What I won't miss

Rich went back to work today. To be honest, I wasn't as lonely as I thought I was going to be (but the dog was sure acting up, and Adam broke into tears last night at just the thought of Dad being gone all day.) I think we did more separately than I realized with him in the office watching the stock market and me trying to homeschool three different grade levels. However, last night as I was pondering life without Rich around all the time, I decided to make a list of the things I am not going to miss about him being home to boost my mood when I do feel a little lonely. I could only come up with five.

Rich did most of the grocery shopping for the last eleven months. I loved that! What I didn't love was sending him to the store with a list that included apples, and having him come home with only 6 or 8 in a partially full bag. We have a family of 10 apple-eaters, so you can see the problem. Well, it is only a problem if you don't want to go the grocery store every day. They do that in France, so they wouldn't mind it there. I must admit he has gotten better. He used to bring home 4 apples at a time. When I did the shopping this week, I got a bag of apples full to the brim. Now we might each get one. Another thing I won't miss is having Rich take the messages when I am out. He tries to remember, but with so much on his mind, he rarely passes them along. When he does relay the message, he doesn't always get it right. For instance, when I showed up for my hair appointment last week and the hair dresser was out of town, I found out later that she had called to cancel. Just as I had been ready to head out the door, I had asked if she had called. He looked puzzled, thought a minute while glancing at the computer and then said confidently, "I am pretty sure she said the appointment is a go." He paused, glanced again at the computer screen and then declared, "Yes, she said you are on." I also won't miss having Rich be my alarm clock because, almost every day, he would look at me and decided I needed more sleep. I will miss the sleep but not the lack of schedule! I also won't miss the daily question of who will take Beth to school. Since my "alarm" didn't go off, I was often in my pjs at 9 am. Since Rich was working at home, so was he! Now it will be my choice to be dressed on time or go in my pjs! Finally, I will not miss the emotional ups and downs of following the fickle market. There are very, very few things that make Rich stressed. Losing money is one of them.

I agree, those are a bit of a stretch. And if we suddenly come into money one of these days and Rich can retire early, I will put up with every one of them again! I won't list the things I am going to miss because that gets too mushy. But I will say that I am very grateful that Rich is coming home tonight and tomorrow night and every night next week. For nine years before he left Yahoo, he traveled every week. I sure won't miss that!!

So if you are reading this, Rich, we love you and hope you are having a a great day! See you tonight!