{"id":39,"date":"2015-08-15T21:19:55","date_gmt":"2015-08-16T01:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/?p=39"},"modified":"2015-08-15T21:19:55","modified_gmt":"2015-08-16T01:19:55","slug":"15-living-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/?p=39","title":{"rendered":"15. Living Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Heron<\/a><\/p>\n

Okay, I’ll admit it:\u00a0 The last few days, maybe even few weeks (since I got back from visiting family on the west coast), I’ve had some bouts of the Empty Nest Blues.<\/p>\n

My youngest son is doing a summer internship in Portland, Oregon this year.\u00a0 He’s working at the same company my oldest works for.\u00a0 He just turned 21.\u00a0 He’s graduating after just one more semester; and he’s talking about moving back to Portland after he does.<\/p>\n

On top of that, it seems lately I’ve gotten more than my share of bozos and scammers contacting me on the online dating site I’m on — all emphasizing that I’m living alone.<\/p>\n

Mind you, my mind<\/em> is fine with it.\u00a0 I enjoy living alone!\u00a0 But my heart is missing my kids, missing having a husband who’s in love with me, and, well, a little extra prone to the blues lately.<\/p>\n

However — there are many, many wonderful things about living alone.\u00a0 And I’m going to continue to go over and over those blessings in my mind — and hope the message will eventually get to my heart.<\/p>\n

First, living alone is much, much better than living with a husband who actively dislikes me and is working to tear me down and explain why he can’t possibly live with me.\u00a0 Enough said.<\/p>\n

It’s amazing how much less time I have to spend on chores like cleaning and cooking and shopping.\u00a0 I don’t have to clean up after anyone<\/em> except myself!<\/p>\n

I can play music I love<\/a> as loud as I want and as long as I want.\u00a0 No one is bothered a bit.<\/p>\n

I can read as late as I want with the lights on.\u00a0 No one is bothered a bit.<\/p>\n

I can go to my gaming group<\/a>\u00a0every Friday night without finding out if anyone else wants to go and without feeling like I’m neglecting anyone.<\/p>\n

I can jaunt off to the Smithsonian<\/a> on a whim if I want to.<\/p>\n

I can live in a smallish, cozy condo<\/a> which I chose based on what I like (the view) and which has no yard work whatsoever.<\/p>\n

I can be as active in my church<\/a> as I wish to be — arrive early and leave late.\u00a0 I’m not bothering anyone if I linger and talk.<\/p>\n

I can spend lots of time working on my website<\/a>, and again, I’m not bothering anyone by not spending time with them.\u00a0 (See also less time doing chores and more time reading.)<\/p>\n

I’m working on writing a book.\u00a0 Again, spending time doing this doesn’t bother anyone.<\/p>\n

I can do a jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table or coffee table, and it’s not in anyone’s way.<\/p>\n

Groceries cost an impressive amount less.<\/p>\n

I can have just as long a quiet time every day as I want.\u00a0 I can memorize verses by reading them out loud — no one notices.<\/p>\n

I can sing at the top of my lungs.<\/p>\n

I can surround myself with things I love (meaning books, yarn, and games).<\/p>\n

And… you know what?\u00a0 I think it’s time to give my sister a call.\u00a0 But I can do that, too!<\/p>\n

Honestly, I’m telling my heart — there’s an up side….<\/p>\n

Am I protesting too much?\u00a0 No, these are indeed wonderful things.\u00a0 And I really do believe that God loves me and is with me and looking after me.\u00a0 I do not want to pray for patience in this season of life — I want to pray to enjoy it fully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Okay, I’ll admit it:\u00a0 The last few days, maybe even few weeks (since I got back from visiting family on the west coast), I’ve had some bouts of the Empty Nest Blues. My youngest son is doing a summer internship in Portland, Oregon this year.\u00a0 He’s working at the same company my oldest works for.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,8,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions\/41"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderblessings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}