H-band was rather shocked to see yet another magazine in our pile of unappreciated media matter: [the nest]--a sister pub of the Website the Knot.
"You can't even get through what you have," H-band said, eying the cover of the Naked Chef and his wife. Apparently, if we read the magazine, we would learn how to make good dinners for two.
"I didn't order it, hun. It just kinda showed up."
I had heard of the pub and marveled at the marketing smarts behind it without realizing I was a key customer. [the nest] is for newlyweds, addressing their life together after the hubbub, after the dress gets freezedried or whatever the hell you're supposed to do with it. Most people think we're not worth much after we say 'I do'. We become sensible again and would never think to engrave napkins in gold or buy pantyhose with built-in-girdles again until our kids' weddings.
But au contraire: we're worth a lot, actually, though it's been hard to determine why. We're feeling a bit off-kilter. We look at our partners and think, "OMG! This is the person I'm married to!" We wonder if the years will be nice to us. We feel differently but can't quite put our finger on it. We feel a new sense of responsibility toward someone, and this someone becomes a reason for saying no to things. "No, I won't be joining y'alls on Friday night; I'm watching Psyche with my husband..." You can't look at this person who helps to support you emotionally and financially and say Screw You when he tells you it probably isn't a good idea to go shopping for new boots. You can't understand why you've become more generous with headrubs, because giving them is like receiving them. You don't know why you are so excited about discovering a new way of making burritos.
All of this is worth something. [the nest] is betting on it.
"When you pitch in without being asked--even if it's not your job--your partner will notice," H-band said. "You've given your partner the gift of your time."
"Huh?" I said. "What are you talking about?"
H-band, came out of the bathroom after a long reading stint, about three-quarters of the way into [the nest].
"There's an article in here on cleaning the bathroom that I think you should take a look at," he said. "You do some of this already, but you should check out the part about cleaning your hair and gobs of toothpaste in the sink."
Looking over H-band's shoulder I see a page for [the nest] baby shop, and now I feel a little bit less special. We newlyweds are actually not that special. Rather we're a feeding pool for the real moolah--the breeders. I imagine we'll remain in this less-appreciated purgatory for a little while longer, at least, maybe even forever. But at least our bathroom will be clean.
Oh, I'm still laughing....this is so great Jor....and so typical of you two. Love it, love it, love it.
Posted by: Joy | March 04, 2007 at 08:39 PM