Everyone I meet keeps asking me how I like being an “empty nester”? What empty nest!  You must mean the “not so empty” nest.  With all the comings and goings we have had this year, it’s hard to tell who actually lives here and who is just home for the holiday break. For this week at least I think I have a handle on who will require lodging here in the house. They came home by plane, ferry, train and car. At odd hours, I might add.  But everyone is home safe and sound.

There are harbingers all around me that herald their arrival.  Your probably thinking pumpkins, the smell of the fire smoke in the evening, the changing leaves perhaps — Not really!  How about the duffel bags full of laundry lined up in front of the washer like planes on a runway waiting for takeoff. Or shoes piled up at every port of entry. (Who knew they had so many.) Maybe it the glasses and plates in the den, on counter tops, and piled high in the sink. Could it be the blankets and mashed throw pillows strewn all over the family room. (Does anyone know how to plump a pillow?)  Empty boxes of cereal left in the cabinet, perhaps.

Actually, it’s more like all the chairs at the kitchen table are full at dinner. (Everyone talking at once to catch up on each other’s lives.) It’s a reason to cook a really great meal. It’s life like we once had on a daily basis and now only get a few times a year.  What I once took for granted I now treasure and hold onto with all my strength.

So– bring on the laundry, the dishes, the towels, those children eating food as if they are going to the electric chair.  You can’t scare me. I used to do this for a living, I think I can keep up till Monday.  Until then I’m going to enjoy every minute of my “not so empty” nest.