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When Things Go Crazy

Stress can be negative or it can be positive. I think it all depends on how you react to said stress.

Yesterday, my husband and I went from having a couple of quiet days ahead of us to having to get him ready and to the bus in about four hours time. A last-minute show (filling in for a fellow, ailing, artist) came into the schedule and they had to be in Wisconsin by the next morning. We got the call at about 5 pm.

At first, I was a little bit frustrated by the change in schedule. But, it didn’t take long to realize I needed to just be grateful for the added show. Plus, last-minute changes in his work schedule are not new to us. Though, usually its a show canceled last moment versus one being added! Nice change of pace right there!!

We had been out running errands, and I had planned a nice supper at home. However, with the newly truncated time schedule, we opted for a quick meal out. As soon as we got home, my husband got to work learning a new song they want to put in the show. I, on the other hand, quickly got to work on getting things together for him to go. I made coffee for him to have for driving the bus for a few hours. I ironed his show shirts. I was happy to do all I could to make this change in plans easier to handle.

What’s funny, though, is that I think we were both in a total daze for most of the evening. It can be hard to comprehend the changes that have occurred, even as you are handling them.

When the time came, I took him to bus call. I plan to drive to his show on Saturday, and we’ll drive back from there together. So there was no need for him to take his truck to the bus lot and then try to figure out a way to pick it up later this weekend.

My point in all of it is this: when changes occur, you can either fight them or adjust with them. Adjusting with them admittedly challenging, but its also less stressful. Why? Because if we all make adjustments together, less changes have to occur for each person. And that’s just a much happier and more peaceful situation — no matter what the specific case may be.

Ultimately, for us, this probably ended up being a good change. It’ll make for a less stressful weekend for both of us in the end. A few hours of, “ACK!” is worth it.

Adjustments

A month passes since I last posted here, and a billion changes have once again occurred.

My husband has, once again, changed jobs. This one brings almost twice as many show dates and takes him off on the road for weeks on end. I truly am a musician’s widow now!!

It’s always hard to leave a job, and this most recent change was hard to make for emotional reasons. His former co-workers and boss are dear friends, and the feeling of abandoning them was strong. However, the new job offer was one he could not pass up, and luckily they understood.

Earlier this week he loaded all his gear on the back of a semi and boarded a bus for three weeks on a west coast run.

Interestingly, so much about this new job has given us both goosebumps as one thing after another just fell into place. It’s felt just so RIGHT time and time again that it was (and still is) just overwhelming!

The nicest part of it ALL? Hearing the happiness in my husband’s voice. Not that he wasn’t happy before, but he’s just happier than I’ve heard him in a long time. The only stress he’s had is wanting to do a good job and impress the new camp.

The night of his first show, he called me after it was all over. I wanted to cry and scream and squeal with joy as he talked about how well it went. I’d been so tense and stressed all night hoping and praying it would go okay. When he hung up I started jumping around the apartment screaming (quietly as it was after midnight) about how well it went. Hearing him SO HAPPY just gives me this overwhelming happiness as well.

On another great note, the day after the job offer came through, we found out we’ll be able to get into a house in October after all. We’re SO excited! Our first home!! New job. New house. Before anyone asks, NO I am NOT pregnant. I got asked that a billion times lately, and I’m going to put a stop to it right here and now.

Now, as I said, the new job is so many more shows that he’s not home much. More shows are constantly being added, which is WONDERFUL… but at the same time a few recent additions have made me pout a little as they take away a few of our small windows of opportunity to be together. I miss my husband! Does that really surprise anyone?

He and I talked about it last night, and we agreed… we’re just having to make adjustments and get used to this whole new schedule and way of life. We’ve wanted this for a long time and here it is… time to dig in and live the dream!