When the wife(husband) is not home

So, what do you do when the mrs, or mr, leaves for awhile-a week, maybe 2?

Yep, the mrs and daughter are once again gone for 2 weeks and now I am rounding  the 2nd.  I had many plans-paint the kitchen, clean the shed, clean the back room while moving the computer to the dining room and replacing it with the sewing machine, **** the window, cut many trees down and split the firewood.

But, why is it that I have such a list when a smart man would just put in-party, drink with the boys, etc.  And why does it seem like I have more time on my hands when I am now doing all her chores also (i.e. dinner and cleaning inside)?

These are definitely concepts that have really made me wonder about things.  Do single people have more time to do stuff?  not because they have less that needs doing but because they have less that needs doing.

So curious-what do you people do when the loved ones leave you alone and do you get your lists done or just slack?  What happens when they disappear?

I would get much, much more done in my house if my hubby and kids left for two weeks. First there wouldn't be much to pick up around the house as my boys and hubby are the ones that don't know how to put anything away. I wouldn't have big meals to prepare, much laundry to do either. I would get other projects done around the house as you have because, well, I'd be lonely and would miss them. I would probably busy myself with whatever I could and get it done quickly. I enjoy the company of my kids and husband and when I don't get things done it's because we are enjoying time together and not busying ourselves with chores. We make plans for the movies or a trip to the Fright Farm at Halloween time. Just my 2 cents

on edit: and they are not there to call you and give you other things to do: like he just did. LOL

Original Post by blackrose007:

These are definitely concepts that have really made me wonder about things.  Do single people have more time to do stuff?  not because they have less that needs doing but because they have less that needs doing.

Sure!  I had so much less to do before I was married and had my child :) - and now when they go away (granted not for weeks, but for a day at a time) I enjoy the time to just cook, clean, and then catch up on my reading :)

Edit:  But I don't enjoy still going to work ;) I wish they would give us time off in situations like these to really enjoy ourselves :) :) :)

I am a complete slob and leave crap everywhere. I make sure he knows to call me if he's coming home early so he doesn't walk into a disaster.

My hubby is a fire fighter and I am used to him being gone 24 hrs every other day and it was more of a challenge when he bacame a Fire Chief and actually started working a normal 8- 5 job- it was like dang now I have to cook dinner every night have to share the blankets its quite a culture shock.  Now that my kids are now gone out of the nest and if hubby has to go out of town for any length of time I just do nothing.  Watch my movies, listen to my music louder than normal - spoil my puppies more and just be a lazy bum.

Oh I'm with mooni a complete slacker, I eat out of the pan over the sink don't brush my hair for days. Then the day before hubby's coming home I rush around like a crazy woman getting all the chores and projects done or started.

I don't step out with the gals down at the local pubs. Not really my scene, but I'll watch movies I know he'd hate, go to dinner with a friend. Read in my PJ's all day and night, torch a bonfire in the back yard and tip me a few drinks whilst contemplating the mystery and madness of it all.

Oh bagga, you're my hero. I didn't know any other women who'd admit to eating out of a pan over the sink. {{{HUGS}}}

her-here, mooni & bagga.  the older i get the sloppier i get.  i guess i just don't care anymore.  i don't actually eat out of the pan at the sink, but i do eat outta the prep-bowl, like a salad or whatever i have made, so i don't have to clean another bowl.  i'm just lazy, really.  i actually spend most of the day in a pair of his underwear - those cottoney boxer-briefs, and a wife-beater, (that's redneck for white, ribbed tank top), and i mean the kind ya get in the plastic bag, not the girly ones.  or if i am feeling particularly fat and don;t want to look at my belly or feel the material against it i just wear onna his giant t-shirts. 

i hate housework.  i mean, i truly detest it.  its self-perpetuating, thankless, neverending, dirty work.  but, after about a week, i get tired of the black ring forming in the toilet.  so i eventually clean it.  now the kitchen is almost always a disaster area, but not because i don't clean it.  i am always cooking.  if i skip a load of dishes for one day i run outta counter space. 

i don;t even brush my hair after i get outta the shower.  its hip-length and i just wrap uit up in this slack, sloppy bun and wrap a scrunchie around it.  i take it down when i go to bed.  sometimes i will wear it in a pony tail but its getting so heavy it gives me headaches. 

now, when my husband is gone to work, my routine doesn;t usually change much.  but when he leaves for a few days or a couple of weeks i do absolutely nothing for 2 days.  its always the same.  i dunno why, but i just need the time to get my bearings.  i think so much of what i do when he's home is contingent on his schedule, when and what to cook, eat, when to go shopping, when to go to bed and wake up,..  when its just me i usually have a sorta one-gurl-party and have some wine, eat mac & cheese with tater tots and listen to music he hates like the carpenters or olivia newton-john, and sing it really loud!  but after a couple of days i start to get disgusted with myself and i will either spend a couple of hours cleaning and then watch movies or i will go into a state of denial and play the sims 2 until my wrist aches, and then play some more. 

all in all, i think the reason i feel like i have so much more time when he's gone is because of the little diversions he provides me with, like side conversations throughout the day.  its not just a rearrangement of my natural rhythm, but he is a talker, and sometimes, an hour will go by, us just talkign inthe middle of the day.  see, i like to make lists.  i make all kinds of "to do" lists, of things which may or may not get done.  i just like the way it feels to make the lists.  maybe a little oc.  i dunno.  but he always wrecks my schedule when he's home.  i think its why i like to revel in being alone when he's gone.  don't get me wrong, i love him being home.  but it is definately different when he's gone. 

I'm a pan/bowl/cookie sheet eater myslef.  my DH goes away a lot.  When he's gone I watch movies he'd hate, watch my primetime shows he hates, eat salty foods followed by a pint of icecream, wear pj's all day, go to the b-room with the door open, and basically live out of the bed if I so choose to.

I like most on here detest housework and when he comes home he's normally got a comment on how the house looks worse then when he left.  But, I hide the evidence of my pig-outs of course.

and i hate to admit this, but when he's gone I sneak a cigatte.  he'd divorce me if he ever found out.  i'm shaking......

now that I have a baby, my movie watching days are bascially cut but we still lounge around and she give me plenty of opportunity during her nap time to veg!

I get nothing done at all! I love to ground myself when I have alone time. Usually, I'll draw a bath, have some wine, play/write music. Or, I get really dorky and rent Star Trek movies :P

My hubby is a cop.  Surprisingly, he gets sent to alot of out-of-town training.  The minimum is a week at a time.  When he is gone I eat straight out of the pan (so as not to dirty up more dishes).  I lounge around in my PJ's with no make-up on.  I have my girlfriends over for sappy chick flicks and WAY too much wine.  I let the dog jump on the couch (if you tell my husband I will deny, deny, deny).  I do clean, but it's alot less work when he's not here so I have more time for the above activities  ^^

You are all such bad girls!  I didn't realize I was in such good company!

Where are all the dudes?

I wonder if they really lay around all day searching for nirvana hiding in their boxer shorts? or is that a myth?

Original Post by bagga:

Where are all the dudes?

I wonder if they really lay around all day searching for nirvana hiding in their boxer shorts? or is that a myth?

They're scared!  I guess the image of their woman in his boxers eating greasy bacon over a sink full of dirty dishes put them into shock! 

Oh man, if B could see the piles of clean unfolded laundry on the extra chair and half the couch when he's gone he'd faint. And lets not mention me letting the 100 lb labrador sleep in the bed next to me. She's too fat now to jump in the bed, so I have to lift her up.

My man is away this weekend. I've got a lot of cleaning done already..including the bedding which I usually reserve for Sunday but since it's just me in bed, I figure it'll be clean all weekend! Other than that, I'll visit my sister and my mom tomorrow and my dad is making me dinner tomorrow night. Yay! Fun for me!

Ordinarily, my mom lays around all day until it's almost time for my dad to come home. Then, she jumps up and does the laundry and dishes so the appliances are running when dad gets home. She totally admits it too!

Original Post by moonikins:

Oh man, if B could see the piles of clean unfolded laundry on the extra chair and half the couch when he's gone he'd faint. And lets not mention me letting the 100 lb labrador sleep in the bed next to me. She's too fat now to jump in the bed, so I have to lift her up.

Firstly, I must commend you on your ability to lift a 100# lab!  I strain picking up my 55# black lab! Oh and BTW, your lab may have a hip issue if he/she is that big and overweight.  Larger breeds tend to have hip dysplasia in later years. 

I am the QUEEN of unfolded baskets of clean laundry!  I actually have 3 large baskets, 3 small baskets and 2 hampers to keep it all in!  Well, the hampers are only for dirty laundry and one of the small ones is used for just cleaning & kitchen rags and another small one is usually used for transfering a load from washer to dryer.  Fortunately, my husband doesn't really cae about that.  He's the same about the laundry as I am.  As long as its clean he's fine, but man oh man, if he has to work and there are no clean underwear he gets pissy! 

What, no commando?

Bunker is a tall lab and she definitely needs to lose weight. She should weigh about 85 lbs. About a month ago I took her to the vet for her checkup. She hadn't been there in a long time. I knew she was looking heavy. I figured she had cracked the 90 lb barrier, I thought maybe as high as 95. When they told me 101 I about fell over. I bought some different food and she's losing very slowly.

I don't lift her the whole way. She puts her front paws up and then I lift her hefty rear the rest of the way. My son can still just pick her up like a kitten. It's amazing to watch. Of course he's 21 and 6'4" and worked construction all summer. It's still amazing to watch him do it though.

My wonderful DH is in Iraq on his fifth deployment ... I'm getting far too good at "being home alone" with him gone.

I pretty much keep up my normal, ordinary day-to-day routine, plus I take on (in addition) all of the things that he normally does to help around the house.  It seems like things always happen when he's gone .... this week it was broken sprinklers, the need to do some touch up painting, fixing a closet door, and getting ready for some patio renovations.  But I have to say all of these things feel more like "work" and less like "fun projects" ... because he's not here to hang out with and chat.

I miss him.

I know you're talking about temporary situations, but thought I'd share anyway.

I live alone and love it.  After a lifetime of being married to someone I came to dislike, cleaning up after people, washing, shopping and cooking for them, they've flown the nest.  I have time to do anything I want and household chores are much simpler because I don't make a mess in the first place. If I don't want to cook supper I can eat a bowl of cereal if I want to.  I don't have to explain where I'm going or when I'll be back.  I don't have to share the remote.  I can make any new friend I want to without thinking about whether or not a spouse likes them, and I don't have to socialize with people I barely know, or take part in activities I hate just to please him. I can have romance when I want it, or not if I don't. I don't have a tossing, turning, snoring behemouth next to me in bed.  It seems like I have more friends who I like and more time to spend with them than any time in my life since my teen years.

About the only disadvantage is not having someone to open jar lids and change light bulbs, but I had to beg for that anyway.

Eat your heart out married people.

Original Post by clairelaine:

About the only disadvantage is not having someone to open jar lids and change light bulbs, but I had to beg for that anyway.

Eat your heart out married people.

 What about getting rid of spiders? My guy does it and I'm thinkin' about putting that in the marriage vows.....