’t imagine touching it and the smell makes me sick. But I have a husband and a daughter who love salmon–would be happy to eat it every single day. So, I’m am learning to make salmon on the grill outside where I can’t smell it. To my surprise, my first attempt was perfection (so they tell me), and it was ridiculously easy. (The key is using well-soaked cedar planks on the grill. Keeps the salmon from drying out and keeps my grill from stinking like fish.) I should have tried this a long time ago. Mike and Caroline loved it, and I enjoyed my turkey sandwich.

Cleaning out long-neglected linen closets and bathroom cabinets. Here’s the upside of not addressing my clutter for many years, everything is expired. Everything needs to be tossed. It actually makes the cleaning process go very quickly. The downside is that I realized that I have purchased dozens of tubes of Neosporin over the years that never got used. I am trying not to think about how much money I have wasted and am committing to not making the same mistakes in the future.

Investing in new all white sheets and towels. After years of teenage acne creams bleaching colored sheets and towels, I decided it was time for replacements. Why didn’t I do this sooner? Bonus: I donated all the old sheets and towels to the animal shelter and they were thrilled to get them. Home run all around.

So, that’s what my June looks like right now. What’s going on in your empty nest?