Our Home is Too Quiet!

July 2011

Ken and I celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary this month, actually next week on September 24th. We are both busier at age 60 than we were at age 35! I'm swamped with rehearsals for our upcoming stake musical production called "Amanda's Search for Happiness", voice students and the Voyager business. And Ken is juggling the Voyager business - both corporately going to Vegas Monday - Friday, and the farms in El Salvador. But we do need to take time out next week to do something different and fun together. If I didn't have the rehearsal Saturday and choir (I'm directing) on Sunday, we would head over the Las Vegas and see a show or something, along with hitting the corporate Voyager offices to do last minute marketing planning. And it's a good thing we are so busy at this point and time in our lives because Empty Nest Syndrome would bury me. That brings me to my point of "Our Home is Too Quiet!"

"Lots of Ballplayers at the Burgess Home!"

Brookly, Madison, Jacquelynn on my back porch.

I spend a great deal of my day on Facebook because that's how I communicate the most effectively with my distributors from coast to coast. I actually friend anyone that looks like they are in Network Marketing. You just never know who might be interested in the business. And while on Facebook today I met a newly "friended" networking gal and started chatting about our families, and my immediate response to her question on how many children I 

had, grandchildren, etc. was to say that all five of my fabulous kids live out of California! Of course I mentioned "ballplayers" in the chatting - that's a given, but it was interesting that my gut, emotional response was that they all lived too far away and that I miss them day and night - everyday. I think having them all gone, especially with Angela moving to Orem, Utah suddenly and David leaving for Utah, there's an emptiness that no matter how busy we get here, it hits me...the home is too quiet!

Directing rehearsals "Amanda's Search for Happiness."

Chamberlain and Siri playing with my Cookie Monster toy.

Calvin dressed (for no reason) as Batman.

This morning, for example, as I was doing my usual morning rituals of drinking my eXfuze, then feeding the Coy fish, ducks, geese and turtles, then having my protein shake with a handful of supplements, then kitchen chores - emptied dishwasher, wiped off counters and sink - I looked around and said out loud, "the home is too quiet." Yes, the house is too quiet and it's too tidy and clean, there are no fingerprints anywhere, no kitchen floor spills, little toys lodged behind the couch, and I miss the mess that kids and grandchildren always bring when they are home or visiting. Where I used to always have Merribelle the housekeeper come once a week, I haven't needed her more than once a month. There's no one here to mess things up.

It's just a good thing that I'm beyond busy right now. 
I thank Heavenly Father for that. He keeps giving me projects and ways to grow and develop with business, students and church callings. If not, I'd be calling my kids all of the time to just chat. Their responses would probably be, "so what do you need mom?" Grandkids call ever so often. Madison called to tell me about her new school shoes, Adelaide to thank me for her birthday t-shirts, and Calvin called yesterday to say he missed me. I told him that we were coming there to PA for Thanksgiving. He was so excited that he didn't even cover the phone when he hollered out to everyone, "grandma and grandpa are coming for Thanksgiving!" He then told me to Skype him because he wanted to see me. So cute.

So, let's recap here...house is too tidy, too clean, too much food in the refrigerator (since I continue to buy bulk at Costco - who knows why), and definitely too quiet. Maybe I keep shopping in bulk because I'm hoping that my kids and grand kids will drop by unexpectedly. That is one mess I'd welcome anytime, any day. Our home is just too quiet!