Several months ago, my husband changed jobs at the railroad. He went from an inside, desk (white collar) job to an outside, yard (blue collar) job. With this change, his shift changed as well. For years (22 or more) my husband worked the swing or late shift. When he was in retail, he worked the closing shift, when he went to the railroad, he worked the swing shift. We used to joke that his choice in shift is what kept us married so long. Now, he is on my shift. You know the one, 8am to 5pm (or something thereabouts).
Now we spend time together. This has taken some getting used to. Now we have a morning bathroom schedule. I get up first, so I have my time in the bathroom. Not that I need a long time, but I just don't like sharing. I admit it, I'm selfish.
We also have one day a week off together. This has also taken some getting used to. We spend Saturdays together. All day. Saturday used to be my day for running errands in the morning, before he would head off to work. I could go at my own pace, where I wanted, and do what I wanted. That's what I wanted to do today. Go run my errands. I had a mental list of what I needed to do and where I wanted to go. The hubs decided he wanted to go with so we could spend time together. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful that after 21 years of marriage he still wants to spend time with me. Extremely very grateful. It just surprised me that he wanted to go run errands with me. I mean, it's not that fun. Run to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, then Natural Pantry to see if they have a sodium free baking soda substitute (they don't, just in case you are wondering), then to Wal-Mart to get pop and a few other things. I mean, that's not really fun. Then he surprised me. He took me to breakfast. We went to Kriner's Diner. If you've never been, you need to go. If you ever make it to Anchorage, you need to go. I love the saying on the back of their shirts "Not trying to make everyone happy, just a solid 75%".
Anyway, the hubs and I are spending time together. It's kind of weird. For so long, we've been on such different schedules, that being together is taking some getting used to. It's almost like just getting married. Seriously. For so long, you had your own schedule, and then you add someone else, and you need to learn how to adjust and share and compromise. And then you get neat surprises, like breakfast out.
One of the things I've learned with this change, is how sweet my husband is. I know, that sounds terrible to say after 21 years of marriage. Work with me, okay? I've know he is a wonderful sweet man for a long time. I wouldn't have married him otherwise. But now, I'm being reminded on a daily basis just how sweet he is. We interact with each other every day. And with all this interacting, he finds ways surprise me with little things.
We are also finding ways to laugh and joke with each other. Like today, for example. I commented that we are kind of like that Facebook meme. You know the one. The guy says he likes to hold his wife's hand at the mall. It looks so romantic, but its actually economical. She can't run off and shop.
Hey, wait a minute...... I need to go have a talk with the hubs........
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