Absence makes the heart grow ...

Insomniac?

Himself is away this week, which tends to make life around here a "wee bit" challenging.
Not just the lack of an extra person to help ferry the Minions of Chaos to their various activities (although that does present its challenges!), but also because, after nearly 22 years together, not having him here is rather like misplacing half of one's body- disorienting, to say the least.

Don't get me wrong, everyone has so far made it out to all of their games/practices/trainings and/or classes- I've arranged a ride or two, staggered pick-ups and drop offs, and our daughter has graciously driven her little brother (and his best friend) to and from karate both nights this week (doesn't hurt that her boyfriend also attends the same dojo and usually goes and helps teach Littlest Man's class ;-)).

We even managed to have a (sort of) laid-back evening at home last night- one which involved my setting up our new television set (the sort of task that would normally fall to Himself, but, alas, the TV didn't arrive before he left). There's something tremendously satisfying about managing to tackle that sort of a task whilst he's away, because normally, I'm pretty pleased that the house is still standing upon his return ...

Not that it ever is in mortal peril, but often, by the time we get to "the day before" or the day of his return, everyone seems to be a little strung-out. I often wonder if they're feeding off of my anxiety in that regard, as I do tend to get the worst case of insomnia whenever Himself is away ... (witness the timestamp on this blog post)

What can I say? I like having him here; he grounds me. We get by in his absence, but it's not the same without him. Himself and I typically manage to speak to one another several times throughout the day (our long distance phone plan rocks), and whenever something happens, he's usually the first person I want to tell.

Currently, we have just over 36 hours until Himself returns home. Thus far, the house still stands, the animals are still speaking to me, no one has missed an activity, and I have a cake to bake for the soon-to-be twelve year old's birthday party on Saturday ...

Film at 11.