Signs The Hubby is Away

I've never been on my own before. I commuted to college instead of dorming so before this month I did not know what it was like to be in a house by myself.

You mean I can decide on my own what I want to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner? I can go to bed when I feel tired, and not because the other person has yet another early morning? I no longer have to make a plea to watch "The Bachelor" on Monday evenings? Madness!

But I had been living with TH for ten months so getting into a completely brand new routine has been difficult. There are so many things that remind me that he is in fact deployed, and not just at work. I notice certain things around the house that are different from normal and they always jerk my heart a little bit:

-Only one toothbrush by the sink
-My shampoo-to-conditioner ratio is much steadier. I always seemed to run out of shampoo 2x faster
-Seeing a car in the garage
-No clothes on the bedroom floor
-A dog on the couch and bed instead of a person
-No random raisins dropped on the kitchen floor
-Fewer dishes in the sink
-I no longer trip over his boots
-I wake up at 0930 every morning naturally instead of 0515
-I can sleep the entire night without worrying about getting hit in the face or fighting over the blankets
-No need to shave my legs
-No need to shower. Ha!
-No late night baking adventures
-Less embarrassment when I develop a large zit
-Farting whenever I need to instead of walking into another room
-Cheaper grocery bills
-Less laughter and chatter

I guess you can say that there are benefits to living on my own, but that's only if you're trying to trick yourself into staying positive. The truth is, I would much rather deal with tripping over his combat boots in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom than be on my own.

Anytime I see something I know TH likes or needs on sale, I reach for it, but have to stop myself. And I've realized that I am at my loneliest when I actually leave the house. This is because I used to spend so much time sitting at the house waiting for him to come home, but I rarely left the house without my husband.

What worries me about all this is that I will develop my own routine pretty soon. I don't want to have a routine separate from The Hubby. How will we adjust to being together again when he returns? A year is a long time to be away from anyone's life.

Almost three weeks down. Only 49 more to go.