Eggnog Lattes and Holiday Cups! Woo hoo!

My day started with a phone call from Elise (who currently works at Starbucks)

“Mom, I just thought you would like to know, Egg Nog Lattes are back and so are the Holiday cups!”

Hooray for the little things in life.  I got myself ready in record time and buzzed on up to her store to get an EggNog Latte in a red holiday cup on my way to work this morning.  Yum! 

And, my brother sent me an email with the picture below…so, here’s a holiday idea for you:

Happy day and it’s only 51 days and counting until Christmas! 

 

It’s official…

…Rob and I are “empty nesters”.  It’s definitely a life transition, but not in a bad way, just in a “wow, this is different, now what?” kind of way.

In the spring of this past year, our house grew fuller, Robbin moved home to save money.  It was the first time in several years that all five of us were under one roof.  Interesting times.  Somehow having 4 bathrooms in the house wasn’t enough again.  “Hey, who borrowed my tanktop?”  “Have you seen my (insert many items here)?”  “Mom, I put my keys on the table, where did you move them to?” and other various phrases like these become common place once again.

Daily screening of what was being DVR-ed occured and big discussions over what could be deleted and what shows were most important happened often.  Rob pretty much had to finagle through mass quantities of movies and shows to carve out any teensie bit of space to record his sporting events.

Over the summer things were even more intense as we moved into full boat wedding-ness.  Evenings were spent pouring over to-do lists with Robbin and managing to keep some semblance of order with all the comings and goings and eatings of the family.

Then August came, Robbin and Jake got married, Elise moved into her own apartment.  Bethany began preparing to move to her place as well.  Last week, Bethany moved out into her place.  (At least the majority of her stuff is out, her room still has plenty of remnants of Bethany left.)

So, we went from a house filled with consistent commotion to quiet serenity all within the span of about six months. Here’s a sloppy attempt at poetry to share a bit of my thoughts today with you.

Empty nesters are what we are, it’s that time that used to be so far.

How can it have happened this fast, why do all I think about is the memories of the past?

Many people have walked this road, why does it feel like such a heavy load?

There are a ton of fun things to do, lots of hobbies to investigate, both old and new.

My girls are all launching into lives of their own, it’s awesome to see how much they’ve grown.

The blessings I count are too numerous to tell, I’m extremely grateful my marriage is swell!!!

It takes a lot longer for the house to be a mess, laundry-cooking-cleaning for two is not a big deal, I guess.

I have a secret weapon – homemade cooking, or Costco shopping, I let them know and they come looking!

Yes, life is looking quite different for us, and it requires an extra dose of trust.

I pray daily for me crew – Jake, Robbin, Bethany and Elise too!

The quiet is welcome sometimes for sure, but this phase of life really has no cure.

It will continue to change, it’s true, but I’m determined to be joyful and to avoid being blue.

Rob and I are beginning the “someday when…projects now”, imagine, we could actually be organized – wow!

So to all the future empty nesters out there, really there’s nothing to prepare.

You just have to walk thru it, and somehow you just do it.

I’m not a poet, that much you can tell, but this expresses a bit of what I’m thinking well!

To all the empty nesters out there – it’s a brand new adventure!  Embrace it!

Trying to keep it all together!

Work has been crazy busy lately.  Trying to keep my head above water.  My friend Zhanna sent this to me in an email.  It made me chuckle as that’s pretty much how it’s been going lately!    It can only get better, right?! 

Whatever! (A happy Thursday chuckle)

Americans find the following words or phrases the most annoying read more.

And for a bonus laugh or two, read the comments to the article.

My personal annoying habit (that I can’t break myself of no matter how hard I try) is using “was like” in my daily diatribes, as I regale the happenings in my life in verbal form.   I tell myself, “Drop the use of  ‘was like’, seriously!”  and before I know it I’m in full boat usage of the words…”and then, Rob was like, Carol Ann, what did you do to my computer…and I was like, why is always my fault…”  you get the picture. 

What is one to do to break these annoying habits one has?

Ideas, anyone?

Happy Fall! :)