Cherished Time

You know the saying "you don't know how much something means until it's gone"?  Holy heck is that statement so true.

I'll be honest - I've been missing my hubby something fierce.  You have to understand that I spend 99% of my day in the same room with him.  We wake up next to each other, eat breakfast together, hit the office together, have lunch together, work some more together, workout together, cook dinner together, eat and relax at night together and then go to bed together.  I know, I know... how do we do it?  Most people who hear about our lifestyle respond with "there's no way I could spend that much time with my spouse" to which I respond "yeah, it works for us" (while I'm secretly sad that they don't share that bond that Tom and I have, but I digress).  In any event, so to go from that to possibly getting to talk to a sleep deprived version of him maybe 6-10 minutes TOTAL in a day, on a good day, is really really tough.

They've been gone since 10/28.  And while I'm making it through each day just fine (I think it's a little harder for the spouse sitting at home waiting for the calls that the spouse busy with stuff away from home), I was super excited to get to meet the RV's last night just southeast of Columbus to bring them dinner and get a much needed hug from the hubster.

It was fabulous!

I asked all week what they would want to eat and I got a resounding "salad".  Weird, right?  So I made a big salad, but I also made pulled pork, homemade mac and cheese and two pans of brownies (I know the way to a man's heart is through their stomachs - hello.. that's how I keep Tom happy.  I'm no dummy!)

When I got there, the three overnight guys were just waking up.  I caught up with Dave, Karen and Michael (the amazing crew), and a few Sanofi reps had come out so we caught up with them.  We got the overnight guys fed and waited patiently for the day crew of 7 to come in.

I was like a kid at Christmas waiting for my present, a hug from Tom, to arrive.

They got in around 6:30 and when I saw him, I just held on.  We both needed that.  I know that he's really struggled out on the road and well, I have struggled with him out on the road.


The guys quickly got their stuff transitioned, put some warm clothes on and piled in the RV.  You would have thought that I brought them piles of $100 bills the way they smiled when they saw the food.  I know that Karen is feeding them well, but maybe this was a nice treat (momma got a night off and the boys got a full belly!).  They are all so skinny... and scruffy... and a tad slappy, but morale is high and they are pushing toward NYC at a blazing pace.  It's been a tough journey, but they are tough guys.  Amazing guys really.

When they loaded the RV's up to get on the road, I asked Crew Chief Dave if I could drive Tom to the next stop. He said as long as I didn't kidnap him and bring him home!!  I wanted those extra minutes with him (which turned out to be nearly two more hours).  We just sat in the car and talked.  We smiled.  It was like we had a lifetime of catching up to do.

And really, we did.  Two weeks apart leaves a lot to be discussed. :)

I didn't take Tom home last night - I brought him to the RV's where he got another broken night's sleep I'm sure. Selfishly I would have loved to, but I know how far they have some as a team and they will finish this journey as a team.  Plus, I only have three more full days until I see him again.  And I'll cherish that time with him even more.