Two are Better than One

I am knackered.  Positively cream-crackered.

For the last four-and-a-half weeks I have been home alone because my Beloved has been on 'Looking After the Parents Duty' at the other end of the country.  My mother-in-law has had major cardiac surgery which has rendered her unable to function at her normal, slightly-less-than-obsessive level. Since my father-in-law knows how to boil an egg and open a tin of beans, my Beloved has had no option but to be there for them.  I am sincerely happy that we are in a position to be able to provide the support needed to our ageing parents but it has necessitated my, albeit temporary, return to bachelorhood.

Great, you might think.  Time to do exactly what you want, or even to not do exactly what you don't want.

Well, it's not quite that simple.  Apart from the DIY described in the previous post,  I still had to go work five days a week, leaving me with just the weekend to do all the chores usually done by my Beloved during the week.  It's funny how the sock- and knicker-drawer fairies always seem to take their holidays when my Beloved is away.  They, and the cleaning-, washing- and ironing-fairies, always seem to go away as a group.

Added to that, we are in the run-up to Christmas, that time of year when we make ourselves so busy we have no time to think about what the season is really about.  For me, that has meant rehearsals for choral concerts, additional rehearsals because we were not otherwise going to be ready, singing in two concerts, learning music for the village carol service, and getting myself ready for our annual scratch workplace choir's carol singing to raise money for the Charlie Bear Childrens' Cancer Charity (Gary Malone, we did it first!).

Then there are jobs like taking my Beloved's car to be serviced, bagging up a gardenful of leaves and taking them to the tip, remembering to order new gas bottles, working late to do things that can only be done after hours, and a whole pile of other small things like keeping up with Strictly, Merlin and Coronation Street.

Honestly, with all that going on, I have been rushed off my feet.

My Beloved had Christmas wrapped before she went away, leaving me with very little to do on that score.  Actually, this suits me very well because, when it comes to Christmas presents, you wouldn't want me as the 'Ideas Man' in your team.  She also made life for me in her absence as easy as she could by filling the freezer with food.  It still takes time to prepare the evening meal, though, and to clear up the total devastation afterwards.

Life has been full-on busy. 

If I hadn't already realised, this episode has given me cause to reflect on all the benefits my Beloved brings to my life.  It certainly is easier when there are two of us on duty.  If I ever did take her for granted, and I hope I didn't, I have to say she is wonderful and I'm looking forward to having her back.

There were so many things had I hoped to do ....

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz