empty nest??

This past weekend Rich and I had the unusual experience of spending the night alone in our own house! Instead of having a Christmas banquet like last year, Bethel Church organized Christmas potluck meals in people's homes. We decided to sign up for one, but we didn't know where we'd be going or how late we'd be home; so we asked Doug & Caroline (Rich's brother & sister-in-law in Napanee) if the kids could spend the night there. So on Saturday afternoon we took them out there and they had a great time with their aunt and uncle and cousins.

We were invited to the home of a couple we don't know well, Dave and Monica Stewart. Including the hosts there were 12 people for dinner, ranging from a first-year student at Queen's to a man in his 90's. The older gentleman has a talent we didn't know about: he makes pies. AMAZING pies. His contribution to the potluck was in fact four pies: two apple, one cherry, and one pecan. (For twelve people.) And I'm not talking about dumping canned pie filling into premade crusts; you just had to take one look at the pie to know that it was made by an expert baker. So all in all we had a very delicious meal and got acquainted with some people we didn't know. It was a very nice, relaxing evening.

After Rich & I got home we had a glass of wine, watched the end of the hockey game, and went to bed. (Yeah, when the kids are gone we really go nuts, don't we?) But the strangest part was getting up in the morning and going to church without the kids. We went to the gym after the service and drank coffee and actually talked to people -- imagine!

It was great to see the kids when they got home later that morning. They'd had a great visit. It's wonderful to have family in the area and to know that our kids have so many people who love them.