The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living
Rick and Clancy have been enjoying life together since the mid 90s, married in 2000. Starting August 2023, they now have two college-aged kiddos and are about to enter a new phase of life. Empty Nest Living. The house is quieter than before...it's a loud quiet, indeed. Join them as they laugh, cry, and yes, probably argue while trying to figure out how to live the empty nest—new adventures and challenges await! Tune in for relatable empty nest stories, navigating the ups and downs of empty nest life, with humor about the empty nest journey. The Loud Quiet - Empty Nest Living.
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161
Oct. 29, 2026
My Empty Nest Shopping Spree Needs To End E161
Impulse shopping has never been easier, and in the empty nest it can sneak up on you fast. In this true confessions episode, Clancy asks: am I addicted to shopping, or is it just a phase? A new season, a closet she's rebuilding from scratch, a TikTok feed full of cute finds, and one-tap Apple Pay all lined up to fill our porch with boxes. Nothing on its own was expensive. Together, it was a lot.
Rick owns his part too. As the one who handles our finances, he saw the spike and went with pas
Rick owns his part too. As the one who handles our finances, he saw the spike and went with pas
160
Oct. 22, 2026
Where Has All The Kindness Gone? Can Empty Nesters Bring It Back? E160
Acts of kindness are the small, observant choices that take about 30 seconds and can turn someone's day around. So why do they feel so rare right now? On Clancy's morning walks, only about 60 percent of people wave or say hello back. Commutes turn into races, a friendly note on a windshield feels like a scam, and the algorithm keeps feeding us the worst of each other. If you've been wondering where all the kindness went, especially in this empty nest season, you're not imagining it. We're
159
Oct. 15, 2026
Why University Family Engagement Offices Are Vital With Annamarie Tellez E159
Mid-semester is when a lot of families start asking these questions. What can a parent do after three weeks of silence? Why do so many students start struggling right around week six? And how do you support your student without stepping back into the driver’s seat? Annamarie Tellez is the director for parent and family programs at the University of Arizona, where our daughter is a senior. Annamarie is also the parent of three Wildcats. Her office is where families go when they don’t
158
Oct. 8, 2026
Wide Open Spaces Greatest Hits E158
We just got back from Arizona. Another parents' weekend, another hike into the Grand Canyon. That trip sent us straight back to Episode 9, so we're bringing it back as a Greatest Hits episode. We recorded it in our first few months as empty nesters, a mile and a half down the trail, not even sure the mics were on. If you can, turn on the video. It was Tanner's last parents' weekend at ASU, and we said yes to everything he wanted to do. Then on to Tucson and Teagan, six weeks into college.
156
Oct. 1, 2026
Exploring Los Angeles With The Empty Nesters E157
Rick gave Clancy a trip to Los Angeles for Christmas, and we finally took it in September. This is our first trip as just the two of us since Mexico last year. The whole thing was built around one concert. The biggest highlight came from a tour Clancy found the Tuesday before we left, after our original plan fell through. That tour got us into hidden places on the Sunset Strip and the stories behind them, the kind you'd walk right past on your own. We also get into where we stayed, where w
156
Sept. 24, 2026
An Empty Nest Chat With Fellow Author John Infortunio E156
John Infortunio writes about his father's Alzheimer's, and he chose fiction over memoir to do it. On this episode, he tells us why a character can hold what a memoir can't. John is a lifelong educator, a native Brooklynite, and the author of two novels drawn from his own life. We get into how he balances that authenticity with fiction, what actually happens in his editing process, and how growing up in a tight-knit Brooklyn neighborhood shaped the way he writes. He also talks about caretak