Tomorrow morning, I will be dropping Joe off at the airport for his long trip to Kenya. The lucky duck opted to spend two nights in London on his way over there, so that will break up the trip a little bit. He laughed when I suggested he bring me back something Burberry. In addition to clothes and entertainment and other personal effects, Joe and his fellow anesthesia resident are also taking over a LOT of medical equipment and accessories for Kijabe Hospital. This box is just a little bit of the anesthesia masks, stethoscopes, and needles that they’re packing up to take over.
A large part of my anxiety about him leaving is that we haven’t had a lot of time together lately. We both worked intermittently during the holidays, and our last full weekend was constricted by his call schedule, my church commitments, and helping my parents move. It seems as if we’ve been working on completely opposite schedules. I’m on when he’s off, and he’s on when I’m off. Before you call the WAHmbulance, here are a few things I’m looking forward to about being single-in-function for the next month.
- Cheese and crackers for dinner. Not the healthiest, true, but what it means to me is getting to scrounge and snack for dinner rather than focusing on meal planning and making a big dinner every night. Leftover soup, cereal, mac & cheese out of the box, salads, and protein shakes also fall into this category. Preferably with red wine while watching The Tudors.
- The whole bed to myself. I love Joe, but he is a big guy. And when our queen-sized bed is taken up by him, the body pillow, and me, and THEN a cat decides to squeeze in, I don’t always sleep very well. Also, our wake-up times rarely coincide. Either he gets up WAY before I do, or he sleeps in, and I end up getting dressed for my morning run in the dark.
- Girlfriend time. Since our schedules are so crazy, most of our free time gets spent with each other, often to the neglect of our other friendships. Girlfriend time is usually relegated to Joe’s on-call nights or other times of the day. I’m looking forward to Skype dates with Abby, movies and wine with CPE friends, and just feeling free to do things with girlfriends without it cutting into my quality time with Joe.
- Making the stuff that I want to eat. Most of the time, I do a pretty good job balancing things that I like and what is appealing to Joe, but he has put it in no uncertain terms that the following are not appreciated: tempeh, soba noodles, eggplant, cauliflower, olives, tuna, mushrooms (in most cases), or canned salmon. So I’m already making lists of Kira-friendly foods that I can make explicitly not for sharing, like this Detox Salad.
Of course, at the end of the day, I’m really going to miss that goofy guy, and I’m sad and disappointed that I can’t join him this time. Bon voyage and safe travels, Joe!
