We're empty nesters.

It hasn't been that traumatic. We were ready for life to slow down, to not be focused on the kids, to be able to spend more time together.

So what happened?

Even though I'm not carpooling and driving kids to a bazillion activities, I spend just as much time in the car. I'm just as busy.

We're not focused on the kids, but we are on our grand-daughter. When Evelyn is here to visit, everything else stops. I don't do dishes or laundry. I play with her. Same for her grandpa.

We do get to spend more time together. And we have spent some time on the golf course lately. So that's nice change. But we in the last month, time together has been spent going over our living trust and will documents. Fun! And as I mentioned in an earlier post, my father-in-law passed away recently. So we've had discussion about life and death and dying and final wishes and funeral planning and buying burial plots and caskets and ... well, you get the idea. Necessary, sure. Romantic, not so much.

Since I quit working about a year and a half ago to focus on my writing, it seems like I have even less time to write. Part of it is my fault. I took on extra responsibilities at church and other groups. So I have more things to do. When I worked, I was more disciplined and made better use of my time.

So I've made a decision. I will have office hours. Starting Monday, I'm going to spend a certain number of hours in my office every day. I will not answer the phone. I will not move clothes from the washer to the dryer. I will not let the cat cuddle on my lap. (It's very difficult to write with a cat determined to curl up on my arms, so I usually let her stay for a while and I'll play a game while she naps.)

Posting this for the world to see means I have to follow through. Check back with me for a progress report. Now, I've got to go print out the agenda for my meeting this afternoon. sigh...