The Single-ish Mama

My dear readers, I have been keeping a secret from y'all.  Not just from y'all, but from the majority of my friends.  For the past 5 weeks, I still have 1 more left, Carlo has been in India.  Yes, India, NOT Indiana, but that country that's across the world.  While it's 11:30am here, it is 10pm where he is.  He went there to have a holistic procedure done on a fistula, it's something that is caused by Crohn's.  I won't go into details, trust me you don't want me to.  In any case, he has been in Varanasi, the holiest city in India.  It is where Buddha gave his first sermon, so that is pretty cool!!  Varanasi is in North India, about 8hrs away from Dehli.  The doctor he went to is known for this procedure. YES, it IS holistic.  It involves a thread soaked in herbs and a needle, and that is it.  It's no wonder it's not offered in the states.  You can't really profit from it.  The best part is that this procedure when performed on Crohn's patients has a success rate of 99.7% !!!!!  In the states, surgery is the only thing offered for Crohn's patients with a fistula and the success rate is only 30%.   Carlo is doing very well, and had the procedure done after first arriving around March 6th.  He has been staying in a home stay, a really nice one too.  I will post some pictures in another post.  We SKYPE every morning so he gets to see Audrey and I SKYPE with him at night.  I honestly don't know what we would do without SKYPE.  We miss him a lot but have been doing well.  It's not easy being a full time single stay at home mama!!!  At nights, when Audrey is asleep, I used to just relax.  Now with Carlo gone, I take that time to prep or make dinner for the following night.  That leaves Audrey and I more playtime together.  Grocery shopping is not done on 1 day like before but spread out from Friday-Sunday except for meats and fish, I get those the day before cooking them.  Cleaning the house has become a little harder, but thanks to an AMAZING early birthday gift, someone comes and cleans our house top to bottom once a month.  It's the best gift anyone could give right now!!!  Most days are great,  but some days are rough.  I shed a few tears now and then and an occasional song will get me. damn you Thousand Years, quit playing on XM.  At Carlo's cousin's wedding, Audrey's god mama, her husband Jared, who is AWESOME, was dancing with Audrey to Nat King Cole's Unforgettable and I teared up.  Nat King Cole is OUR guy. Our song is the Very Thought of You, but any of his songs get me with Carlo gone.   Carlo and I have done long distance from day 1.  He lived in Lafayette, and I lived 2.5 hrs. away in Slidell.  For a year, we saw each other for 1 or 2 days every couple weeks!  During summers in college we both went home so again we saw each other for a few days every couple weeks for those 2 months for 3 years. Then of course when we got married and moved to Michigan in 2007 he was gone for 2-3 weeks at a time for 1 semester.  Then in Albuquerque he was gone for 2 weeks at a time for 2 years.  So....basically out of our 10 years we have been dating, well almost 10, we have seen each other for roughly 6.25 years!  that's of course saying that I did my math right! That's CRAZY!!??   Well, I still miss him, and this is the longest I have not actually seen him in person.  Yes, I see him via SKYPE which is great but in the end it's not the same as him being here.  By Friday of next week he will be home and I am so....excited.  I know Audrey misses him like crazy.  On her play phone she is ALWAYS talking to papa.  When my computer comes out she thinks it's papa.  It's cute and sad at the same time.  I am trying not to do a countdown because then time seems to go slower and why on EARTH would I want that.  So...there you have it.  I didn't want to say anything before now because I don't like to have pity taken upon me.   I am the person that pretends to be strong regardless of what is really going on.  I put on a good face even in the worst of times, it's just who I am.  I promise to post pictures and a video or two once he comes home.  Speaking of him coming home.  I am sure I will go on a short hiatus after he gets back so  I can catch up and enjoy spending time with him in person! :-)