Madhatter

Anyone who knows Kelly knows he loves Halloween, but he didn’t usually pull his costume together until the day of whatever party we were going to. One year we were going to a party at a mutual friend’s house, and need a costume quickly.  I found mine first, the Queen of Hearts, a velvety dress and a Dollar Store crown – done.  So, he HAD to be the Madhatter (we both agreed that was a must, we need to be a pair), we spent hours longer finding the hat and wig, adding a crazy coat, a tea cup, and a scarf from Value Village, and I then did his make up and my own pre-party. Finally done!

We arrived at the party, and everyone was so impressed with Kelly’s costume (and mine as well), but they LOVED the teacup, which he broke in the second hour. It was time for the “best costume award”, and there were three nominees Hal and Joann McCleod, Angelina Jolie, and….the MADHATTER! On his own, not as a pair, just him. Aaaaaaannnnndddd….he won, by himself. I’m not bitter. Furthermore, despite knowing all the hard work I put into his costume, he proudly displayed his “costume trophy” FOR YEARS to come. Seriously!

Lesson for me: don’t take your self too seriously.
Lesson for Kelly: Continue to be awesome.

Saturday Mornings

When we lived in the apartment, I would wake up quietly on Saturday mornings, not too early sometimes 9:30 or 10. On the mornings Kelly wouldn’t reach for me and keep me wrapped tight in his arms, I would sneak out to the couch and read, or study for school, do some marking or watch a show with headphones on, so not to wake him.  Kelly, religiously slept late on Saturdays (and often on Sundays too), he loved his sleep and I did not want to take it from him, and I knew that the quiet would not last once he did stir. 

When he finally rose, it was loud, and it seemed as though a full stretch involved a long, pained groan, and depending on the night before he either sat on the edge of the bed for a few more moments, or he hopped up right away. He would pad into the kitchen, which opened to the living room, and start his morning routine.  Turned on the coffeemaker (a noisy espresso machine), make himself a coffee, then be so impressed with his own work he would have to make me one too. 

If he was making breakfast, it was with full commentary, like a sports announcer broadcasting an exciting game. “First I’m getting the eggs out. NOW! I’m cracking the eggs”.

Once the eggs were cooking, he would grab his guitar, and play a riff he was currently obsessed with, then put on some music usually reggae, and dance with his pointer fingers alternately poking up the air above his head. It was never dull, but if I was writing a paper or reading an article, it was very distracting.

Then he would stop, and sit down with me, and we would chat and discuss our plans for the day. They never included cleaning, or doing things we were supposed to do, but usually doing a million things that we wanted to do, and I loved it…

Genius? or Crazy?

What do you do when your eyes tear up every time you cut onions?

This is just a short story, but Kelly’s best friend Maciej, got Kelly a new pair of snowboarding goggles for Christmas last year. Kelly is not a man to waste, and he definitely saw the potential that a second pair of snowboarding goggles might have around the house…

They remain in the cupboard, just in case.

Shoveling

All tasks are a burden. I used to move from task to task, shoveling, to cooking, to writing papers, to exercising, without much griping, without it sucking me dry.

Kelly and I bought our house just over a year ago.  We bought it and I knew that I would have to shovel sometimes. If I got home first, sometimes I would try to shovel quickly before he got home, to treat him. If I finished he was always relieved and thankful, if he got home before I was done he grabbed the other shovel, and we finished together. I guess I thought that’s how our life would go, and in the end we would finish together. And now I am left to shovel these memories into the safe in my mind.