How Do You Do It?

Scott will remain in Iowa until (at least) February (he thinks). He gets to come home, on average, every other weekend. Sometimes it does not work out and he has to be away for two and a half to three weeks at a time. It is taking a toll on him. He texts me throughout the day, but I am so busy dealing with my kiddos at school that I don't respond right away. By the time I remember to text him back hours have passed. I know this has to annoy him terribly bad. It would aggravate me. The afternoons are worse when it comes to communication between us. When I get Suzy I definitely don't have much time to do small talk through text messages and I am not a big phone talker. We do good to send, on average, about 10 texts per day. Not only is he struggling with not having contact with me as much, but he is having a hard time watching Suzy do things through pictures and blog posts. I know it  has to be the hardest thing in the world to deal with. I cannot stand being away from Suzy for a full day. I am fully aware that everyone needs a break to unwind and catch up on abandoned housework, but it is so empty around here when Sue Baby is not here. I cannot imagine how Scott feels on a daily basis. Although departure days have gotten easier on him I know it still breaks his heart to leave us (especially Suzy). He is still terrified that she is going to forget who he is. I try to assure him that it will never happen, but it haunts his thoughts regularly. When he came home last weekend he arrived in the middle of the night. Suzy and I were both asleep, so we weren't able to greet him properly. When I woke up the next morning I got Suzy up and brought her in the bedroom to see her Daddy. She just lit up with excitement. I had to remind him at that very moment that she definitely knows who her Daddy is. She loves him dearly and thinks he is hilarious. I hope that Suzy meets a guy half as great as Scott. There are not many men in the world that will sacrifice what he does for their family. He works the job he does to create a great life for us. I hope that the traveling will slow down. I hope that he will eventually be permanently located closer to home. I hope that he can continue to work for the company that has helped establish us thus far.

People often ask me how I survive without him at home with us. The best answer I can muster up sometimes is, "I'm just very tired". If I don't say that it will be something along those lines. I have an amazing support system. They help me out tremendously. I usually get one night a week "off". "Off" is used loosely. Being off is a joke around here. When Suzy is not here I don't have time to do anything relaxing. I have housework to catch up on, laundry to do, closets to clean, grocery shopping, etc. I cannot seem to get any extra rest or enjoy being at home alone because I am too busy catching up on what I got behind on the previous week. It is a never ending story. I miss Scott so much, but Suzy keeps me busy and my mind off of it until she has gone to bed. When I am lying in bed trying to go to sleep I miss him. I sleep so much better when he is at home. I also miss all the suppers that he cooked. He is definitely the chef around the Smith Household. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder... We are a great example of this statement being true.

As you know, I try to spend my afternoons doing things that make days more enjoyable. Melissa, Casey's girlfriend, (we like to call her Lissa) met me at the greenhouse to take some pictures of Suzy for Fall/Halloween. We had a fun little afternoon. My Suzy is just a doll baby. I don't know how we ever lived our lives without her.