Separation Anxiety: Top Five Best and Worst

Growing up my parents were hardly ever gone from home without us. I can remember most of the trips my Dad took because he always brought us back sweet gifts as tokens of regret for ditching the family. Us kids used to almost get excited about a business trip for Mom or Dad, knowing that we were going to get something awesome out of it. Although, I'm not sure it was a fair trade knowing that if Mom left we would be eating the same two dinners he knew how to cook for the entire week, and if Dad left we might not get to sports practice all week. Plus we missed them.

Well it is the same thing now that I am married. I am mostly sad when my husband is away but I am trying to find the positive. This post is for me, so that I can look back when I am half way through a deployment or long trip and find a silver lining.

Top Five Things That Suck About My Man Being Away:

5. Taking out the trash out by myself...and all the other chores that men are suppose to do. The other night a GIANT cockroach ran across my living room. It took a couple of attempts, but I managed to kill that bugger by myself!

4. No one to binge watch Netflix with. Do you know how difficult it is to resist the new season of Orange is the New Black due to a marital pact?!?

3. No one to cuddle with. I need a dog (although nothing is the perfect substitute).

2. Having to wait to talk to him. Conversations are limited to specific times. I can't just blurt out what I am thinking and have him respond right away...although he might see this as a positive.

1. Having my BFF around. He is always on hand to go do something fun....Anyone want to come hang out with me?!?

Top Five Things That Don't Quite Suck About My Man Being Gone

5. I can go like a week in between leg shaves. If you are a Dude and thinking gross, get over it. Your lady does it too. We all do.

4. I can make myself the same dinner 6 nights in a row when I am not responsible for the care and feeding of someone else. Although this get's old, I do enjoy cooking. Any one want to come over so I can get out of my dinner rut?

3. I get more focused on diet and fitness. I don't want my man coming home to an out of shape wife. Gaining weight is a slow creep, but when you have a deadline to shoot for like a homecoming you get your a$$ in gear.

2. Girls nights. Investing more in your friendships. This is a great time to do that. Who is up for a little Thunder from Down Under? j/k but really, girls night anyone?

1. You plan stuff. When you are together you make mental notes to talk about vacations, goals, plans etc. but then routine makes the time fly by and you never take any aciton. When you are separated you talk more about the future, which provokes action. Book those tickets, write down those goals and cement those plans you have been meaning to make.

Routine makes the time go faster, and so do goals. I am sure the time will fly by.

Attitude of Gratitude #7

Greetings,

It has been a couple weeks since I last posted due to my typical excuse, business, also due to a little bit of laziness, I will admit. We had a visit from Rob's parents, which was great! I really do love having family in town. It is fun to catch up and get out of our routine to be tourists in our own town. We rode the train out of canyon city. We sat in a full service car and had a light lunch of chicken skewers and fruit. We enjoyed standing out on the observation car and enjoying the gorgeous view.
 Last weekend we went to Wyoming to visit my mother and help her with a few things. While up there we went to dinner at my favorite restaurant The Altitude Brewery. I had a big steak with mashed potatoes, veggies and wine...mmmm it was delicious.
This has been the first weekend in a while I have just stayed at home and been lazy. I got a few things done but was mostly lazy. Rob had to leave this week for training, he spent the weekend in Air Force lodging but his weekend was the same. I think we both needed a chill weekend to recharge.
Currently,  I am fasting for a small medical procedure tomorrow. For those of you that know me, you know I eat all day long; thus I am HANGRY! I am trying to take my mind off of it by devouring everything on Netflix that I have been wanting to watch for while. It is not working, but mind over matter, or rather mush over matter since the light-headedness has already set in.  I apologize if my thoughts in this blog keep drifting towards food. It is somewhat subconcious.

Here is what I have been particularly grateful for lately:

1. That we live in a society with access to good medical care. Really. I know we have a way to go to make the system more efficient and reasonably priced, but I am just so thankful that I can get to a doctor if I need one. In many parts of the world people do not have the same luxury.

2. My awesome in-laws. We had fun with them when they were visiting. We had fun exploring Canyon City by train, then going to the prison museum. We had a garage sale while they were here and they waited patiently while we hocked our personal items. I love garage sales. It feels so good to simplify the items that you need to keep. I believe spring cleaning is very important to keep from getting consumed by stuff. But I digress. We also went to dinner at Bonefish which was fun as well. I had the salmon. It was amazing. I am never disappointed when we go there.



3. That we get to fly for the Air Force. Particularly when you first take off from earth and into the sky: there is nothing like it. A sense of calm and contentment comes over me every time. It is so amazing to fly low and watch the ground pass underneath you while seeing it from a perspective that makes everything look both majestic and small at the same time. It is equally as fun to fly high where you can see the curvature of the Earth, knowing that you have a view that most people never get. We both love flying

Check out Rob's plane. He finally got his name on an Otter!

4. That we have been married for almost 4 months now. I love being married. I know, gag me, you are newlyweds of course you love being married. But Rob and I have defined some of the goals for our family. We have some big plans and I am looking forward to many more years of bliss.

I bought this cake for Rob for our 3 month anniversary

5. Finally, I am grateful for: red grapes, pineapple, ground bison with goat cheese, Almond butter, sweet potatoes, cedar plank salmon, quinoa salad, salt and vinegar almonds, roasted brussel sprouts, eggs and hash browns, oatmeal, Americanos with steamed soy milk, fajitas and black beans, dark chocolate. I told you I was hungry...sigh. Tomorrow I will be like these guys.

Happy Summer! It is finally here in Colorado. We have had so much rain lately. This week we managed to dry up a little.