<p>I have been thinking about taking some CC classes. I am also involved in the Guardian Ad Litem program in our area. The GAL program seems to be the thing that will provide a lot of fulfillment for me. As for contributing financially, I am blessed that it is not a burden for us, and feel I should leave the paying jobs for those who really need them at this time.</p>
<p>WhirledPeas, I also donāt need income for any financial reasons, its more of a need to feel that Iām doing something and being rewarded for it. Iāve done 100s of hours of volunteer work over the years, which I enjoyed and felt rewarded by, but I am hoping to create something from nothing that will earn income, rather than taking a 9-5 job, which would interfere with other things in my life that I enjoy and donāt want to give up anytime soon. Plus H and I havenāt done much traveling, and I am looking forward to seeing more of the world after S leaves for college. What that something will be, I have no idea yet!</p>
<p>My newest empty nest adventure: Modeling for a photography club. They āpaidā me by giving me the 120 pictures they took of me! In some, I really do look like a model. Now, I can cross something else off my bucket list. :)</p>
<p>Wow, his thread has been extremely helpful, thank you TNMom2Three! It has made me sit down and really think about what I want to do when empty nest hits. I have started working on writing a resume in order to get a job and work experience (since I have no experience whatsoever in the US), then come September I will apply to my dream job. I wonāt say that I am exited for next year but I am also no longer quietly moping around the house. It feels much better to have a plan.</p>
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<p>I wish I could persuade my H to take your attitude. I think it would be so cool to think of what type of job would be fun to do (rather than the job that will bring in the most money), then take a few years to prepare for it.</p>
<p>missypie, as far as I can see the only positive thing that comes with sending the last of my kids off to college is that I no longer have to put others before myself. I have not asked my H if financially it would work for him (and I have been the main breadwinner of the house as well). This is what I want to do, so I am going there. I cannot look into your life, but maybe you should do exactly the same thing. As mothers and wives we have put ourselves in last place for many years, now life is halfway over (yikes, that sounds scary!) and it is our time.</p>
<p>I think I will (should) put in a lot more hours at my job as an empty nester than I do now. For years I havenāt been the one to give speeches, attend conferences in distant cities, etc. because of kidsā activites. When I no longer have kids at home, it will be my turn to step up to the plate and let the younger moms skip the conference so they can attend their kidās opening night or voice recital.</p>
<p>Last night I was pondering a perfect empty nest activity. Our church choir sang the complete Handelās Messiah. I sang in the choir for 16 years but have not been in the choir of late. I was thinking that it would be so cool for a quartet of people very familiar with the music to do a sign language interpretation of the *Messiahā¦*each person could take a part (SATB), so the deaf audience could get an idea of the baroque quality of the music (sometimes unison, sometimes a fugue.) My sign language skills are very rusty, but a few classes could bring them up to speed.</p>
<p>What a cool idea, Missypie! And my current empty nest activity is a brief stint with my church choir. I donāt go to church every week, and itās a bit of a haul (this my lame excuse for not joining). But the director was very accommodating with letting me join in their practice and upcoming performance of Wachet Auf in a few weeks. I joked that I was from the temp agency when I showed up a few weeks ago. But Thursday nights have always been Something at home to deal with between my D and my H (who retired a few months ago and doesnāt need those emergency dry cleaning runs and the like).</p>
<p>It is a lot of fun & challenge to pursue and maintain a ādream job,ā or at least it has been for me, hubby & my niece. All of us believe we have ādreamā jobsāvery different ones to be sure.</p>
<p>You, and everyone is more than welcome, KaasKop. I really was at a loss this past summer thinking of how life would be without my youngest. With DH offshore on a 28/14 schedule my life has become VERY quiet. I can relate to how some become recluse, however I have a full time professional job in financial planning, and grandchildren so I still have the āchanceā to be needed quite OFTEN.</p>
<p>DS is doing great in school and is quite confident that he will be bringing home Aās. 
He and DH both stir up the household tomorrow for a month or so. I hope everyone has a BLESSED Christmas season.</p>
<p>Re: Missing kids and thinking about older parents:</p>
<p>My youngest left last fall and my nearby grad student, who was within an hour and helped greatly with our initial empty nest adjustment by coming home each weekend, has now moved on to the next phase of life. We are truly empty nesters this fall.</p>
<p>When DD came home for a long weekend it was delightful; when she returned to campus that also felt nice. I am trying to decide, based on how I am enjoying having the house to ourselves, would I want my parent living with me? Have I finally gotten to the stage of no kids and now need to move in my mother? Can it work with her nearby instead? Maybe I should move into her neighborhood so she can stay in her place? Do I want my own space? Is an empty nest a bad thing or have I adjusted to it such that it has become a good thing.</p>
<p>MissyPie- do update us with any fun BIL/SIL stories- wonder what their Christmas letter says??</p>
<p>In post 22 <a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062178312-post22.html[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062178312-post22.html</a>, I shared that I was doing a major remodel of my home. Well, on Dec 10th the city okād the final inspection. The project took 360 days from start to final-inspection-complete. It has been an interesting process and journey. Iāve been fortunate that I really enjoyed working with my contractor. I must admit that I had some days/weeks where I was remodel-weary, but mostly it was fine. Iāve learned much about how a house is put together and the creative process for remodeling. Of course, now that the construction is done Iām working on setting up the rooms and clearing out things I no longer need/use. Best of all, I am really enjoying my new home</p>
<p>avoidingwork, you must either have a terrific contractor or the patience of a saint or both. We did a remodel (only about 4 months of disruption, not 12) early this decade and I was so glad to get it over with. Of all the various contractors that we used, there was only one who I actually wanted to strangle with my bare hands.</p>
<p>I think it was a little bit of both 
It certainly helped that I live alone so it was just one person whose life was disrupted. Once the project started, it took on a life of its ownā¦definitely had project creep and flew without a real budget. One thing that helped is that I really trusted my contractorās aesthetic taste, so I did not need to be involved in every detailed decision. Looking at tile was hard enough that I did not feel the need to pick out faucets, knobs, etc.</p>
<p>Greetings to all. Nice to see other empty nesters thinking about what lies ahead. S is sophomore in college up in northeast, D is awaiting college acceptances. Five months left of āactiveā parenting. Iāve been a single mom these past five years and part of me looks forward to āputting a checkmarkā on the part of lifeās list of getting the kids to college. D didnāt want me to date, and with restarting my legal career, itās probably good that I didnāt. So now I see over the bridge and think āoh myā ~ do I want to continue at the same firm, how do I āstartā dating, how do I plan this next phase? Thanks for all your posts; good to know there are friends out here.</p>
<p>Our kids left us this week to go to college.
Sorry, but Iām super sad. I cannot avoid this feeling of sadness. We had so beautiful Christmas together; we enjoyed breakfast and dinner together and all the normal activities of the holidays.
Iām sad and angryā¦just venting. Yesterday night I went to the movies to see āNineā and today prefilled the FAFSAā¦trying to keep my mind busy, but it is terribly difficult. I heard some music all dayā¦but the sadness is still there.
Iām going this afternoon to the movies to see āVictoria.ā
This is harder than went they left us in August.</p>
<p>Husband is a professional singer, so he knows lots of music and theatre types. Iām starting to think that those folks have the best time in their empty nest - we get Christmas cards from retired folks who are still performing. They tend to have musical or theatrical kids and grandkids, so there are plenty of performances to attend.</p>
<p>The very same kids that have been driving me crazy with their messes are all leaving this week. My two sons will not be home this summer, and I am happy, yet so sad that my sons will be gone for so long. My other son will be back home in May because he is graduating but life will not seem the same without the two middle kids. They are so active and involved in so many things that it takes weeks to get used to them being here, but months to reajust when they leave. I tend to focus on my career, and my clients get so much more attention when my kids are not home. I really donāt know what I am going to do when all four are really on their ownā¦too dificult to even imagine.</p>
<p>āhe knows lots of music and theatre types. Iām starting to think that those folks have the best time in their empty nest -ā</p>
<p>I got involved in community theater just as younger S left home. I am having a blast meeting wonderful people of all ages, and being in shows. Iām heading to my community college acting class in a few minutes. :)</p>