Sauvignon Blanc and Salmon

I had my oldest, dearest friend over the other night for grilled salmon and some wine and lots of conversation.  She recently moved back to our savannah after spending 10+ years in the UK.  I love her.  I've known her for almost 25 years.  We gel and I'm over the moon about her being home again.

The thing is, she's starting her own business and I'm in the middle of a pesky doctoral degree and we're, well...we're damn busy.  The only reason I had Friday night open was because it's the start of Spring Break and I didn't have to worry about reading chapters and chapters before Monday rolls around again.  Is this what it's like to have a regular job?  Do you get to have friends over on the weekend?  Only 2 more years and I can do that allll the time.  Keep your fingers crossed that we survive it.

So, why am I up in the middle of the night, you ask?  I'm up because I had Sauvignon Blanc on Friday night.  A lot of Sauvignon Blanc.  My brain felt two sizes too small all day Saturday and I slept most of it away - thank God I wasn't nauseous.  The Lion was home with the cubs until he went to work, so that was taken care of.  The cubs crawled in bed with me at bedtime and I woke up around 2 AM.  I always wake up then, though, because that's when The Lion gets off shift.  Does anyone else do that?

So, I'm up.  I did the dishes, cleaned up the living room a little and sat down to do some studying.  You see, I have a Comprehensive Exam on March 24th that will test all my knowledge to this point and might even earn me a Master's Degree.  So, I have a lot of studying to do but I figured I'd ease into it with a new post.

Off Days

This set off has been a little different than most: The Lion and I called our sitter to watch the kids and had a double date on Thursday evening.  I developed a taste for The Macallen, 12 Year.  Mmmm...  We went out with another LEO couple and had a nice time.  Very relaxing.  There have been a number of benefits for a local officer who was hurt recently, so we supported those establishments all night.  Then we went back home, opened a bottle of wine and sat around the table in our backyard and talked for a few more hours.  The men had cigars and the weather was nice enough, we were able to light some candles and take it easy.

We had plans to run together on Friday, but my morning meetings ran late and a nap seemed more in order than a run.  We made up for it by getting to the gym together on Saturday evening after spending most of the afternoon at a birthday party - the cubs went with us to the gym and the little one promptly jumped on the mats and told the older one to "wrestle!"  It did not end well for the older one!

The Lion grilled Saturday night and we spent most of the afternoon and evening together on Sunday (even watched a movie!)...all this is to say I got lots and lots of quality time with my man this weekend.  Something I sorely needed.  Most people seem to think it's easy to be a Lioness, taking the extended absences in stride, sharing him with his buddies and his hobbies on his off days.  It's not easy and I'm not graceful at it quite yet, but I'm getting there.

Help?! Lonely Lioness

Because this is all new to me and because I'm in a field where we analyze everything and everything means something - I need to get some perspective from those who have been there with LEOs.

The Lion works 8 days on and 6 days off, 4PM-2AM.  We are very lucky with this kind of set schedule - while he's patrol, it will never change unless he submits a transfer request.  However, we don't see him during those 8 days (except the occasional Saturday and Sunday afternoon before he goes on again) and when he's off on the 6, we're at school/work. My question is this: how do you handle it when your LEO wants more cave time in addition to all the time he already spends away?

The advice we hear all the time is not to bother them with such things - we don't want to distract them from their duty.  I guess I'm having a hard time figuring out what needs his attention and what doesn't...

Ugh.

In other news, The Lion got home at 5 AM and I woke up and wanted to run.  Sheesh.  It might turn out that I actually enjoy this running thing.  It was still dark out and I'm always on the lookout for hyenas (and stray dogs :/) so I was a little anxious, but I sucked it up and ran. and ran. and ran. I ran almost 2 miles in about 22 minutes.  Not too shabby for a beginner.

Thanks for listening.

"Run, run, run, run..."

I have that Ali Harter song stuck in my head now.

Phew.  Today is my long day at school.  Supervision at 8AM, Class at 9 AM, meeting, client, paperwork, then a 3 hour class to end the day.  But -- I fit in a run!  It was only a 10 minute run, but I got 'er done :)

My cohort members are pleased that I'm running, too.  The stress reduction benefits are supposed to be great and stress reduction is something we all need these days.  I won't have time to run tomorrow unless I get up at 5 AM.  I'm not optimistic about that happening.