Life without the "other" half

Ok, I admit it. My marriage is one of those gushy, touchy feely kind of things that routinely make my children tell us to get a room (to which we reply we own the house, it is our room.). After 16+ years of marriage the honeymoon ain't over for us. I suppose that if it isn't over yet, it never will be. We are in love! And as such, we actually enjoy spending time together. It doesn't have to be a lot of time, just knowing that we'll see each other at some time in the day is enough. Needless to say we haven't been apart all that much in our marriage. I can in fact count the number of times on one hand that we've been apart for more than 24 hours. I can't speak for Hubby, but I cease to be "fully" me when he's not around. He is currently on a business trip (thankfully this is my last of 4 nights without him...I'm FREEZING!!!) and I actually feel like half of me is missing. I even get phantom limb stuff going on. I saw his car in the driveway and was all excited that he was home, when duh, no he isn't (in my defense Thing 3 and Thing 4 did it, too!). I keep waiting for him to come in for dinner and he's not there. Based on this current experience, I want to give some kudos to a few people.

First, my wonderful Sister-in-law who decided to plan a week trip to visit us just at the same time as Hubby would be gone. She said it was to celebrate Thing 2's birthday and Halloween with us, and I'm willing to go along with that explanation to save my pride, but I secretly think she knew I'd be a mess (being only half a person and all) so decided to help out. And help she has! We've gone thrift store shopping everyday which has definitely made the days go faster, Thing 4 hasn't made me go deaf with the constant talking as she can split her time between two of us and I'm generally a much more sane person than if I had played the part of a single mom for a few days. It's comforting to know that I'm not the only responsible adult in the house.

Second kudos goes to the cat. It is no secret to anyone that I have an extremely difficult time sleeping without Hubby. On my recent weekend away (mind you for relaxation purposes for myself) I stayed up for 44 hours straight. Do you know your body starts acting drunk when you haven't slept in that long? And supposedly after 10 days of no sleep, you die? I was 1/5th of the way to death on my relaxing weekend! I digress. The cat is an indoor/outdoor cat with his outdoor time being at night because he will inevitably wake up in the middle of the morning, scratch his jingly collar and wake us up to go out. I've learned if I kick him out an hour before I go to bed, and then let him in, he can go all night snuggled next to me and at least keep my feet warm. Hubby asked if I was letting the cat sleep on his side of the bed. No, he literally sleeps on me. That's the downside, the cat is a bed hog! I feel a little bad for the cat though, because he took to sleeping inside at night like a fish would take to water. His bubble will be burst tomorrow when he has to go back outside. But it has been comforting having the cat with me.

Last, but most certainly not least MAJOR kudos go to military spouses! God bless you all! Every time I start feeling a little blue because I don't have Hubby home for a few days, I remember that you military spouses go months, even years without yours. I honestly think that I would perish. You all have a strength that I admire. You are the unsung heroes and I encourage anyone who knows a military spouse to help out in any way you can. Even if it's watching the kids for a while so they can have some down time. Treating them to a movie or something else fun. Anything to lighten their load just a little bit! I thank all of you military spouses for your service to our country! It is comforting to know that there are men and women able to be out there protecting us because of what you do and the sacrifices you make.

Only 18 hours and 15 minutes left! I can do it, I can do it, I can do it...