It's amazing how I wait and wait and anticipate and count down the days, nights, minutes only to have the weekend I've been waiting for end.....

Rod was here for three short nights and already I am home from the airport. He is probably on the plane now waiting for takeoff. I'm here now hating my life away from him. This is the last year we will be apart, but it also feels like the longest year of my life.

My job sucks. In some respects, it's good that Rod is away and doesn't have to hear me complain about the nonsense-- in detail -- every single day. On the flip side, I feel as though now, more than ever, I need his support. Mostly I need someone to laugh with and share ideas with. Sure, when we live together things fall into a rut. But I'd rather be in that rut than where I am now.

Friday was supposed to be such a good day. I was taking a professional development day of sorts. I had a substitute in my room so I could see "good" teachers in action. I filled out paperwork to leave at 1:25 to get Rod from the airport. But, since I viewed 5 teachers, I left the last period class at 1:20 and probably left campus at 1:22. Wouldn't you know it that I was being paged to call my boss' office at the end of the day? Naturally, due to the shit year I've been having, I feel a sense of doom. (For the record, the only reason I know I was being sought was because my friend Drew texted me wondering if I was still on campus. So, I know I was being hunted down.) This sense of doom was present for the whole weekend. If I were working for a reasonable person, this would be a non issue. Alas, I don't work for a reasonable person.

So, despite it all, I simply love my husband. I trust him and enjoy his company even if all we're doing is having coffee and reading a book. It was fun to just watch some TV together or go to a bar together. We went to Death Valley and the Atomic Testing Museum. We saw the Bodies exhibit. It was time for just the two of us with no interference from anyone else. Sheer joy. And it's over.

In six weeks I will be home for spring break. Then, seven weeks after that I'll be home for Memorial Day weekend. Then, two weeks later I begin my drive home -- for good.

The greatest lesson I learned from this experience is that I am a better person with my husband than without him. Home is where not just the heart is but where my center is. Everything that matters is there. I should be too. 15 weeks and counting.