I suppose I'm not quite old enough to be an empty nester... or at least I certainly don't meet the criteria. But I'm definitely feeling the effects after having a very busy home for the past month and a half, and now it's down to just me all by my lonesome. Dad and Kelly left yesterday after being here for two weeks. Before that, my mom and aunt Judy were here for two and a half. And before that, Falconer and Carolyn were here living with me--both of them have since returned to the States. Thankfully, Frodo and Sam have yet to desert me.

With all the busyness that has filled my time the past several weeks, I welcome the calm and quiet. But I wouldn't trade any of that time and traveling with my family for anything! I left home exactly 11 months ago yesterday, so seeing the faces of some of the dearest people in the world to me was such a wonderful blessing. They were able to love on and encourage me like no one else can. It was great getting to share stories with them face-to-face from my time here and to hear also of stories from home.

Now, it's back to the real world. Like I said, it was a true blessing to be able to travel like I have. The timing worked out well for me to get away from Windhoek for a bit as both of the family visits fell mostly during the FHS break. Schools here run for 4 terms, with at least a full month's break between them. Thankfully, my administrative load has also slowed a bit and my office duties are not as hectic as they were during the first few months of taking on that role. Those are my two primary duties that keep me grounded in Windhoek most of the time. Given the timely break, I could devote most of my attention to my family and just enjoy spending that time with them. And I love to travel and see new places, so it has been exciting to see and do all that I have so far. Despite all of my recent travel blog entries, I didn't come to Namibia for one big vacation. I see these opportunities to travel around Southern Africa as an added blessing during my time here. (And to convince all of you that you should come visit this beautiful country... and me!)

Yes, it's incredibly quiet (and quite chilly) in this house, but I think I will cope just fine. I've got plenty of blankets, plenty of books, and soon to have a full season of CSI courtesy of iTunes. I've got Frodo and Sam (so thankful for them!). And I've got plenty of work still left to do. The children at FHS have stolen my heart and I don't even want to think of the day I'll be leaving them. And so I suppose with so many sweet kiddos around me all the time, I cannot technically consider myself an empty nester, can I? Although I don't want to go so far as wishing all 450 of them would come live with me in this house...