Refeathering the empty nest

The last of our fledglings was pushed abruptly from the nest four years ago. Our youngest daughter had just married, She had a good job and was looking for a house of her own when we made the decision to accept a new out-of-state pastorate.

Our oldest son had celebrated his 7th anniversary and was living out his idea of the American Dream in upstate NY. Our middle daughter was well on the way to raising her own baseball team and preparing for ministry with her hubby in NC when we moved.

Ahhh, the bliss of a quiet morning with a nice hot cuppa Joe on the deck of our rambling 5 bedroom, 3 bath parsonage. We were definitely enjoying our quiet lifestyle and each other's company as the years passed.

Uh-oh! Do you hear that sound of breaking glass? It's the sound of my idyllic lifestyle shattering into a million tiny shards as the fledglings return.

Several months ago, my son and his wife decided to sell their home in NY because the cost of living and property taxes were edging them closer and closer to bankruptcy. They moved their furniture into the unfinished half of our full basement and are living in the finished half (roughly the size of a large studio apartment) as they look for a new house.

It's rather nice having them here - I get to see my grandson every day and do the grandma babysitting thing, though my writing time has dwindled.

Uh-oh! Did you hear that loud bang? It's the sound of an atomic bomb being dropped on my semi-idyllic life. My daughter and her hubby from NC are between church assignments and have no place to call home (that's one of the problems with parsonage life...).

There goes my quiet cup of morning java on the deck. They'll be moving here early next month for a time of regrouping emotionally and financially until their next ministry assignment. Let's see, that makes 11 occupants in our house. Oh well, there goes my writing time.

I'll be okay...as long as my youngest daughter in PA doesn't decide to get a divorce and move home with her 3 doggies...

Maybe tomorrow I'll blog on female pattern baldness...