Empty Nest Life
Two years as empty nesters: what actually changed
The grocery bill, the laundry, the arguments, the noise. An honest look back at two years in a house built for four and lived in by two.
A long weekend on Put-in-Bay for $600
Ferry, golf cart, a small inn and one very good perch sandwich. How Greg and I did three days on a Lake Erie island without overspending.
Josh's graduation weekend and the bill nobody mentioned
Hotel rates in Cincinnati, the family dinner for nine and the parking. What a college graduation weekend really cost us.
Turning Emily's old room into a sewing room for $340
Paint, a secondhand table, better light and a daybed for when she visits. Where the $340 went and what I'd skip next time.
Learning to like a quiet Saturday morning
For 25 years Saturday meant games, errands and laundry. Now it's two cups of coffee and a cat on the windowsill, and it took practice.
Our first Christmas with both kids home as guests
Emily is driving down from Columbus, Josh is coming up from Cincinnati, and for the first time they'll both leave again on the 26th. A different kind of holiday.
Six months of a standing Tuesday date night
Greg and I promised each other one night out a week on a $40 cap. What we did, what it cost and which Tuesdays we just stayed home.
Moving Josh into his last college apartment
One more U-Haul trip to Cincinnati, a $46 Kroger run for his pantry, and the quiet drive home up I-75 with an empty truck bed.
My first summer after 24 years at the school office
Leaving a school-office job in June felt like the last day of school, except nobody was coming back in August. How I spent the first summer.
The first spring with nobody's cleats in the garage
No practice schedule on the fridge, no muddy cleats by the door. What a spring without kids' sports actually freed up, in hours and dollars.
Hello from a quieter house in Franklin, Ohio
Our youngest moved out, I'm about to leave a 24-year job, and the bills suddenly look different. Who we are and why I'm writing it down.