Since becoming an Empty Nester I have discovered a few things that are very different than when my kids lived at home:

1.  I don’t close the door when I use the bathroom anymore.

2.  I talk to myself (a lot more than I did before).

3.  I sleep in.  (Okay, to clarify I don’t sleep well at night, but make up for it in the morning.)  Wait…hmmmm, there may be a correlation there…?

4.  I talk to the dog more.

5.  I vacuum and dust my house.  Yeah, seriously!  And I (gasp) enjoy it, because the house doesn’t get messed up immediately after.

6.  I talk to my plants…particularly disturbing because they’re all artificial.

7.  I plan meals that my husband and I enjoy without thinking about our children’s bizarre food likes and dislikes.

8.  I talk to my dog more when I’m in the bathroom.  (Hmmmm, must be another correlation with having the door open so the dog follows me everywhere.)

9.  I don’t look at clocks as much.  My schedule is simple and my calendar is open.

10.  I have uninterrupted time to read and write more.

11.  I experiment with recipes I’ve found on Facebook or Pinterest without having a critical audience discourage me when I fail.

12.  We have control over the remote…but mostly to avoid commercials, we’re watching shows our kids have recommended to us on Netflix.

13.  My husband and I can have a date night every night if we want to…except we are so addicted to “Walking Dead” on Netflix that we can’t pry ourselves away from Zombie Apocalypse long enough to have a candlelit dinner together without freaking out about what may be lurking in the dark……

14.  I have never been as interested in Zombies as I am now.  In fact, while doing some research on the topic, I wonder if this verse confirms an upcoming Zombie Apocalypse? “Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.  It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.”  Zechariah 14:12-13

15.  I really have way too much time on my hands, I have to stop talking to the dog, and I really do need to get more sleep……………