A Day In The Life Of A Happy Husband...

Last week seemed to be a tough one for my husband.  He came home flippy, stressed, and on some days, down right grumpy.  He was busy during the days and staying up late at night.  When he finally did go to sleep, he was restless, tossing, and turning.  By the time Friday evening rolled around I had a problem on my hands...an overtired, impatient, antsy, overloaded...well, you get the picture...

All week long I was noticing the build up.  I was wishing there was something I could do to help him out and lighten his load.  He works so hard for our family.  He's incredibly ambitious, creative, and selfless.  He takes time out of his day to help his new employees move into their new homes or to talk a friend through a life transition.  He'll coach up-and-coming professionals who look to him for advice, and even makes time for me...filling in the gaps by running and errand, or doing a kid pick-up to lighten the load of my day and responsibilities of running our home, despite his already full schedule.

There are things I can do to ease his day, like making sure he always has clean, pressed clothes in the morning, a comforting, healthy meal on the table when he arrives in the evening, and managing our home flawlessly (that's the goal at least!) so he doesn't have to worry about anything extra while at work during the day, and most importantly, greet him at the door with a smile on my face.  Friday was a different story, though.  None of those things seemed to be helping him, and I knew he needed a time-out away from work, away from the kids, and away from home to reset and recharge his batteries.  I enlisted (aka "bribed") the help of our oldest daughter for babysitting the younger ones, and before we went to bed, planned a "day date" beginning first thing in the morning.

I was determined for this to be a great day for him.  He needed it!  Upon waking, I spiffed myself up...I needed to look my best for him and he needed something sweet to look at...so no jeans or the typical "Saturday uniform."  Nope, it was a "nice summer dress, combed hair, and make-up" kind of day.  While the kids woke up one by one and settled in with pancakes (and doughnuts for a treat...again, bribery!) we sat out in our screened porch in the warm breeze for a chat.  I let him run the conversation, for once, to let him unload a bit, and once everyone was awake, we took off for our own breakfast.  Here's where we ate...

Longfellow Grill

The Longfellow Grill is a small restaurant we discovered last fall right along the Mississippi River near the kids' school.  David loves eating outside when he can so we chose a table out on their patio in the shade.  It was a beautiful morning, with plenty of sunshine and a warm summer breeze, and the area was active with bikers and walkers so the people watching was great!  He was content and began to relax...we were off to a good start.

After breakfast we drove across the river to St. Paul and through some of the neighborhoods to kill some time.  Then we toured the Town and Country Club, an urban golf and country club, as we are looking to find a place for David to be able to entertain and socialize with colleagues and clients and us to have a place to "play" as a family without the crowds and hassles of some of the big city amenities we currently use...like our gym, pool, and places to eat.  These can be "problematic"or "a hike" to get to occasionally, depending on time of day, traffic, or other things going on in the city.  This club is also right across the river from the kids' school so it could work nicely for me as a "landing pad" after school with any combination of kids while the other ones are at activities in the same general area, avoiding driving back and forth across town!  Needless to say, it was gorgeous.  And the golf course was amazing.  And David LOVES to golf.  I would love for him to have a place to go to unwind whenever he wanted to, to play golf, socialize with other professionals, and/or relax!  Here are some of the sights we took in while there...

 

I mean seriously...what guy wouldn't want to spend time in that scenery?  Or this...later in the fall...

Or this pool, to play in with his kids, never having to worry about whether there will be a chair available to sit in the sun or dry off after a swim...

 

The tour was great.  David was in his element and loved talking to the golf pro and the clubhouse manager about all sorts of things.  It definitely beat out some of the other clubs we had viewed and I think he left feeling happy and content about creating a new community for himself and our family there...it definitely gave him something fun and different to think about!

Back home we went for lunch.  I made one of his favorites, Pulled Pork Sandwiches with a homemade BBQ sauce and Cabbage and Carrot slaw, which he raved about...yes!

After lunch, he was a new man.  He played catch outside with one of the boy's while I watered the flowers.  We took a short walk around the neighborhood, he sat with his feet up and watched golf...and the biggest accomplishment I noticed...???  He never once took out his phone to check his email, respond to emails or texts, or get himself sucked into work by even looking at it...huge positive!

After dinner was the best part of the day (for me).  We went here...

Again, what guy doesn't love hanging out in the Apple store?  We looked at computers, phones, iPads, iPods...played with them all...talked about upgrading stuff we've had for awhile, etc...and the best part?  I finally decided to get my new computer.  Which made him smile, because it made me smile, and he got to help me get it all set up before we went to bed.

Days like this are so important.  Everyone should take the time to step away from daily routines and stressors to recharge and relax, to not think about work, and think about caring for and nourishing themselves.  I love my husband A TON.  I am so happy that we were able to have this time together, even if it did mean bribing the kids, setting aside typical Saturday chores, and pushing off running errands for another day.  We don't get to do things like this very often and it was a blessing.  I feel like I got my husband back...the happy, witty, easy going, generous and fun loving man that he is.  I need to remember to plan these kind of days with him more often...days about HIM...with, or sometimes without, me...so he never gets overloaded and stressed like that again.  It's important to not only have balance in our lives as wives, but to help our husbands create balance in their lives as well.