A Few Things That Brightened My Weekend

All this week I had been counting down the days until Matt came home from Florida. He was supposed to be home on Friday morning after spending 10 days there, and I was ready. We knew there was a chance he might get extended, but I was really thinking he would make it home on Friday. On Thursday night during a tearful conversation on both ends of the phone, we coped with the fact that he had to stay in Florida for another week. After I got off the phone and recovered slightly, I immediately began dreading the upcoming weekend. I hadn't made any plans because I expected to be soaking up much needed quality time with my hubby. I just knew the weekend would drag by and I would constantly be thinking about how I wished Matt was home. Now, believe me I still wish Matt was home right now, but some unexpected things happened this weekend that kept it from being as terrible as I was expecting. Here are a few things that made my weekend a little brighter.

- A cuddly puppy
Rhapsody must have known I was having a bad night on Thursday, because she slept cuddled up against me the entire night. Usually, since Matt has been gone, she sleeps at the foot of the bed on his side, but Thursday night she was lying cuddled up against me the whole night. She was pushing me off the bed at times, but I didn't mind that night.

-Flowers from my hubby
I answered the door Friday afternoon to see these pretties greeting me with a sweet note from my husband. They cheered me up when I saw them for the first time and have continued to brighten my mood all weekend whenever I look over and see them.

- Texts and emails from friends
Starting Friday morning, I got multiple emails and texts from friends checking on me, asking if Matt was coming home and offers to hang out to cheer me up when I told them he got extended. I was reminded of all the great people surrounding and supporting me and Matt.

- Visit from my parents
I called my mom Friday morning to let her know that Matt got extended and she mentioned that she and Barry were looking to take a break for the weekend since family would be in town to take care of Joyce and decided to come up to Tulsa and keep me company. That was great news for me after another tearful morning. They were great at distracting me from missing Matt. We ate out, shopped, visited and played settlers.

- Long sleeved t-shirts
When we were out shopping on Saturday, I tried on some long sleeved t-shirts at Old Navy and I seriously got a little giddy when I put it on. Buying long sleeved shirts means that Fall is just around the corner, and I'm so ready for cooler weather and college football!

-Thriving Marriage Retreat
This one might sound weird that I went to a marriage retreat when my husband is in Florida, but it makes sense I promise. One of my old professors from grad school helps with a grant through the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative to give the ENRICH marriage inventory to couples attending the thriving marriage retreats. On Sunday of the retreat past alum and current students of OSU's program go over the results of the inventory in individual feedback sessions with the couples. Just so happens, there was one in Tulsa this weekend. These are a great way to make a little extra money, get a chance to interact with a different population of clients than I typically have exposure to and best of all, reconnect with old friends from my graduate school days. During breaks we catch up and tell funny stories about our time in the program. I went to these all the time when I was a student because the clinical hours counted toward graduation. Most of the retreats are in Guthrie, which is too far to drive for me, but every once in awhile they offer them in Tulsa. It was great timing and brought back old memories.

-Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake with a great friend

After the retreat this afternoon, my friend Deborah and I went to dinner since she was in town for the retreat. Another of our friends recently started a job at Cheesecake Factory, and we decided to eat there. We enjoyed delicious cheesecake and great conversation. I've been lucky to get to see Deborah several times with summer. She's a great friend, and it was nice to catch up on life.