me time

Time alone

I have a surprise for everyone: I don’t fall apart when my husband goes out on the road. Nor do I consider my decision to stay at home for a day or two “becoming a hermit” and my husband certainly doesn’t “lock me in the house” when he’s gone.

No, I will admit I enjoy my time home alone when he’s on the road. It’s the time in which I throw myself into housekeeping. It’s the time I can focus on my writing. It’s the time I can focus on ME. It is my choice to be home and do my thing.

I have always been a big homebody. It’s only been since I came to the city to live with my husband that I’ve become far more extroverted. My personality has distinctly changed in the last few months, in that I love going out into crowd and I don’t fear walking up to a stranger and talking to them. But, despite that, I do still love being alone. I love books, cleaning house, bubble baths, and just enjoying the home we pay for every month.

Most importantly, I love to write. I am striving to build my career in freelancing, but I can’t do that if I don’t close myself up in my house and WRITE. Doing my writing when my husband is on the road is what allows me to run around with him when he’s home.

We don’t spend that much time at home when he’s off to road. We’ve always got somewhere to be and someone to see. I love that fact. I love my husband. I choose to do “my own thing” when he’s on the road so we CAN spend so much time together.

I treasure this time together. I know that could change any day. His schedule could pick up and he’ll be on the road for weeks at a time. (That’s when I’ll be craving to go out on my own more and more just to break up the monotony of days alone at home.) We could find that I have to go out and get a day job and abandon my freelance writing. And then the time will come when we have kids and things really will change drastically then.

So until that time, I will take each day together and treasure them. And I’ll save the house chores and “me time” for when he’s on the road.

flying, ironic musings, our history

Fly girl

In 2004, I boarded my first plane. I was nervous, not only for the flight but for the adventure upon which I was about to embark.

I remember listening intently to all the safety procedures that the stewardesses presented. I took a deep breath and held on tight. Away we went! Landing was a nerve wracking experience, but it went fine and I soon found myself standing, for the first time, in the Nashville International Airport.

I had traveled to Nashville to spend my first trip far away from my parents. It was a week with a friend — one that I had absolutely no clue would end up being my husband three years later in a city I hoped to some day live. I ended up having a good time, though stresses surrounding my presence left me on the couch much of the time with an upset stomach and migraine headache. I succeeded, nonetheless, in experiencing many of the highlights of Nashville, and I left the city a week later feeling smarter and glad I’d made the trip.

It would be over a year before I’d fly again, but since then I’ve logged thousands of air miles. Every single one of them due to my husband. Trips to Nashville to visit as our relationship changed and grew. Then trips to Portland, Oregon; Las Vegas, Nevada; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; and Honolulu, Hawaii… all with (or to be with) my traveling musician. I’m an airplane professional!

Today, I fly to visit my family back home in Texas. I continue to log the miles constantly, and the tales of my travels seem to always have an amusing angle to them. Everything from flying to point A and renting a car to continue to point B, to spending hours and hours in an airport waiting for a delayed flight.

My latest two flights both consisted of seeing my husband off… behind security.

This last trip back home occured only an hour before my husband caught a plane himself to a show. We ended up going through security together, kissing good bye, and then walking to opposite terminals to catch planes going to completely opposite ends of the country. The time before, I landed back in Nashville only a few hours before he took off for a show. He drove our truck to the airport, and as I kissed him hello and goodbye, he handed me the keys to drive it back home!

Being married to a musician always guarantees that things will not be boring. I rarely go with him on the road, but I do try to go any time I can. It’s allowed me to see placed I’d have probably never seen otherwise. Three years ago, I was terrified to fly. Today, it’s as natural as walking. I look forward to our next adventure!