Time Goes By

Before you know it- you've been married nearly a month!

I was thinking a lot today (whilst watching robot-assisted surgery, as one does) about how quickly it's all gone and how much we've achieved in this time.

This is more of a work in progress than an 'achievement' right now... as you can tell from the general untidiness. However, we have a shelf! The 'office' room is now open for business, study and blog-writing.

*Brief interlude as I remember that I put some rice on to boil about 40 minutes ago and dash off to find it well and truly dry and most of it stuck to the pan. I pour a bit of water in, stick it back on the heat and hope that I've saved it.*

Over the last month I've been amused and flabbergasted to see all the things that could possibly go wrong. We've had petrol/diesel mix-ups, oil leaks, purses left in the wrong car, a blocked shower plug, a leaky, smelly washing machine... it seemed like every time we turned around there was one of these problems. Yes, they're just the niggling little frustrating problems. None of them were something too upsetting or unbearable. It's just been constant.

*Washing machine starts to make an alarming buzzing sound. I go to it, push the door a little bit and decide it will wait until Ben gets home. The sound continues. Whilst in the kitchen I remember to save the rice. One success, I suppose.*

Then there's university. Supposedly I have to put together a portfolio from the 'module' (really it's four or even five modules) that I've taken so far in my 9 weeks already back. Many of the components of the portfolio request us to "reflect" on learning experiences we've had in clinics, theatres and whilst performing practical skills. You can imagine how thrilling that is!

Ben's back working hard and though I leave the house before him on a morning, he's always back later than me. On Monday night we were both back after 8pm and when I pulled up at eight-thirty, he was just getting out of the car with our chinese take-away. It's these little tiny moments together that honestly make it all worth it. After spending all day together on Saturday- time out in the sun walking in Cannock Chase- I felt like nothing could be better. I guess I'm living for the weekends and for those little moments in between.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be to become husband and wife- not just in the sense of getting married but to actually step into those roles. We're having teething problems like, I imagine, every couple does. Mainly I think they're due to my impatience for everything to be perfect. The thing is, while I'm busy being impatient I think sometimes I miss those little perfect moments and the things I should be grateful for. There are so many when I do stop to think.

Most of all, I'm grateful that Ben loves me and that with time my love for him also grows and grows. I am a firm believer in how much that means and how far it will take us. It's a great foundation to build our lives upon.

I think that's probably a good analogy for the time right now. There's not much going on by way of constructing the building: or, it doesn't look like it. However, if we get this part of our marriage right I feel that the days to come will be easier and more valuable. We'll be stronger because of these early days where everything seemed to be progressing relatively slowly.

I'm grateful for this time.