I blogged a few weeks back but I'm feeling bloggy again.
My SO has been traveling a LOT for work. He's loving it. And I'm loving parts of it.
THE GOOD
First of all- I love my SO to death but I sleep soooo much better when I don't have to share a bed with him. So it's nice that every other week or so I get a week of sleeping by myself. Plus, he wakes up earlier than me so when I'm all alone I can sleep an extra hour in the mornings! Second- The perks of frequent traveling are starting to kick in. He's been upgraded to first class a few times and that makes him feel all special. Also, I got him (us) tickets to the new Colbert show in October. We're trying to stick to a budget since we're in this expensive apartment so we were thinking that maybe the trip to NYC to see Colbert will have to wait. Until I remembered- frequent flier miles! Looks like we'll (he'll) have enough to cover both our flights up to NYC! Thanks, Delta!! Next- my SO is feeling very proud of himself. He loves being involved in big decisions and being in heavy pressure jobs (something I could never do). His company is relying on him more and more to be the go-to guy for Latin American countries. And he's loving it. I'm loving that he's loving it because it makes me feel less bad that I tore him away from his family and home. Finally- as us LDR-ers know, having time apart really makes us appreciate our time together. We're more intimate, we spend more time doing things together and less time watching TV or whatever. It's definitely brought us closer, again. And because for the most part the countries he travels to are only one or two time zone differences, it's pretty easy to call each other at night.
THE BAD
I get very easily overwhelmed when he's not around. I'm a terrible bachelorette. If he's not around I won't cook, I won't eat, I don't clean, etc. Let's put it this way- when he got home from his latest trip to Chile last week he asked "is there any food in the house?" I replied "yeah, I've got crackers and boxed wine" Because that's what I live off of when he's not around!
I've gotten so used to him helping out it's difficult for me to adjust to living without him. For example- I'll cook and he cleans. If he's not here then I have to do both, which I'm not willing to do, which is why I basically won't eat. Also- he'll clean the kitchen, I'll do the floors and the laundry. He's not here, I have to do all those things. We alternate taking out the dog, he's not here and I have to do all of the above AND take the dog on a run. *sigh* It certainly becomes a lot for me. Because like I said, I get overwhelmed pretty easily.THE UGLY
One... is the loneliest number. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I love my SO and I love spending time with him. I get lonely when he's not around. Also he doesn't let me continue to watch "our" shows when he's not around which is totally NOT FAIR!!
So yeah, trying to adjust. He got back a few days ago from a 10 day trip to Chile. He's leaving next week for Spain for a week. A cool thing to look forward to is that he seems fairly certain they'll ask him (us) to move to Brazil or Argentina in the next few years. Which I think will be a sweet adventure.
(it brings me to side note- North Carolina hates teachers. This is my 6th year teaching but I'm treated as a 3rd year because NC won't count my years abroad. This year they gave "us" 0-4 year teachers a small raise. I was psyched originally because wtf? NC hates teachers! Well turns out of course it comes with a price. Once you get to step 5 [which is actually your 6th year teaching, 0 is your first year, 1 is your second year, etc.] you get a raise. What they did to us is give us this small raise, but not allow us to go to the next step. So as a "3rd" year teacher I should be at step 2 and by the time I get to step 5 I get a nice raise. Well since they gave us this small raise now they didn't allow us to move up a step. So I'm still a "step 1". They basically robbed me of an entire year. BASTARDS!!! It will now take me seven years to get to the 5th step to get a proper raise. And that's if they don't hold us back again next year. But hopefully it won't even matter because I'll be in Brazil and my SO will be a millionaire. Fuckers.)
Have a lovely day!
It also always amazes me how badly teachers are treated over there. I think I forget how lucky we are in the UK, the teachers unions are probably the strongest in the country and we do have relatively good working conditions and pay as a result. They did change the rules slightly here, we used to mive up a pay scale automatically at the end of each year for the first 6-years and then have to apply for 'threshold' which meant showing evidence of extra things like leadership etc. Now they've brought in that you have to show evidence of progress after each year from year one.
No, that's not all actually. After I read this it brought me hope that maybe me and my SO will get closer too since with my new job I have to do little business trips every now and then (nothing like your SO obviously). I miss missing him you know? We're together waaaaay too much
(Ps. They are fuckers).