First and foremost, I would like to wish everyone who has honored this country with their unselfish bravery and loyalty to freedom: Happy Veteran’s Day! Your dedication and commitment to this Country has NOT gone unnoticed. Thank you for all that you’ve done!

Now, on to today’s business.

My hubby, Jer, has been employed by the same company for several years now and has always worked on site in a little office disguised as a cubicle. About three years ago he started working primarily from home while checking in at the office a couple of times a week. Once he tasted the freedom of working remotely he was hooked. I can now say he officially “works from home” being that his butt hasn’t sat in his office/cubicle for a really long time.

Initially, when Jer started working from homeI was kind of excited about the whole prospect. I thought it would be great to save a little gas and lunch money, especially given his addiction to the in-office cafe and their ‘mega’ burgers. That’s right. Mega burger (a.k.a. add $4.00toprice and30 points to your cholesterol). I also thought it would be nice to see a little more of Jer. Maybe kind of romantic.

Wow.

I was wrong.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Jer working from home has some definite advantages. I have been able to steal away to the grocery store or a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the day and leave Jack home. And being that I have this preternatural ability to cause shifts in the weather pattern resulting in it always raining when I leave the house or exit my car it is convenient to not have to lug Jack’s unwilling self in and out of the vehicle on every grocery store trip. It’s also convenient to have Jer home to bounce various thoughts and ideas off of without having to attemptto reach him by phone given my other preternatural ability to sense when Jer is on a phone meeting and picking that exact time to need him urgently. Now I only have to peek at him to see if he’s busy.

So let me explain the “I was wrong” statement. Due to our lack of extra home square-footage we were forced to put Jer’s desk in the front room, just a hop and skip away from the family room/kitchen where the rest of us spend all of our time. Have you ever noticed that the more time you spend around someone the more able you are to pick out theirhabits that really annoy you? Like, for instance, Jer’s inability to change out of his daily uniform of white boxer briefs into a shirt and pants before 11:00 a.m.? Or, how about the fact that Jer “forgets” to put in his contacts or don his glasses requiring him to sit really close to his computer screen while attempting to read sans correction for his 20/300 vision? I should also mention that Jer has weekly phone meetings during which he “shush’s” me and the kids because it is oh-so-easy to keep a 3 and 6-year old absolutelyquiet for 45 minutes.

Oh, and I am not above admitting my own annoying habits. Like looking stunningly beautiful throughout the day and my somewhat bewilderingproficiencyat providing a comfortable and clean home. (Okay, and maybe all the times I interrupt his work to tell him various important things might be slightly annoying.)

My growing frustration at looking at the back of his head all day long and his growing frustration at hearing me yak on the phone has led us to make room in our bedroom for his makeshift office. It’s interesting, to say the least, to have Jer conducting his business two feet from the bed but it’s necessary for the survival and success of our marriage to get him out of my face (and vice versa). So now we are co-inhabiting the bedroom,working through all the kinks and finding a routine that will work for both of us. Him with his multiple electrical components and frequent late nightsand me with my romance novels and The Nanny reruns. I hate his late nights and he really hates The Nanny.

Pray for us.

Love to all, Mindy