The nest has been reclaimed.

It has been over a year since my last blog post. Life hit me fast and furious and left me a little breathless for a while. I needed some perspective before I was ready to share.

Let's see, when I left this blog, my nest consisted of me, my husband, a college student, and a few assorted pets. I was establishing my life as a post-child-rearing adult career woman.

Things happened. My job ended just before Christmas in 2010. The college student moved away. I spent two months using the severance package's placement agency, found another position, and collected exactly one week of unemployment compensation. However, I had to find another nest. The new job was 85 miles away, and time and finances quickly showed that I needed to live near my work Monday through Friday. After 3 weeks in a hotel, I found an apartment, and set about creating a new nest. (That is worthy of it's own blog entry.)

So now my husband and I had two nests and assorted pets. Quiet, and busy. Then in June our son came home from his year abroad. Yeah! We had really missed him. He is a pretty quiet guy, and easy to have around.

The next nest addition was a surprise. Our 14 year old nephew came to live with us after his mother remarried and moved out of state. He wasn't thrilled with the new living arrangements, and we were approached about taking him in for a while. So Brian joined the family in July, and has been there ever since. Brian is 15 now, and has fast become one of the family. Even the cat seldom leaves him for me on the weekends any more.

In December our daughter, Lydia, and her girlfriend, Audrey, moved from Pennsylvania to Lincoln, and moved in with us for the time being. We're up to 6 people now, 3 pets, and my extra apartment 85 miles away.

Well, no wonder I haven't had much time for blogging.

A man I know once said that when your children leave home, it isn't so bad, because they leave the nest behind. That sounded good. But now I know that I prefer my full-to-overflowing nest. After all, isn't that what nests are all about? Welcome home, children.

Love, Mom