Scenes From a Marriage ~ Blog 27

Blogs are slow to arrive on Fridays because Friday is Chore Day in the Patrick household. For me it's Chore Day, anyway.

A couple months ago, my brother (whose last name is also no longer our given family name) was chatting with The Wife on Facebook. She told him that we liked having a condo because there wasn't any maintanance to do.

"Well, what's Jim do, then?"

Lots of stuff, it turns out; especially on Fridays.

A year and a half ago, I wrote the definitive piece about the courting period with TW. It's 6,000 words, it's about four-fifths of the whole story, and it's worth your time to check it out.

TW often points out that there's no such thing as a Hollywood ending. Someone could easily assume that our marriage is pretty much just leisurely walks on the beach with Daisy Duke and romantic dinners out in the Old North End. In reality, our dog eats something she shouldn't and ends up pooping all over the living room at 3 a.m.

Marriage isn't glamorous. This could be a shock if you base your perceptions of reality on movies, TV shows or books on the topic.

We did, for the record, get rid of the couch.

Then you have a day like today. I went to Best Buy (Daisy Duke rode shotgun). Set up a new router, set up a printer and discarded of packing materials. Then I thawed some beef, walked to The Maverick convenience mart and bought some onions and peppers. When I got home, I cooked the beef, added the onions and peppers as well as canned tomatoes and beans. Voila! ~ Chili!

Then I made the bed, took out the recycling, fed the dog and took the dog out.

TW and I haven't seen each other in about 48 hours. She left for work this morning at 6:15. I work evenings; she's in bed by 9:30. Sometimes, I am acused of not doing the most-correct chores around the house. Sometimes, the dog eats 5 pounds of dog food and craps through the couch.

This is what life looks like regardless of if you live in Boston or Decorah, Iowa. Life is just life. And that chili's not gonna make itself.