The Friday Night Report

Instead of boring you EVERY day with "Where is Nick today?" posts, I'm going to try to post an update once a week or so. So, if you don't give a fig where Nick is, ever, and if you don't care how in the world the kids and I are holding up, then please feel free to skip over my blog every Friday, lol.

Well, first of all, Nick was supposed to be home tonight because he's been out for almost two weeks. But, it wasn't a FULL two weeks, so I'm not really completely at the end of my rope yet, and we need the money right now... so, he's staying out an extra week. Now he'll be home next Friday. And, the best part is that he'll get to stay home for three full days (leaving Tuesday morning) instead of two... because he will have been on the road for three weeks at that point.

So, the countdown is now officially on our calendar, and every morning when he wakes up Damon tells me how many more days it is until Daddy comes home (he also tells me how many days 'til Halloween; he's a little boy with a lot on his mind, huh?).

When Nick first left out, he headed from the Operating Center in PA to somewhere in NC, I think. From there, he headed back to PA... to Scranton. From Scranton, he went to Detroit, MI. Got stuck in Detroit for an entire day (and he was not at all happy about it) because there were no loads leaving. He finally got out of Detroit and delivered a load to Savage, MD. Now he's on his way to a small town in the middle of nowhere, Missouri.

Tonight, he's sleeping at a truck stop near Wheeling, WV... very near his hometown. And tomorrow, he'll drive across Ohio, Indiana, and stop for the night in Illinois, where his sister just happens to live! He's hoping to stay with Missy et al. for the night, and I know he'll enjoy a night out of the truck, "real" food, and the company of his family. I'm just beyond sad that I won't be there with all of them!

So far, we're all holding up fairly well... I guess we're adjusting to this new lifestyle. But I'm still pleasantly surprised that it's not as bad as I'd anticipated. Avery was sick this week, and when she started feeling really rotten she cried for her Daddy, which just about broke my heart. But other than that, no tears have been shed lately.

I think we're really just taking this whole experience one day, one week at a time. I can't say I love the fact that my husband doesn't live here anymore and that I'm essentially raising two children on my own. Every night when Nick and I say goodbye and hang up the phone until the next day, my heart aches... just a little. I take a moment to feel sad and wish he were home with me instead of hundreds of miles away at a truck stop... and then I carry on with what needs to be done around here. There's no shortage of "things to be done," and I'm told that keeping busy is the key to surviving as a trucker's wife.

Every time I refer to myself as "a trucker's wife," I giggle... and shudder... and wonder HOW that happened. I guess it just goes to show that life is funny and you never really know what's going to happen next. Six months ago, this would have been my worst nightmare. And today I realize that it's not all that strange or horrible. It's actually kind of exciting and empowering... just the beginning of the latest chapter.