Empty Nesting

When the kids got to be annoying teens, I began looking forward to having an empty nest. But then once the younger daughter graduated from high school and we started creeping closer to dropping her off at college, I started to panic. Oh sure, this is what I THOUGHT I wanted when the kids were driving me nuts. But not really?! I knew I wouldn't miss the desperate texts to bring the chemistry homework they forgot on their desk up to the school. Or sitting around at all hours waiting for them to get out of practice, games, meets, etc. That was a no brainer. But not having a daughter in the house anymore... hard to fathom as we got nearer to D-day. That's drop off at college and cry intermittently all the way home for you younger mommas.

So now that I've survived the boo-hoo traveling from South Carolina to Texas and have been empty nesting for a few weeks, I gotta admit I'm kinda getting used to all this kid free time. I can meet friends for a leisurely lunch at fun places like Mariposa in Neiman's and then wander around shopping afterwards with no rush home to be there for the teen.

I can snoop around on Etsy for hours, cruising for a new S&P Mr. and Mrs. Claus shaker set to add to my collection. Or check out the Texas A&M letters up for auction on eBay.

I've got tons of time for yard work, too. Which in my case is really just landscape bed watering since our drip system is at a disadvantage in this drought. I took a pic of the rain we had a couple weeks ago. It's about the only measurable precip we've had fall from the sky here in south central Texas over the past 7ish weeks. 

College game day shows are baaaaaaaack! Now that football season has kicked off, I can excitedly scan the crowds during televised games, looking for my daughter in a sea of orange and white on the top deck of the stadium. No teens around to suck up all of our DVR storage with the Real Housewives franchises or The Bachelor. 

So yeah, I'm kinda digging this empty nest gig. The husband and I are headed up for parent's weekend and to take in a game later this fall, so I don't think I'll have much of a chance to really miss the last chick that fledged the nest.