Today I cleaned all the moldy grout lines in our shower with Soft Scrub® and a toothbrush. Mykala made sure I took off my sweatpants (my only pair) before I bleached them along with the grout. Today I swept the tree pieces off of our deck. We sat outside, soaking in the perfect temperature and filtered sun. Today I saw a woman taking a walk with an IV while smoking. I then worked out for 2½ hours — this means that I am finally getting back into legs, which brings me joy. Today, Mykala and I had a wonderful day.
I really really love my wife. When she pulls up the dashboard on her computer, there is a fruitcake widget. 3 years ago, she downloaded it in honor of her computer’s first Christmas. We had been interacting with the dashboard widgets, including the whoopee cushion one, and we sat there for a few minutes trying to click the right part of this fruitcake-in-profile. Then, we realized that the fruitcake doesn’t do anything. It just sits there. Like a fruitcake. A big, heavy, dense fruitcake… that never expires. So that’s sitting there, and every time I see it, I’m happy.
Mykala and I finally managed to attend our first ethnic Wednesday event (that’s the Dan-Ryan-Emily trip to a local non-crappy non-american restaurant) yesterday, and it was a complete success. Halfway through dinner, as the subject turned to marriage, Mykala turned to look at me and asked “Am I nicer to you now than I was when we were dating?” I guess I was a little surprised at the question, but without hesitation answered “yes, definitely”. We had fun dating, but marriage seems a lot better. That reminds me of this quote from a recent “Room for Debate” discussion at the New York Times called For Women, Redefining Marriage Material:
Mykala knows that, every single time I open a bottle of tap water that has been sealed for a while, I’ll comment how “isn’t it interesting that it smells like chlorine, it must have reached equilibrium between the chlorine in the water and the chlorine in the air.” Every single time.
Today was not a great day because I lost my keys in a snow bank. On the coldest day of this season. 0°F (before windchill), and I’m on my hands and knees outside the Rec Center, with my red bike tail-light to light up the dark, snowy ground, trying to figure out what the heck just happened.
On our honeymoon, I trapped a moment in my mind when I was standing behind Mykala with my arms around her waist, on the beach in Hawaii, at sunset. And I said to myself then, “Never ever forget this moment; carry it with you as long as you live.” It’s nice to visit at times like this. Times when I just spelled “systemic” like this: “cystemic.” A little weary, but holding up still.
When I look back at what I wrote when I got into dental school, I now realize, quite plainly, I had no idea what the hell I was getting myself into. No. Idea. Reminds me of some of the letters from Confederate soldiers when they were going off to war — they had this romantic idea of what war would be like… and they were (1) completely mistaken and (2) grossly unprepared.
And THAT was the best nap with my new wife Mykala ever. Best. Couch nap. Ever. George slept on my left leg, for added warmth and general cozy-ness.
While an awesomely amazing nap, I do think we might brew a pot of coffee to prevent such a thing next Sunday. Gotta make the most of our weekends together.
Mykala learned that you can produce an ice cream substitute using just a banana and a blender. The frozen delicacy apparently feels quite similar to ice cream in one’s mouth. She puréed an entire banana down to a surprisingly small amount of brown sludge… probably 2 tablespoons. So, Mykala’s first attempt went like so:
I’m a lucky, lucky, lucky man. Dinner: homemade potato salad featuring farmer’s market fresh potatoes, stoneground organic mustard, organic sour cream, and Mykala’s special blend of herbs/spices. Fresh organic eggs in a tasty Rudi’s sandwich. All prepared by my lovely wife.
This is a picture of Mykala and myself on Front Street in Old Lahaina Town, Maui. (If you want to get technical, we were standing right in the middle of this map). It was our last night in Hawaii; the last night of our honeymoon. We watched the sun set together, and this was one of the last pictures my camera took before the battery died. The honeymoon was perfect.
For our wedding, we received an air freshener called “Clean Linen” by White Barn Candle Company. Mykala plugged it in today, and I realized that 5 years ago, someone (Dan McKeown?) in the dorms at St. Thomas had an air freshener that had the exact same scent.
So, according to my limited memory from my neuroscience course (ha, irony!), olfactory (scent) memories are quite intense, due to the proximity of olfactory neurons to the emotionally-intense limbic system. Soo, this scent is dredging up these fond, weirdly conflicted college dorm transition memories while I am simultaneously feeling these newly wed making-a-house-a-home transition feelings.
