My first night ALONE...

As of today, I live alone.  In my 32+ years, I have never been without roommates, and in the past 16 months, I have never been without my husband.   Sure, we have both traveled, so have spend many nights apart (even for weeks at a time) but tonight it is very different. 

Friday the movers came and packed up his bedroom and the furniture that my awesome friend Olivia donated to our "adventure".  Saturday we drove to NYC (passing the truck with our things halfway up the jersey turnpike!) and ventured into Manhattan to meet up with Jude, Abby and some of my Duke friends - an awesome welcome to our new city!  Sunday they delivered all of our belongings to an apartment in Bayside, NY.  Well, except for the couch which was too big to fit through the door - or the window, for that matter - so we had to "donate" it to the movers.   Today I woke up at 4 am and caught a one-way flight from JFK-IAD, leaving Mike behind. 

This whole thing hit me last night, as we were unpacking the boxes and trying to get him settled.  I was working in the kitchen when he told me that he had finished unpacking his clothes.  A few minutes later I walked into the bedroom and saw his stack of 5 hats on the dresser.  At that point, I totally lost it!  Those hats are supposed to be in our bedroom in VA, not in some random apartment in NYC!  I know that this is for the best in the long run, and its going to be a big adjustment, but little things like that have made me realize that this is for real.  Crazy. 

So tonight, I left work around 8 and came home to an apartment with half the furniture that was here when i came home from work on Thursday.  Nobody was waiting for me with my dinner on a plate in the microwave, and as I type this, nobody is holding my feet as we sit on the couch.  This will take some getting used to. 

I have discovered, however, a few perks of living alone.  I was able to spread a 22 minute episode of "How I Met Your Mother" over a 70 minute span (pausing, rewinding, and re-watching what I missed while making food, talking on the phone, unpacking etc.)  Nobody was trying to flip back and forth with a baseball game, monday night football, or any show that is not HIMYM and then convienantly "forgetting" to switch it back!  I was also able to make dinner without cleaning up my dishes immediately!  Sometimes I don't like to wash dishes right away, but I will always do it before the end of the night.  Someone else who used to live here was not that patient!

Other than that, so far, I have not found too many good things, but I'm sure I'll get used to this.  After all, he will be home on Thursday, and with the holidays, I'll see him pretty much every weekend between now and the end of the year (except for Christmas, which he found out that he has to work the emergency shift - humbug!)

So I am embracing this time as a time to be able to improve myself - I will learn to cook something more than chili mac (which coincidentally, we both made for dinner tonight - unknowing that the other would do the same), I'll get back on my workout schedule, I'll read more, take some classes, maybe volunteer,and spend more time with my girlfreinds!  And for the 4 of you who actually read my blog, hopefully I'll have more time to let you follow along.  Its kinda theraputic to put your feelings into words, so thank you all for listening!

For now, I am hearing that voice that tells me to go scrub my pots, get my clothes off the bed, and pick up my shoes from the middle of the floor, so I guess I'll pay it some mind.  For as strange and difficult as I think my new situation is, at least I don't have to drive in NY traffic!!  I'll keep you posted, should be an interesting ride!