Last night Dave and I went on a date and had dinner alone at a restaurant. The tumult of our large household has become less pleasant than usual and with only a few days left it seemed a good idea. The merlot didn’t hurt either. Although we are products of the 1960s, in many ways our household is divided along traditional lines. Dave takes care of the yard, the vehicles, and the things that need fixing. I take care of the shopping, laundry, and most of the cooking. It just works well that way. Dave waxed a little philosophically last night over his shrimp cocktail saying that a household is like a machine and everyone is a gear. I pointed out that he was a pretty important gear and us little gears will have to take up the slack.

Dave was supposed to have taken his physical with the flight surgeon in Seattle today, but in his rush to get his ducks in a row for this move to Prescott, he missed a duck which was a form the government requires completed before the flight surgeon does the physical. They offered him an appointment in July. Personally I would have been happy with more time to get used to his going and a week or two with him at our summer home on the coast, but he tracked down another flight surgeon (actually closer to home—Tacoma) so he has another shot at it tomorrow.

His trip North was not for naught. He was able to go and see parents. His father had a pacemaker implanted this morning and his mother is going in for a tune-up over the weekend so he had his goodbyes with them. At the ages of nearly 90 and 92 he knows that it was his last visit with them for a long time, perhaps ever. This is exactly why Amy and I are not going with him. Where Dave has six brothers to see to the needs of their parents, I am a committee of one with my nearly 90 year old mother. She relies far too heavily on my regular presence in her life to keep her independent.

We discussed what to pack. He will initially be living with a friend who also works for Lockheed so just some sheets, towels, and some summer clothing will get him by. He will take his television and computer, too. We talked about writing. He claims he will. When we were courting—long distance—before computers, texting, etc, he was BAD about writing. He claimed he couldn’t think of anything to write. We will see.

Dave’s changed the oil in the truck, had a diagnostic done on my car with work to be done on it tomorrow while we go to his physical and a dental appointments. He’s trying so hard to take care of us before he goes.

Despite the fact that he still hasn’t had his physical and okay from the flight surgeon we are having a family dinner at a restaurant this evening. If we are not saying goodbye to him, we are certainly saying goodbye for several weeks to my son and his family who will be off to Brazil at the end of this month. Our house will surely be a tomb then. At that point it will be time to head to the beach.

Postscript--the KING5 news this evening claimed that there are 3.5 million married Americans living apart due to the economy and housing crisis.  It is a club I would rather not join.