Refining the flight plan

A and I have been living the pilot family life for a few months now and with the new month, I've got a new urge to get our life back into a normal pattern. It might be the changing of the leaves or the new fall weather we are having, but suddenly I'm itching to get us into a new routine. I think we've passed though the chaotic, we're just getting used to this, adjustment phase. My goals for the month are to find a workable weekly schedule for Kidzilla and me (shopping on thursday, errands on wednesday...) and to get done all those nagging chores (ordering new contacts, signing up at the YMCA)Â that have gone undone for several months due to apathy. Hopefully this will keep our household running smoothly and stress to the minimum.

A has his own tasks to keep our household running smoothly. After all, if he is part of the family, then he needs to pitch in. Thanks to the internet, he can take care of paying our bills, monitoring our investments and keep up with the housing market while he's sitting on reserve. Once he's off of reserve, we might have to readjust, but for now, it works. Is it too much to expect that he contribute when he's around? I don't think so, after all, I work a 40 hour job as well.

I was thinking the other day, of some little things he could do for me while on the road- sending postcards occasionally, bringing me home things. Then I tried to think about what I did for him and the list was woefully inadequate. I can't send him things to be waiting for him at his hotel, there is never enough lead time. He packs his suitcase after I've already left for the day, so I can't slip a surprise in there. So I'm working on coming up with some new ideas. It's not fair for me to ask for small treats when I don't also give them.

We're just getting into our 3 weeks of misery preceeding our fabulous time off block. I'm expecting to see A for only 2 nights in an 18 day stretch. It will be nice to have him home and I know he is willing to come, but I'm wondering if the cross country flight effort will not be worth the payoff of being home for just one night. Usually those single days end up fraught with arguing and guilt for not spending a perfect day together. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.