All By Myself

My wife has been gone for almost a week and a half now. She's taking a class. The first week was classroom work in town mostly. The following two weeks her class is four hours north of here research work. They're staying there and don't have time off. Thankfully, she comes home this coming Sunday. So, I'm on my own for two weeks. A lot of people ask how I'll manage it. The truth is, it's not too much different than normal. That's not to say that my wife isn't around and helps out--she does great work around here and I couldn't do it without her. But her schedule has been such that she works some mornings and works some evenings, so I'm always by myself during different parts of the day. The main difference is that I don't have much time to myself.

So the I took the boys down to my parents' house last week in northwest Iowa. They like to have a week on the farm with the grandchildren. And the boys love being on the farm (I do too for that matter--it's a welcome break from city life). We got in our first camping trip of the summer (finally!) with them as well.

Then we drove down to Des Moines to pick up my sister and her boyfriend to head to a family reunion in south-central Illinois. Anders went once as an infant, but we haven't gotten back since. We're sure to be back soon. We all love going. It's not so much a typical family reunion as it is an event, a destination. Family come from all over the United States and stay for several days. I love that family is so important to everyone and want that instilled on my boys.

But now we're back home. With plenty of clothes to wash, things to unpack and put away, and a few more days without my wife around. Being around other family is great, but there's no substitute for having your wife around and the kids being able to be with their mother.