Timeout on the Alphabet.....I actually have something to write!

Dear Jayson,

While you are home……..

I will not count
DOWN
the number of days until you leave me again.

Instead, I will count
UP
the number of days that I’ve spent with you.

I will touch you.

I will smell you.

I will wait for your kiss on my cheek every single morning.

I will lay in bed

(awake, of course)

and smile while you snore beside me.

I will hug you and lay my cheek on your shoulder

so that every part of me can be connected to you.

I will stare at you when you’re not looking.

I will stare at you when you are looking.

I will remember every moment while you’re here on the same continent as me.

I will bare my soul to you

and tell you things that I’ve kept inside for 7 months.

I will watch you while you sleep.

I will eat Dairy Queen Blizzards with you

and know that the calories don’t count because you are HOME.

I will go for a run with you.

(Ok….Ok….I will watch you run in front of me……waaaaaay up there in front of me.)

I will cry for no apparent reason

and tell you that I am FINE.

I will have no excuses for you as to why the Gameroom looks the way it does.

(Hello! I had time to write about what a mess it was…..I could have just cleaned it instead!)

I will hold in my mind’s eye that

MOMENT

when the kids see you for the first time

(SURPRISE!).

I will not waste our precious time together by arguing….

unless, of course, I am right and you are wrong.

I will be mesmerized by the footprints you leave in the carpet on your side of the bed

since there have been none for 7 months.

(Vacuum lines used to make me happy. Now they make me sad.)

I will let you be in charge…..

of the house, of the kids, of the dog, of ME…..

because I am finally tired of being Boss of the World.

I will lie to family and friends

when I tell them that we can’t

go-to-dinner/meet-for-lunch/stop-by

because we have PLANS……

PLANS that involve nothing but the above.

I will not focus on work – I will focus on you.

I will carry my head high when we leave the house

and wear you on my arm with pride.

I will admit to you that I ignored the hot tub for 7 months

(AKA: left it running, yet only added chemicals ONE TIME),

which resulted in me buying 2 new filters

and paying someone to come clean it……

just so that it would look like I took wonderful care of it.

I will give you my best “sex-eyes”

(Come on! Every girl does that.)

and ask you to help me with small house projects

that I didn’t dare trust myself to do alone.

I will remove the label from my forehead...

the one that says FUCK OFF,

and I will smile more.

I will require that you get a pedicure STAT.

I will tell you about my Vegas Marathon and my Phoenix Marathon

and how much I missed you during those incredible moments.

I will make you tell your son that he is not allowed to hate his sister’s boyfriend…..

just because it’s his sister’s boyfriend.

I will (I’m sure) have to remind you repeatedly

that we are not your soldiers.

I will, very reluctantly, tell you that these last few months

(not the whole 7 months….just the last 2)

have been HARD.

Really, really HARD.

I thought I was stronger than this.

I will ask you if I can get a duck.

I will bob my head up and down and mumble, “Mmmmmmmm”

each time you tell me about a truck / motorcycle / boat

that you’ve found to buy.

Then I will walk away.

I will drink coffee with you in the mornings

while you mess up my newspaper that I’ve organized into piles.

I will smile every time I find a piece of your clothing....

on the floor….in the kitchen….in the hallway…..on the ceiling fan....on the back patio.

I will ask you to help me convince the kids

to spend TWO weeks at YMCA Camp this year, instead of just one.

We would call that “My Vacation”.

(Let’s see if DOG can go with them, too.)

I will listen to your stories of life in Iraq and cry

because there will be so much that I didn’t know about.

I will NOT be in the room when you discover

that 2 months worth of your clean laundry

is in a 4-foot pile in the closet.

I will

(big-huge-MAYBE)

enjoy having to clean your sink again.

I will take too many pictures.

I won't take enough pictures.

I will tell you about the 50+ trees and shrubs I’ve ordered,

ask for your ideas on where to plant them,

and then notice your smug

ha-ha-I-won’t-be-here-when-it-comes-time-to-plant-them

look.

I will make you take the kids to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid

before I kill them both for asking 12 times a day.

I will then make you go buy them soccer cleats

before I kill them both for asking 12 times a day.

I will sit with you for 5 hours while you get new ink…..

and then will want to get more for ME.

I will let you touch me as often as you want.

I will enjoy talking to you

without having to

turn on my computer,

login,

start-up Skype,

and HOPE you’re online at the same time.

I will ask you to wear your Superman underwear.

I will take full advantage of not having to be a NUN for 2 whole weeks.

I will cherish the fact that we can plan our tomorrow TOGETHER.

I will look at you with my “sex-eyes” again

and beg you to make me/let me keep-up my daily running while you’re here.

I will go snowboarding with you.

I will ask you to take a bubble bath with me.

I will continue to send you naughty pictures,

even though you’ll be HERE.

(Sorry….some habits are hard to break.  I can't imagine you'll argue.)

I will ask you to explain to me

(for the bazillionth time)

where our guns are at and how to use them.

I will watch you play like a kid…

with the kids.

I will take you to my gym

and use you as my own personal trainer

and beg you to teach me how to use the weight machines

(because I’m too much of a chicken-shit to figure them out on my own).

I will tell you about things that I was secretly working on while you were gone,

but only because I wasn’t able to actually make them happen.

I will ask you if you know what true loneliness feels like.

I will challenge you to get your son to pick-up dog poop.

I will challenge you to get your daughter to clean her room.

I will tell you what races I’ve signed you up for…..

and what races I’m going to sign you up for.

I will walk away

when you try to argue with me

about having signed you up for races.

I will apologize upfront

for all of the baked goods that your daughter will make….

and force you to eat.

I will not be sad when you leave to go back to the sand.

Instead, I will be happy because

it’s the last time you'll be leaving.

I will not count

DOWN

the number of days

until you leave me again.

Instead, I will count

UP

the number of days

that I’ve spent with you.

HAPPY TRAKS, Jayson.  I love you.