Long distance relationship, thoughts...

(knock on wood) this is the first week of the last semester we'll be long-distance.

It will have been three years total -- which was my limit from the beginning.

There are a few things we did -- mostly accidentally -- that made it easier..

• All of our phone numbers were in the same area code -- thanks to the wonders of vonnage. I never, once, thought about the time or expense of calling hubby --- I just called.
• We still have one "home" -- BNstate. Hubby is housesitting -- which wasn't easy for him to adjust to, but made decisions about breaks and summer easier.
• I kept my (tenured) job. Thank goodness :).
• We were within a reasonable driving distance --- thus, no airline hassles etc.... just 400 or so miles of Corn.
• We don't have kids -- so we could easily share the travel (except last semester, aka the chemo semester).
  

There are a few small things that made the whole experience a pain in the backside...

• Generally, we miss talking to one another casually --- on the phone just isn't the same and I won't do the "Pam and Jim spend the day together" bit from the Office -- for one, it would be too confusing to try to teach while he's teaching too :).
• We've missed just hanging out together -- and the spontaneous fun that creates.
• We'll have to get back in the habit of being able to work when we're together.
  
• We've got two of many things --- and a total of four printers.
• We moved to a smaller place in BNCC -- and in May hubby's stuff will all come home..... including the tacky blanket he bought in Tijuana... (although, the blanket could be a useful bargaining point to get rid of an item yet to be named --- hmmmm... :) ).
• I suppose one good thing is that all the clothes I brought down here three years ago will also come home -- i.e. instant wardrobe boost.
  

I think the experience was worthwhile -- we learned to be a lot more independent. Hubby had some valuable experiences at his uni--- and did some good teaching too :)!! That isn't to say that we'd do it again. Financially, it wasn't a good decision --- but, it seemed to make sense at the time.

Overall, I'll be happy to have him home in May. We'll spend a summer together working and playing before he starts law school in the fall. I'm also happy NOT to be moving to Red State. It would have been a worthwhile move for a good job -- but, the prospect of finding another job, a new place to live etc -- just made me tired. Really, it is worth having to postpone my sabbatical to have hubby home.