My husband is working out of state for the next two weeks, and I am left to appreciate how much he does for us because when he isn’t here, I am doing it. by. myself.

May I just say how much I admire single parents? I am amazed at what you do day in and day out.

It is day two since hubby left, and I am already ready for his return.

I miss my husband, and I tend to feel very unmotivated when he is gone. It is either that or I get a wild hair and decide to undertake some major project. Earlier this year, he was in West Virginia, I rearranged our kitchen including moving water hook-ups for the fridge and dishwasher.

This summer when he went, I started playing Farm Town on Facebook. I managed to get to Level 29 and figure out how to do some very cool optical illusions before he returned home, and I abandoned my farm for a while. I also revamped my web sites.

I fail, however, to cook dinner most nights. Instead, I let the children pretty much fend for themselves. In return, they sometimes become motivated enough to cook me dinner. Tonight, I am leaving the cooking to the slow cooker.

I can handle the household stuff like getting up earlier to put wood in the wood stove and making sure the doors are locked at night. (Confession: Although I do always make sure, my middle daughter Amanda has made this her own job in her dad’s absence, so I rarely have to lock up.)

What is killing me is the chauffeuring. I have too many children who have too many activities that require them to go in too many directions. Plus, this upcoming weekend is Halloween. May I just say how thankful I am that the children are mostly too old to go trick or treating?

All this week Autumn and Maxine have things going on after school until 5:30 p.m. Most days this isn’t a problem. But Tuesday and Thursday I work until 4:15-ish in Big Rapids, which means the earliest I could be at their school is 6 p.m.

Tonight, Autumn will be having her behind-the-wheel instruction until 8:30 p.m. Plus, I have to do things like cook dinner and supervise homework.

Speaking of homework, I hope Amanda remembered to take her research paper with her to school today.

On Friday, Autumn and Amanda will be going with the band to the football team’s playoffs. I don’t yet know the when and where of where they will need to be. On Saturday, Halloween, Autumn and Amanda will be playing in the band again; Maxine is going to a party and Justin wants to go trick or treating.

Somewhere in there, I have a doctor’s appointment in Gaylord, which is more than an hour north of where I live. I hope I am done in time to return home in time to pick up Maxine and Autumn from their after-school stuff. I should be.

It makes for a busy week, but I know that if something falls through, I have grandparents nearby to help me out.

And there are just 13 more days until hubby returns home to help me with our brood. In the meantime, they have me outnumbered just when I’m at my weakest.