It's also a three day weekend. Normally, holiday weekends seem to pass like no time at all but when you're on your own, with no plans and only a couple of panty bears for company, three days is truly a long weekend. But, at the end of my first day alone here at the house, I've come up with a few rules for when Daddy bear goes out of town.
- Spread out. Normally, I'm out and dead asleep at 10pm or earlier but when Dave is out of town, for some reason, I really don't get tired. Well, that's not true at all, I'm actually exhausted but I can't seem to sleep. I think it's because there's too much room. So, I plan ahead, of course, and get as many pillows, and bears, into the bed as I can. You'd be surprised how much room Bailey can fill when she wants to. And I apparently sleep like a starfish when he's not here because I wake up in the oddest positions. Problem solved.
- Make some noise. Play music, turn on a fan, have something on TV, it's important to fill the silence a bit. Like with this... http://iLike.com/s/OFw We just saw them play in Richmond on Thursday, I think this video was a tribute they did at Virginia Tech after the shootings. Great local band. With lyrics like "your laughter is my light", you can't go wrong.
- Catch up with folks. Got to chat with a few friends on the phone, Dad stopped by and sat for a bit, emailed some people I hadn't responded to lately, and actually wrote a letter. Felt good, felt relaxed.
- Face your fears. It never fails that when Dave is gone, I inevitably come into close contact with my nemesis. And this time, it was a huge black widow who had decided that under my potting soil bag would be a perfect place to lie and wait to scare the ever loving crap out of me. So Bender growled and I stared at it for a while and then we threw things at it until it met its demise. I know, it was outside so technically under the pre-arranged rules of our family, it should live to see another person scream like a small child but when my husband/saint is away, all bets are off for local arachnids. Fear the wrath.
Can we also acknowledge how incredibly brave I had to be in order to get this shot? Thanks.
- Clean. I did the floors and kitchen today, tackling the bath tub and closets tomorrow. Boo yah. I know, I'm well aware of the fact that this shouldn't excite me as much as it does but I'm sure there are plenty of women out there who know that small victories like these are hard to come by.
- Notice what you miss. His presence, or lack of, is manifested in a lot of ways that I don't normally acknowledge when it's filled. The other toothbrush, his bikes in the shed. But the number one thing that I don't want to ever lose when he leaves is how much we miss him when he's gone. Bender has been sitting at the front door all night waiting to hear his car in the driveway.
We wuv you, Daddy!
In other news, we've had a busy spring with work picking up for both of us and some big things on the horizon. We decided to put off building the house for a year to save up some money and make sure we're not building anything we don't want. We were excited to get started but it definitely feels like the right decision.
I've been promoting the hell out of this year's tour. Two weeks to go!
And, not only have I not managed to kill anything so far this spring, I've actually planted a few other items and they seem to not hate life yet either! I do wonder why anyone would ever buy an annual plant though. I ruin enough things in the garden on my own, I definitely don't need plants that are guaranteed to not return. Interesting.
And we're trying really hard not to miss these guys too much though we've definitely thought about how much it would take to bribe them all to move back here! hint, hint. :)
