reunited

it seems to me that neil has been travelling a lot in recent history...
& although he took us with on this trip...
he's still not here.
He's on the ferry as i type.
He should be here before supper.
As we tried to take the kids for a hike, i moaned to my mom, 'aw, i wish that when you'd see us, it wasn't always with me being a single mom.'
Charter had Molls in a headlock & Gagey refused to sit in his stroller or walk... or be carried by either of my parents, so i was hefting his 30lbs along with my extra 20 & it was taking my breath away. It was raining & the mud from the trails had followed Gageys shoes all over my pants.
Neil loves to brag about how little he works, but the truth is - he works long and hard. He works all year long... through any holiday we've ever taken... right down to working the days our babies were born. i rarely see him go an hour without a phone call or an email... right through from dawn's early light to bedtime.
He just *likes* his work... & he doesn't complain...
i remember when the mill shut down when Peyton was a baby & he refused to go on unemployment insurance... instead, he went out in the bitter cold & poured concrete till it got too cold, then built someone's barn... then took any odd job he could to keep a roof over our heads & food on the table, eventually moving north a full month before the rest of us could join him, living in a dingy hotel room in a tiny town so he could get his feet back under himself.
i got such a good man.
Yeh, times are a lot less desperate than they were in some of those early years, but the drive to work hard & to give all he's got for the money he's earning has never lessened.
i'm so proud of neil for working so hard - & for taking such good care of us...
But i sure miss him.