We had a busy weekend before the house emptied out. My parents arrived on Friday morning and got to spend a couple of days with us while they were house hunting. Their trip was a success and they put a contract on a house that’s about two hours away from us. It’ll make for a very manageable day trip and give Cakes the opportunity to spend more time with them and my grandparents (who live with my parents and are also moving south). Cakes just adores her Nana and Papa and I can’t wait for them to be around all the time!
After breakfast yesterday, my parents headed back to Colorado while my husband left town on a business trip. It’s just me, Cakes and the dogs. I’m not exactly alone nor do I have an empty house, but it’s just not the same. So far this is the first full day without anyone that I can carry on a conversation with. My conversations with the dogs are entirely one sided and those with Cakes are mostly one sided with one and two word sentences thrown in there.
I’m no stranger to my husband traveling for business. Early on in our marriage, after getting out of the Air Force he traveled around as a contractor for the government. He was usually gone for four weeks or so at a time, home for a week, and then gone again. He did that for almost two years. Luckily, I had college classes to keep me busy and I got so used to him being gone it was an adjustment to have him back home. I’d get up to get a drink or a snack and fail to offer to bring him back something too. And the travel wasn’t all bad, I made a couple of trips to Vegas with him and used hotel points to have a week’s vacation at an oceanfront resort in Maui! But that was a long time ago.
And that’s before we were parents and when my parents were only 10 minutes away. Now my parents are 15 hours away and we have a 2 year old. I have so much respect an admiration for the single parents and military spouses out there that do it all and never get a break. Or the time their spouse is gone is longer than five days. I know I’ll survive and have plenty to keep me busy – a race to train for (my 5k is this Saturday), blogging, maybe a little shopping to do, and house cleaning.