The Empty Nest Archives » Page 5 of 8 » Adventures of Empty Nesters

The Happy Hour Hiking Club with Chris Erskine

March 24, 2020October 28, 2016

Photo: Dave Wilkenson — Photo: Dave Mickelson

An Empty Nester Hiking Club Adventure ~

When was the last time you did something for the first time? My most recent experience was Wednesday. Craig and I joined a cheerful group of hikers who were mostly middle-aged and some even a bit older, who live near Los Angeles. We went on a short, but steep hike to the Griffith Park Observatory and it was awesome.

Columnist Chris Erskine, from the Los Angeles Times, put this group together. Yes! That guy! He is just as great in person and as friendly as you would assume he would be.

Chris had this idea of getting some nice people together, taking a short-ish walk or hike and finishing with a Happy Hour. This became the Happy Hour Hiking Club.

The views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills were spectacular. Many of us had never been up there before and we all lived nearby. Hard to believe but true! Chris said “Welcome to the rooftop of Los Angeles”. The sunset sky rolled out a rainbow of colors for all of us to enjoy.

Sage Advice for the New Empty Nester: Cheer up!

March 24, 2020August 10, 2016

Are you looking for advice for the new empty nester?

It is August and new empty nesters are now arriving at the most difficult of the empty nest hurdles. Navigating the college send off, dealing with the new freshman’s anxiety, the anticipation of the actual “goodbye” is a lot to deal with. Not to mention how you use your acting skills to pretend this is all for the best and you are “so excited” for their first year away at school.

Of course you are excited and proud of your 18 year old baby who has accomplished such amazing things! But the fact is, that adorable, perfectly delicious child of yours will not be walking back in to your house for a while and certainly NOT on a daily basis. This my friend is not an easy situation to handle. Some of you will breeze through this process and some will cry a little more than you want to. That was me.

The Fixer Upper Recap & Final Video

June 29, 2016

The fixer upper recap~

This past Thursday, we finally moved back in to the fixer upper. Ten months later we are attempting “the new normal”.

Sometime last year I wrote a pretty popular Huffington post about the inevitability of change. How life throws us twists and turns and we need to learn to adjust. This is especially apparent when you become an empty nester.

Your life is so vastly different when you no longer have the day-to-day activities, as well as the interruptions of having kids in the house. You are proud of their accomplishments, but now they are living away at college, trying to detach themselves, learning to be independent and more mature.

Furthermore, we as parents are experiencing similar emotions. Trying to learn how to turn the focus BACK on to us and learning to live without our children in tow.

Initially it can be fairly emotional and sad, but ever so slowly we begin to realize that we can still be exceptional parents and have a great deal of fun as well.

Home Renovation Update – Almost finished!

March 24, 2020June 13, 2016

Guest Adventurer: Finding My Passion as an Empty Nester

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016

Please welcome our newest Guest Adventurer: Shirly from Winchester Hampshire (England)

My name is Shirly and I’m a young at heart 48 years old. I had my son during my mid-teenage years and never really had the chance to discover what I wanted to do in life or to find out what I was good at. Now that my daughter has finished university and is beginning to carve her own life, I thought this would be my chance to discover my own passions and find out what truly lights my fire. Although I’ve worked as a Midwife for over nine years, I’ve always felt that there was something missing. I think as mothers we give way and focus on bringing up a family, leaving our personal hopes and dreams on the side. It’s never too late to discover our passions. This is one of the reasons for starting this blog, NurtureHappy.com to hopefully inspire others in similar situations to do the same.

I have two grown up children; My son is 32 and is living on his own near where I used to live with my daughter (Charlie) in London. He’s pretty private and unfortunately, doesn’t really want to be mentioned personally. My daughter is 23 years old. She graduated after finishing a degree in Fashion Jewellery at the London College of Fashion in July 2015. Through using a studio in a school to create her jewellery pieces, she somehow got a job as as teaching assistant. She’s now looking to train as a Design and Technology teacher!

Come Join Us on Instagram in Midlife

July 14, 2016May 23, 2016

Instagram in Midlife and every life ~

It has been months and months since I wrote about Instagram in Midlife. Finally, I see that many more people of my generation are embracing this social media platform.

I am thrilled to welcome my friends from Facebook as they join “IG” or “Insta” for short. Facebook is so 2015… Instagram is simple, no politics and it is perfect for all generations. No one cares how old you are, they just want to look at your photos.

I absolutely love the creativity and fun Instagram brings. I hope to encourage those of you who have not yet joined who are taking photos on your smart phone. With the IG app on your phone, it is a snap to share a photo.

Because really… If I don’t take a photo did it really happen? Ha!

13 Things To Do With Your Adult Kids

August 12, 2018May 16, 2016

fun things to do with your adult children

Fun things to do with your adult kids ~

Lately I have been receiving email requests for ideas for fun things to do with your adult kids. As our kids have gotten older and become adults, the family dynamics have changed and we seem to put more thought into what we will do as a foursome when our schedules allow us to all get together.

Road Trip: Back to California

May 2, 2016

This morning we leave to drive back down to Pasadena for the last Road Trip. Craig, Rocco and I are packed to the gills with all of the crap we have collected in Seattle for 8 months. We sent 12 boxes back to So Cal and will be vagabonds for another month while our home …

The Pasadena Empty Nest Fixer Upper Update!

March 24, 2020April 29, 2016

kitchen remodel — The refrigerator and freezer panels are waiting for the appliances to arrive. Next up: The hardwood floor to be finished and hardware for the cabinets. There is paper covering the new floors for now.

Another update for the empty nest fixer upper…

More progress, more decisions, more changes, rinse, repeat. It does seem that the little house in Pasadena has made some significant progress, but with that progress came a couple of setbacks.

Every time we are cruising along at a healthy pace, something happens that slows it all down just a bit. The tile that I had originally picked for the front of the fireplace arrived and I was taken aback at what I had chosen. There was nothing about it that I liked. The architect urged me to choose something more traditional, more “old Pasadena” and we made the choice together. I now see that the colors were wrong, it seemed old fashioned, but I made this decision in the middle of the last few (horrific) months of my dad’s life. I made a mistake.

Upgraded to the Penthouse Suite at the “Riot Hyatt “

April 28, 2016

Since we began the renovation of our house in Pasadena, Craig and I have spent a great deal of time flying back and forth from Seattle to Burbank to stay involved with the project. We are loyal to the Hyatt Hotel brand and almost always stay in one of the their properties. We believe in brand loyalty and because of this philosophy, we have been awarded a Hyatt Courtesy Card (a unique and special status) and stay over 150 nights per year in their hotels.