Five things I love about being married to a student

Peanut-lover has been working on his PhD in Neuroscience for nearly 5 years. He's about a year away from completion. I often get asked about how we manage with him being a student and me working part-time. It's actually not as bad as it might seem because PhD students get grants to support their research. In many ways, it just looks like a job, now that he's done with classes. Of course, we haven't got to the "Thesis Writing Part" of it yet...

Remember last week? When I told you about the two different types of "Five things" posts? I'll let you guess which category this one falls under. (Actually, it really depends on what kind of day I've had).

Here are five of the things that I DO love about being married to a student:

1. Flexible schedule

Most of the time, Peanut-lover's work is fairly self-directed. Less time at work just means slower progress, so he's motivated to keep working. At the same time, he's able to take time off when he wants it. It means that we can work his schedule around events, camping trips, illnesses, my work etc. We remind each other regularly that we won't always have this kind of flexibility.

2. Tax breaks

Our government is big on education AND big on research, so we get tax benefits in both areas. That is a big part of how we get by on the income of a student and a part-time nurse.

3. Intellectual discussions

Yeah, sometimes he throws around words like "calcium-dependent facilitation" and "knock-in mice". Then he'll add a little "familial hemiplegic migraines" and some "neurogenetics and biophysics" and I have no idea what he's talking about... but most of the time, we can talk nerd talk and totally get what each other is saying. And let me tell you, that's quite a step up from the ex-boyfriend who used to tell me that I was only smart in the un-important things.

4. Bus pass

With his student fees, Peanut-lover gets a bus pass, which saves us hundreds of dollars in transportation costs. And it allows us to only have one vehicle between us. Not only does it save us money, but it gives Peanut-lover a little time to study/listen to music/pray on the way to work or on the way home. He's really learned to appreciate using transit.

5. Temporariness

When all else fails, and we get frustrated about where we are in life, we can always tell ourselves that our situation is temporary. (No one is a student for life, right? Right?) We try not to let it keep us from committing to the present, but sometimes, the temporariness of our situation is what gets us through the present.

Being married to a professional student, it's not so bad. Right? Right???

Now it's your turn. What's your five things this week? Write a blog post and link up to join the fun. Or, if you don't have a blog, leave me your list in the comments. You don't have to copy my topic, but feel free if you need a little direction. I can't wait to hear what y'all have to say!