Hanging On

Hats off to all of the single parents out there. I only have to do it temporarily and only every few months. However, when I do it, I am exhausted!  Most nights after the kids are in bed, I find myself face down on my bed trying to find the willpower to get up from my 2 minute "let's sit down and rest" so I can finish putting away the dinner dishes, feed the cats, lock up the house, prepare everything for the activities for the next day, and pop up in a moment's notice when one of my doodlebugs startles in the middle of the night and needs me. There doesn't seem to be a down time.

Hubby is working on a big project that will take him in and out of town over the next few months. The thing with his job is sometimes he doesn't know when he's headed out and I'll find out a few days ahead of time with an, "Oh, Babe, I gotta travel in a few days and it will be for x amount of time."  We did really well last February. We knew it was happening, we knew he'd be gone for a while, and I used all my "waiting" time to prep myself mentally and emotionally.  With the help of technology and lots of "Face Time" thanks to last year's anniversary presents of iphones for each of us, the kids and I were able to see Hubby often enough to make things easier.

This time around has been a little tougher. I think that the timing isn't the greatest (but when is it ever great?). The beginning of the school year, the beginning of new extracurriculars, and new schedules have made this season's traveling a bit harder. We weren't set in our school routine when Hubby had to start traveling, so Boogie has been taking it especially hard. My heart broke a little when I overheard him tell Hubby, "I tried to fall asleep in your bed when Mommy was downstairs. I even tried to sleep on your side of the bed, but it didn't help. I still missed you a lot, so I went back to my own bed."  The little kids seems to be doing okay with it. Buggy knows that this is just the way it goes and keeps telling Daddy to "have a good time and I miss you!" and Mr. Bananas goes with the flow because he doesn't know any better. But, man, my Boogie Monster is having a rough time.  He's super bouncy. He's antagonizing his sister more than usual and having a harder time following directions.

Me? I'm more exhausted than ever. I'm keeping busy by training for next month's running festival.  Running let's me forget how tough it can be sometimes.  I think I'm also trying to run myself into exhaustion so that I'll sleep better at night, but that's not working. Not getting enough sleep coupled with intense work outs are leaving me drained and a little cranky. Not a good combo.

But day by day and week by week we'll get by. We're settling into school routines and by the end of the week each of the kids will be scheduled into their extracurriculars. Buggy and Bananas are taking gymnastics this Fall and Boogie is signed up for soccer. Gymnastics started last week and soccer will begin this Saturday. I think regular classes/practices will keep us busy and we'll settle into an overall life routine for the school year.

I'm very grateful for the offers of help from various friends. However, I think my strategy will be to hold on tight and keep on runnin'. Oh, and prayers for patience. Lots and lots of patience!

And just as it says in Proverbs 31, her husband has confidence in her (I just wish I had a little more in myself)...she works with eager hands (well mostly eager)... she gets up while it's still night (did I actually ever fall asleep???)...she sets about her work vigorously (keeping busy is my motto)...her arms are strong for the task (and for lots of hugs for my sweet kids who need a little more TLC)...

Here's to praying for a little less discombobulation and a little more strength and patience.

Our early bird squeezed in one more snuggle and one more story before Daddy left for his business trip

Made it!

This past week and weekend have been a whirlwind of activity. With Hubby being away I tried to keep busy and productive. I was definitely busy, but maybe to productive unless you count investing my time and energy into cultivating friendships, then, yes, very productive!  While Hubby was away I took the kids to several playdates with new friends, family that I am blessed to call friend, and one of my nearest and dearest friends.

I will admit that I was a walking zombie by the end of the week. I almost never napped (though I really should have!) and I fell asleep past midnight every night and awoke early with the kids and woke up several times in between to tend to the baby.

I finally found a pair of "big girl pants" that fit and didn't call my husband in a fit of tears while he was away. Not once! Hurrah for being a big girl.  He noticed and even commented that he missed me. He's never done that. Probably because I'm usually on the other end of the phone crying from the lack of sleep.  He heard my weary, yet cheerful voice each night and I think it made him miss me :)

My poor husband finally rolled in around 5am on Saturday morning exhausted and a little grumpy. He missed his original flight and his next flight was delayed and arrived in a completely different airport so he had to take a cab to the other airport where he left his car, before finally arriving home to us.

But he made it and so did I. While I'm not looking forward to future business trips, at least I know that I can survive a week without him. Hurrah to having him home for a while before his next business trip.

Big Girl Pants

So I told myself I would be better about Hubby's business traveling.  I would put on my big-girl pants and suck it up.  Yeah, that lasted until the next time he had to start making travel plans.

 He called me from work a few days ago with new dates for a trip he is taking. He asked me what I thought about him traveling on our wedding anniversary. I quickly threw off the big girl pants and told him that if he had any say in it, then no that wouldn't be okay. I must have said a lot more than that and not very nicely because his response was, "A simple yes or no will suffice."

For now I've shucked off the big-girl pants. I'll try them on again tomorrow ;)

Rainbows

I've mentioned many times about my husband business travels and how hard they are on all of us.  I'm blessed that he does not have to travel frequently and I'm blessed that I have enough family and friends around to give us a hand or to provide a day of distraction for us.  It's still hard, but I really need to put on my big girl pants and get beyond that.

The other day I noticed a rainbow on our drive.  It was beautiful and this picture I took with my cell phone certainly does not do it justice.

I started thinking about rainbows and how they are created with a little rain and a little sunshine.  I thought about my husband traveling and the kids and I doing things together without an important member of our family unit.  I thought about how that was the rain in our week and I thought about the little bits of sunshine that we had that made rainbows during our weeks.

Rainbows:
**Boogie finally nighttime dry. Awesome!
**The kids taking Hubby's travel in stride and doing well.
**Boogie being extra helpful
**Spending Mother's Day with my parents and my children
**Boogie comforting me and telling me that it's hard when Daddy's gone, and giving me hugs.
**Having a friend willing to come down with her girls and spend the day with us even though she is incredibly busy.
**Having lunch with a good friend and spending time with her before she moves to Australia.
**My parents graciously taking my kids the night before the 5-miler and taking them to my son's t-ball game.
**My parents having us over for dinner
**Running an awesome race and having a friend cheer me on.
**Watching my son's last preschool sing for the school year.
**Having great teachers who have taught my son well.
**Catching up with a friend on the phone because I had some extra time
**Extra time I got to spend with my kids

Boy, am one lucky gal. I had a lot of sunshine last week and was able to find many rainbows. Now I'm enjoying the time with my husband before he goes on another business trip in the near future. But at least now I know that I can do it. Now time for me to try on those big girl pants and make sure they fit before my husband's next business travel...