Solitary

I'm now into my second day without the wife and its been kind of weird.  I guess I didn't realize how much of my life is regulated by the patterns she and I have established.  I fell asleep on the couch last night and woke up early in the morning - she always comes down and requires I come up upstairs.  Buddy appreciated the extra time out of his kennel but even he seems to realize something significant is missing.  I was talking to her on the phone last night and he got frantic checking all the windows and jumping over the couch. I think she appreciated the fact that her absence had been noted at the canine level.  I've caught myself doing things because I know she expects me to.   I usually make popcorn at night when I watch movies.  She always tells me to make sure I police up all the spare husks that fall on the counter.  I always complain about this but last night I found myself doing it without her prompting, I guess she really does have me trained.  At the same time I'm doing some guilty pleasure type things that usually draws her ire.  I've set up two card tables in the family room to do puzzles and I didn't make the bed this morning.  There are dirty clothes starting to populate the bedroom floor as well.  I guess the training was not as deep as feared.  Of course the house will be completely clean and clothes put away before she returns.  I'm not an idiot.  Buddy and I took a really long walk in the woods this morning.  There's a power line cut through the forest near our house and I've reconned about a 4 mile hike that circles back to our house.  Buddy loves these walks because as soon we leave the street I take him off the leash and let him run free.  I love watching him running like crazy through the woods.  He's very good about coming back when called, he understands his liberty depends on this obedience.  I made several stops to just listen to the forest and Buddy always came back to ensure I was okay.  There were a couple of small streams we had to ford which Buddy always stopped to make sure I was safely across.  Today its movies and puzzles.  I went out to see the latest Underworld movie and it was good to see Beckinsale back in spandex. This will be a very relaxing weekend before I start into projects I always undertake when the wife is away.