Recently Maria travelled to China with her Mom, and I was left to bach it for three weeks and a day! There are positives and negatives to your wife being out of town. I always tell Maria, “You can go on any trip you want, but I would like you to be home after nine days.” That’s when I start to get weird from living alone. But China is a big country, and it takes over a day to get there, so she needed three weeks to get the most of the trip. It’s great to get some “me” time every once in a while, and normally about two or three days is more than enough. In college, I did a lot of that. We went to schools in the same state, but Maria was 90 minutes away, and we only saw each other on weekends. So, I am completely capable and can handle extended time periods by myself, and I actually get a lot of stuff done when I don’t have interruptions or distractions. Fortunately, during this recent time by myself, I had lots of people keeping me busy and visiting. There were some cool things to go to like Cheese Club and the Merry Marmot Festival at Arctic Valley Ski Area. Taco night at Ian’s house and other social events happened frequently enough that I was actually not free most nights.
What do I do with my “me” time? I get to watch anything I want on TV. I rewatched Episodes 7, 8, and 9 of the Star Wars anthology. I listened to audiobooks out loud in the evening. I did Duolingo lessons until I took first place in the Diamond League. I brewed beer twice. When you are alone, you can buy whatever food you want to eat, drink the beer you want, and you can go to sleep and wake up whenever you think feels best, because you can just work later or earlier depending on how you feel. It is very freeing.
Now let’s talk about why it is lame to be alone for over nine days. Maria actually does a lot of work around this place. It took me an extra 30 minutes to do the house cleaning, and that is only because I didn’t use her bathroom; if I had, I would have spent an extra hour. I had to do all the cooking. I don’t eat at restaurants very often, and I don’t do it all by myself, so that meant I had to do all the food prep and the dishes. Chores are a problem, and they mount up when you are on your own. I always try to get some extra tasks done while Maria is away; I even came up with a list I called the “Master Plan.” It entailed oil changes for the vehicles, remodeling the garage, cleaning the inside and outside of all the vehicles, some other maintenance for the vehicles, and some house maintenance. I was going to open up the crawl space under the stairs, move and organize the shelves in the garage, and brew four beers. Well, I didn’t get all that done. The shelves are still there and packed with stuff, and I don’t have the crawl space opened.
Maria also does a lot of work for the art business. She maintains the Etsy shop, prints and mails out orders, edits blog posts, helps curate and schedule art shows, applies for grants/projects, and manages social media. When she is gone, I get to do all that and try to make paintings too.
Okay, I will talk about how I get weird living by myself. Rewatching Star Wars over and over isn’t good for you—too much violence and not much else. Since I am all alone, I start talking to myself. When I visit with friends, I talk way too much and about strange off-topics. I want to hang out with people, but then I just want to go home and be by myself. I just feel off balance. If I were single, I would probably get a roommate or live in a different situation, or just become weird. Probably just move to the cabin in McCarthy, and be that weird hermit that doesn’t say anything until he says too much. Cooking for oneself is okay, but I started to do weird things by the end. It isn’t normal to eat quinoa for every meal, is it?
Maria came home, and that is great! I don’t have to do nearly as many chores, and I have someone around to take care of me. Feed me healthy things, have someone to go for walks with, do 50% of the business work, and generally keep me a sane individual. And I have someone to drink the beer I made while she was gone! I had a party on a Saturday, and everyone just drank Pacificos. No one wanted to try the dark ale I had made. Maria’s next trip with her Mom is only for two nights to see Lady Gaga in Las Vegas, so I think I’ll manage, but three weeks was waaaaay too long!