The big change

  This is the first summer in who knows how many presidents  that my husband and I are both home.  This is also the summer that yours truly hits the big 5-OH (crap!). I certainly don't feel like I'm that old. What's interesting about it is that my spouse seems to have launched a one man campaign to be extra nice to me. I think he's trying to cushion the blow. My father was famous for saying it could be worse, you could have a kid your age. Believe me, there's no comeback for that one. I've tried. We got to run an errand together without offspring  and I got a brief flashback of life before child.
   It's like getting a smartphone, you get pretty spoiled pretty quickly. We are also lucky that we can afford a Summer camp this year so that even though school is out, hopefully we can still have some grown up time together before he finds another job. Having the spouse home is also letting me get to accomplish more without worrying about getting home in time to pick up her majesty on time. We have sort of been living like roommates for the last several years, which was really bugging me.  After almost sixteen years of marriage, I'm glad to have the chance to remember why the hell we got married in the first place.
   I have mentioned previously that I try to never stop a man from voluntarily cleaning anything. The same holds true for repairs. While I am enjoying my spouse's unemployment mostly, I can't help but wonder if it isn't starting to get to him. It's been a little over two weeks since his job ended and he has more than kept himself busy, and not just obsessively job hunting. Good for him!, and you're correct. It is good for him. I just didn't understand how necessary it was for him to keep busy. Truthfully, I expected him to get depressed and veg out for a while. Instead he seems to be pressuring himself to get a plethora of things done in a day. Is it possible to miss stress?!
   My guess is the lack of routine is very disconcerting. We are all of us creatures of habit, after all. When you've been doing the same thing for over ten years and then suddenly you're not, it can feel like hitting a brick wall, even when you know it's coming. It occurred to me that even though I'm unemployed I do have my own general routines that, in a sense, feel like a job. It could be that this huge shake up will be good for us all. I hope to get my husband back, our daughter will see more of her dad whether she likes it or not and maybe, just maybe, we will actually find time to enjoy life. Let's not get nuts!