like a kid again

The press pot is packed, along with the freshly ground coffee beans.

Chewy homemade monster cookies and a big batch of chili are packaged and ready to go.

The dirt bike is newly scrubbed and eager for mud holes.

Hubby is heading off for his second dirt bike trip of the month, last week he was in sunny Oklahoma with a bunch of guys from Bemidji:Today he is hitting the road with some of his friends from here in the metro for their yearly trip to Arkansas, to ride the Wudi.

Hey, you can't really ride dirt bikes through the woods of Minnesota yet, so you need to travel to where you can! (and clearly he has learned how to travel well, with the press pot and all)...

While I am tempted to be exceedingly jealous that he gets away during the depths of a northern winter, while I stay home and manage things, he has such a great time, and comes back so happy and full of enthusiasm, (albeit exhausted from a 12 hour car ride, and smelling very much like the woods he just came from):I have a hard time mustering up any of the green monster. Besides, I don't do much cooking while he's gone, and I get a bed all to myself.

If I had something that pulled me away for extended get-aways, I know he would support me completely. He would even wash the car for me, or bring me to the airport. The house would be mostly clean when I got back.

I really need to plan something.

I firmly believe the secret to a long-lasting marriage is to have some of your own interests. Not only that, but to give your mate the room that he needs to pursue his passions-whether it's a get-away with like-minded men, or just pushing him out the door for a beer with the guys now and then.

I am not the kind of wife who keeps track of how many days 'he gets to play', and then check the tally to see how many days 'I get to play'. It all evens out in the end, somehow. Everyday life is so much more pleasant when you aren't keeping a secret tally, but simply taking care of yourself, and your own needs and wants.

When Mike leaves, it's always a reminder to me that it's okay to let things go every now and then, and do the things I want to do, as all of the obligations will just be waiting when I get back. And I need to plan my own fun, not just wait for it to drop out of the sky.

I think I will go on-line and check the price on a week in a Tuscan villa...