Brandon is in Omaha for a wedding. I didn’t get to go what with it starting at 630pm on a Friday and being a 6+ hour drive from here and me rounding on patients in the hospital while Brandon was trying not to fall asleep behind the wheel.
It was weird to come home last night to an empty house. Being freshly married and still in that awesome head-over-heels spend-every-moment-together phase, Brandon and i enjoy doing pretty much everything together. Have I mentioned he’s my only friend down here?? So, sitting around last night deciding what to do and what to have for dinner and when to go to bed was sort of new. I almost felt like I was back in my Vancouver bachelor apartment days. If it wasn’t for the giant Great Dane trying to curl up in my lap every time I sat down, Maddy and I might have wondered if the last 2.5 years were just a dream…
In the end, my evening wasn’t very eventful. Due to a Christmas purchase on Amazon, I qualified for a free 12-month photo calendar from Shutterfly. I splurged $6.50 on shipping so 2010 can be filled with pictures of Maddy and Suh from 2009. I also spent 3 hours on a cross-stitch project trying to fill the last empty wedding present photo frame. Maddy glared at me most of the evening because I took up her half of our rather small couch. “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” was on TV. I kinda hate TV for anything other than sports and movies. Why are the commercials SO MUCH LOUDER than the program??
At 830pm I realized I hadn’t had any dinner yet. Brandon is great for reminding me when it’s a meal time and that I should eat. Even in his absence, he made sure I was well taken care of last night with some yummy leftovers in the fridge. I now know how those husbands feel when their wives leave those cute notes saying “Dinner is in the oven/fridge/etc for you, dear. Love you!” It’s one of the most awesomest feelings in the world.
By 9pm my eyes were criss-crossing. I put down my needle and curled up in bed. I am about halfway through “Drink, Play, F@#k” and it’s been a big ball of entertaining giggles so far. The first 12 chapters take place in Ireland: Disneyland for anyone looking to entertain a 3-month drinking binge. Alcoholism is a serious disease, but crap that book made me laugh. All of the good Irish stereotypes reminded me of Emmet at MUA.
By the time the author made it to the casino in Vegas, I was ready to turn out the lights. Brandon called around 10pm to say goodnight. He sounded exhausted, but I know his friends were really glad to have him there. The dogs took up 2/3rds of the bed and I drifted off to dreamland sort of laying diagonally with my knees pulled up. No matter how much room the dogs take, the bed always feels empty without Brandon there.
This morning, I slept in until 7am. Now that is something I haven’t done in a very long time. The last two hours weren’t really sleeping. Mostly just snuggling under the heavy warm duvet while the cold room air nipped my nose. There aren’t very many things more perfect in life than a warm bed in a cool room.
An hour later, I’ve made coffee and spent some time on the internet. Now I’m ready to vacuum, dust and clean the bathroom. Later, I plan to listen to an audiobook while adding a few feet of crochet to my stripey scarf.
Cleaning the bathroom reminds me of a brief conversation this social media husband-and-wife had a couple of weeks ago:
“Thanks for cleaning the toilet,” Brandon called. While in the middle of using it.
“Oh, you noticed?” I asked in return. I thought I cleaned it often enough that there shouldn’t be much of a difference between Before and After.
“Nah. But I read it on Twitter.”
Just got off the phone with Brandon. He is on the road! On his way home! I wonder if he’ll notice the toilet before or after he reads this…
