Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Throw Pillows, South America, and a Little Tom Cruise for Good Measure

Now that COVID isn't as much of a threat, Scotty has resumed traveling for work. A few months ago, he went to Mexico. Right now he's in South America. Normally, I don't write anything on my blog about him being out of town until he comes back, but I'm making an exception this time. He'll be happy to know that I haven't purchased any animals while he's been gone. I settled for throw pillows, some pricey hair products, and two new shirts... for now. There's still time...

(Or is there? I'm not going to tell you, Internet!)

People are often curious about why Scotty travels, so let me fill you in. He works for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (our church). For a few years, he worked with temples, and he traveled quite a bit for that. Then, last year he took a new position working with religious clothing. Part of his responsibilities include finding vendors and manufacturers to produce temple garments. This has been a bit of a challenge and adventure due to the supply shortages of the past few years. Latin America produces a lot of textiles, so Scotty has been going to trade shows and visiting manufacturing facilities in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. 

Whenever Scotty is out of town, I have to deal with things. I don't want to use any adjectives to describe the things that happen while he's gone because I don't want the universe to try and prove anything to me along the lines of "it could be worse." So I just try to optimistically deal with whatever comes my way. This time, our swamp cooler died, Zoe started having chronic nosebleeds, my laptop began shooting sparks, and our garage got overtaken by mice. Thank heavens for Nicky (my Mini Scotty). He climbed up on the roof about a dozen times and went with me to Lowe's three times to buy parts for the swamp cooler. We got it fixed to the point where it can run on low. If we turn it on high, it shuts down, but low will suffice for now. Nicky has also taken care of all the mice. I think we've caught five so far - one wasn't dead, and he made it dead, and I told him not to tell me about it, but he hasn't stopped telling me about it. 

It dawned on me a few days ago that my kids have gone back to school without their dad around. Scotty hasn't been here while we've developed and gotten used to a back to school routine. He's going to come home to a completely different life than he left (assuming he makes it home - I'm being positive but realistic here). He and I have already discussed the fact that I'll be mad at him for about a week when he gets home (I always am - I rock at life while he's gone because I have to, and then when he comes home, I unleash all my emotions), and I'll repeatedly say things to him like, "That's not how we do things!" Somehow, we're going to have to find his place in our routine. I just hope he's okay with my new tradition of putting the kids to bed and staying up til midnight watching Tom Cruise movies. 




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