A Community for People Who's Children Have Outgrown Them

This is a blog for people who are reflecting on life after their children have flown the coop.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Simple Pleasures are the Best

Well blogees, we are beginning to get this empty nester thing down.  The kids are now ensconced in school and we are back to being alone.  Leading up the weekend I was wary, we had little on the docket.  Being the compulsive planner, boy has that been the source of squabbles over the years, I expected a boring weekend.  Why can't we take advantage of all the great resources in this city and DO SOMETHING?  I will try to chill.

Happily, I was wrong.  I got home from work a little late on Friday because we had a send-off party for one of our staff people.  I was so pleased that there was dinner on the table.  It was nothing fancy, but tasty and a chance for us to catch-up on the day.  I then had to deal with a mini work emergency for an hour and then called it a night. Before we got bed we got a call from one of the kids and had a chance to touch base.  I woke up Saturday, with low expectations.  We started the day going to services.  When we returned a message was on the machine from good friends, "how about a movie tonight?"  We're on.  We worked together on a few chores, including shoveling out the driveway from the first snow of 2012.  Then it was time for a nap.  I had an outdoor paddle tennis game in the late afternoon for some exercise.  It was then a quick shower before gobbling down a dinner of left overs.  We picked up our friends and made the movie.  It was back to their house for ice cream and fruit salad.  Having had modest expectations, they were greatly exceeded.

Sunday was a work morning while the wife had her personal training session.  I got to watch some of the morning talk shows in between emails and  planning for the upcoming week.  Along the way, I snuck in a long phone call with mom.  Once she finished working out, we decided to break out the cross country skis.  Before we could go out, we had to head to the basement and dig out all the ski clothes.  We made it a shared experience.  As beginners we attempted to glide around the golf course at a pace comfortable to both of us.  My wife put up with my stopping a couple of times and dragging out the camera to memorialize the experience.  There was one "take it already."  It was probably deserved. It was time for another nap.  Then she graciously went food shopping while I watched some football (and wrote this blog).  We are then off to another friend's for dinner and taking in the evening football game.  The plan is to the finish with our favorite TV show, The Good Wife.

As I have lived longer, I have learned that life doesn't have to have a major event every weekend.  My instinct is to find something special, but when it is not possible make the best of the little activities.  The reality is the variety of activities are special in their own right.  The growth of our empty nester relationship is that we are finding ways to enjoy and share the little pleasures, and they can be the best.

Plus, it only cost us 24 bucks to go the movies.

No comments:

Post a Comment