Anticipation Worse Than Reality

James has been in Arizona for a conference and gets back home late tonight. He left on Monday afternoon, and I was just dreading him being gone. It was the first time he'd be gone since Ben was born, and I wasn't sure how things would play out and if I'd be pulling all my hair out by the time he got back.

As with most things, the anticipation was much worse than the reality. Dinner on Monday night was a little much, since Rachel was doing her patented traveling-around-the-room-and-seeming-to-find-it-an-impossibility-to-keep-her-behind-planted-on-her-seat routine. Turning this way and that, kicking her chair (until I told her to stop), kicking her table (because I hadn't told her not to kick that, until I did), etc. Sometimes she about drives me nuts with behavior issues like that. I'm not sure where she gets such a high level of energy (certainly not from me) but hope that it's something that mellows out a little as she gets older. Or now would be good, too.

But other than that, bedtime has gone pretty well both nights; the house isn't too much of a mess; I've managed to mostly keep up with the dishes; I've been able to run errands and go to my Tuesday morning women's Bible study; and it really hasn't been miserable. Except for Monday night, when Ben had some trouble sleeping and his fussiness kept waking me up. But even then, he and I had that nice interlude at 1:30 in the morning, which helped.

And last night I actually slept from probably about 12:15 am until 6:45 this morning, and I don't remember waking up once during that time. I felt *so* much better than yesterday. It's amazing what one night of good sleep, even if it's a bit short, can do for my energy level and attitude.

I do miss James and how helpful he is, though, so while I'm happy that things have gone pretty well in his absence, I'm looking forward to his return and having him here with us again.