Dealing with Weekends

I dread weekends.  They're tough.  Most families look forward to the weekend... time off from work, time to finish up some house projects, play games, watch movies, watch the kids play, sleep in... I usually watch the weekend come and go with house projects untouched, no fun movies or games played, no sleeping in... it's just how it goes when you're married to a doctor-to-be!  People still get sick on Saturdays and Sundays.  Speaking of Sundays, that's the day that I dread the most.  Getting up early, getting the kids up early, dressing up, driving the 35 minutes to church, and then trying to get two kids to sit still during worship.  Luckily they're pretty good during church, but it does take a lot of work.  Most of the time I have pretty good friends at church that will pitch in and help if I need it.  Somehow or another we make it through church and I usually come out feeling blessed for making the effort to be there.

A lot of times on the weekend it's easy to get caught up in feeling sorry for myself, feeling alone, or depressed without Erik around at all.  But most of the time, I try to be thankful, happy, and excited about what I have.  I'm really looking forward to the birth of our third baby and think about it almost every hour of the day.  I enjoy hearing about Brandon and Karlie and watching how full of joy they are as they prepare for their first baby.  I have to hold myself back from calling them everyday just to hear all about what's been going on with the pregnancy.  I like spending time with my kids and I'm so thankful to have them.  Without them, it would be VERY lonely.  I love being creative with them and teaching them new things.  At the end of the day our house is a disaster, with toys spread from one end the other, but it makes me smile because it's evidence that a lot of fun was being had.  We all three look forward to a weekly playgroup that we attend with moms and kids from church, it's especially great to get out of the house.  I'm happy about having my own washer and dryer, even if I don't have time to wash clothes.  I enjoy getting a shower in everyday, even if it means that I have to shower in my bathing suit with one or two of the kids with me in the shower.  I'm thankful for the ability to cook my children home cooked meals every night and I especially love it when they like it and ask for seconds.  I love leftovers that we can eat for lunch the next day.  Without Erik we survive, we deal with it by dealing with it.  We support and smile as much as we can (although sometimes I fail at this) and look forward to the day that he will be Dr. Erik Scharrer.  It's then when he'll look back and wonder where the past four years went and how his kids grew up so fast.  I'll look back and wonder how I survived the infant and toddler years alone.  We'll look back together and know that we made it and are stronger because of it... and maybe then we'll finally have some free weekends to spend together doing house projects, watching movies, playing games, and sleeping in.

Well, it's 3:00am and Erik just got home from work a little while ago.  Now he's asleep next to me in bed, so I better go take advantage of the time.  This is usually the only alone time I get with him, so I like to tell him all about my day.  He sleeps and I talk.  It's nice because has no comments to anything I say!  It's great to actually have him here tonight, which makes a pretty good start to the weekend already!