Patience (according to the Wikipedia encyclopedia) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances. For me, this concept is a somewhat difficult one to get a grip on. As young children, we are often told to be patient with things like our tempers and our siblings. As we grow older, we try to enforce a bit of patience when waiting on events like a weekend sleepover or Christmas. Then, as young adults, we are told to be patient when confronted with a delay or an annoyance and most of us try terribly hard to instill that calm and reserved feeling until whatever it was that we were being patient for has finally come to fruition. Finally, as grown, responsible, smart adults, we are not only expected to master the art of patience but also to exercise this acquired character trait on a daily basis. As you'll see in the following examples of my conversations with Nate, this is a skill I have yet to conquer. They usually go something like this;

Kate: "So Nate, estimated departure time for the Caribbean is...???" (I'm expecting him to fill in the blank with an exact date, say like November 30th, especially since we've been in Florida for almost two months).
Nate: "Well, we need the fuel tank to arrive so we can motor out of the canal. I ordered it a few weeks ago, but it looks like we'll just have to be patient."

Next conversation - maybe two hours later:

Kate: "So honey, when are we going to be able to exchange some Canadian money so we can go grocery shopping again???" - I'm expecting him to answer the question with an exact time, say 4:30 tonight.
Nate: "Well, the dollar is still super high right now. We would be smart to wait on it for a few days to see where it's at. We'll just have to be patient."

hmmmmm. I'm sensing a trend here. 

Next conversation - like five minutes later:

Kate: "So babe, how many more days until our foam cushions arrive so we can sit?" I'm expecting him to get really mad and call the dude up who has our cushions and just yell at him until he brings the cushions to us right then and there; but of course, my amazing husband replies;
Nate: "Well, the manufacturer said it would be done three days ago, but it appears he's busy. We'll just have to be patient."

So clearly, we are fully aware of which partner in this marriage has the true gift for exuding patience and is currently practicing being patient, which is good, because God knows we'd be a mess if one of us wasn't this way, and just for the record, I feel that I do have a lot of patience...BUT LET'S GO HERE! Come on! I need to write something in the blog so Phillip doesn't think we're idiots and Keith has something to read, and Mom doesn't think we're dead, and we can go home saying that we sailed for a year! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! COME ON!!!!!!!! But alas. What does the universe, or God, or whatever you want to label it as really give to us? Well, I've been told that we are all given exactly what we need. So, I'm guessing that the universe is giving me the opportunity to sit, and wait, and be patient. Okay. (Grumble). I accept. (Sour face). But in doing so I have to acknowledge and point out and make a really big deal about this and state that I'm officially embracing this and hopefully growing, and being very, very patient. sigh.