My husband normally does a lot of travelling (interstate and overseas) for work, but these past few weeks, he has been staying put and it’s taken me a bit to get used to.

This has come as quite a shock to me. I mean, the statement that I’m finding it odd to have my husband at home is alone an unusual one, but during these interesting times of covid-19, nothing seems “normal” anymore.

You see, my husband and I work together. Yes, I mean literally go to the same place of work, for the same company, together. We have done so for most of our marriage – nearly 20 years. So, we are used to seeing a lot of each other, and it is normal to spend 24 hours, 7 days a week in each others company, however, these recent years he’s been travelling for work on sporadic/occasional weeks away.

That took a bit to get used to at first, but this year, he has been away most weeks and then all of a sudden, it stopped. So, here he is at home, in my presence 24/7 again, and he is literally driving me crazy.

I’ve never before been quite so annoyed when he bites his nails when we are watching movies – like really loud, crunching noises that bother me to the point of distraction; or how he squeezes my hand extra tight when there is an intense scene, to the point where I feel like he’s cutting off my circulation; or asking me every day what I am planning for dinner and when will I fold up the clean washing. Can anyone else relate?

When he is away, the kids and I have lazy t.v. dinners most nights; the clean washing stays in the basket, waiting for me to get to folding it (if ever); the kitchen stays a little bit unkempt; the floors don’t see a vacuum until the weekend; the dining table doesn’t get any visitors (at all – we literally steer clear of it); and blanket and bedding tend to pile up in the lounge room to make the place cozy.

But now he is home we are eating proper meals around the dining table every night; all clean washing is folded and put away; dishwasher is running at least twice a day and we can see the kitchen sink (it’s gleaming at me); the floors are getting a daily sweep or vacuum or hand mop; and there is no cozy pile of bedding in the lounge. We are going for walks together, cooking together, drinking coffee’s on the deck together, lounging in bed longer and… well, I guess it’s not all been bad.

There are really a lot of good things about having him home – like, the lawns are mowed, the long awaited annoying little jobs that needed to be done around the house have finally been done, punctured bike tires have been replaced, broken light bulbs have been replaced, walls needing patch-ups have been done, the garage has been tidied up, and… well, I guess, it actually is really nice having him home more…

All in all, I think I would sum it up like this:

Marriage is wonderful, delightful, romantic and special. It’s anger, fighting, misunderstandings and making-up. It’s forgiveness, understanding, togetherness and journey. It’s annoyance, arrogance, forgetfulness and waiting. It’s learning and growing, bad habits and good intentions. It’s patience, kindness, gentleness, love and commitment. It’s unconditional.

It is two imperfect humans, blending strengths and weaknesses, wants and needs, histories and futures, passions and desires, failures and regrets, hopes and dreams to become one in unity with God.

It’a a wild ride, a roller-coaster of emotions and feelings, thoughts and actions, but all in all, I think this thing called marriage is actually pretty rad!