This Week in Prices: A Trial Separation

They say if you love something, let it go (surfing).

So last week, that’s what I did with RP.

I let him go. Meaning, I turned him over to the (impeccable) safety of Mexican nationals. Last week, while the real world (read: I) worked for a living and cared for a home and a helpless rabbit, my husband spent a week of frivolity in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Since this is the longest RP and I have ever been separated since we’ve been married, I had to adjust to the alone time. This was not so difficult, it turned out. What with a gym, a big-screen TV, a MacBook and all the shopping malls and sushi restaurants of Orange County at my disposal, I managed to keep myself occupied for the eight long days he spent basking in the Southern Mexican sun.

Evidence I stayed busy:

Not to say I didn’t miss him dearly, but I did manage to come away with a few fun facts:

-          I love someone enough to get up at 4:30 am on a Saturday and drive and hour to the Mexican border. Two years ago I would not have thought this feat possible. And yet there I was, watching RP and his boyfriend walk across the border and out of my life:

-          My mother warned me after RP left that I may have a stalker just waiting for my husband to leave town. I found this wildly flattering.

-          Said stalker did not exist, which I found wildly unflattering.

-          A rabbit is a poor excuse for a guard dog. If a stalker had broken in and happened to have banana chips on their person, I’d have been toast. 

-          Incidentally, with RP gone the apartment stayed splendidly clean.

-          I don’t yell angrily at the TV during Bachelor Pad if RP isn’t watching it too.

-          Nor do I mimic the dance moves on So You Think You Can Dance if RP’s not around.

-     It's beneficial for both parties in an escrow transaction to be in the country when your home purchase is approved, falls through, and gets revived again.

-          Sugary treats just sit around and go stale without RP’s late-night sweet tooth.

-          It’s nice to not rush home to claim whatever UPS or FedEx brought before RP can find it.

-     RP is welcome to Oaxaca anytime he wants to bring me back the motherload of pure cacao:

-          A guilty, well-surfed husband is AWESOME at selecting gifts.

-          Nothing tastes better to a homesick surfer boy than a roast and homemade peach pie.

      -     After returning to the US of A and his lonely, devoted wife, I realized that RP does, in fact, love me.