Empty Nest for the Weekend

One would think that I'd appreciate a 24-36 hour period without my children. I had high hopes of all sorts downtime and "me" time (like reading, crafting, hot baths) and in reality, this is the first time I've slowed down all weekend (minus potty breaks and sleeping). The kids were still here on Friday night but I was busy volunteering at the Women's Expo for a few hours. I made it home at a reasonable hour but Dakota had a buddy spending the night so the kids were quite satisfied entertaining themselves and not their dad and me. Saturday morning I was off to dance with Elle while Dad did drop off of the playmate and hung with Dakota. A couple of short hours later, we were shuffling them off to their grandparents so they could road trip to see their great-grandparents. Don't get me wrong...great grandparent visitation is a good thing. But I suddenly felt so alone!

We made a stop by the Indian Art's Festival to pay a visit to our friend Matt Bearden. Then Jason had to work a basketball game so instead of continuing with my lonesomeness, I loaded in the car to accompany him at the courts. I was mildly entertained for a few hours and then finally we broke free for a grown up dinner over sushi. We utterly enjoyed our time together and found some conversation about topics unrelated to our children (although they were mentioned many times as well). But guess what? My lame ass got sleepy by 9:30 p.m. ! I wasn't even up for a stop at Barnes and Nobles on the way home (which was a familiar stopping point for us pre-kids).

Anyhow, we went to church today (skipping the stop at Wee Worship), and Jason went golfing while I worked out, visited a family member at the hospital and grocery shopped. And now, we're off to Bible study and I'm still over two hours away from seeing my kids. :-(

I guess this is a testimony to the fact that no matter how much they bother me when they're present, they're so much more appreciated when they're away. I guess I should make a list of all the hobbies I'll find to fill the void when they move away from home. Thank God that won't be any time soon.