The First Weekend Alone

There are so many women, and men, who can relate to their first night alone in a new place; the worry, the fear, that tinge of excitement, it's all very stressful. Tonight's the night, after a horrible night's sleep last night, and Gabe getting up at two in the morning to get ready for drill and leaving an hour later, I have the house to myself. So what's the first thing I do? Well, I try to go back to sleep, unfortunately that wasn't a success until around four in the morning.

Suddenly I'm jolted from my dreams at seven by my phone going off, it was my dad. I immediately answer, and he laughs, knowing he woke me up, then asks if I want to go to breakfast in an hour with my oldest sister, her boyfriend, and him. I thought it over then sleepily agreed; slowly I dragged myself from bed and stretched my limbs, I really wanted to go back to sleep, but I missed seeing my dad, so I got myself together and clambered into my car. It was great catching up with everyone, and I am truly blessed to have my family so close to me, but the time came that we all parted our ways. I headed home with expectations to pass out into a food comma, and then get up and do some housework, oh but I was so mistaken.

I slipped back into my pajama's and into bed, the dog cuddling with me, and I'm just about to fall asleep when my phone rings once again. Through half-opened eyes, I look to see who it is, and to my surprise it's Gabe's mom. As soon as I answer I can tell something is off in her voice, she's asking me if Gabe had already left for drill, and if he'd be coming home, and if I was home, I tentatively answered her questions, hoping she would tell me what's going on. Then she explained that her husband had a nasty infection in his elbow, which he had just gotten replaced, and that she needed to take him to his surgeon out-of-state. Now Gabe and I had been living with them previous to our move into the new apartment, so I knew what she was asking for; her and her husband had five dogs, which all were on a strict scheduled diet and some on medications, and they couldn't take them all on their five hour drive. She apologized for the inconvenience and assured me they would take the dog that needed shots, knowing that I can't handle needles, so I agreed.

An hour later I was back in my car, with my laundry, dog, and books in tote. I arrived to a warm hug and a lot of excited dogs. This weekend wasn't at all what I planned, but I don't mind waving goodbye to my first weekend alone in my apartment and saying hello to my dogs-only weekend at Gabe's mom's house. Sometimes being an adult can be a lot of work, but being there for family triumphs the stress and the lack of sleep.