It has been a week without my hubby. He is off at a work conference (yay him) and I am home.  Alone.

With 4 kids, 39 chickens, 3 rabbits and 2 dogs.

In the cold.

In the very, very cold.

5 school days of packing lunches, being up at dawn and making sure everyone gets on their right bus.  7 days of waking up the chickens, changing water, breaking up fights between our young roosters and lighting 3 fires to heat the VERY COLD house.

7 Nights of dinners, tucking all 39 chickens, 3 rabbits, 2 dogs and 4 kids into bed. Stoking the fires (so we can attempt to wake up to a warm house on these VERY COLD nights) and then dragging my battered body to bed.

One week of being paranoid that our very old hen Robin is going to croak while hubby is away.

And it has been hard (whine whine) but perhaps not for all the reasons I listed above.

It has been hard because this fella is my best-est of friends.  Working from home we are together ALOT. We go for walks during the day, eat lunch together and pitch in on all the household chores, balancing out the responsibilities.

He keeps me warm at night and is a logical ear for me to inundate with thoughts.

And, yes, I miss him.

I am a little lonely without him, and much lazier. He tends to keep me moving and inspired, and as my best friend and partner in every sense of the world, doing things in my life with him beside me is always my first choice.

And while I LOVE the chickens, even the rooster that has a crush on me isn’t quite the same. (even though he is pretty cute, and sports a similar beard to the hubby)

He is home soon and I will probably collapse the moment he walks in the door.  Actually, I may wait a moment to pass off the children to him as I escape!

How do you manage your partner being away? (trust me, it is much easier to be the one leaving, than being left)