It's been a long week

It has been a long week.
Josh hasn't even been gone for a week... yet it seems longer.

On Saturday (which seems as if it were weeks ago) I woke up to get ready for work and discovered we were out of hot water (sadly, this isn't the first time and it won't be the last). So I had to get ready without showering (which I really hate to do) and took off for work. Saturday shifts at the office usually are pretty quick and mostly painless, but that day it was miserable. Everyone, it seemed, was in a bad mood and it made for a bit of a toxic environment. Everything that could have gone wrong did. I left work in a bad mood myself, and came home to an empty house (as Josh had left) which was cold since the heat wasn't working either. Great, just great.

I had made the decision prior to Josh leaving that instead of driving down to work and staying the night with Jimmy, I would drive back home at night to give the cats some much needed attention/company. I thought this would be miserable, but really it hasn't been too bad. The drive itself never really seems that long, I notice it more when I get home and I take stock of how much time I wasted driving. It just gets old. And expensive... as our gas on base just jumped up to $4.15 a gallon, and that is at our "discounted" rate. The jump in fuel prices and my extra driving just doubled my gas budget.

It has been a long, lonely week. I think the "lonely" part is a key reason why it has been so long. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and function on my own when Josh is gone. However, it's really nice to have him here. I miss his friendship. As he's been gone I really haven't gotten to talk to him much - we've Skyped twice (with a horrible internet connection which made it almost impossible to hear) and emailed. Most evenings I've found that I am just plain exhausted, and have been going to bed early like a little old grandma.

All that complaining aside, I am thankful and grateful... thankful that this is a very quick, short time for him to be gone. I'm thankful there is now the technology of Skype and email to make keeping in touch so easy. I'm thankful that while I hate my commute, I'm only gone from my house for around 13 hours, which compared to other people's jobs/shifts isn't bad. And I am thankful for good friends, ice cream, and falling asleep watching Finding Nemo. May the next few weeks go faster than this past one...