What's More Important?

Sometimes that's the question begging to be asked.

There are seasons that come and go during which my husband travels... a lot...

They are balanced with the weeks that go by during which he works somewhat locally and is around often!

We are currently in a “traveling” season. With his current employer, he doesn't always get much notice... usually that means he finds out within 24 hours of his next flight out of town! Sometimes he is sent for one or two days and when he arrives on location, discovers that he is needed for two weeks!

That makes it difficult to plan dates!! Sometimes the children miss out... he is out of town for a planned party or athletic event. Other times I just want to plan something important that he will “BE” at.

So, this past week he'd been out of town for several days, the second week in a row, and called to say he was flying home! I excitedly rattled off the menu for that evening's dinner then not so excitedly and with much lower tones reminded him that it was choir night for me. He was instantly disappointed. You see, he knew that after flying in, it would be a matter of a few days and he'd be flying back out and that he would have some “things” to tend to while he was in town and he really, really, really wanted to get off the plane, drive home and see me for the night.

There were several times in the past two weeks when we thought we were going to connect... for a dinner out or a lunch date or something... and the plan fell by the wayside because one of us had something else that pulled us away.

Getting off the phone, I asked myself, “What is more important?” And I knew. Tonight belonged to my husband. I grabbed a son and my purse and headed to the store for some fresh bread and Scott's favorite drink. I had taken a few minutes to pop in at a favorite forum to plead, “Quick! Someone tell me what that dipping stuff is for the fresh bread in nice restaurants!” Then I added balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and garlic to my shopping list! Back at home I prepared a dish from many years ago... Mandarin Turkey.

Thankfully, it did not require extensive kitchen labor! Cody worked diligently beside me, tossing the salad with our garden fresh tomatoes, setting the table (complete with candles!) and making sure the dishes were washed, dried and put away.

That was also the evening I picked up some fashion magazine for my daughter-in-law who was in the hospital having a baby and I glanced through it and saw that straight bangs with curly hair was a fall trend... so, I cut some bangs and got a fresh look... complete with skirt and top and my favorite black heels!

Scott came in looking weary. And saw me. And he smiled SO big and we hugged! He noticed all the effort put into his homecoming dinner and we had such a beautiful evening together!