Absence Can Be Good

I love it when my husband is out of town.

But I love it when he is here, too.

I think there's a connection.

Right now, he is in another country - well, he spent the weekend there and will be home tonight. 

When he leaves for short periods of time, I can do things like:

• Sleep in the middle of the bed.
• Not wake to pull the blanket my direction in the middle of the night.
• Sleep soundly with no interruptions from phone notifications.
• Fall asleep in silence without the TV on.

It's not all sleep-related, though. During these short bursts of absence, I can do cleaning I can't do when he's home.

• Dusting (the smell of dusting polish gives him a headache)
• Wash bedding he can't sleep without

I can also set my music or TV to whatever I want or - drum roll - NOTHING AT ALL! Sometimes, I just love silence.

Absence is good for him, too. I'm sure he appreciates sleep-related benefits of absence as I do. Also, he can't concentrate on his writing or reading when I'm home because our apartment is very tiny, and I talk a lot. 
Also, I sneeze loudly. 
Also, when I have a sudden epiphany, I tend to announce it audibly with an "OH!" that makes him jump out of his skin.

He uses a straight razor to shave - on the rare occasions he does - so when he decides it's time to shave he waits until I'm gone. He wanted to shave right before his current trip, so I just shut the one door I can shut and agreed to stay in my own space until he was done. If I make him jump while shaving, he could cut an artery!

I was single for a long time. I'm used to my noises. I think I developed a habit of verbalizing every observation I make. He... tolerates my noise well. 

A little occasional absence from each other helps!