"so how's married life?" i am frequently asked

I'm married for almost three months now.

Surprisingly, I didn't go through that difficult adjustment phase some newly married women experience. I mean, sure, I do miss my family back in Taytay; heck, even my dogs (they're family, too!). But I never had to wake up feeling awful about how everything has suddenly changed after saying "I do". On the contrary, that waking-up-married-for-the-first-time moment was, how do I say this...beautiful. All the anxiety and fears I felt before walking down the aisle were but funny, little worries now.

But here's the "dilemma": I'm going on a 4-day, 3-night trip to Naga/CamSur this Wednesday--the longest I'll be (so far) away from my husband and our cozy home.

I never imagined married life can make me this attached to things. I worry that Francis won't be able to eat well while I'm gone. I'll miss cooking (yes, I can cook! a talent I discovered during the first week of being married). I'll miss coming home to our cozy living room which we just decorated with zen-ish ornament, complete with scent diffusers that smell of sweet strawberries. I'll miss climbing five flights of stairs. It's funny to be actng and feeling this way because I'll only be gone for just four days, but four days seem too long for me.

I have to admit that I was tempted to not go to that trip (work-related). But Francis urged me to. Perhaps I just don't want to admit, until now, that being away from this new home--this new life--is one (if not the only) of the main reasons why I refused out-of-town shoots before, which were scheduled after I became a mrs.

It's weird. I can only surmise that this new-found attachment surfaced because everything now feels new--new surroundings, new neighborhood, new home, new sofa, new dining table, new address, new route--almost everything. It's like relishing a new bag that you always want to use because it's new. But in this case, I'm hoping I'm not acting all mushy just because things around me are new. Deep inside, I wish to remain this sentimental, though of course I hope not to be too sentimental that I'd cripple myself.

Sure, maybe this is still the honeymoon phase I am experiencing; but I do hope this lasts for years because I still can't shake this awful feeling of having to be away from my new home for more than a day.

Ack! I'd really miss coming home to our place. And for three nights, there'd be no Francis to welcome me home and hug me to sleep. I hope I can survive.