"How Do You Not Kill Each Other?!" and Other Questions

Today was a really nice day. TH and I drove through a few different states and we stopped at a rest area in Tennessee to stretch our legs and take some pictures. I posted all of mine on the Facebook page attached to this blog (link under my signature) but here a few of my favorites:

 


 

It was perfect weather too--warm but not hot. It was a nice change from the freezing temperatures we've been dealing with for the past few nights.

But back to the point of this post--my family and friends always ask me and TH a lot of questions. The one we get most often is probably, "How do the two of you not kill each other?" It's a pretty valid question for the most part because I think we all know that spending too much time together can drive the closest of couples crazy. I usually smile and just answer, "I'm not really sure!" and I really don't. But I do have an idea. 

You see, we do drive each other crazy from time to time and we fight a lot more than we did before I came out on the truck. That's only natural. All of our little quirks that used to be endearing tend to turn to annoyances pretty fast when you're dealing with them every waking minute of nearly every day. Add that to the fact that the truck isn't all that big and you have a recipe for almost certain disaster. So how do we avoid this? Well, we listen to the radio a lot and I will go to the bunk and hang out for a little bit almost every day.

We try to give each other space whenever possible (for instance, I am typing this in the front seat while he's hanging out in the bunk talking to his sister on the phone). When we take re-starts, I usually will spend a little time in the lounge watching TV or using the Internet and outlets now that I have a laptop. Basically, we try to give each other SPACE whenever it is humanly possibly.

Secondly... Well, actually that's pretty much it. Space.

Other questions I get are, "Don't you ever get homsick?" Well, of course! In fact, that's one of the only cons of being on the truck with my husband. I miss all of the little creature comforts that we get so used to while we're at home. For instance, we recently got a hotel room because the truck had to go in the shop and the thing I was most excited about wasn't free WiFi or free TV... it was the knowledge that I could go to the bathroom and take a shower whenever I wanted! But dealing with homesickness isn't that bad when I think about my home without my husband there. While TH was training, I had to stay home for six months and I missed him terribly. The homesickness isn't anywhere nearly as bad as the loneliness I experienced then was, and there's a lot more remedies for it. For instance, the iHeartRadio app allows us to stream our local radio station from anywhere in the country. I touched on this in my previous post about technology, but let me repeat myself: technology is awesome. We can keep in touch with out friends and family at the click of a button and really, that's the worst part of being homesick--missing the people back home.

Another question I got asked the other day is, "Don't you ever get tired of being on the truck?" Well, yes. Despite what some think, riding for hundreds of miles a day every day gets pretty exhausting after a while. That's why TH and I came to an agreement recently and I can stay home for two weeks every couple of months. This will also allow me to catch up with my friends and do things with them and then he'll just get a stop-by and pick me up. We tried it a couple of months ago and it worked pretty well. The time apart also REALLY helped us to appreciate each other's presence a lot more.

Well, it's getting pretty late and I want to watch a movie before bed so I think I'll stop here. What questions do your family and friends ask you the most and how do you answer?

~~Manda
www.facebook.com/ontheroadagainasatruckerswife (Make sure to 'like' this page to keep up with all of my recent posts and things that don't make the cut to be posted here!)