Hi ho, hi ho

It's official. Guy goes back to work on Monday. The extended, albeit forced, vacation is drawing to a close.

On the one hand, I'm relieved that he will be receiving a paycheck again. My employment as a musician is satisfying, but really covers little more than the expenses I incur. The piano is not cheap.

On the other hand, I'm going to miss him so much. We have become totally spoiled. Some days we get up early and start working on the house. But other days we'll lay in bed until 9:00 or 9:30, just snuggling and talking. There is nowhere to be. No deadlines to meet. Just the two of us.

The layoff couldn't have come at a better time. We were newlyweds. I had just lost the baby. We were in the middle of major home renovations. There were plenty of reasons that it was wonderful for him to be home with me all the time. We have taken trips, played golf, and hiked as much of the local greenways that we could. It has been wonderful.

He thanked me yesterday for "letting" him be laid off. I didn't understand. He said that before, he would have been pressured into taking a demotion or into taking any job, just for the sake of having employment. Instead, he felt like I let him make his own decisions, trusted him, and supported what he chose to do. Well, duh. That's called respect. And I have loads of it for him.

Guy is a smart man. He works hard. He plans his moves. And now, instead of taking the first thing out of the gate, he was patient, and will start a great job doing what he loves this coming Monday. I'm super proud of him. The drive is longer. The pay and benefits aren't quite as good. But the point is that he hasn't taken a step backwards in his career. He will still be working on the forefront of genetics research, and that is where he wants to be. I couldn't be happier.

Well, I guess I could be happier if he could find a job where the requirements were to stay home all day with me and rub my head while calling me Schmoopie. That, and a good health plan would be swell.