empty nesting...

My sister-in-law mentioned a book the other night, "Ten Dates for Empty Nesters" , that my brother-in-law gave her for her birthday, given that this fall both their children will be living on their own. I'm getting glimpses of this same lifestyle these days and last night John & Shawna headed to fuel and Kevin and I decided to take advantage of our rather lovely pool in the backyard. [It was afterall, a day of pampering :)] Recently we have alternated rousing matches of ping pong with the aquatic activities, namely floating and talking.

I'm sure our neighbors think we're bats, but no one made them haul that mound of dirt to their lot and place their house above our regulated fence, now did they? Kevin and I compete. [I posted that before. ] He hates to lose, I love to win and visa versa. But as we stood there last night battling over the placement of a small plastic ball, clad in dripping swimsuits with pool hair and barefeet, [hey, I wanted a 9 foot fence...] I looked across that table and adored my best friend in the whole wide world. As we laughed about chasing balls in an attempt to beat them to the edge of the pool or to the gaps under the fence, it felt a lot like old times. Like, 20+ years ago times, when we'd play nerf basketball for hours in his apartment, or when we created our own tennis net in my studio and played nerf tennis on our knees for eternity. The ole' physiques won't stop traffic these days, but I tell you what...that smile of his still stops my heart and I love him so.

I'm not looking forward to waking up and not being able to give my little girl a good morning hug, or see her come down the stairs looking amazing on her way to something fun, and a phone call just won't be the same. But I am looking forward to this next stage of life. Book or no book, Kevin and I are going to have a great time. If he lets me win it will be an even greater time, but that's completely up to him.