August 20-26 2007 Week 34

This week very much was a time for me to unwind and rejuvenate after a long three weeks. C was gone a good portion of the week and it was exactly what I needed- some time alone, to not have to cook dinner, to not even have to take a shower if I didn’t feel like it and to not have to leave the house either. When C first started traveling for work I sort of liked it, I used the time as a way for me to pamper myself, to go for sushi almost every night, to sleep late, and to really do nothing. Then as he traveled more I started to use the time to work my tail off. I would work long days while he was gone and then not do all that much while he was home except to hang out with him and pamper him all I could. Later, I just started to resent the travel, to feel abandoned and like everything was on my shoulders. I started doing things he would usually do (like taking out the garbage) and then when he returned, some how these things remained on my plate, never to be taken back by him to do again. Then I hated the travel, the time alone, the things to do, and the feeling like when he returned that I was just a maid and a cook. Doing the cleaning, making the bed, doing the laundry. He still does that, for a week after he travels he leaves the bed unmade, for it to be mysteriously made by the in hotel maid (or in this case by me). Now I just accept the travel, I still dislike it, and I still dislike his decompression from his travels, his reuniting with home live versus hotel life, but now I just plan my days and go on, if he is here or not, just do what needs to be done and that is that. It’s still lonely, and depressing, but it is the way it is. I would give up soaping and get a real job if it meant we could go back to a normal life, without him being gone so much, but if I just hang on, maybe I can have both someday.

Monday: Finally some time in the garden. I think my cucumbers have vine wilt. I just don’t know how. I didn’t see any beetles this year and it seems pretty late in the harvest for it to be this problem. Honestly, I am not heartbroken no matter what it is, I have had a great crop of cucumbers and am getting tired of eating them and figuring out what to do with them. The rest of the day was chores: chlorine in the hot tub, cleaning the cat pan, taking out the garbage, changing sheets and doing laundry. I also took a looong hot shower and scrubbed the Fest off, ran the last credit cards, did the final show inventory, paid bills and put together a grocery list. That night we brought team KB to Sogo for dinner, great sushi, lousy service, but they enjoyed and so did we so that is all that matters.

Tuesday: I got my application to the MLAC fall show complete, finished my mailing list, paid more bills, answered some emails and brought B to a doctor’s appointment and then out to lunch.

Wednesday: Went to the bank to make the Fest deposit, went to the grocery store, mailed orders, K came over for her last day and we emptied the van and did a inventory of what I had left and what I have to make. K and I brought C to lunch and then to the airport, and then stopped at the local yarn shop for a bit.

Thursday: Another trip to the airport, brought B & M so they can go on their Alaska trip. I cleaned the fridge, emptied the dishwasher and repacked it, did laundry, made salads, cleaned the coolers out from the Fest (yikes!), went to Michaels to find ribbon and stopped at AC Moore too, and then went to my sewing circle (we more knit and bead then sew, and drink, and eat, and talk….)

Friday: It was a day of yarn. I went through my stash and my pattern books and matched the two together- only 31 projects to do. I must stop buying yarn. I also balled all my cotton yarns from hanks into balls so it is easier to grab them on the way to a show so I can knit washcloths and bath mitts. I have plenty to finish this year’s inventory and to get me into next year’s as well. It took me just about all day to do this and still had a dozen or so left to ball the next day.

Saturday: I finished the yarn, hit the garden again for a few more tomatoes and cucumbers, cleaned the cat pan, took out the garbage again, and put chlorine in the hot tub again. I started knitting a vest and it looks great, now lets hope I have enough yarn.

Sunday: C was supposed to come home but had to stay one more day. I cleaned out pain brushes from when I painted the workshop, started putting clothes in my closet, did the dishes and mopped the floors. I knitted my vest more and am thinking that the pattern has a typo. I am running out of yarn and I had 100 more yards than I needed and I am knitting to gauge. This is the second time trying this vest that I have run out of yarn, the first time I thought it was because I didn’t gauge and I was using a weird lumpy yarn, now I think it may be a typo. I may have to rip this all out and try again, I hate the thought of that.