The in-laws fly back to the UK tomorrow. It’s kind of a strange feeling. I mean, on the one hand, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Steve over the last 3 months, and I think it was really healthy for Dave and Steve, because they didn’t really know each other as adults. So this time has been really good for them because it seems like they’re genuinely friends now, not just brothers. And it was fun to visit with Mags and meet her new boyfriend, Roger. She seems very happy and he seems to be good for her, so that’s wonderful. But at the same time, Dave and I haven’t had more than a day or two on our own for three whole months. So, as good as this visit has been, I’m also really excited to have it back to being just the two of us.

It’s very odd to think of how much my life has changed since the beginning of this year. As of January, I went from living alone for the past 6 years in a series of small, one-bedroom apartments, to living with someone in a large 4-bedroom house, in a town that’s smaller than anywhere I’ve ever lived. And can I just say how much easier it is to keep a one-bedroom apartment clean, as opposed to an entire huge house? The dusting alone is enough to wear me out. So that was already a shock to my system, but then almost as soon as I was getting used to the idea of living with a guy, along comes Steve and I’m suddenly living with two guys. Who tend to be kind of messy. And it isn’t just my space anymore, I have to compromise and share and be reasonable. Which are not things that I’m used to. At all. So it’s been sort of hard for me.

Also, back in February, Dave and I were just starting to get settled into a daily life routine – we’d get home from work in the evenings, go to the gym, come home, cook dinner, watch a little TV and go to bed. After Steve got here, everything shifted. Sometimes we’d cook dinner, most of the time not. The gym suddenly vanished from our to-do list. Plus we’ve had a million other things going on with the home improvement projects, the wedding, the house refinancing to pay for the home improvements and wedding, etc. But now that’s all done. I’m hoping that once we get used to Life as a Couple again, we’ll re-establish that healthy pattern that we were starting to settle into before Steve arrived. Especially with working out, because I sit in an office all day and don’t really get any exercise at work, and I know that when I’m exercising regularly, I’m generally an all-around happier person. So, here’s hoping.