How Do I Make This Important?

Almost 11 months have passed since my last posting. How do I make this blog a priority? Or is it important? I've been an official "empty nester" since the end of August when Brad and I dropped Laura off at BYU. And life is different. It's much too quiet!

Maybe that's why this is important. This blog is a way to bring some of the noise back into my life. Brad is great company, and we had a fun fall, highlighted by a two-week trip to Spain. But the quiet is still here. I'm watching way too much TV, not because the programming is so great, but there is a little sound. Did you know that Bonnie Hunt has a talk show? You know, the actress in "Dave" -- "We're walking, we're walking. . ." One of my favorite movie lines. I have seen so many episodes of "NCIS," that now I've turned my attention to "Bones." Maybe I should have been a crime scene investigator. Is is too late?

I know my TV watching is driving Brad a little crazy. He sits in the living room while I watch and he reads a book. He's read almost all the books he got for Christmas.

So what's a mother to do? When Jeff was home for Christmas, he said I needed some hobbies. Hobbies!? Stamp collecting? Interior decorating? Languages? Japanese cooking?

This is a time of discovery. I can't live vicariously through Leslie's semester abroad in Jerusalem or Jeff's to New Zealand. I have to find the "noise" in my own life. A new life that doesn't include taking care of kids in the same way as when they lived at home. As I write this, it's started to sound kind of exciting.

Stay tuned. The journey begins today.