Friday Favorites: Single Lady Style

As much as I love Fridays, there is one every month that I dread almost as much as I look forward to the others. It always starts in the same way: a uniformed hubby wakes me up long before the crack of dawn to kiss me goodbye, I spend the next several hours alternating between sleep and worry about Dan driving in the middle of the night (and trying to pry a distressed kitty off my head, where he would prefer to sleep every night), and then I finally drag myself out of bed, feeling a little sad about the lonely weekend ahead. True, I am grateful that this is only drill and he will be home again shortly, but somehow saying goodbye, whether it's for three days or five months, never gets any easier. Luckily, it never takes long for my "single lady" instincts to kick in (and by single I mean less "available and flirty" and more "borderline cat lady"), and I'm able to enjoy the me time that these weekends afford. Many months, I make plans for these few days -- heading out to see a friend, diving into a project, fitting in some family time. This weekend, though, I have nothing on the calendar... nothing, that is, except enjoying the weekend and getting. things. done. When 5:00 rolls around today, I have 48 uninterrupted hours and no excuses -- I am determined to do all of the cleaning, wedding prep, and packing that I have been putting off all week. I am hoping that by the time Dan gets home on Sunday, I'll have several bags worth of clutter ready to be trashed, and lots of boxes ready to go to the new house as soon as we get the keys (next Wednesday!). Of course, I'm also looking forward to the opportunity to embrace some of my favorite living alone tendencies:

1. total control of the remote: Even though we are experiencing some very poorly timed cable issues (please don't remind me of all the precious moments I'm missing with my favorite sports reporter), the fact that I'm the only one in the house this weekend with opposable thumbs means that I get to watch all the girly movies and weird documentaries and marathon TV seasons that I want.

2. strange eating habits: When there's no one around to remind me to eat meals, I tend to adopt an odd schedule. Sleepy mornings lead to slow breakfasts, late afternoon snacks mean late dinners, and lunch gets lost somewhere in there. It wouldn't be good for my body all the time, but it's nice every once in a while just to listen to my stomach and eat anything I want (with no judgement on that serving of seconds) whenever I happen to get hungry.

3. lots of sleep: Unlike my night owl hubby, I need a fairly large amount of sleep to be fully functional and minimally cranky... a fairly large amount that I have not been getting lately. I'm looking forward to a lot of horizontal time this weekend.

4. unlimited time at the gym and pool: While Dan is always super supportive about my workouts and the time I sneak in lying in the sun, it's nice to know that I'm not on anyone else's schedule this weekend when it comes to fitting these in. It's also a little easier to drag myself out of my bed in the mornings to hit the gym early when there's not a warm, comfy human (just a warm, comfy cat) still in it.

5. the possibility of a spontaneous trip: When I have a weekend on my own, I often think to myself "maybe I'll just get in the car one day and drive..." Most times, this line of thinking ends in a rare treat: the far-away (but soon to be soooo much closer) Dunkin' Donuts, frozen yogurt, shopping, or a stop at the college haunt I miss the most -- Wawa. Classy taste, right? Sometimes I fear I have the mind of a 400 pound person inside, just screaming to eat its way out of my decently-sized body. More often than not, I spend lots of time thinking about how nice a spontaneous, solo road trip might be -- windows down, my choice of music, no rush to get anywhere -- but then I never actually follow through. The pull of the couch (or the lounge chair by the pool, or the bed) is often just too strong. I'm thinking, though, that if I get a lot accomplished in the next few days, I might just feel the need for a small reward... a reward that may involve breaking out of the apartment and hitting the open road for a sweet treat. We shall see.

Crazy single lady, eh? Late-night eating, afternoon napping, wish-I-could-be-running time on the elliptical, and bad TV... better hurry home, hubs. The next few days could get a little wild.

Happy weekend, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg