Home Alone

Thursday night: Richard finishes packing for his trip to see Airforce Son before his deployment. Taz sniffs the suitcase, tries to get into the suitcase then paces around the house.

He then pees in my office. (Hey, I’m not the one leaving! Pee in Richard’s office!)

I decide to lose five pounds while Richard is gone. It’ll be easy: stop eating junk.

Field trip! 

Friday morning: I take a vacation day from work and Robert is off to program. Richard doesn’t have to leave until early afternoon so we run to Walgreens to get more supplies for Richard’s leg which is not healing and I get a few things for the house. We watch a couple of our recorded shows once we get back home.  

We both eat a small bag of chips while watching the shows.

Hmm. Apparently, I’ll “stop eating junk” later today.  

Friday afternoon: Matt, our future son-in-law (wow – still practicing that one!), comes over to take Richard to the airport.

I have about 90 minutes before Robert comes home.

First, I turn off the television and can’t believe how quiet it is.  

It is glorious!

I go through my to-do list in my head and start with cleaning my office. First, I tackle the filing that has piled up.

By the time Robert gets home, I have most of it done! Who knew filing would make me so happy!  

Robert is home so I break from filing and go through the usual routine when he arrives home (give him treats to give to the dogs, take him to the restroom, put away his lunch box, refill his travel bag with briefs, get him settled in his recliner to relax and watch Family Feud.)

Back to the filing! To my delight, I get it done before dinner time. Woohoo!

Friday evening: I make mini burritos for Robert and decide I will skip dinner since I had a sandwich during my filing frenzy.

Eventually, I break down and eat a bowl of cereal.

Note to self: work on planning better dinners for us.

Friday night: I get Robert in bed after his dessert of Rocky Road ice cream (he’s not the one trying to lose five pounds!). The dogs and I snuggle and watch television. How is it they can still hog the entire bed even when there is one less person in it?

I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. instead of the usual 5:30. Robert’s first morning medication is at 6:00 so I can just get up and give him meds.

I’m going to sleep in!!

Saturday morning: I wake up at 5:15. Sigh.

I let the dogs out, make some decaf coffee, feed the dogs and, at 6:00, give Robert his meds. He goes back to sleep; I pay bills and work on our taxes.

This paperwork puts me behind on my cleaning goals but I get some cleaning done before Robert wakes up.

The house is quiet except for the noise of the washer which is constantly running in this house.

Robert wakes up before I can get much cleaning done but at least I finish two rooms.

Saturday afternoon: After I giving Robert his bath and settled in to eat his breakfast, Rachel comes over to deliver an Iced Chai! Taz, Oz and even Taffy go crazy with happiness seeing her. Robert lights up when she comes over, too. We discuss wedding plans for a while then she leaves to meet a friend.

Robert, the dogs and I say our goodbyes and I close the door. Robert says, “What is her name again?”

“Rachel.”

“That’s what I was going to say.”

He enjoys her visits even if he doesn’t always remember her name.

Robert watches some Family Feud and works on his puzzle book for a bit. I get back to cleaning!

Saturday late afternoon: I take advantage of the break in the rain and take Robert to CVS. He has meds that are ready and I need more furniture polish.

On the way home, I pick up dinner: salad for me; turkey and mac & cheese for Robert.

That should make up for the mini Cadburys I couldn’t resist while at CVS . . .

Saturday night: Robert gets Rocky Road ice cream two nights in a row! We do his usual bedtime routine. I print my “bucket list” spreadsheet of every single Best Picture winner to see which one I should watch tonight.

I text Rach that I really want frozen yogurt. She offers to get it for me but I decide I better not since I remember those mini Cadburys I ate earlier.

I’m hoping I can lose at least one pound at this point.

Back to my spreadsheet. I pick “Ordinary People.”

Good thing I didn’t have FroYo. I have a pit in the bottom of my stomach throughout the entire movie. I realize it is best I watched it now instead of when it came out in 1980 since my family was going through its own dark period at that time and it really would have been too much. 

Sunday morning: I wake up at 5:15 again. Seriously?!

Back to cleaning.

Richard texts me: “I think I may have to change the leg wrap. I keep getting a scent of infection. But it could be the hotel room.”

I bust out laughing but eventually call him to be sure he is okay. I know he is a little panicky about his leg so we talk and decide the smell actually is the hotel room – probably from all the wet, snowy clothes people track in from the North Dakota winters.

I turn on the Sunday news shows while doing laundry and cleaning.

The house is getting a bit too quiet.

Sunday afternoon: Robert sleeps late again so I am making progress on the cleaning! The dogs track in mud after I mop and since it appears the rain won’t stop until July, it’s a futile attempt to actually keep it clean. The floors are at least clean for five minutes – I’ll take it!

I make Robert an omelet for his breakfast/lunch. Usually, he gets oatmeal but thought I’d give him something special today.

Rach offers to pick up anything I need from Target! Wonderful! This saves me from having to take Robert out in the rain. I mobile order drinks from Starbucks for us so she delivers groceries and a mocha (decaf, of course). That’s my girl!

Richard texts me that he is at the Minot, North Dakota “12 store mall” with Christopher and his girlfriend. Richard is sitting while the “kids” check out the stores.

I polish off the mini-Cadbury eggs. It’ll be a miracle if I don’t gain weight this weekend.

Sunday evening: The wind is picking up and I am getting a little concerned about the “atmospheric river” making its way toward us tomorrow. I’m going through an evacuation plan in my head. I have Robert’s meds all ready to put into a bag if needed. Important docs are all in one place which will be easy to grab if we have to leave. It’s a very remote chance but we do live in a flood zone so I need to plan for worst case scenario. It’s my specialty! J

I finish the laundry, feed the dogs and make Robert a sandwich for dinner. I have no inspiration for dinner at all! I am still full from those darn delicious Cadbury eggs so I didn’t eat.

I keep the streak alive and let Robert have ice cream again tonight! He’s not going to know what to do once we get back on the every other day schedule.

For some reason, I am very tired tonight. (Probably from my lack of good nutrition.)

I plan to watch another Best Picture winner but haven’t decided which one yet. Maybe the Godfather!

Richard texts that his leg is “in bee hive pain.” That’s no good.

Monday morning: I wake up at 5:45, probably because I stayed up so late watching The Godfather. I can’t believe I’ve never seen that movie. I am excited to watch Godfather Two!

Robert sleeps in again so I finish all the cleaning. The house is completely clean (well, except for the paw prints from the mud)!

I keep the news on to keep an eye on the approaching storm but also because the house is way too quiet.

Monday afternoon: Rach offers to go to the store for me. It’s raining outside but I am determined to take Robert out anyway. I load him in the car and he doesn’t complain at all about the rain. Probably because I promise him a chocolate shake on the way home. That’ll do it every time! I see Rach and Matt at the grocery store. How fun!

Monday evening: It’s pouring outside so I give Robert soup and salad for dinner and I eat a salad. Finally! Real food!

Monday night: Robert is in bed and I rent Godfather Two. Good grief! It’s three and half hours long?! I make it through an hour and then have to go to sleep.

Tuesday morning: Robert has program today and I have to go to work. Richard is due home later tonight. The dogs will be so lonely today without any of us!

Tuesday afternoon: I leave work early in order to be home for Robert. I make him a salad and pasta for dinner. Matt is kind enough to pick up Richard from the airport.

They get back home and Taz and Oz go crazy! They are excited to see Richard but Taz can’t get enough of Matt. Richard excitedly tells us about his trip and I know this is something both he and Christopher will always remember.

The house is full and noisy and I love it.

As for those five pounds. . . well, let’s just say I’ll try again another time.