Wrapping up.

Wow, its hard to believe that tonight (eg. our today) is Rob's last sleep in Kenya. He will spend a good portion of Saturday still at the school, and they fly out Saturday night to Amsterdam. He should be arriving back in Edmonton late Sunday night.

I.can.not.wait.

I can't believe how long this time has felt, for me. I imagine on Rob's end of things its been flying by, but I think its always different when you are the one, left in normality, waiting. I'd say the kids and I have done quite well. Thankfully our kids did not ask all day, every day, "when is Daddy coming home?" Not like I think they fully understood that Daddy wouldn't be home for two weeks but I do think they got this would be longer than just a day at work. They have asked occasionally when Daddy is coming home, or if someone opens the door, they assume its Daddy. This is a big relief for me actually, not having to tell and re-tell over and over again.

I've been doing what I can to keep busy and keep my mind off of Rob's absence. I feel it the most in the evenings. Basically up until dinner time, Rob wouldn't be home from work yet anyway, so the evenings are the most bothersome. I've had some friends over for dinner and got in one girl's movie night (although we did watch 127 hours...which isn't exactly chick flick material, ahem).

I really didn't think it would be this lonely. So I finally came to this realization, and perhaps this is just plain common sense, but really Rob has never been away prior to this. I've gone to visit my family or spent my week in Victoria for school, but I've always been the one who was away. But I've come to realize that there is such a depth and connection in our relationship that just cannot be replicated in friendships, no matter how deep. Don't get me wrong, I've loved my time with my girlfriends and the families in our lives, but it just cannot replace the level of intimacy that Rob and I have.

My good friend who's husband is also on the trip found it rather amusing that I didn't think I would miss him as much as I do, and perhaps rightly so, as I believe her husband has been away before. But for me, I'm the one being left, for the first time, so its been a quite the revelation for me. And gosh, there is only so much a person can do to keep busy before that loneliness creeps in. I've learned my lesson!

So how have I kept busy? Well, apparently by cleaning, A LOT! Seriously people, I've learned the true power of a toothpick, and I'm rather impressed. I took to the exterior of my stove with a toothpick. My stove is looking rather spectacular. I also gave the kitchen cupboards an intense wipe down, and out came that magical toothpick. Amazing the grime you can get off with those bad boys. You may now think I'm completely OCD, but I assure you, this mad cleaning spree was completely motivated out of sheer boredom.

I have also been doing copious amounts of random laundry. For example, the shower curtain and bath mat, all our extra bedding, the blankets that I toss over couches to snuggle in, scarves, mittens, toques. Basically if we own it, I washed it. Although I really do enjoy doing laundry so that example may just be due to my enjoyment of the act.

I've also been organizing like mad. Another thing I know I do when I'm feeling stressed or just needing to control (check out that self-analysis my social work friends!). My new and improved desk space is almost ready for its debut, hooray! I also took to our filing cabinet and got rid of a lot of extra papers and reorganized a few things. I've finally begin to tackle my magazine stash. Seriously, its probably a foot tall. So I've been clipping articles and recipes that interest me, and I plan to recycle the rest.

Phew. Just writing all of that is nearly exhausting, although I really am loving our clean and organized home. Its really such an improvement. So much easier to keep clean (although I may have to point out there is one less person to, ahem, pick up after), and when I'm having people over there really is no fuss as the house is fairly tidy already. I absolutely love coming downstairs each morning to an empty kitchen counter that completely clean with all the dishes put away, and the coffee on (as I've been setting it the night before). I mean it's amazing. So what happens when Rob returns? Will all my cleaning and orderliness go out the window? I'm hoping not entirely, but lets be serious, know I'd far rather watch a show with my man or chat to him that clean my stove with a toothpick.

I've also been getting on the elliptical which is good all around. I find it really it to be an excellent stress reliever, and I feel a lot better in so many ways. So I'm pleased that I feel I have been so productive with my time, but also glad that I can slow down on the "productivity" a bit. I think since Rob has been gone I've watched maybe 2 nights of TV. Not like we watch that much TV anyway, but its just been this need to keep busy, keep moving.

Here are just a few other things I've been doing to stay sane in Rob's absence...
Last weekend the kids and I went to WEM to occupy ourselves. This was my first mini golf attempt with two children. It was going smashingly until Abbi schwacked Gabe in the head with her putter, which led to much crying of both parties. One out of guilt and one out of pain. Fun times. Then once Gabe recovered, he realized that if he threw his ball at the hard ground it would shoot up and do some pretty impressive bounces.
I bought this map and hung it in the dining area, so we can see how far away Africa is. When Gabe's room is back to normal (no progress in that department, by the way), I intend to hang this map over the head of Gabe's bed.
I borrowed a bunch of safari books from the library so we could talk and learn about the animals that Daddy might see while on safari. Abbi is very excited to hear Daddy's "Africa stories."
As a self-care technique, I treated myself to some lovely flowers. And perhaps the odd Starbucks, or two.
And finally, I indulged in a little DIY action. I rarely have time for this stuff right now with school, but last week being reading break allowed me to get my DIY on. In a small sense anyway. This will be part of the desk area makeover.
So there you have it. Not much else new around here to report. But a big thanks to those of you who have been following along and praying for the Africa trip during their time away. I don't think it turned out as anyone expected, but sometimes that's a good thing, and as one friend poined out, "It's just us Westerners that are so project/results driven." I think that the greater need really was for the halfway house to be built, and while it really was disappointing for many, I know for Rob, he has been in his element (minus that whole 45° bit!).

Last night during our phone call, Rob asked me if he could leave his work boots with someone there. Absolutely warmed my heart! If you noticed a few posts ago, most of the men working are either barefoot or in flip flops working on the halfway house. So I can imagine the adoration that Rob's work boots got. So I just have this visual of a line of Africans, 9 in flip flops and one in a pair of rather swanky work boots. This is my husband, and I love it!

When we were dating, we went for coffee at the Empress (a Fairmont Hotel, uber fancy) in Victoria. We walked out and almost right away a street person walked up and asked us for change. We had none. It was a typical Island-esque drizzly, cold day. Rob was wearing his very expensive Gap wool jacket (while not good for the rain, it was quite warm). The man who asked us was wearing this dirty, thin, hole-filled jacket and you could tell he was very cold. So Rob said he had no change, but asked if they could trade jackets. Of course the homeless man obliged, and even today, I picture that guy walking around in his swanky Gap coat.

John replied, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." Luke 3:11 (NLT)