I picked out a new OPI coral for the summer, bravely branching out from my comfort zone of neutral!
I never know what to expect when Jon travels. He tends to pick schedules and locations that don't permit predictable phone calls. He checks in with me when he can, but half the time we're shouting, "Hello? Can you hear me?" Then we exchange a few words, enough to know that we're both safe. He used to travel more frequently and for longer durations. Those were harder times and definitely lonelier in the company of an infant and toddlers for days and days. It was almost always the case that something unusual would go wrong, or that I'd find myself in some sort of predicament. There were a couple times when morning sickness (a.k.a. all-day-hellish-throwing-up-sickness) required me to have live-in help (a.k.a. my mother-in-law). There was the time when all my kids had the stomach flu with fevers, and in the middle of the night Andrew (at 9 months old) had his first seizure. I ended up calling a neighbor from church I hardly knew to run to the pharmacy, an awkward thing to do in the middle of the night. Another time there was a brake failure on my car, an electrical problem that surfaced without warning. One time Jon left for an extended trip and left me with strict instructions about not answering the door to strangers. Apparently he had dealt with a crazy person at church, a real psycho type individual that was unpredictable and possibly dangerous. That was not a relaxing time for me! One year my grandmother passed away while Jon was in China and I booked the worst tickets ever, the only ones I could get, and flew to Canada with my kids. Another time, when I was almost full term with Jacob, the plumbing went crazy at the condo we were renting. The toilet, which had not just been used by anyone in our unit, started making a loud noise and sewage was shooting everywhere. Even with the lid down, it was spraying out between the lid and the seat. I had no sympathy from the plumber either, only the sense that he believed me to be a hormonal, over-reacting pregnant lady.
But not this time. This time was really neat, a sweet time to focus on my kids. The only issue I could mention was the day last week when my car alarm kept going off randomly as we ran errands. The remote has been giving me problems, probably battery related, but it was unresponsive to my embarrassed and desperate attempts to turn the alarm off. Even when I got in the car and started the engine, the alarm didn't turn off. OK, truth is, I have no idea how to turn the blasted thing off, and I certainly didn't appreciate the fact that it kept going off unprovoked.
I never quite know what to expect when Jon gets home, either . Sometimes he's so jet lagged and spent from his work that it takes a few days before he is really 'here'. My nights are then interrupted by him looking for company, and pretty soon we're both feeling jet lagged! Other times he's really eager to get back to his regular work; still others he is home and focused on us. The kids always look forward to the little things he brings back, thrilled even for hotel soaps and shampoos, and for leftover foreign currency.
In any case, we're always thankful to be back together, safe, and with new stories to exchange.
Back to these feet of mine... Tomorrow starts early with another orthodontist appointment for Andrew, the third in one week. One thing is for sure: I stay up way too late when Jon's not home! Midnight is my favorite time.
~Katherine
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