12/02/2026
Note: we were supposed to leave late last year, but I had an emergency back surgery (which I’m now pretty well fully recovered from), so the timeline changed.
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Now the next chapter begins and I’m not sure I’m ready.
Mike and I fantasized for years about the moment we would become empty-nesters. RV’ing around the country or getting a little sailboat and goofing around the Caribbean, golfing, building a little home in New Meadows, ID and another tiny home in Hunt, TX so we can both have time “at home” with our families of origin while still working part-time. Not an extravagant life, but something we planned well for. I mean, this is what we worked for, right? RIGHT??!!
But no one tells you that once you reach that stage, a whole new bag of life opens up that needs you.
Yeah, our youngest kids have kind of left the nest… but maybe they still need us and we shouldn’t leave. Greyson and Noah still kind of live here. They are in that place where we still financially support them in many ways, but they are also kind of paying their own way. And since Noah works in Boise at the airport, he’s mostly at his dad’s except to come home on his days off and drop a big mess bomb! And Greyson is only home maybe one or two nights a week… sometimes. He’s been working a lot in Meridian and living with his aunt.
And honestly when they are home, they don’t like us very much because we are pressing them on packing up their rooms and taking the next steps in their lives. Neither are being abandoned. They both have plans, places, support in place. But they are pretty freaking mad we are leaving. 😂
Darian and Amanda are fine. They dont need us. But… ***The hardest part? That grandbaby of ours makes me want to buy a little house in Boise and open a new daycare with one little client. I know people live far away from their grandchildren all the time, but it makes me sad.***
I’m not really sure I’m ready to leave. But the date’s been set for April 15. 😭