First Post as a Married Woman & A Homeowner...

Yes, it's been a long time since I've written. Planning a wedding leaves little time for blogging...or at least that's what I liked to tell myself. Is it weird that I am spending my first Saturday night as a married woman post-honeymoon on the computer blogging while my husband watches the Dodgers and plays his Play Station Portable (PSP, as I will refer to it from here forward) in the den? Or, is it perhaps weirder to think that this afternoon we attended a matinee showing of the new Disney Pixar flick "Ratatouille" and we don't even have children yet? Ahh...married life.

No, but seriously, I couldn't be happier. Nothing is better than waking up on a Saturday morning with a moderate hangover from chugging the leftover bottle of wedding champagne outside of the Greek theatre before hearing the fabulous music Alison Kraus and Union Station... then tasting some fresh squeezed OJ that was made from oranges that grew in your very own backyard. Fabulous! After a very satisfying breakfast prepared with love using newly gifted appliances (a secret materialistic perk of getting married - getting lots of great gifts, like electric juicers and waffle irons), we took our dog, Coconut on a long hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. By 10:00 AM it was 80 degrees and the sweltering sun and dry and thirsty chaparral landscape was still beautiful despite the occasional graffitied rock or plastic soda bottle littering the trail....

But what's most amazing as that as I sit in my house overwhelmed with all the changes in my life I truly can't stop thinking about that concert. Was I born in the wrong era? Were we the only ones under 40 in the audience? Perhaps...but while many girls my age may have been sauntering their way around Area or some other hip Hollywood hangout, I was sitting under a semi-starry sky in Los Angeles listening to the intoxicating voice of Alison Kraus and fantasizing about quitting my job and dedicating myselt to the dobro. That instrument speaks to me...it's does to your ears what the smell of homemade cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet does to your nose...makes you feel like you're in the deep south and everything is just....as it should be. I knew the rest of the crowd was digging the music, too, when the elderly woman sitting in front of me with the teased white hair and taut face-lifted cheeks decided after the third song that it was safe to take her ear plugs out and groove along with her husband, who was already dancing and enjoying every note that poured from the stage... When the show was over, I serioulsy felt sad, like I wasn't ready for it to be over... Just for fun, here's a review of the show that we saw, only because I really loved it and I would encourage the three people that read my blog, if you like bluegrass or country music even a little, check out Alison Kraus...you might not want to run out and sign up for dobro lessons but I guarantee you won't want to insert ear plugs... http://backtorockville.typepad.com/back_to_rockville/2007/06/concert_review__8.html

Things I Love About My Husband

It occurred to me that due to the fact that this blog is about being a newlywed, and that occasionally, it may seem like I am poking fun at my beloved for the sake of having tales to tell, that perhaps I should share one great thing about him everyday...not even because he is reading this....in fact, is it bad that he doesn't know about this? Hmm...most marriage counselors would probably tell me harboring secret blogs in a relationship is bad...Shoot...Well, he does KNOW about this but I just don't necessarily encourage him to read it.

My point is this: any flattery directed towards Kiko is strictly for my own edification and also because I do feel quite lucky to have found such a wonderful guy...even if he does like to spend more time in the bathroom than he does conversing with me...

:)

So, the thing today that I love about my husband is his thoughtfulness...

For example, today, he knew I was probably feeling sad that our dog, Coconut, is not with us this week. She's visiting my parents for the week because we're going to be out of town this weekend and we'd rather her stay with them then send her to a kennel. She's a very spoiled dog. We like to think of her visits to my parents' house as "doggie summer camp" because she loves to run around on their property, play with their 3 dogs, and eat graham crackers every night before bed...that's my dad's special treat for the dogs.

Anyhow, so today, Kiko emailed me a picture of Coconut that made me smile, and it was just I needed to push me through my afternoon at work. This particular photo was taken after she found the pacifier that our neighbor's 2 year old had dropped on our floor...

Secret hideout in the can?

One of the adjustments of married life is getting used to certain "habits" practiced by you or your spouse...

Now, I thought prior to marriage we'd spent a lot of time together, yet somehow there are still many daily surprises in married life. Who knew?

Married Life Surprise of the Day:

1. Men spend a lot more time in the restroom than women do.

I am almost convinced that my husband uses the bathroom as a way to avoid me. It's not a thing of cruelty, but when we both get home from work, and I want to talk about our day, vent to him about things that happened to me, and hear about his incidents, all he wants to do is grab his Harry Pottery Book or his Play Station Portable (PSP heretofore) and retreat to the guest bathroom.

It's always the guest bathroom, never our bathroom. Now I get needing some down time, but he spends most of his alone time in the can. I don't get it...

I've never spent more than 10 minutes in the restroom and that's only if I'm throwing up (I don't do this regularly. I mean throwing up because I've got the stomach flu or eaten something that disagrees with me,) or in the shower...but my husband can spend what seems like decades in there...the other night, I watched an entire episode of ACE OF CAKES while he was doing his business in the john.

This doesn't bother me, exactly, so much as fascinate me. Why do men like to read in there? What is it about this activity that makes them feel the need to become relaxed or entertained? Do they retain information better while they're sitting on the John Crapper (that's who invented the commode, if I'm not mistaken...) Is his hand-eye coordination suddenly stronger thus making him dominate his PSP game? It remains a mystery.

Maybe I am missing out on a very rewarding activity of life? What would I even take with me to amuse me while I use the restroom? Vogue Magazine? My Ipod so I can play solitaire? No, it just doesn't interest me...I like to get in and get out.

What is really strange is that I am still convinced that Kiko knows everything about me, yet I am still learning new things about him daily...and this bathroom ritual, as gross and personal a topic as it may be, is married surprise #1.