Separate Cities

"Are you excited you have the whole place to yourself?" I asked my husband the other night.

I'm out of town and he's raking in six days without me.

"No way," he claims. "It means double-dog duty, double-cleaning duty, and double-food duty. Plus, I miss hanging with you at night."

Aw, isn't that sweet? I suspect he's just being nice though. When I'm home alone, I miss our conversations and his warm body to cuddle up to in bed. But still, as soon as he leaves town, I go a little nutty. Every issue that we compromise on in our marriage is immediately reverted back to "my way."

First, I head to the thermostat and warm the place up. Then I open all the shades, letting sunlight spill into every corner of the house. I turn on Christmas music in July and stay up until 2am, writing away on my laptop and watching chick flicks. I eat cereal for lunch, more cereal for dinner, and cereal for dessert. I love an empty house.

Some separation in a marriage is good. After a few days I'm unbearably lonely. And I'm that much more excited to see him when we join together again.