Lemonade

For the last year and a half since my wife was unceremoniously relieved of her rather gainful employment, we have made the conscious decision to have her stay home and run our household.

In July of 2007 I took a new position leaving a job I really liked, but a company I didn't.  For nearly 10 years I worked as a custom code programmer for an ERP software company.  When I left, I started doing a fair amount of work on the side.  On a good night, I catch 6 hours of sleep.  The rest of my time, I seem to be glued to a computer.  All for a good cause of trying to keep us in the black.

We made cuts in spending, and have seemed to be getting by.  It was not an easy decision for anyone to come to agreement at our house.  An opportunity for my wife came along and she's decided to take it.  Flexible schedule, ample vacation time and some additional income.  Timing is right for now with the girls back in school.

She's off traveling for work for a few days on an epic whirlwind trip to the outer reaches of MN. Being essentially a 1 car family, she worked out the numbers and ound an inexpensive rental car.  Even though she is reimbursed only for mileage, we'll come out ahead, put almost 1,000 miles on someone else's car and leave me with transportation at home while she is away.

Being solo dad, some adjustment is necessary for my hours.  I'm home in the morning until a neighbor comes over around 7am to get the kids on the bus.  She shows up again in the afternoon to cover until I can get home.  My daughters are 9 and 11, old enough where we feel comfortable having them home for a short time if we need to run an errand.  It works out very well though to have coverage in the morning, keeps everyone feeling comfortable (particularly with the burglary last week.)

I have the utmost sympathy for any single parent.  It's hard enough to have a partner and keep a household working, but solo?  "Me-Time" forget about it.

What it does mean though is that my normal 5:30am departure is delayed long enough that the sun is up when I have to go.  Given the currently stressful situation, no better cure than a bike ride of course. Given the lemon, to today I made lemonade and to celebrate the moment, I rode my go-fast Rivendell and wore my most comfortable cycling clothing.  I was a rolling advertisement for Ibex, donned in Woolies Zip-T, Shak, and El Fito Knickers.  Pure cycling bliss on a beautiful Fall day.