•6:25 PM
Being a pilot's wife presents it's own unique set of challenges. We have to cram our lifes into roughly 15 days a month give or take a day or two. Planning ahead is just something that I can not do. Jim has to bid his schedule a month in advance which adds another wrinkle to the baby making plan.
Yet planning seems to be all we do these days. There are obligations to be met, phone calls to make, and potentially life altering decisions to be made. All of this can leave very little time to be the couple that we used to be. Lazy afternoons on the couch watching the Cubs game or just hanging out talking about lighter topics seems to get lost in the shuffle.
Who ever would have thought that some of the best of our time together would have come when we were both laid off. We had to be creative. Any boob can buy tickets to a show or plan a night out on the town, but when you are watching every penny you have to really put some thought into things. That's where Traci's Cafe was born. Our deck became our restaurant of choice. I learned to cook and then I began to enjoy cooking. Jim's job was as grill master and ambiance maker. He would light candles all around the deck and we would have dinner and drinks out on the deck. We connected. We were a fun couple. We rode bikes together almost every day. We laughed. We talked.
What no one tells you when you are struggling to make a baby is that you will have to work harder to stay connected. My thoughts are almost exclusively about baby making. What was my temperature today? Could that have been an implantation dip? How many days before I can test? I hear that Jim is talking to me, but sometimes it is so hard to hear what he is saying. Flaps, slats, air speed, approach into fill in the airport. I used to gobble these stories up. Some days I have to work hard to push aside my thoughts and reconnect.
I should have made a road trip to KC yesterday, but Jim had just gotten home after 7 days on the road. I picked him up at the airport and we went to our former "place" a restaurant on the way home. We sat outside and had dinner and drinks. We were Traci and Jim again. Just Traci and Jim. Not the couple who plans dr's appointments and procedures. It was awesome.
I should have made the road trip today, but we slept in. It was one of those rare days where we were both home and did not have to be any where at a certain time. No obligations. So here I am still at home and planning dinner on the deck. This weekend we reconnected and it's exactly what I needed.
Yet planning seems to be all we do these days. There are obligations to be met, phone calls to make, and potentially life altering decisions to be made. All of this can leave very little time to be the couple that we used to be. Lazy afternoons on the couch watching the Cubs game or just hanging out talking about lighter topics seems to get lost in the shuffle.
Who ever would have thought that some of the best of our time together would have come when we were both laid off. We had to be creative. Any boob can buy tickets to a show or plan a night out on the town, but when you are watching every penny you have to really put some thought into things. That's where Traci's Cafe was born. Our deck became our restaurant of choice. I learned to cook and then I began to enjoy cooking. Jim's job was as grill master and ambiance maker. He would light candles all around the deck and we would have dinner and drinks out on the deck. We connected. We were a fun couple. We rode bikes together almost every day. We laughed. We talked.
What no one tells you when you are struggling to make a baby is that you will have to work harder to stay connected. My thoughts are almost exclusively about baby making. What was my temperature today? Could that have been an implantation dip? How many days before I can test? I hear that Jim is talking to me, but sometimes it is so hard to hear what he is saying. Flaps, slats, air speed, approach into fill in the airport. I used to gobble these stories up. Some days I have to work hard to push aside my thoughts and reconnect.
I should have made a road trip to KC yesterday, but Jim had just gotten home after 7 days on the road. I picked him up at the airport and we went to our former "place" a restaurant on the way home. We sat outside and had dinner and drinks. We were Traci and Jim again. Just Traci and Jim. Not the couple who plans dr's appointments and procedures. It was awesome.
I should have made the road trip today, but we slept in. It was one of those rare days where we were both home and did not have to be any where at a certain time. No obligations. So here I am still at home and planning dinner on the deck. This weekend we reconnected and it's exactly what I needed.
|
2 comments:
I wish I could have seen Doug while I was there! But I guess torrential downpours tend to keep Doug in a dry hiding spot! Oh well, maybe next time. And the "Titan of tree limbs" was a nice touch!
Sounds like a great weekend and some much needed snuggle time. Just a word of advice-when this sweet baby Van Horn does decide to come into this world...then you will have to work double as hard to find the "reconnect" time with Jim. Instead of letting making a baby consume you-the actual baby will. It's wonderful, but hard sometimes :)! Love you.