Me Time

Me Time 05/19/2011

Every once in awhile, I need my "me time." for anyone who knows me, they know this means two hours, a good book and a bottle of wine in the tub. I don't do it everyday but I try to pencil this  in for myself once week or, at least once every two weeks. It's my way of getting a chance to escape whatever is going on in my life and lose myself in another person's story. When I allow myself to take these two hours away from everything, I always feel rejuvenated and like a huge weight is lifted.

When I take my "me time," my husband gets the chance to have his, which usually involved him sitting on the couch in the basement, watching fights, having a beer and hanging out with our dog. The need for "me time" doesn't happen because we're mad at each other or because there's tension over something, it just happens because in any relationship, at any point, we all need our "me time."

A couple of weeks ago, I was on a video call with my husband, loving the opportunity to see his smiling face, when he cut the call short (or what I felt was short) to go and watch the fights. By this time he'd been overseas for about five weeks and I figured he'd want to talk to me longer. It hurt my feelings when he wanted to leave to go watch the fights and I told him that but, knowing this had the potential to be "The Potato, Round 2," but I told him it was fine and to enjoy the fights.

He sent me an email the next morning apologizing for leaving the way he did. He said he felt a bit guilty for leaving but really needed to get some time to himself. He's always around people- at work, on the helicopter and even in his room. He said he needed some time ("me time" really) to forget about where he is, what he's doing and how much he misses home. I guess that was my wake up call because it made me realize, or remember really, that he does have a lot going on and that I can't be upset when he needs to get a bit of his own "me time."