I'll own up......5 weeks ago my wife left me for

[Ken Fitzgerald]

2 younger females.....our new twin granddaughters.

My Momma would be proud of me.

I have kept the house clean...hosted 4 overnight guests including one from north of Barcelona, Spain .....kept the laundry done up.....dishes done after each meal and before I went to bed each night. I dusted, vacuumned.....cleaned the toilets......

I won't bore you with my cooking accomplishments but if you have an extra hour I will tell you how much I hate cooking for 1 person.

The good news......Sharon will be home tomorrow evening. I look forward to it. I don't mind loaning her out to family members but I'll admit I miss her daily presence in my life.

[Terry Hatfield]

I could not imagine being without Cheryl for 5 weeks!!! You are a better man than me, Ken!!

[Phil Thien]

I could not imagine being without Cheryl for 5 weeks!!! You are a better man than me, Ken!!

Ditto (but it's Karen for me instead of Cheryl).

And I'd probably starve to death because I've not been allowed to use the kitchen ever since I destroyed an antique mixing bowl making fudge. I heard on the radio that if you melt chocolate bars and then mix-in ice cream, you can make fudge. It actually works, but it is kinda hard on the antique mixing bowls.

Man, that woman never forgets.

[Nancy Laird]

David almost had apoplexy when I was gone last June for 2 weeks!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Guys,

Our youngest son (father of the twins) is a 3rd year dental student. His lovely wife is a pharmicist and is currently working and simultaneously pursuing her MBA. The twins are their first children after 10 years of marriage. It turned out to be a good thing that Sharon was able to go and spend 5 weeks with them. There was a couple of unexpected minor health issues and having Grandma there in the house to babysit was extremely convenient.

It's never pleasant for me when she is gone like this but my conscience won't bother me either. She often spends 5-6 weeks during with the summer months with her Mom who is now a widow of 4 years. Some of the best vacations we have had were with her parents. Sharon was visiting when her father had his massive stroke and died. It was extremely convenient for her to be there and support her Mom. I think some things are determined for us....call it fate.....call it God's plan....call it Karma..... Regardless, I miss her but feel better because she's spending time with family members when they are in need of assistance.

Besides......when she's gone...I am TRULY......King of the Castle!:rolleyes:

I just choose to do the dishes...laundry.....clean the toilets etc...... :rolleyes:

[Mitchell Andrus]

That's funny. My wife's down at the NC house to have the hardware removed from her arm (broken wrist in Feb) and start therapy... also to get a bit of time out of NJ. About 5 weeks total by the time she gets back May 1st.

I also hate cooking for one, but Rosie is a vegetarian (salads, acorns and twigs) and our youngest left for school in August.... so I've been cooking for one for a while now. I kinda like taking care of the place with nobody to mess stuff ... but me of course. Odd how dishes in the sink don't get clean by themselves the way they used to...... gotta put them in the dish washer and push buttons, or just throw them away and buy new ones.

I hear Stouffers has this great program of self-help tips on their frozen food packaging. I'll have to check them out.
.

[Joe Shinall]

I couldn't imagine my wife leaving for a few weeks. I mean, I wouldn't know what to do with all the sleep I may actually get without knees in my back and an elbow in my face :rolleyes:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe,

I have the opposite problem. After 41 years I don't sleep well if I can't back up against her in the night.

[Joe Shinall]

I hear ya Ken. If my wife just goes shopping after work or something my dogs sit at the door and ignore me waiting for her to get home. I find myself after a while looking out the window and waiting as well. Couldn't imagine weeks. My dogs would disown me and my window would be fogged up.

[Belinda Barfield]

I hear ya Ken. If my wife just goes shopping after work or something my dogs sit at the door and ignore me waiting for her to get home. I find myself after a while looking out the window and waiting as well. Couldn't imagine weeks. My dogs would disown me and my window would be fogged up.

And who would clean the nose prints off the window? :D

Cooking for one isn't all that hard. KFC and Taco Bell have it down to a fine art. :rolleyes: Just cook for more than one and freeze the additional portions. As an alternative, I'm hooked on Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers but they are pretty low cal so you might need to eat two.

Ken, I'm glad to hear that Little Bit and Half Pint are doing well and that Sharon is going to get back home to you. I'm guessing she misses you, too. :)

[Curt Harms]

I hear Stouffers has this great program of self-help tips on their frozen food packaging. I'll have to check them out.
.

Marie Callendar & Boston Market aren't too bad either. Stay far away from Swanson (but you probably know that). SWMBO & I partake when we don't feel like preparing "real" food.

[Eric Franklin]

I couldn't imagine my wife leaving for any period of time right now. My wife works every weekend 7-7:30 days and that can be hard enough dealing with 3 year old twins and a one year old. Going to work Monday mornings is nice.

Ken, I can relate to your son and wife. The first 3-4 months were the worst and I don't think I will ever forget. I know your wife's help was very much appreciated.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken, I'm glad to hear that Little Bit and Half Pint are doing well and that Sharon is going to get back home to you. I'm guessing she misses you, too. :)

Belinda,

Little Bit and Half Pint are doing well. Half Pint experienced a minor issue late one night and due to her heart condition was rushed to the ER but it turned out to be for naught. Can't take it lightly, though.

They have gained roughly a pound and a half. So they weigh roughly 6 1/2 lbs. now.

Sharon will be in tears though when she has to leave the little ones in half an hour to go to the airport to start her trip home. I'll bet she will be glad to be home.

In another couple months, she will fly to Illinois. From there, she and her 87 year old Mother will fly to Houston so Mom can meet the twins. Mom and Mike are really looking forward to that. Grandma played a big part in his life and now he wants so badly for Grandma to meet his first children...twins. While I was in Houston after the birth of the twins, we discussed the future summers for the twins. Once they are a couple of years old, they will be expected to spend a couple of weeks with Nanny and PaPa in the summer. We haven't decided if both will come at the same time or if they will come separately. Papa will introduce them to the shop and the surrounding mountains where spirits can fly.

[Kent A Bathurst]

..kept the laundry done up.....dishes done after each meal and before I went to bed each night. I dusted, vacuumned.....cleaned the toilets.......

All very impressive. But the acid test - did you make the bed each morning and did you put the toilet seat down after each use?

[Belinda Barfield]

While I was in Houston after the birth of the twins, we discussed the future summers for the twins. Once they are a couple of years old, they will be expected to spend a couple of weeks with Nanny and PaPa in the summer. We haven'tdecided it both will come at the same time or if they will come separately. Papa will introduce them to the shop and the surrounding mountains where spirits can fly.

Ken,

Some of my best memories are of the weeks I spent with my grandparents every summer. My grandparents lived next door to my great grandmother, who had grandchildren close to my age. For two weeks all of the grandkids stayed with the granparents. Usually there were 12 to 15 of us there at the same time. Of course, back then we ate breakfast and headed out for the day. We only went home if someone was seriously hurt, or the sawdust mountain at the old mill caved when we were "sledding" down it - something we were fobidden to do! Fishing with grandpa, and a watermelon every day at 4:30 when he came home from work were the best of times! Gotta' go find some tissues now.

[Jim O'Dell]

I too hate it when Glenna is gone for any time at all. Usually only 4 days in June each year when she goes to convention. Do I do the dishes? Yes. Do I clean the house including bathrooms? Yes. All the evening before she comes home! :D:D I especially miss her feeding the dogs, especially in the morning. When she's not here, I have to get up about an hour earlier just to feed and potty the dogs. I'm not a morning person, so that really hurts.
But not feeling her move in the bed, or waking me up with her snoring is what hurts the most. Leaves me staring at the ceiling a lot in the middle of the night with an empty feeling in my stomach. Jim.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

All very impressive. But the acid test - did you make the bed each morning and did you put the toilet seat down after each use?

Yes to both questions.

I am legally housebroke.:rolleyes:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Belinda,

They will be introduced to fishing .......I'll even try to get them to fly fish and tie their own flies.

They will get a jet boat trip into Hell's Canyon....see Wallawa ......the Clearwater River.....the Snake River.....the South Fork of the Clearwater....the North Fork of the Clearwater......the Lewis-Clark Trail......I'll try to get them to Glacier National Park.....Yellowstone......Arches National Monument......Monument Valley......Four Corners..........the San Juan Islands.........North Cascades Highway.........Grand Tetons of Wyoming.....

Their Momma is a native Floridian and her grandfather played a huge part in her life as a child. I hope to play a major role as a male figure ...playing 2nd fiddle only to their father.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Yes to both questions.

I am legally housebroke.:rolleyes:

You win. Not sure what the award is, but it's yours.

What seemed like 25 years collecting well over 100,000 air miles each years - when that came to a halt, on Day 3, my wife said: "the housekeeping maid is no longer coming into your room to make the bed and put the toilet seat down. Figure it out. Deal with it. Now."

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Kent,

Not trying to win anything.

I was brought up that way as a kid and 8 years in the Navy reinforced it.

The LOML does a lot of the chores when she's here. We share a certain amount of them.

In the event I die of a sudden heart attack in Sharon's absence.....I want everyone to walk in and say ......"Wow! He actually kept the place clean when she was gone."

I'm doing laundry now. I already have the dishes done and it's time to make the bed....go purchase a new gas can.....get some gas....mow and trim the lawn and then fertilize....turn on the sprinkler system for the summer. It's dry so we need to start watering.....my neighbors have and their yards are greener now.