Party Time!

I have a vacation starting at 7:00 a.m. Saturday. That's when I drop my Beloved Engineer at the airport and he flies off into the sunrise -- for TWO WEEKS!!! (Well, almost, 13 days.)

Now I do dearly love the Engineer, but he is extremely high maintenance.

I work from home doing web sites, graphics, photography, tutoring, all kinds of computer oriented stuff. My first BS was in Medical Technology/Zoology, my second's in Computer Science. I took detours into Education, Fine Arts and Creative Writing. It's not for nothing that one of my nicknames is NancyNerdette. I also teach Red Cross First Aid and CPR, though that's not a regular thing and I don't get paid for it. I'm a firm believer in paying back and that's one of the ways I do it.

Because of this nonstandard work schedule, my Engineer thinks that I am wholly at his disposal. I usually have a punch list of things which must be done and how, in detail, to do them. Remember, he is an engineer, the type of human that defines anal retentive. As soon as he gets home, but not before, I must begin cooking a nutritious dinner while he does his daily patrol to make sure nothing has gone awry in his absence. When he finishes patrol he comes into the kitchen and regales me with stories of his day at work as I cook. Sometimes I understand what he's talking about, sometimes I don't. Fortunately he doesn't descend into calculus too often, though he likes to threaten me with it. (I flunked calc one three times before I passed it, calc two only took two tries; bad attitude, not lack of brains.) After we've eaten and I've washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, we bond while watching the 9:00 news. Then he goes to sleep and I work on the computer.

Weekends are when I end up doing most of my house cleaning, laundry, etc. because he works so hard he guilts me into it. Every Sunday he nags me until I call my parents. Which is actually kindof nice, he adores my Mom and she adores him. He and Dad like and respect each other, a real guy relationship. His parents are dead, so mine have become his.

But when he's out of town, my schedule's my own. I do what I want, when I want, how I want. As long as I make sure the punch list he's left me is all checked off by the time he returns. I don't have to cook dinner. I can let the dishes sit in the sink over night if I want to. I go out to dinner with friends, see a movie or go on a photo expedition. I leave the lights on after 9:48 p.m.

I love him, but his going out of town on a regular basis helps me maintain my sanity. And the no snoring means I get good nights' sleep.


So, come on down, the party's at my house!